Former MDP president Abdulla Shahid has said that state expenditure should be reduced by cutting waste at the President’s Office and Ministries, and that taking measures affecting the services of island councils is unacceptable.

Shahid said this in a post on X following a decision by the Local Government Authority (LGA) that councils cannot hire staff without the authority’s written approval.

He said that after appointing thousands of people to political positions and driving the entire state down a path of waste, banning the hiring of essential staff at island councils is unacceptable. Shahid called on the government to reverse the decision.

According to the LGA’s letter, staff can only be hired with the authority’s written approval — whether funded from the state budget or from the council’s own revenue, and including contract and wage-employment positions.