The government has proposed an amendment to transfer employees of the Local Government Authority (LGA) into the civil service.
The amendment was submitted to the Decentralisation Act. The bill was submitted by Fuvahmulah North Parliamentarian Hamad Abdulla.
According to the government, the amendment was proposed to strengthen the operations of the LGA by designating the authority’s employees as civil servants. The amendment also seeks to include waste management services among the public services that local councils are legally required to provide in islands and cities.
The LGA is the institution responsible for overseeing and supervising the work and activities of local councils under the Decentralisation Act. Under the current law, the authority to appoint and dismiss LGA employees rests with the LGA board.
However, under the proposed amendment, the board’s power to appoint employees to the authority would be removed. Instead, as outlined in the amendment, employees required by the authority would be appointed and dismissed by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) on the recommendation of the authority’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
The amendment further states that the CEO would be the responsible senior official for matters relating to the appointment, dismissal and administration of LGA employees. It also states that salaries and allowances for positions within the authority would be determined by the National Pay Commission under the state pay framework law.
In addition, the amendment formally includes waste management services among the public services that local councils are required to provide under the law in islands and cities.