In his weekly radio address President Mohamed Nasheed highlighted on government’s subsidy policy, his planned visits abroad, the DRP elections, and Poets’ Day being marked on Friday.

Government’s subsidy policy

In the address, President Nasheed said there were some confusions about government’s policy on providing subsidies.

Speaking on electricity subsidy as an example, he said: “Government’s policy is to provide subsidies directly to the people…businesses will prosper with good management”.

The government has restructured its electricity subsidies from a universal-based system to a targeted approach. The electricity tariff has been raised based on a cost-linked formula, while providing relief through the budget to the most vulnerable.

Emphasising that the government would assist those unable to pay their electricity bills, the President acknowledged that many people were not sufficiently informed about the new changes.
“I hope that in the coming two to three weeks, this will become clearer so that the government could assist more people [who need subsidy],” said the President.

On a related issue, President Nasheed said the utility companies established last year, evolved as efficient companies with notable improvements to electricity delivery. He said there were fewer instances of power outages during the past year compared to the year before.

Visits to Abu Dhabi and India

In his weekly address, the President also briefed on his planned visits to Abu Dhabi and India.

President’s visit to Abu Dhabi is to participate in an energy summit at the invitation of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

From Abu Dhabi, the President will also visit India, where he will attend economic summits in Mumbai and Chennai.

The President said he hoped the visits would open more business and investment opportunities for the Maldives.

DRP elections

In his weekly radio address, the President also spoke on the congress of Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party, to be held next month.

The President said that he was pleased to see DRP was strengthening the party by having internal party elections. Internal democracy, he said, was very important for strengthening political parties.

The President wished DRP success in improving internal democracy.

Poets’ Day

As Friday, 15 January, is being marked as Poets Day – marked in honour of the late Ibrahim Shihab – the President paid tribute to Mr Shihab, who was a renowned poet and orator.