Shifa Mohamed, Mayor of the Male City Council, receives an annual take-home salary of MVR 570,000.
A private party had previously petitioned the Council to disclose the salaries and payments made to City Council employees, only to have their request rejected. The party had then lodged a request, as per the Right To Information Act, with the Information Commission which had compelled the Council to disclose the information requested.
The highest salary paid to elected councillors and other staff of the City Council is paid to Mayor Shifa Mohamed. Her take-home salary amounts to MVR 47,500 a month; she is paid a salary of MVR 30,000 a month, a living allowance of MVR 10,000, and a monthly car allowance of MVR 7,500 a month.
The next highest salary is earned by the Council's Secretary-General, with a total take-home pay of MVR 36,500 a month.
The third highest-salary is paid to Deputy Mayor Shamau Shareef, who earns a monthly salary of MVR 27,000 and a living allowance of MVR 8,000. The remaining ten councillors receive a basic monthly salary of MVR 24,000 and a monthly living allowance of MVR 6,000.
A total sum of MVR 3,462,942.60 a month is spent per month on the 524 staff employed by the City Council. 192 of these staff are foreigners. While all foreign employees are paid a total of MVR 790,065 a month, local staff receive a total of MVR 2,672, 880.
City Council members are paid a monthly total of MVR 382,500.
This is the first time that the Male City Council has disclosed the salaries of its staff. The City Council had made many objections to disclosing the information in the past.