Male’ City Mayor Adam Azim states that numerous locally hired employees often do not report to work, causing interruptions to daily operations.

During a city council meeting on Wednesday, Azim stated that a number of vendors at the Male’ local market are senior citizens, and that the majority of them cannot afford to employ trustworthy local workers.

"These locations are managed by extremely elderly people." They cannot recruit employees. They cannot employ local workers. Even when they succeed in hiring locals, the new employees arrive on the first day but do not return the following day, making it impossible for them to operate their business. “This is a common challenge encountered by all companies overall,” he stated.

Azim thinks there’s no justification for expatriates to be permitted to operate as vendors in the local market.

He wondered why clients raise concerns about expatriates employed in the local market while they have no problem being served by foreign workers in cafes and restaurants.

“They can be found in every café and restaurant, throughout all prominent dining establishments, and in every construction firm and store.” "They can hire expatriates if they are unable to find [local] workers, correct?" he stated.

Azim stated that it is only just for companies to employ expatriates if they cannot find local employees, enabling them to manage their operations.