Mayor slams tree removal in public, council wants trees disposed

Male mayor Dr Mohamed Muizzu said on Tuesday that trees were being felled for Ameenee Magu streetscaping project against the council’s approval. Following Muizzu's comments, Road Development Corporation (RDC), which works on the project, released a copy of a letter from the council stating that it wanted to destroy most of the trees removed from the road.

When the government started the process of modernising the city's most dilapidated road, a large section of the public and environmental NGOs stood up against the felling of trees on the road.

Amid criticism, both the RDC and the government have said that the shady trees on both sides of the road were being removed for a lack of an alternative solution.

As another segment of the road was closed and trees began to be felled, the voice of complaints grew louder again.

As part of the road construction work, the trees between Odagella Cafe and Rehendi flats on Ameenee Magu are being cut.

Mayor Muizzu has been speaking out against the move.

"While the Male City Council is planting trees and greening the city, the government is seen cutting and removing the trees on the city’s roads. Trees on Ameenee Magu are being removed despite the Male City Council's objections to it," he tweeted on Tuesday.

The mayor's statement was supported by some members of the public.

However, Muizzu has also faced criticism from some quarters. They said it was too late to talk about it and questioned the trees that had been felled in the projects undertaken by Muizzu when he was the housing minister.

Responding to the mayor's tweet on Tuesday, RDC Managing Director Moosa Ali Manik tweeted a copy of a letter sent by the council to the RDC on September 15.

In the letter, signed by city council secretary general Mujthaba Jaleel, the council had asked to discuss how to handle the trees removed from the road.

"Most of the trees that are currently being removed from the road need to be destroyed. In addition, we have mentioned that we have decided to donate trees to those who need them," the council said in the letter.

Tweeting the letter, Moosa Ali Manik said that the mayor had "officially asked to destroy the trees while saying something else in the media".

"The mayor is fully aware that trees are being removed from Ameenee Magu because it simply must be done and that there is no alternative. It's not something that anyone would enjoy dong," he said.

Atoll Times tried to get Muizzu's comments on the letter, but there was no response from the mayor.

Ameenee Magu is being developed under the Male Street Scaping Project: