President's Office says statues at Fairmont Maldives gallery 'will be removed'

The government is working with Fairmont Maldives to remove a number of statues built in an art gallery at their resort in Shaviyani atoll, says Ibrahim Muaz Ali, the spokesperson at the President’s Office.

In a post on his twitter account, with the handle ‘SpokespersonMV’, Muaz said that the Tourism Ministry and the President’s Office are working to have the statues removed.

The post says that they have been in contact with the resort and that the statues are to be removed by Saturday.

On Monday, the Fairmont Maldives Sirru Fen Fushi unveiled the world's first semi-submerged art gallery, complete with statues designed by a globally renowned eco-artist which are built from non-toxic and non-harmful compounds.

The statues are exposed and act as artificial reefs and Fairmont has said that it hopes they will become a sanctuary for marine life.

The statues have been subject to much scrutiny, with several prominent religious scholars expressing concern over the matter.

Sheikh Ali Zaidh expressed utter discontent. In a post on Twitter earlier, the sheikh said that the use of statues in Maldivian territory is unacceptable and called its use at the gallery ‘blatantly sacrilegious’.

The use of statues has been a point of concern in the Maldives, with a majority of its citizens identifying heavily with total religious uniformity, and many have taken to social media to express their misgivings over the matter.