Minister draws criticism over claim that stormwater pump systems were destroyed "purposefully"

Housing minister Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has drawn public criticism over his claim that most of the stormwater pump systems in capital city Male’ have been destroyed purposefully.

While some roads have flooded with water levels rising up to two feet, others have flooded so much that it is challenging for vehicles to pass through.

Following these torrential rains, Minister Muizzu in a tweet on Tuesday said the panel boards of the systems had been damaged “purposely”, claiming that electricity supply to some pumps have also been cut off.

Adam Manik, the first ever Mayor to have served in the capital, tweeted that the Minister has been “well paid” to do a job and that there should be “no excuses” in carrying them out. Manik’s tweet reads that the Ministry forcibly took the City Council’s powers from them and that the ministry has never cleaned the drains nor solved parking problems since taking control.

“Instead, you seem to be focused on installing an expensive gate to your ministry” alleges Manik, further calling on Minister Muizzu to “get the job done without excuses”.

A local on twitter wrote that the Ministry must check CCTV footage to find out who incurred the damage, calling on the Maldives Police Service to investigate the matter. The person posed, “why and who would do this, when no such vandalism on STELCO, Dhiraagu, Ooredoo network parts” have been incurred.

Another local said that the maintenance of the stormwater systems have been contracted to Maldives Water and Sewerage Company (MWSC) and that MWSC’s payment is way overdue, which the person claimed as the reason they stopped the maintenance work.

“Dr. Muizzu knows this very well,” the person alleges.

“This will be seen as another of your projects which you failed to deliver” reads another tweet by a local.

Some have accused the Ministry of recklessness, going on to claim that most of the projects carried out under the supervision of Dr. Muizzu have had to be begun all anew due to recklessness.

The MWSC had been contracted with the maintenance of stormwater systems to be done under four phases. As such, work on the first phase cost up to MVR four million with the second follow-up phase costing MVR 13.7 million. Costs on the third phase were recorded at MVR five million and the fourth phase evidently cost MVR 20 million. This totals up to MVR 43.2 million.

These systems were designed to drain water within three hours after rainfall stops.

Minister Muizzu on Tuesday took to twitter, saying that he apologizes to the people for the inconvenience caused by the damages incurred to the systems.

Tuesday morning’s downpour caused flooding across Malé, and officers of the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF)’s Fire and Rescue team have been working to drain the water.

The same issue occurred on Sunday as well.