The swimming track of capital Male has been closed temporarily for the public, regarding heavy discharge high contamination.

The sports ministry publicized a notice in front of the track stating that the area has been closed over tests being carried out by Health Protection Agency (HPA). According to the notice the water has been possibly contaminated by oil and other garbage.

It is noteworthy that the track is being closed with only one week left for the National Swimming Competition. Swimming Association of Maldives has raised their concerns over the sudden ban. The vice president of Swimming Association Ismail Ali told Mihaaru that the ban is causing a huge loss to the association as the participants do not have any other area to practice their competition.

“As we are so close to the competition this would lead to a huge loss for us, no area to practice and nor can we delay the competition since coming up are the school holidays and almost everyone has tickets [to go abroad] for their vacation,” said Ismail Ali.

He urged the authorities to complete the testing processes as soon as possible.