Malé City Mayor Mohamed Muizzu has claimed that the state did not cooperate with the City Council's decision to move the Neelan Fihaara, the auction shop located on the south side of Malé, to the industrial zone.
The Mayor spoke to the media after the fire broke out at Malé Neelan Fihaara early this morning.
Along with the auction house, the accommodation block for foreign employees of the Malé City Council also burned down.
Muizzu said the council had decided to move Neelan Fihaara from the busy residential area to the industrial zone in 2021 and even tried to implement the decision late last year.
The mayor said the government had not released the land to the people after developing a special area in the Industrial zone for that purpose.
The number of tragic incidents occurring in residential areas has been high due to the existence of buildings which are unsafe to be in densely populated areas, and it is important to use the industrial zone to solve these problems, he said.
Muizzu said the current problem with the fire incident at Neelan Fihaara is that there is no place to house the council’s 200 employees displaced by the fire. Discussions have been held with several Ministries for a resolution, but no decision has been reached yet.
"I am concerned that some municipal services will be disrupted today. I hope the slowdown will be understood," the Mayor said.
The city council during September last year had ordered Neelan Fihaara to be vacated. However, the area had since resumed business.
The fire at Neelan Fihaara has now been brought under control. However, the area is still smoke filled. No one was injured in the incident.
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