Following widespread public concern over the government’s decision to cut down trees in the "Funavaa" area of Villimale to build housing units, Housing Minister Dr. Abdulla Mutthalib announced today that one of the towers will be relocated to a different area.

Under the BML Affordable Home Leasing Scheme, the decision was made to build more than 3,000 housing units across Malé, Villimale, and Hulhumalé. To facilitate the flats in Villimale, work had recently begun to cut down large, mature Funa (Alexandrian Laurel) trees located on the land in front of Muhyiddin School.

Concerns regarding this were so significant that a constitutional case was filed with the Supreme Court seeking to halt the project.

In a post on X today, Minister Mutthalib noted that while there is a lack of parks and open spaces in the Malé area, providing adequate housing for those living in difficult conditions is a necessary task.

"As the reclaimed and currently being reclaimed lands in the Malé area are lands granted as plots to the citizens, the scarcity of available land to construct the flats required for families living with housing difficulties among the citizens is the biggest challenge to this," Minister Mutthalib said.

He stated that despite these challenges, the government has always aimed to proceed with the project in Villimale without cutting down the large Funa trees. Therefore, he said it has been decided to move one tower to a different location instead of cutting the trees.

"However, as the trees at the site designated for 1 out of the 3 towers must be removed, and branches of some large trees must be cut, it has now been decided to relocate that tower to another area," the Minister's post read.

Environmental protection organizations and professional associations in the construction industry had also expressed concerns, citing the negative environmental impact and planning issues associated with such a project.