Non-Government Organizations Save the Beach and Villijoali have accused relevant authorities of not trying enough to remove the bridge platform that ran aground on the South East corner of Villimale's reef.
The platform used by AFCONs of India, the contractor tasked with building the Thilamale bridge, ran aground on Villimale's reef last Tuesday, and locals as well as NGOs have been baffled by the inability of those responsible to refloat the infrastructure that has been striking the reef repeatedly.
In a statement, the NGOs said that the continuous impact on the reef by the platform can be felt and heard from inside the island.
It said that it is hard to imagine the destruction at the sites, especially since it is of this magnitude.
The NGOs said that they believe not enough effort has been put in by relevant authorities to try and remove the platform over the last few days.
They further said that they believed that the Maldives has persons experienced in such removal operations, and should possess the equipment and vessels needed for such operations and that all the expertise should be utilized at this point.
The NGOs said that once the platform has been removed, it is imperative for an assessment to be done of the damage to this very important reef structure.
They said that the residents of Villimale', ocean, beach, and surf lovers call on the authorities to do everything in their power to remove this platform from Villimale reef, utilizing all available resources to ensure its safe relocation without further delay.
Local authorities had said that they would take appropriate action if the platform is found to have damaged the reef.
