Male' Mayor Adam Azim has said that he has asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Welfare to cover the expenses made from the Male' City Council's budget to build the cat care facility 'Olhu Hiyaa' and to take over its operations.
On December 3 last year, the cabinet decided to transfer Olhu Hiyaa under the Ministry and notified the City Council. However, the facility was built on council expense.
Azim said that he had been made aware of the cabinet decision to transfer the facility under the ministry when he was 'about to leave with boxes to transfer cats to the facility'.
"Male' City Council was allocated land. When they handed over the land, we designed and completed the facility. Around 4pm on December 3, we were heading out with boxes and things to transfer cats to the facility when we received the letter," he said.
Azim said that Olhu Hiyaa is built on government land. He said that the agreement also allows for the land to be reclaimed at any time.
He said that he does not wish to challenge a decision made by the government. Hence, he has sent letters twice to the ministry asking them to take over operations of the facility.
"The government is always senior to the council. We also must accept that. We are not going to challenge the government when they have made a decision. There is a fully functional facility now. The ministry can cover the costs of building the place and then carry on with its operations," Azim said.
Azim said that in the letters sent to the ministry, the council had appealed for them to expedite taking over operations of Olhu Hiyaa.
The Mayor says that it is not important whether it is him or the ministry that takes cats to the facility, but rather the key concern is finding a solution to the issue which is posing inconvenience to Male' residents.
Azim said that veterinarians have now been found for the facility, and cat food has also been ordered. He said that the plan then had been to transfer about 2000 to 3000 stray cats in Male' to the facility and spay and neuter them.
"Now we are asking the ministry to take on that work. Show us how it's done."
Azim believes that the cats need to be transferred to the facility at the earliest, his concern being that in rainy weather, cat faeces on the streets pose inconvenience to pedestrians. He added that it is through transferring cats to the facility that they can be saved from injury as well.
Azim said that the city council was unable to achieve this due to obstruction from the government. If the government stops obstructing efforts, the Mayor said the council can, even now, continue with the work.
Earlier, when Male' City Council first attempted to transfer cats to the facility, the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Welfare raised concerns that the council had failed to complete all necessary requirements at the facility. They said that transferring cats to the facility under such conditions would have a negative impact on the health and welfare of the cats.
The ministry said that they had provided detailed SOPs for the council to follow in regards to the facility, but had failed to receive any response from the council.