The Fuvahmulah City Council has refuted assertions that it had dumped copies of the Quran’s translation in Dhivehi at Thilafushi island.

The council released a statement after images depicted these boxes along with waste at Thilafushi island, which is used as a dumping site by several islands across the country including capital city Malé, surfaced on social networking platforms.

The statement said that the boxes contained copies that the council received from the Islamic Ministry almost a decade ago, but had actually contained errors in translation.

They were handed over to the Waste Management Corporation (WAMCO) last week as items that require special disposal, and the Fuvahmulah City Council had made relevant payments to the corporation as well, the statement said.

Therefore, the council said that it is not culpable for the state in which the copies were found, photographed, and uploaded online.

Prior to the copies being handed over to WAMCO for ‘responsible’ disposal, the council had written to the Islamic Ministry, asking that they retake the mistranslations. However, the ministry had refused to do so and advised the council to dispose of them.

The statement further says that reports in local media outlets and spreading online are false and baseless, and that the council has asked the police to investigate the matter.

While the Fuvahmulah City Council says that it had officially handed over the copies, packed in labeled boxes, and made payment for their special disposal, WAMCO had earlier denied knowledge of the dumping.

In a statement last week, WAMCO said that the boxes were dumped a vessel last Wednesday and that said vessel has been identified. The statement also said that WAMCO employees had separated the boxes from other trash once they were made aware of the incident.

The Maldives Police Service (MPS) on Friday confirmed that it is investigating a case where copies of the Quran’s official translation in Dhivehi were dumped at the island.