Protestors of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) fighting against the construction of the telescope on Mauna Kea gathered at the Kamehameha Statue in Oahu on Wednesday, July 1st, in the hope of reopening of the summit road.

It has been said that the University of Hawaii (UH) Office of Mauna Kea Management decided to close the summit road and the Visitors Information Station on Monday till the time no further notice is served.

But, a group of protestors stated that UH is implementing the restrictions only on few of the selected areas. The restrictions have been implemented because of the series of protests on Wednesday, June 24, in which boulders and rock walls were kept along the road by the TMT protesters.

The series of protests by the TMT protestors resulted in damage and threat to public safety, due to which the UH has to take the decision of temporarily closing the road.

Dan Meisenzahl, spokesperson from the UH said in a statement that the event that happened in the previous week was unprecedented, and they have been taking care of the road since decades.

“We have to grade it twice a week and lot of rock and boulders that were moved on road and, some of them were pried from mountain side so ... it's going to take us a little longer to asses”, he said.

He further stated that the team is also worried about the minor changes in the locations and the general state of the road, as it is presently in rough shape.

According to Doug Chin, Hawaii's Attorney General, the protestors cleared the obstacles that they placed on to the road later on Friday afternoon.