Minister of Environment, Climate Change, and Technology Aminath Shauna says our ocean is our most precious resource and that we should not be treating the ocean as a garbage dump.
She made the comments after the Ministry repealed Article 5.3.3 of the 'Regulation on the Protection and Conservation of the environment in the Tourism Industry' which allows resorts to dump food waste and other biodegradable into the sea in the absence of a designated site for waste disposal in the region.
The Minister said that the ocean is our most precious resource, providing food and sustaining life in the Maldives.
She noted that it is the reason why people visit our beautiful country and that we should not be treating the ocean as a garbage dump.
The Minister hailed the repealing of Article 5.3.3 as an important milestone in our efforts to sustainably manage waste.
The repealed Article says in the absence of a designated area for waste disposal in the region, only food waste and biodegradable waste may be dumped into the ocean.
It further says that any biodegradable waste dumped as such shall be dumped to the sea outside the atoll, taking into account the wind and ocean currents so that it would not land on the shores of islands.
The regulation enacted in 2006 said that any party that fails to comply with it would be liable to a fine, taking into consideration the seriousness of the non-compliance, between MVR 1000 and MVR 10,000 in the first instance.
It also said that Parties repeatedly in non-compliance shall be liable to a fine between MVR 50,000 and MVR 100,000.
It read that if non-compliance of a provision occurs more than once, the Ministry reserves the right to revoke the license.
