According to the Government, they passed this Act in order to take advantage of the imported waste in order to turn waste into energy, however many questioned the viability of this cause as the Maldives is a small nation without the needed resources to carry out such a project.
The end of 2022 was a rough time period for the Maldives in every single aspect. While people of this beautiful island nation were still in the process of facing the harsh realities of the debt situation in the country and wondering what would happen to the country’s future, another piece of news broke out yet again.
At the start of 2022, the Maldives was finally working towards accomplishing a sustainable future and things were looking up for the country. However, by the end of the year, things took a turn for the worst. In November 2022, after the Parliament of the Maldives passed the waste management Act which was supposed to help reduce and safely maintain the waste produced within the country, a last-minute amendment to the 44th section of the Act completely changed how people saw this.
While the initial Act completely prohibited the import of any waste from foreign countries, following the amendment, Maldives now allowed other countries to import their waste into the Maldives. According to the Government, they passed this Act in order to take advantage of the imported waste in order to turn waste into energy, however many questioned the viability of this cause as the Maldives is a small nation without the needed resources to carry out such a project.
Following this, many feared that the Maldives would turn into a part of the global waste mountain. Concerns were raised by NGOs and citizens alike, however, until now these concerns were falling on deaf ears.
Speaking to local news media the Minister of Environment Aminath Shauna stated that the Government is against the last-minute amendments that have allowed the import of waste into the country and stated that she was unaware of the last-minute changes when they were brought about.
"It was a big change that was added at the very last minute. I didn't even notice it,"
The Minister further stated that the Environment Ministry has started the administrative work to amend this Act and as soon as the administrative work is completed the Ministry would send the amendment to the Attorney General's Office.
The passing of this bill caused many to voice their concerns about what would become of the beautiful nation if countries were allowed to import their waste. As Maldives is a small nation that heavily depends on the country's natural beauty, an amendment of this Act is much needed, and it seems like that decision now rests in the hands of the Government.
