Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Technology Aminath Shauna has commended the sustainable waste management initiative in Kihaadhoo, Baa Atoll. She made the statement at a panel discussion held on the island.
Presidents of eleven island councils in Haa Dhaalu Atoll, Noonu Atoll, and Baa Atoll, which are part of the Soneva Namoona waste management programme joined the panel discussion, and presented their vision of improved waste management initiatives in their islands to government ministers and parliamentarians, committing to measures that will reduce island waste and pollution. They also pledged to segregate, clean, and collect all recyclable solid waste on their islands, end the open burning of non-organic waste, by the end of 2023, lead an ambitious phase-out of single-use plastics on the islands, hire and train waste management specialists and share their knowledge to other islands, and support inter-island initiatives such as the Alun Balun re-sale market to encourage waste reduction.
In addition to those commitments, the island council presidents called on the government to do more to reduce single-use plastics that litter the islands and help islands better manage waste. They presented policy recommendations to the government, including requesting state-owned companies to stop producing bottled water, which produces huge amounts of plastic waste and undermines trust in the domestic water supply, ensuring the safety of water provided to households and publishing water quality test results to improve the public trust and provide public water filling stations in all islands, in schools and public spaces. They also recommended that single-use plastic water bottles should be banned in resorts from 2024, and the provision of alternatives to single-use plastics for other items, such as amenities and drinks, should be included in the operating licenses of resorts, while Waste Management Corporation Limited (WAMCO) should stop accepting unsegregated non-legacy waste from islands as a way to incentivise island-level waste management best practices, and enforce regulations that ban the dumping of waste at sea.
Speaking at the event, Minister Shauna said she will take on board these recommendations and thank the councils and Soneva Namoona for the thought they have put into formulating the recommendations. She said it was a good example of local communities, civil society, and the private sector coming together to innovate and solve the huge challenge of waste management in the Maldives.