Chancellor of the Maldives National University, Dr. Hassan Hameed, Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Technology, Aminath Shauna, Cabinet Ministers, Head of corporation of the delegation of the European Union to the Maldives and Sri Lanka, Distinguished Guests and Ladies and Gentlemen;
And a very good morning to you all.
It gives me great pleasure to be here today and address you all as in the first Policy Roundtable held as part of the project PROMISE.
I am sure everyone sitting in this room is very aware of the many challenges that our islands face when it comes to dealing with waste in a safe and sustainable manner. While the task at hand is enormous, this administration will not shy away from it, and we are prepared to meet it head on.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Maldives relies on its oceans and marine resources for our subsistence. Our major economic activities of tourism and fishing are intricately linked to our coastal and marine environments and its biodiversity. For the Maldives, healthy oceans translate to a healthy economy.
Over the past few decades, the amount of waste we generate has increased at an exponential rate to a volume that is currently beyond our capacity. Waste accumulated in mounds at coastal sites end up becoming marine litter. Plastic waste that ends up in the ocean continues to be an enduring problem for our country, threatening our reefs, lagoons and marine life.
The Maldives’ limited land space, geography and resulting logistical difficulties makes management of waste at that magnitude extremely difficult. This is compounded by the lack of concrete policy and consumer awareness, as well as insufficient waste management capacities.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This government has adopted an innovative approach to our economy to transition towards a more ocean friendly community-led, blue economy that prioritizes sustainable use of the ocean’s bounties.
In addition We have banned the importing of selected “single-use” plastic items, and have drafted a new waste regulation bill that includes introducing Extended Producer Responsibility. We have also stopped burning waste in Thilafushi Island, freeing the air within Male’ atoll from harmful toxins for the first time in a generation.
Our administration has included using Waste as a resource through a four-step process in our Strategic Action Plan. Our emphasis on decentralization as a means of governance, also applies to waste management. As such, we are working towards building a decentralized waste management system that can be integrated at the national level.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This administration has the vision, the leadership and the political will to fix the issue. Programs like this give us hope that we are moving in the right direction. Such congregations of policy makers, development organizations, island associations and NGOs are necessary to come up with community solutions for what is effectively a community problem. I am seeing a lot of promise in this program and where it is headed. We hope to see concrete actions from this roundtable in the form of better waste management policy ideas.
I would like to thank the Maldives National University and all its local and international partners for hosting such an important discussion at this important juncture in the Maldivian story. Our administration will continue to provide our full support for innovative environmental initiatives.
Thank you very much and I wish you all a very pleasant day.