A section in the ‘Regulation on the Protection and Conservation of the Environment in the Tourism Industry’ which allowed resorts to dispose of food waste and biodegradable waste into the sea under special circumstances, has been repealed.
Section 5.3.3 of the ‘Regulation on the Protection and Conservation of the Environment in the Tourism Industry’ stated that resorts, picnic islands and marinas operating in the Maldives may dispose of food waste and biodegradable waste into the ocean, in the absence of a designated waste disposal area in the region.
Furthermore, the repealed section detailed that any such waste is to be disposed to the sea outside of the atoll taking into account the wind and currents. This is so that the disposed waste does not land on the shores of islands.
The repealed section has since been omitted from the regulation, and was published on the gazette yesterday.
Recently, a tourist resort came under fire for the dumping of waste into the ocean. A third-party divemaster had collected the disposed trash from the ocean and brought it back to the resort’s reception, which resulted in his termination. This incident, which soon went viral on social media, led to an investigation into the matter by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
