Fees and collection hours will remain unchanged when the requirement to sort garbage comes into effect on June 1, the Waste Management Corporation noted at a joint press briefing with the environment ministry. Households and businesses must bag organic waste and plastic cans separately.
About 1,200 tonnes of waste and 115,000 plastic bottles are generated daily and monthly, respectively, in the Greater Malé region.
An Asian Development Bank-funded project is underway to establish a modern solid waste management facility on the Thilafushi industrial island near the capital.
The Islamic ministry instructed the Malé City Council to put a stop to the decoration of graves and tombstones, citing complaints as the practice is contrary to Islamic principles. The intervention came after media reports about a growing grave decoration business at the Aasahara cemetery. Prices reportedly range between MVR1,500 (US$100) and MVR3,500.
The ruling party started a social media campaign to counter the opposition’s protests against the alleged presence of Indian soldiers in the country. Using the hashtag #Baakeenuvey (roughly: don’t get isolated or left out), top officials and activists have been expressing gratitude for Indian assistance over the years.
The Hulhudhuffaaru council expressed concern over delays in starting a coastal protection project earmarked in the budget for the past two years. Many coconut palms and other trees have fallen due to worsening beach erosion. The planning ministry has not responded to a request for an update, the council said.
At the conclusion of a 10-day visit to the Maldives, UN Special Rapporteur on the protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism. Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, called for the urgent repatriation of Maldivian women and children from Al Hol and Roj camps in Syria and other conflict zones.
“More than 50 Maldivian nationals are believed to be living in the camps, without proper access to food, clean water, healthcare and education,” according to the UN.
After visiting detention centres and meeting officials from the executive, legislature and judiciary as well as from independent bodies and civil society groups, the UN rights expert briefed Ambassador-at-Large Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed on her preliminary findings. A report on the visit will be presented to the Human Rights Council in March 2023.
In March this year, a 33-year-old Maldivian woman and her four children became the first family to be repatriated from a refugee camp. According to the police, 173 Maldivians were known to have joined terrorist organisations in Syria and Iraq as of December 2019, many of whom were killed in battle. Of 59 Maldivians left in Syria at the time, 91% were women and children.
Transparency Maldives urged the government to scrap controversial plans to introduce a new healthcare scheme for soldiers and police officers. The NGO called on the authorities “to strengthen the national health insurance system, and address the gaps in the public health care system to ensure equitable and timely access to health care services across the country.”
Sonu Shivdasani, co-founder of Soneva resorts, denied claims by opposition-aligned media outlets that former Sri Lankan prime minster Mahinda Rajapakse was in discussions to buy a villa at one of the brand’s Maldives properties. In a press statement, Soneva dismissed the reports – which also alleged that former president Mohamed Nasheed was acting as an intermediary – as “baseless” and expressed “disappointment that such websites in the Maldives spread false information in order to create sensational, untrue and libellous stories.”
Of 57 complaints made to a hotline about overcharging taxi drivers, 15 cases have been investigated and submitted to the police, Transport Minister Aishath Nahula informed parliament.
A white stork seen in Laamu Hithadhoo was the first recorded sighting of the species in the Maldives, the Environment Protection Agency revealed.
Parliament approved the president’s nomination of Aishath Shan Shakir as the new Maldives ambassador to Germany. She was chief of protocol at the foreign ministry.
New procedural rules for conducting postmortems came into force. According to the overdue regulations, the police can decide to seek an autopsy to determine cause of death in suspected murders, suicides and accidents.
The Male City Council started planting 200 date palms on the outer road, part of a project to add 100,000 trees by 2023. Other fruit trees will also be planted across the island, according to the mayor.
The International Federation of Journalists condemned a police officer’s alleged harassment of a journalist who was covering a street protest.
“Harassment and threats to journalists in the field contravene the right to freedom of expression enshrined in the Maldives’ constitution. Journalists must be allowed to operate in the field without fear of attack or persecution. The IFJ urges the Maldivian government to act swiftly to investigate the case and arrest the perpetrators,” the press freedom organisation said.
Saudi Arabia’s Hajj quota for the Maldives this year is 453, down from 1,000 before the pandemic. Citing a lack of time to evaluate proposals from private groups, the Islamic ministry awarded the full quota of pilgrims to the government-owned Maldives Hajj Corporation, which reserved 353 spots for its waiting list.
About 3,500 people have reportedly paid 75% of the Hajj Corporation’s MVR69,965 (US$4,500) price to be waitlisted.
Two men died in a speedboat accident at the Gaaf Alif Villigili harbour. Misbah Abdul Mohsin and Mohamed Shafiu were reportedly thrown overboard when the speedboat crashed into the entrance breakwater at high speed. They were found in the water and rushed to hospital but were pronounced dead on arrival. Three other men on the boat were airlifted to the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Malé. One was left in critical condition.
According to media reports, the men travelled to attend a wedding on the southern island. The deceased were a relative of the bride from Villigili and the brother of the groom from Noonu Landhoo.
