Minister of Tourism and Environment Thoriq Ibrahim has said today that the Greater Male' Environment Improvement and Waste Management project in Thilafushi is proceeding swiftly.
Minister of Tourism and Environment Thoriq Ibrahim has said today that the Greater Male' Environment Improvement and Waste Management project in Thilafushi is proceeding swiftly.
The aim of this project, which is being conducted in two phases, is to establish a sustainable system for managing waste in the Maldives.
The project is funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR), as well as the Maldives government.
The first phase of the project targets waste collection and management in Male' and some selected islands.
As such, changes are being brought to the Thilafushi Waste Reception Facility, new Waste Transfer Stations are being set up, and a Demolition Waste Processing Plant is being established. A dedicated plant is also being built to wreck and demolish used vehicles.
President Dr Mohamed Muizzu visited Thilafushi today to inspect work on the project.
Accompanying the President on his visit, Minister Thoriq said that the second phase of the project, introducing waste-to-energy technology, will be done in late 2026, which would see the management of 774 tonnes of waster per day in the area.
Thoriq said that USD 145 million will be spent on the incinerator project in the second phase. He said that 500 tonnes of waste can be processed in the incinerator system per day, generating 13MW of energy.
In his visit, the President also observed the work of the Thilafushi Regional Waste Management Facility.
The Environment Ministry said that the previously halted waste baling has been resumed, with 76 bales of waste produced each day. They said that in order to make the best use of the available space, 991 waste bales have been moved to another location.
The ministry further said that offloading of waste from resorts from vessels has been speeded up from one day to one hour, and clearance time in the landing craft offloading area has also been decreased from three days to five hours.
In addition to this, security at the facility has been strengthened through the use of advanced surveillance systems.
So as to clear the roads to the waste-to-energy facility, 6,500 tonnes of waste have been reused as landfill cover. The ministry said that a new waste cell of 500 square metres has also been established to manage waste over the next two years.
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