The construction of Waste Management Corporation Limited (WAMCO)'s Waste Transfer Station in the Malé Industrial Zone will be completed by July, Minister of Environment, Climate Change, and Technology Aminath Shauna said on Wednesday.
Local medias were given a tour of the Waste Transfer Station on Wednesday morning. The construction of the two buildings—a three-story building for waste collection and a seven-story office building for the ministry's waste department, WAMCO, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—is now complete. The finishing work on the two buildings is currently underway.
Speaking to journalists after the tour, Minister Shauna said that while it has been almost a year since construction of the Waste Transfer Station was handed over, a major portion of the project has now been completed.
"The station will be operational once the building is complete and the facilities to provide the service, mostly the pickup trucks used for garbage collection and other equipment, are established," she said.
The minister said that she hoped for the facility to be fully operational in July this year.
WAMCO Managing Director Yoosuf Siraj said the project will bring about the biggest change in the waste collection system.
"Right now we are taking the waste [to Thilafushi] by dumping all the garbage into a vessel. We receive complaints about garbage being spilled outside. Once the facility is complete and the containers start being used to carry the waste, this problem will be resolved," Siraj said.
A similar waste transfer station is being constructed in Hulhumalé and VIlimalé. On June 24 of last year, the ministry of environment awarded the construction of the stations to China's State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC).
In addition to the construction work, the company will also bring in and install the equipment needed for these stations.
The Waste Transfer Stations will be used to hold the waste generated in the Malé area before it is transported to Thilafushi. Household waste from Malé, Hulhumalé, and Vilimalé will be brought to these stations and loaded into containers.
The containers will be divided into three categories. One of the main purposes of using these containers to transport garbage is to prevent garbage from being spilled into the sea and to prevent the emission of bad odours.
The waste transfer station project is funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR), the Technical Assistance Special Fund (TASF), and the Maldives government at a cost of USD 11.8 million (MVR 183 million). The work was to be completed within one and a half years.
As part of the Greater Malé Environmental Improvement and Waste Management Project, which was launched to ensure sustainable disposal of waste generated in the Malé area, the burning of waste in Thilafushi has been stopped. At present, waste disposal is being carried out in a safe manner with the help of state-of-the-art machinery.
The largest waste management project in the Maldives was launched in Thilafushi on December 15, 2022. The project will be implemented in two phases. In the first phase of the project, a new port will be built at Thilafushi along with Waste Transfer Stations in Malé, Villimalé and Hulhumalé and garbage dumps will be constructed on all islands of Kaafu, Alifu Alifu, Alifu Dhaalu and Vaavu atolls.
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