32-year outdated law used for environmental fines in the millions

Fines tend to go up in the millions when it comes to marine vessels damaging reefs. However, none of the fines have been paid to the state. The businesses and marine vessels continue to operate in Maldives without consequence.

This is what the Parliament's Committee on Environment and Climate Change noticed from their investigation.

The investigation began due to the issue of parties with large marine vessels not paying the state after being penalized for the damage being done to Maldives' delicate reefs, with the issue being brought to the attention of the committee. 

As per the investigation report that was passed by the Parliament yesterday, the grounding of marine vessels onto coral reefs have accrued major fines, with the fines having not been paid to the state. One party has been repeatedly fined in the past. However, it is simply a fine on paper, with the party having not paid any of it.

Even though businesses have received large fines, they continue to operate in Maldives without consequence even without paying their fines. The committee report highlights that relevant state institutions have not discussed actionable steps if businesses do not pay fines.

As per information Mihaaru News had gathered last year, there is more than MVR 825 million in unpaid fines until December 2024. While there were 24 fines, only MVR 50,000 from said fines were paid to the state.

Most of the unpaid fines consist of the ones with larger amounts. There are six parties that have each incurred a fine of MVR 100 million. This is the highest fine that can be incurred as per the Environment Protection and Preservation Act. This act is from 1993.

All the aforementioned marine vessels are foreign vessels. As per the calculations from the Environmental Regulatory Authority (ERA), it is mostly marine vessels of foreign companies that have not paid the fines.

Upon the Parliament's Committee on Environment and Climate Change requesting word from the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, the ministry said that fines from marine vessel groundings are too high. The ministry also told the committee that the fines need to be reviewed.

However, the fine amounts are accurate as per the ERA. The ERA and the Attorney General's Office has said that the amounts are determined by using a specific formula, with the amounts being almost equal to the numbers determined by various countries for such crimes.

Most of the marine vessels that are included in the cases of fines, as per reports, are foreign vessels that enter Maldives through relevant agents. The marine vessels that are fined tend to sail out of Maldives without paying the fines, which creates many difficulties when attempting to charge said vessels for non-payment of fines.

As the legal framework currently stands, the Attorney General's Office has said that there are requirements for said marine vessels to be docked and held back at Maldives.

The ERA does not fine marine vessels upon grounding. They are fined due to the damage caused to the reefs as compensation. And so, the damage to the reef cannot be assessed unless the vessel is salvaged after grounding.

There are no legal steps that can currently be taken even if a vessel is not salvaged after running aground onto a reef. The report has stated that there are still vessels that have not been salvaged from reefs.

Due to this, unseen damage continues to be caused to reefs.

The report states that even though a marine vessel under a shipping agent's care runs aground onto a reef, the legal framework does not clearly specify how the agent should be held responsible, nor does it specify next steps if the agent is changed due to the issue. 

The report also highlights that agents do not believe they should take responsibility for the fines. However, agents are included in such charges.

In situations where fines issued through court sentences are appealed, court proceedings tend to drag such cases for long periods of time due to there being no specific time frame for such cases to be concluded.

Along with that, the ERA does not have the power to take the issue of non-payment and the acquiring of said payment to the court. There is an appeal stage available to the minister as well if the ERA orders a fine. Because of the aforementioned, the ERA highlights that there are great difficulties faced as cases get delayed.

The report states that the Attorney General's Office has highlighted that the Environment Protection and Preservation Act from 1993, which is being observed for fining and charging of environment cases, needs amendments. However, the report also states that the responsibility of introducing amendments to the act has not been shouldered in order to solve the fine issue.

The committee has proposed many measures for the issues they have come to their attention. And so, the Attorney General's Office and the Ministry of Tourism and Environment has been informed that they are to introduce amendments to the act to the Parliament within six months.

They were also informed that amendments to the act and regulations that hold agents and marine vessel owners responsible are to be introduced to the Parliament within six months.

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