Fushifaru Maldives holds "Plastic Aa Nulaa" event

The 'Plastic Aa Nulaa' event organized by Fushifaru Maldives in collaboration with Ooredoo and Muni Foundation has taken place at Central Park Monday evening.

Plastic aa Nulaa translates to "without plastic".

Held to encourage elimination of single use plastic and share the current state of the country’s marine environment, the event was held on Monday and saw the participation of students from the Centre for Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) as guests in addition to senior officials of the government and concerned organizations.

Speaking with The Edition, students of CHSE highlighted that many improvements are being observed in tackling environmental issues that threaten the country’s ecosystem and remarked that more initiatives such as awareness programs and internships at environmental institutions can be increased to assist future generations in becoming conservationists.

In order to inaugurate the event, a cleanup program was held at the harbor area near Central Park in Hulhumale' earlier in the morning. This program saw the collection of 15 sacks of waste from the harbor while another jumbo bag was filled with waste collected from other areas nearby.

Speaking at the event, General Manager of Fushifaru Maldives, Ahmed Siaar had recalled this cleanup program and revealed that the 50kg of waste collected under the movement will be recycled through the resort’s partnership with Parley Maldives.

Stressing the importance of nurturing an environment that will be preserved for future generations, he also asserted that the impact of the damage caused by such negligence may start being observed in the upcoming 20-50 years.

“I do not wish for natural beauty to become a fairytale. I wish we go on living without plastic,” said Siaar.

Speaking with the Edition, he further highlighted the role of tourism stakeholders in proceeding such initiatives. Stating that they are part of the Fushifaru resort’s annual calendar, he revealed that bigger programs with a wider and more solidified impact will be proceeded in the future to safeguard Lhaviyani atoll’s marine ecosystem together with other resorts in the atoll.

“When we have individual resorts in the Maldives, I feel that the resorts and the community together should focus on that particular atoll to make sure our marine reserve is safe for the future generations.”

Minister of Fisheries and Ocean Resources, Ahmed Shiyam also spoke with The Edition, stating that there are many resorts and hotels in Maldives which focuses its income around the sale of the country’s environment. He maintained that therefore, related stakeholders such as resort owners, employees alongside direct and indirect benefactors of the industry must assume the biggest role in proceeding such initiatives to sustain the country’s environment.

In his speech at the event, Minister Shiyam further recalled that President Dr Mohamed Muizzu had ratified the 18th Amendment to the Export-Import Act which mandated the government to reveal a list of banned single-use plastic products. Prior to this this, former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had decreed a restructure to the import ban of single-use plastic into Maldives under Section 7 of the same Act.

“Our government is also making all extendable efforts to protect the environment, as this is our life," said Shiyam.

He assured that the President gives utmost priority into conserving the marine reserve and reducing single-use plastic.

The Minister further implored all businessmen and investors within the tourism industry to persevere with additional dedication to safeguard the environment, further remarking that cooperation from all directions are essential to achieving this aim at a national level.

He asserted that the most important factor for the challenging task of tackling this issue is commitment and goodwill, further maintaining that all employees of the fishing industry, in addition to employees of the tourism industry, must assume responsibility for protecting the sea life.

"Fishing is based on sea life. It begins with sea life. Any work that focuses on protecting the marine reserve is work done for the fishermen. This is a responsibility of all employees that work in both industries [tourism and fishing]."

Addressing additional improvement to reduce single-use plastic, Marine Biologist at the Atoll Marine Conservation Centre, Lorraine Aldridge further remarked that the current waste management system of the country which is empaneled within burning of waste requires refinement as many of the waste ends up back in the ocean during or after the burning process regardless of being safely discarded into a waste area.

She further highlighted that the drinking water facilities must also be improved with water purification systems established in each household to reduce the number of plastic bottles that package the drinking water vastly used by the people. Remarking that this must be mainly focused around local islands, she recalled that desalination processes are established in most households. She, however, maintained that the water remains at a quality that is not ideal for drinking.

Managing Director and CEO of Ooredoo Maldives, Khalid Al-Hamadi, also addressed the issue at the event. Khalid had shared that nearly 15 million tons of plastic waste end up in coastal areas each year and will negatively impact the future of the ecosystem as well as the everyday lives of the people.

Remarking that reality does not allow use of plastic products to be eliminated entirely, Khalid stated that the people must be consequently heedful to wisely tackle the use of single-use plastic.

He stated that the company is intensely committed to the environment and assured that they will never hesitate to proceed any possible initiatives to conserve the marine reserve.