Group caught mining sand near Faresmaathodaa, made to put it back

A group of men were caught mining sand from an uninhabited island near GDh. Faresmaathodaa on Sunday, and made to empty the sacks of sand they collected back into the beach.

The Faresmaathoda Council shared a video of the incident in a post via its official Facebook page.

“Today, we stopped a party from mining sand in violation of regulations, and made them return the sand they collected,” wrote the council.

The council stressed that mining sand from uninhabited islands is illegal, and appealed for public cooperation to protect islands.

The video shared by the council shows three men on a boat loaded with sacks of sand, emptying it out into the beach.

Council president Mohamed Sabah told Sun on Monday that Faresmaathoda used to have three uninhabited islands neighboring it, but that one of the islands has since ceased to exist due to sand mining.

He expressed concern that people continue to mine sand from the remaining two islands.

“These are islands that we must safely deliver to our children. We are also required to uphold the law,” he said.

Sabah urged people not to engage in illegal sand mining, and collect sand from permitted zones.

He said that the council was constantly monitoring for such illegal activities.

It was because of this that the council caught the boat, registered to Faresmaathoda, engaged in sand mining.

Sabah expressed hope that such incidents will not recur.

It is illegal to collect sand from the beaches of uninhabited islands in the Maldives, unless with special permission.