Mayor says Male' can save MVR 40 million a year with better waste reduction

Mayor Adam Azim said Saturday that the Male' City Council could save MVR 40 million annually if residents were more careful in reducing the amount of garbage produced in the capital.

The Male' City Council, in collaboration with the Scout Association, the National University Students Union, Clean Maldives and the Maldives Ocean Plastics Alliance (MOPA), conducted a cleanup drive at the Artificial Beach on Saturday.

Speaking before the event, Azim said WAMCO collects around 800 tonnes of garbage daily, while the council collects 25 tonnes. He said the council spends MVR 3 million to MVR 5 million per month on waste disposal services.

“The garbage collected from the city is not real waste, it’s litter. We are talking about trash that people should not be dumping this way,” Azim said.

He urged the public to be more responsible in waste management and to avoid producing unnecessary excess food.

Azim said WAMCO charges an additional 10 percent for the garbage disposed of by the council. While WAMCO charges MVR 1,000 for public waste disposal, the council is charged MVR 10,000, he said.

He noted that reducing littering could save significant funds.

“Foreigners and residents of the city, everyone produces garbage. If we all start working on this, we can certainly save MVR 3.4 million per month in Male'. We can save MVR 40 million a year,” he said.

Azim also called on garbage collectors to ensure proper collection, and highlighted ongoing issues such as waste being dumped on top of electricity boxes and left on top of dustbins instead of inside them.

“If we all start practicing not littering, both in the sea and on land, it will become a good habit. I ask all residents not to litter anywhere and to learn to manage their waste on their own,” he said.