UNDP Maldives: Waste a major barrier to sustainable development

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Maldives has said that on a countrywide scale, the issue of waste has been identified as one of the major barriers for the country towards achieving sustainable development.

This came in a statement published by UNDP Maldives today, following a three-day workshop organized by its Mangroves for the Future (MFF) Programme in Alifu Alifu Ukulhas.

The purpose of the workshop was to replicate the exemplary waste management system of Ukulhas in the islands of Gaafu Alif and Gaafu Dhaalu Atolls.

UNDP Maldives said that the dispersed geographic placement of the islands makes transportation of waste exceedingly difficult and prohibitively expensive in the Maldives, which often leaves island communities with little choice but to resort to environmentally unsafe waste disposal methods such as discharging them to sea.

At the workshop, technical experts from the Ministry of Environment, the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) and Ukulhas Council shared strategies and knowledge based on best-practices and demonstrated the success of Ukulhas, as an island community, in adopting its environment-friendly waste management system.

UNDP said that participants from targeted communities of Gaafu Alifu and Gaafu Dhaalu atolls that included representatives from the islands of Villingili, Gemanafushi, Dhevvadhoo, Faresmathoda, Madaveli, Vaadhoo, Gadhdhoo, Dhaandhoo and Thinadhoo of Gaafu Alifu and Gaafu Dhaalu atolls, along with other local NGOs and Community-based Organizations (CBOs) currently implementing UNDP-funded waste management projects took part in the workshop.