Government owes us MVR15 million for waste management: City Council

Male’ City Council has said that about MVR15 million is owed by Ministry of Finance to the Council, for completed waste management work in Male’.

City Council member Ahmed Abdul Kareem said that difficulties are being faced due to delays in receiving this money.

He stressed the importance of receiving this money if the Council is to continue its waste management efforts.

“We do not make any income from waste management. We do our best to handle the waste, as much as our capacity allows. The MVR15 million owed by the government must be received for us to continue our efforts,” he said.

Ahmed Abdul Kareem said that most machines used by the Council for waste management are over 16 years old, and that they now require reparation.

City Council collects MVR1.8 million monthly as fees for the transport of waste from resorts to Thilafushi; however, the Council does not have the permission to use this money.

“We need money to repair our equipment. We have requested Finance Ministry to allow us to use the money received as fees from resorts,” he said.

Efforts to contact officials of Finance Ministry to obtain their word on this matter have so far not been successful.

City Council’s statistics show that 750 tons of waste is produced in Male’ daily, which means fifty 15-ton lorries of waste are transported from Male’ every day.