Waste must be moved to ground floor for collection between 12:00-14:00

Waste Management Corporation (WAMCO), on Thursday, instructed its customers in Male’ City and suburban Hulhumale’ and Vilimale’ to have household waste packed and ready for collection on the ground floor between 12:00 to 14:00 hours each day.

WAMCO said the new policy applies to households which haven’t been quarantined, as households which are quarantined will be attended to by special taskforce teams.

WAMCO had suspended its services on Wednesday following the emergence of the first COVID-19 cases in the capital, but resumed services again this Thursday.

At a press briefing at the National Emergency Operations Center this afternoon, WAMCO Operations Manager Mohamed Shan said instructed its customers in Male’, Hulhumale’ and Vilimale’ to have household waste packed and ready for collection on the ground floor between 12:00 to 14:00 hours.

“If you have an alleyway, then keep waste out on the alleyway. Our teams will go and collect them without fail,” said Shan.

He advised customers to pack the waste in two garbage bags in order to improve safety.

He also advised customers to keep bulkier waste such as furniture at home for the time being, and to ready only general household waste for collection.

“In collection of household waste, we sometimes find other types of waste. Waste such as refrigerators or furniture cannot be collected at this time. I take this opportunity to appeal to the people to keep such waste for the time being,” said Shan.

He also provided further instructions to pack sharp objects and items such as broken glass in paper before putting it into garbage bags, and not to fill up more than three fourth of bags.

“Be sure to tie it up securely in order to prevent any leakage,” said Shan.

He said that the special taskforce teams which will attend to collecting waste from households under quarantine have been provided specialized training.

“We have provided training in response to the current situation. Staff will report to work after getting their temperature checked, and wearing PPE [Personal Protective Equipment],” said Shan.

“We will not standby to watch Male’ become a waste dump. And when you pack waste, keep in mind the danger it exposes the person carrying it to,” said Shan, reiterating his appeal to pack waste safely.

WAMCO’s call center 1666 will be open from 10:00 hours to 16:00 hours, and the corporation will serve its commercial customers from 09:00 hours to 12:00 hours.