Fires Are Now Out
Things are changing in Thilafushi—including, perhaps most notably for residents of the Maldives, that toxic smoke. In September, the government managed to finally extinguish the fires burning on the island, clearing the air for the first time in years. The future plans for Thilafushi include improving recycling in Malé to cut down on the waste sent to the island and investing US$211.13 million in a waste management system on the island, including a waste-to-energy generator. The government is also working on passing aggressive plastic legislation. It’s now illegal to import many kinds of single-use plastics, and a new law will kick in in June banning the production of single-use plastics on the island. The country is aiming to phase out all single-use plastics by the end of the decade.
