Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Technology is in the final stages of formulating the master plan on waste management.
The Waste Management Act, ratified on December 18, dictates that the master plan should be formulated within one year and reviewed every five years to make changes. The environment ministry stated that it has held discussions with all relevant institutions in order to complete the draft and that they were allowed to comment prior to the master plan being finalised. The ministry held discussions with government agencies, waste management companies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and local councils.
As per the Waste Management Act, the ministry is tasked with formulating guidelines on waste management at the city and island level, while local councils are tasked with formulating and implementing an operational plan in their jurisdiction after discussions with residents and waste management companies. The local councils are required to review the operational plan once every five years.
Additionally, operators of resorts, tourist hotels, or industrial zones are required to formulate and implement their own operational plan for waste management. The operational plans are required to be in line with the masterplan. The environment ministry assured that the masterplan will be implemented within one year.