Waste Management Corporation (WAMCO) has stated that its decision to change its fee structure has not led to any changes in the waste collection fee.
The Parliamentary Committee on State-Owned Enterprise held a meeting with senior officials of WAMCO to inquire about the changes made to its fee structure. During the meeting, Managing Director Yoosuf Siraj detailed that WAMCO formulated a new fee structure based on its expenditure after consultations with the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Technology and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). He said that it has not led to any changes in the amount charged for collecting waste from households and other services as they are not based on the company’s expenditure. He clarified that the restructuring involves changes to the fees for services at the transfer stations.
At the meeting, WAMCO officials provided information on its financial situation and highlighted hindrances in utilising funds received from the state budget and the Ministry of Finance. As such, they said that the company is short USD973,000 every year but that the amount will be reduced to USD649,000 with the new fee structure.
Additionally, WAMCO stated that it incurs a loss of USD36 per household and USD0.12 per litre from businesses. The company also stated that restructuring fees are required to increase its capacity and expand services to the atolls. It further noted that 24,000 of the 50,000 households in the Greater Male’ Region are registered and that 85% of the registered households are paying their fees.