Thilafushi
| Thilafushi | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Waters |
Lakkadive Sea ( Indian Ocean ) |
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| Archipelago | North Male Atoll | |
| Geographical location | 4 ° 11 '0 " N , 73 ° 26' 43" E | |
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| length | 1.9 km | |
| width | 750 m | |
| surface | 50 ha | |
| Highest elevation | 2 m | |
| Residents | 500 1000 inhabitants / km² |
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The artificial island of Thilafushi ( Dhivehi ތިލަފުށި) was originally planned in the Maldives as a landfill that took up the garbage from the capital Malé . Today Thilafushi is also characterized by its industrial settlements.
Thilafushi is located around 6.8 kilometers (km) west of Malé in the south of the North Malé Atoll between the tourist island of Giraavaru in the west and the artificial harbor island Gulhi Falhu in the east, which belongs to the capital Malé and is under construction . The island is part of the Vaadhoo Canal, belongs to the administrative district of the Kaafu Atoll and now extends to 50 hectares.
Background and story
The starting point for the creation of "garbage island" was the Thilafalhu called lagoon which had a length of 7 kilometers and a width of 200 meters (m). The decision to backfill the lagoon was made on December 5, 1991.
The first shipment of rubbish from Malé to fill the lagoon reached Thilafushi on January 7, 1992. At the beginning, a landing craft, four trucks, two excavators and a wheel loader were available. The vehicle fleet has multiplied in recent years to three landing craft, 20 trucks, six excavators, four wheel loaders, a garbage compactor and a bulldozer .
In the initial phase, pits measuring 15 × 15 × 5 m (around 1100 m³) were dug and filled with rubbish. The garbage was then covered with a layer of construction rubble , which in turn was covered with coral sand. A waste separation was not carried out due to the huge amount of waste and the lack of infrastructure. Today the garbage is separated and partly incinerated. The disposal work is done by 150 Bengalis.
The island is currently growing by around 1 m² per day, with a daily delivery of up to 400 tons. The main share is now industrial waste, such as building rubble, but also material that is classified as hazardous waste. The administration is the responsibility of the Waste Management Section (WMS), which is officially subordinate to the Ministry of Construction and Public Works (MCPW for short, the Maldivian Ministry of Construction). Currently, however, the WMS is managed by the Malé city administration and thus the Ministry of Home Affairs and Housing .
On December 17, 2008, the new President of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed , founded Thilafushi Corporation Limited and Waste Management Corporation Limited as state-owned companies. While the Waste Management Corporation Limited is responsible for the waste disposal and recycling, the Thilafushi Corporation Limited takes care of the marketing of the island for companies.
Industrialization of the island
After the land area of Thilafushi grew steadily, the Maldivian government decided in November 1997 that the land would be leased to companies for industrial use. In the first step, 22 companies settled here, the number of which has increased to 54 today. Due to the settlement of companies, more than half of the island is now used industrially. The lease of Thilafushi brings the Maldivian state around one million US dollars a year.
The predominant industries there are shipbuilding, cement packaging and methane filling. Storage capacities have also been created to a large extent, relieving the capital Malé with its storage capacities, especially for cement and gas.
In March 2015, the Maldivian government decided to move the country's main port from Malé to Thilafushi and signed a contract with DP World to carry out this project .
environmental issues
According to independent reports, Thilafushi is considered to be the largest garbage island in the world. The protection of the environment is only rudimentary. Although some of the garbage is now officially sorted, the majority of the garbage is simply compacted and filled. Materials that are harmful to the environment and health are also simply dumped. The building rubble used to cover the garbage often contains asbestos .
The materials that are separated in the waste cycle particularly include the metals copper, tin, zinc and steel. In the meantime, metals have become the main export goods from the Maldives to India. Used oil and plastics are also disposed of separately.
The increasing disposal or incineration of batteries and electronic scrap exacerbate environmental problems. The substances it contains, such as lead, cadmium or mercury, are washed out and returned to the food chain via the fish or pollute the air when burned.
See also
Web links
- wms.gov.mv: Brochure for the 10th anniversary of Thilafushi (PDF, English)
- Deutschlandfunk.de , Environment and Consumers , March 8, 2016, Sandra Petersmann : Thilafushi's garbage hell
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Report on Thilafushi. ( Memento of the original from November 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. CDNN.info (English) accessed on March 2, 2009
- ↑ a b c Information about the island. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Minivan News (accessed March 2, 2009)
- ↑ a b History of Thilafushi. BluePeaceMaldives (English). Retrieved March 2, 2009
- ↑ a b c Waste Management Section of the Maldives ( Memento of the original from April 4, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English) accessed on March 2, 2009
- ↑ Information about Thilafushi on the official website of the Maldives (English) accessed on March 2, 2009
- ^ Government signs MoU with Dubai Ports World on Minivan News . ( Memento of the original from March 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English) accessed on March 2, 2009
