The reverse side of the Maldives: the garbage island that tourists are not told about (17 photos)

The Maldives is the epitome of paradise for many. Impressive beaches and turquoise ocean attract people from all over. peace. Where does all the garbage go?





Maldives, Maldives... The name of this tropical resort always at the hearing and is associated by most of the inhabitants exclusively with expensive and, of course, quality rest. What is worth alone photos online! Blue cloudless sky, hot sun, snow-white beaches with fine smooth sand, azure waves - all this staggers the imagination, and involuntarily you begin to believe that paradise is on The earth exists.



bask in the hot Maldivian sun every year and hundreds of tourists come to walk along the magnificent Maldivian beaches thousands of tourists from all over the world. And this despite the fact that the rest on The Maldives can hardly be called affordable. What's there to hide this is an expensive pleasure that not everyone can afford, therefore, the requirements for the Maldives, most often, are very high. islands, certainly cope with the influx of even very demanding tourists and able to offer them a holiday of the highest standard. That's just... at what cost?!





As in any barrel of honey, there is a fly in the ointment, and a medal, even very expensive and polished to a shine, the reverse side, in the Maldives the islands also have a very unpleasant underside, about which, of course, it is not customary to tell tourists, so as not to destroy the crystal myth of heaven on earth. However, I still suggest look "behind the scenes" of an ideal holiday and find out all the ins and outs Maldives.



And the chest, meanwhile, opens quite simply. Agree that the presence of a huge number of tourists visiting annually The Maldives cannot go unnoticed in terms of service. All these people eat, drink, use household chemicals and personal items. hygiene, which means they leave behind literally mountains of garbage. Without it, nowhere, and this is normal.



In most civilized countries, garbage is taken promptly recycle and recycle. If such there is no possibility, then the garbage is simply stored on a specially equipped dumps and landfills, and for recycling goes gradually, not immediately.



Thilafushi Island

The authorities of the Maldives took the path of least resistance and decided that the garbage left by both local residents and visiting guests, should be stored in a specific location. As Thilafushi Island, located in 7 kilometers west of the capital of the Republic of Maldives, the island of Male.



Even 30 years ago, Thilafushi was a shallow picturesque lagoon, measuring 7 kilometers by 200 meters, which is very harmoniously fit into the overall outline of the Maldives. However, since 1991 years when the tourism industry in the Maldives began to gain momentum, and paradise resort gradually ceased to cope with the volume of garbage, it was it was decided to allocate one of the islands for its storage ... completely small and not too interesting for tourists.



So in January 1992, the first trash cargo. However, it was not scattered just randomly - there was a certain storage system. For this on the island special pits were dug with sandy walls, into which, in fact, and all brought unsorted waste was unloaded. From above they filled with construction debris and coral sand. This way helped the junkyard look pretty decent for a while. Well, then too much trash...



Bringing rubbish to the island

In 1997, local authorities decided that Thilafushi Island (and now it was already a full-fledged island of sand and debris), you can take it to rent to all kinds of industrial enterprises. As a result decisions on the territorywarehouses began to appear, shipbuilding plants, factories for packing cement and bottling methane. On Today, Thilafushi employs more than thirty industrial enterprises. In addition, the garbage island has become home to more than a thousand workers of these enterprises are mainly migrants from Bangladesh.



Sorters

By the way, the people for whom Thilafushi has become home are not only work in enterprises, but are also engaged in sorting waste, which daily brought to the island in huge quantities. And they bring waste not only from neighboring Male, but also from other Maldives. Most of the garbage, unfortunately, comes unsorted, although the government of the Maldives has made it mandatory for workers to do so in order to facilitate and speed up processing.



garbage collection

In addition, many impatient boaters delivering garbage to the island, do not want to wait in line for unloading and just throw it into the water. And these are not isolated cases. Therefore, you can imagine how dirty and foul-smelling the waters become up close Thilafushi! I'm not talking about the general state of the environment in the area.



Sorters burning trash

And, by the way, about the environment. As I mentioned above, garbage, brought to the island, if it is not sorted, it is first viewed landfill workers - sorters who do their best to find something valuable in the waste. And, I will say more, often they are succeeds.



Some things found among the mountains of garbage, the inhabitants of Thilafushi take home, and some, you will not believe, even put up for sale! The rest of the waste, which is of no value to them, sorters are burning, which is why a thick and toxic smog.



Although the businesses on Thilafushi operate in full force, and the garbage is also brought to the territory of the island, in On the Internet, however, you can find a number of photographs that refute information about the deplorable state of Thilafushi. However, do not believe beautiful picture. Locals say that such photos are more likely of all, were made when the factories were not working and the sorters were not burning garbage. In addition, such pictures are taken mainly for tourists, who in no case should be disappointed in the known and popular resort. The show must go on and everyone knows it...



At some point, the ecological situation on the island ceased to be a local threat and became a potential threat to nature in general. Therefore, the government of the Maldives was Laws revised and new provisions issued to ban incineration outdoors and changed the rules for waste disposal.



Moreover, since 2011 there has been an official ban on garbage disposal in the territory of Thilafushi. The government claims that most of the garbage from the Maldives is now taken to India and already where it is processed. Well, it's hard to believe in it, considering the fact that, according to the inhabitants of nearby islands, over Thilafushi thick smelly smoke rises regularly, factories continue to work, and people are still sorting garbage.