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Thilafushi |
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| Island Summary | |
| Belongs to | Kaafu Atoll |
| Location | |
| Population | ~1000 |
| Length | 3.5 km |
| Width | 0.2 km |
| Distance from Malé | 6.85 km approx |
| Administrative Information | |
| Managed by | Thilafushi Corporation Limited[1] |
| Island office phone | N/A |
| Island office fax | +960 6640065 |
Thilafushi (Dhivehi: ތިލަފުށި) is an artificial island created as a municipal landfill situated to the west of Malé, and is located between Kaafu Atoll's Giraavaru and Gulhifalhu of the Maldives. It is geographically part of the Vaadhoo channel.
Contents |
Thilafushi originally was as a lagoon called ‘Thilafalhu’ with a length of 7 km and a width of 200 metres at the shallowest regions. It came into existence following a series of discussions and efforts to resolve Malé’s irrepressible garbage predicament during the early 1990s. The decision to reclaim Thilafalhu as a landfill was made on December 5, 1991.
Thilafushi received its first load of garbage from Malé on the January 7, 1992. Operations started with just 1 landing craft, 4 heavyload trucks, 2 excavators and a single wheel loader.
During its early years of waste disposal operations, pits (also known as cells) with a volume of 37,500 ft3 (1060 m3) were dug, after which the sand obtained from the excavation was used to construct walled enclosures around the internal perimeter of the cells. Waste received from Malé was deposited into the midst of the pit, which was topped off with a layer of construction debris and then uniformly levelled with white sand. Initially there was no segregation of the waste since it had to be disposed immediately due to mass accumulation.
Today Thilafushi has a landmass of more than 4.6 million ft2 (0.43 km²). The speedy terrestrial growth of Thilafushi was observed by the Government, and in November 1997, it was decided that land was to be leased to entrepreneurs interested in acquiring land for industrial purposes. Initially there were just 22 lease holders. Within the past 10 years, this number has doubled to 54 resulting in more than 1.2 million square feet (0.11 km² or 27.5 acres) of land being used currently, which generates an excess of 14 million Rufiyaa (about USD1,000,000.00) per annum. Soon after, an area of 0.2 km² (known as Thilafushi-2) was reclaimed using white sand as the filling material to provide terra firma for the more heavy industries.
The current (major) industrial activities in the island are boat manufacturing, cement packing, methane gas bottling and various large scale warehousing.
Thilafushi has reduced waste on Malé. However, some of the waste, such as asbestos, is harmful, and there is a risk of toxic heavy metals such as mercury, lead, and cadmium leaching out into the sea, damaging marine ecology. [2]
Due to Thilafushi 'Rubbish' Island is overwhelmed by garbage, Maldives administration has temporarily banned the depositing of rubbish from its hotels begun in December 2011. Much of the rubbish comes from the luxury resorts do not follow the rules on crushing their waste and started dumping it into the lagoon avoided 7 hours to wait for processing.[3]