The President Ratifies Three Important Bills
On Sunday, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih ratified three important bills passed by the Parliament at the 43rd sitting of its third session on November 28th, 2022. The three bills ratified are the first amendment bill to the Uninhabited Islands Act (Act No: 20/98), the Waste Management Act (Law No: 24/2022) and the Birth and Death Registration Bill (Law No: 23/2022)
Upon ratification, all three bills have been published in the Government Gazette and is now in full effect.
First Amendment to the Uninhabited Islands Act
The first amendment bill to the Uninhabited Islands Act repeals articles that conflict with the Decentralisation Act. With this amendment, the bill grants authority to island and city councils to govern in accordance with set rules and regulations, the lease of uninhabited islands within their respective jurisdictions. The bill also prohibits leaseholders from re-leasing, renting and commissioning uninhabited islands to third parties for supervision and maintenance works. However, it allows leaseholders to recruit staff for supervisory and maintenance works.
Moreover, the bill also outlines specific visitor policies, including barring leaseholders from charging a visitor’s fee. The bill also dictates circumstances where the lease agreements can be terminated. With the ratification of the bill, the bill gives six months from the date of ratification to draw up new regulations or amend existing agreements to fit the stipulations of the bill.
Waste Management Act
The law governs the implementation and enforcement of sustainable waste management practices and policies formulated to mitigate the negative implications of waste and protect public health. It also specifies the standards and procedures of sustainable waste management and administrative and punitive measures as well as penalizable criminal offenses.
The law aims to reduce pollution and environmental damage caused by waste, encourage the reduction of public health risks and production of waste and also promote recycling and reusing of waste. Furthermore, clearly defined penalties are elaborated in the law including any form of damage to waste management systems such as mismanagement and negligence.
Under this bill, it mandates the relevant Cabinet Minister to draw up a waste reduction strategy within a 12-month period from the date of ratification. The Minister will also have a 12-month window to come up with a national master plan on waste management and 1 month to formulate an action plan that encourages and rewards waste management initiatives. The law also lies down procedures for reducing single-use plastics (SUPs), charging for plastic bags, accruing fees and penalizing offenses convening with the law.
Birth and Death Registration Bill
The law defines guidelines and policies governing the registration of births, the formal declaration of deaths, issuing of national identification cards and penalties for breaching the law. The law states that registration and deaths of Maldivian citizens abroad will require the submission of a birth or death certificate issued by a government agency of that respective country. This law also invokes the Birth Registration and Death Registration Act (Act No. 7/92) and Annex 1 of the General Regulations Act (Act No. 6/2008).