MP Fitte Slams WAMCO Over Bloated Management and Rising Overheads

Member of Parliament for Vaikaradhoo constituency, Hussain Ziyad (Fitte), has criticized the operations of the Waste Management Corporation (WAMCO), claiming that the company’s operating costs have become excessively high due to an oversized management structure. He alleged that for every bag of garbage collected from households, there are effectively two supervisors and one manager overseeing the work.

Speaking during today’s sitting of Parliament, Fitte strongly criticized both WAMCO and the government’s policies.

He said that WAMCO, which is responsible for waste management in Malé, has an excessive number of managers.

“In Malé, WAMCO is responsible for collecting waste. For every bag of garbage collected, there are two supervisors and one manager. One worker collects waste from ten households, but there are far too many managers. The company’s overhead costs have become so high that it is struggling to remain sustainable,” Fitte said.

Fitte also criticized the company’s financial management, highlighting that WAMCO has failed to pay employees’ pension contributions. He stated that although pension deductions continue to be taken from employees’ salaries, the company has not transferred the required contributions to the Maldives Pension Office for more than a year. He described this as a violation of the law.

In addition, while speaking about the implementation of the Waste Management Act, Fitte said that enforcing the law without first establishing safe and adequate waste disposal systems on the islands would be risky. He warned that attempting to implement the law without the necessary infrastructure could result in islands becoming overwhelmed with waste and create unsafe environmental conditions.

Concluding his remarks, Fitte said that utility companies must be strengthened and laws must be properly enforced if the public is to receive the real benefits and results they deserve.