Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has said that personal responsibility is crucial in keeping Maldives clean.

Speaking at the ‘Saafu Raajje’ cleanup programme in Male’ City on Saturday morning, Gayoom said that it is the responsibility of each citizen to keep their house, neighborhood, school, and place of business clean.

Doing so would not just benefit the economy and public health but also contribute to our personal satisfaction, he said.

Noting that cleanup programmes were initiated during his administration, Gayoom said he is delighted to join the ‘Saafu Raajje’ initiative of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

He also said that he was met with deaf ears when he first addressed the issue of global warming, climate change, and rising sea levels at the Commonwealth summit in Vancouver in November 1987 but that Maldives has since played a leading role in raising awareness on global environmental issues.

He said that the state of the environment is a global concern and that any negative impact on the environment in any part of the world will affect the Maldives. Therefore, Maldivians need to play a large role in conserving the environment, he added.