The Ministry of Defense and National Security has on Thursday re-issued the permit to import hazardous chemicals into the country, after repealing the ban which followed the chemical warehouse fire on 20 September.
Following the compilation of regulations under which chemicals may be stored in capital city Malé and other islands, the ministry issued a statement on the chemical permit.
After the chemical warehouse fire on 20 September and the fire on 30 September, authorities had banned the import of hazardous chemicals and ordered the Attorney General to establish regulations for warehouse storage.
Under said regulations, chemical storage in residential areas will be banned, allocating plots of land in Gulhifalhu and Thilafushi for chemical warehouses, allocating chemical destruction as legally mandated, in a safe procedure and importers are required to follow the procedure under the implementation of the chemical permit.
The chemical regulations also reveal what is deemed as hazardous, and what it safe, import of said chemicals and their overall handling.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had also ordered to relocate chemical warehouses away from residential areas and Thilafushi Development Corporation has since allocated Thilafushi to store hazardous chemicals.
Earlier, Defense Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi revealed that 82 of the 126 warehouses in Male’ store hazardous chemicals and that 96 warehouses are right adjacent to residential buildings.
The chemical warehouse fire on 20 September took down four warehouses and six houses in its wake. A total of 786 had sought temporary aid out of which 450 are men and 336 are women. All of those affected were provided temporary shelter by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) within the few days that followed. It had also taken the life of a 46-year-old woman, Aishath Shauna.
Out of the total amount, 636 are Maldivians and 104 Bangladeshi nationals, 19 Indians, 16 Nepalis, 14 Sri Lankan nationals, six Philippine nationals and one Egyptian.
The incident was the biggest such incident in recent history and the government has assured the public that necessary action will be taken to prevent such incidents from repeating.
