EPA Should Remain Independent to Retail Crediblity, Says Nasheed
Former President Mohamed Nasheed on June 23, 2025, at the Maldives Democratic Party’s meeting | Photo: MDP
Former President Mohamed Nasheed said today that the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) must remain independent in order to retain its credibility.
This statement, made on X, came shortly after President Dr Mohamed Muizzu announced that EPA’s name will be changed to Environment Regulatory Authority (ERA) and that it would be directly under the Ministry of Tourism and Environment henceforth.
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I believe the @EPAMaldives must remain independent for the Government’s environmental policies to retain credibility. Dissolving it & moving its work into the tourism ministry would be misguided.— Mohamed Nasheed (@MohamedNasheed) August 12, 2025
“Dissolving it and moving its work into the tourism ministry would be misguided,” said Nasheed, currently serving as the Secretary-General of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), an international partnership of 74 countries vulnerable to a warming planet.
The EPA was established in December 2008 by merging the Environmental Research Centre and the Maldives Water & Sanitation Authority. It regulates environmental protection, biodiversity conservation, waste management, and pollution prevention under the Environment Protection and Preservation Act, and oversees municipal water supply and sewerage services under the Public Services Act.
