Dh Rinbudhoo Council has banned non-residents from coming to island without permission.

In a notice released on Tuesday, the Council noted the increase of visits to Rinbudhoo, and said that they have received complaints from island residents of littering by some visitors.

The notice states that would-be visitors can now only enter the island with the permission of the council, after an island resident vouches and takes responsibility for them.

The notice, signed by Council Vice President Ahmed Niyaz, warned that people who visit without permission would be penalized.

Rinbudhoo has a population of 567.

Speaking to RaajjeMV, Vice President Ahmed Niyaz said that Rinbudhoo residents, who care deeply for the island’s cleanliness, have complained of visitors throwing trash into the sea.

Niyaz said they have also received complaints of some visitors barging into people’s houses and damaging trees in the courtyard.

Despite the Council’s ban, the Constitution gives every Maldivian the right to visit any inhabited island in the country.

Some have criticized the Council’s notice, which has since gone viral online, by citing laws already in place to penalize littering and disobedience to social norms.