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Clouds of pungent, toxic smoke rising from open fires, piles of filth made up of plastic bottles, crisp packets and consumer detritus... it’s a far cry from the white sands, crystal-clear waters and gently swaying palm trees that we associate with the Maldives, the quintessential paradise island holiday destination set in the Indian Ocean.
塑料瓶、包装纸和消费者扔掉的纸皮果屑形成了一堆又一堆的垃圾，不堪入目。焚烧垃圾时，产生了成片刺鼻的有毒烟雾。这和我们脑海里马尔代夫的形象——白色的沙滩、清澈的海水和轻轻摇曳的棕榈树相去甚远。马尔代夫位于印度洋，是典型的度假天堂。

（Thilafushi - or Rubbish Island - in the Maldives. The country dumps upwards of 330 tons of rubbish on the island every day, a figure attributed largely to the tourist industry on which the chain of atolls relies.
斯拉夫士岛：马尔代夫的垃圾岛。马尔代夫现在每天倾倒的垃圾量超过330吨，主要是因为它依赖于环礁的旅游业。）

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Of its 200 inhabited islands, which are spread across an area of 35,000 square miles, 99 are dedicated resorts.
在马尔代夫分布在35，000平方英里的海域内，有200个有人居住的岛屿，其中99个是专门的度假村。

（Smoke rising from refuse on Thilafushi. Attention has been turned on the environmental damage; large amounts of asbestos, lead and other toxic metals have been dumped into the lagoon.
烟从垃圾岛上升起。但是最受人关注的是对环境的破坏；大量的石棉、铅和其他有毒的金属排入到咸水湖中。）

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Three-quarters of a million tourists visit every year – more than double the domestic population. Of these, over 100,000 travel from the UK.
每年有75万的游客——比本地居民人口的两倍还要多。在这些游客中，有10万多人来自英国。

The capital, Malé, is four times more densely populated than London, with no surrounding land whatsoever. Given these facts, it’s hardly surprising that the Maldives has a waste disposal problem.
马尔代夫的首都马累，人口密集程度比伦敦要高四倍，周围没有任何的土地。鉴于这些事实，马尔代夫垃圾处理的问题也就不足为奇了。

（Toxic: In this picture from 2009, a Bangladeshi immigrant works to keep rubbish burning on Thilafushi Island, sending soot and carbon dioxide billowing into the air.
有毒：在这张2009年拍摄的照片中，孟加拉的一名移民在垃圾岛上焚烧垃圾，产生滚滚的烟尘和二氧化碳。）

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But this, say environmental campaigners, is no way to deal with it.
但是，环保主义者觉得这个问题简直没有办法处理。

What you are seeing here is a view of the Maldives on which no honeymooners will ever clap eyes. Four miles west of Malé is the country’s dumping ground, Thilafushi – or Rubbish Island as it has simply become known.
离马累西部四英里远的地方是倾倒垃圾的场所，斯拉夫士岛——人们都把它称之为垃圾岛。你在这里看到的马尔代夫景象，是那些去那里度蜜月的人所看不到的。

（Overflowing: Another of the immigrant workers stands in front of a heap of smouldering refuse.
全是垃圾：另一位移民工人站在一堆焚烧的垃圾前工作。）

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Built on reclaimed coral reefs 20 years ago, it’s become a fetid eyesore that would shame even the poorest nation on Earth, let alone an area home to some of nature’s richest beauty.
它在20年前建在填海的珊瑚礁上，现在已经成为恶臭之地，有碍观瞻，连地球上最贫穷的国家都会以它为耻，更不用提它属于 大自然最美丽的地方了。

（Desperation: Dump workers scavenge on Rubbish Island as they brave filthy conditions to scrape together a living.
绝望：垃圾工人在垃圾岛中捡废品，他们在污秽的条件中凑合着生活。）

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Landslides of waste subside into the sea and at ground level the air is thick with dust and flies.
垃圾倾倒了海里，地面上堆积着厚厚的尘土和苍蝇。

The country dumps upwards of 330 tons of rubbish on the island every day, a figure attributed largely to the tourist industry on which the chain of atolls relies. Each visitor generates 3.5kg of waste per day.
马尔代夫现在每天倾倒的垃圾量超过330吨，主要是因为它依赖于环礁的旅游业。每个游客每天会产生3.5公斤的垃圾。

（Running out of space: Rubbish is heaped right to the very edges of the harbour and smoke rises in the distance.
空间不足：垃圾堆满了港口的每个角落，烟从远处升起。）

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Now, the government of the Maldives has belatedly banned the dumping of waste on the island, due largely to an increase in the number of waste boats ‘fly-tipping’ directly into the sea, fed up with waiting seven hours or more to offload their cargo.
现在，虽然有些迟，但马尔代夫政府已禁止在岛上倾倒垃圾，很大程度上是由于越来越多运送垃圾的船只已厌倦了 等待七个多小时才能把垃圾卸下，转而把垃圾直接倒进海里。

The freighters are now ferrying debris to India instead. Thilafushi is also home to migrant workers, mostly from Bangladesh, who work in filthy conditions.
货船现在把垃圾运到印度处理。斯拉夫士岛也是移民工人的家，他们大部分来自孟加拉，在恶臭的环境里工作。

（Three-quarters of a million tourists visit the Maldives every year - more than double the domestic population. Of these, over 100,000 travel from the UK.
每年有75万的游客——比本地居民人口的两倍还要多。在这些游客中，有10万多人来自英国。）

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But most attention has been turned on the environmental damage; large amounts of asbestos, lead and other toxic metals have been dumped into the lagoon.
但是最受人关注的是对环境的破坏；大量的石棉、铅和其他有毒的金属排入到咸水湖中。

Little surprise then that tourists on the holiday of a lifetime prefer to sip a cocktail and look the other way.
游客们在这一生中最美的假期中，宁愿呷上一口鸡尾酒并用另一种方式来看马尔代夫，这也不足为奇。

（Hidden cost: The island nation enjoys a highly valuable tourism industry, but each visitor generates 3.5kg of waste every day.
隐性成本：马尔代夫有着高价值的旅游业，但是每个游客每天产生3.5公斤的垃圾。）