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Maldives to battle rising seas by building fortress islands
By Amal JAYASINGHE
Malé (Maldives) AFP: Rising sea levels threaten to swamp the Maldives and the Indian Ocean archipelago is already out of drinking water, but the new president says he has scrapped plans to relocate citizens. Instead, President Mohamed Muizzu promises the low-lying nation will beat back the waves through ambitious land reclamation and building islands higher — policies, however, that environmental and rights groups warn could even exacerbate flooding risks.
The upmarket holiday destination is famed for its white sand beaches, turquoise lagoons and vast coral reefs, but the chain of 1,192 tiny islands is on the frontlines of the climate crisis and battling for survival. Former president Mohamed Nasheed began his administration 15 years ago warning citizens they might become the world’s first environmental refugees needing relocation to another country.
He wanted the Maldives to start saving to buy land in neighbouring India,Sri Lanka or even far away in Australia.But Muizzu, 45, while asking for $500 million in foreign funding to protect vulnerable coasts, said his citizens will not be leaving their homeland.
“If we need to increase the area for living or other economic activity, we can do that,” Muizzu told AFP, speaking from the crowded capital Male, which is ringed with concrete sea walls.”We are self-sufficient to look after ourselves”.
The tiny nation of Tuvalu this month inked a deal to give citizens the right to live in Australia when their Pacific homeland is lost beneath the seas.But Muizzu said the Maldives would not follow that route.
“I can categorically say that we definitely don’t need to buy land or even lease land from any country,” Muizzu said.Sea walls will ensure risk areas can be “categorised as a safe island”, he said.But 80 percent of the Maldives is less than a metre (three feet) above sea level.And while fortress-like walls ringing tightly-packed settlements can keep the waves at bay, the fate of the beach islands the tourists come for are uncertain.
Tourism accounts for almost one-third of the economy, according to the World Bank.Nasheed’s predecessor, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, was the first to ring the alarm of the possible “death of a nation”, warning the United Nations in 1985 of the threat posed by rising sea levels linked to climate change.
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned in 2007 that rises of 18 to 59 centimetres (7.2 to 23.2 inches) would make the Maldives virtually uninhabitable by the end of the century.The warning lights are already flashing red.
Gayoom’s fear of his country running out of drinking water has already come true, as rising salt levels seep into land, corrupting potable water.”Every island in the Maldives has run out of fresh water,” said Shauna Aminath, 38, the environment minister until last week, when Muizzu’s government took power.he said
Almost all of the 187 inhabited islets in the archipelago depend on expensive desalination plants, she told AFP.”Finding ways as to how we protect our islands has been a huge part of how we are trying to adapt to these changes”, Aminath said.
The capital Male, where a third of the country’s 380,000 citizens are squeezed onto a tiny island, is “one of the most densely populated pieces of land in the world” with 65,700 people per square kilometre, according to the environment ministry.A giant sea wall already surrounds the city, but Muizzu said there is potential to expand elsewhere.
Reclamation projects have already increased the country’s landmass by about 10 percent in the past four decades, using sand pumped onto submerged coral platforms, totalling 30 square kilometres (11 square miles).Muizzu, a British-educated civil engineer and former construction minister for seven years, played a key part in that, overseeing the expansion of the artificial island of Hulhumale.
Linked to the capital by a Chinese-built 1.4-kilometre (0.8-mile) bridge, with tower blocks rising high over the blue seas, Hulhumale is double the area of Male, home to about 100,000 people.But environmental and rights groups warn that, while reclamation is needed, it must be done with care.In a recent report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the authorities of failing to implement their own environmental regulations, saying reclamation projects were “often rushed” and lacked proper mitigation policies.
It gave the example of an airport on Kulhudhuffushi, where 70 percent of the island’s mangroves were “buried”, and a reclamation project at Addu which damaged the coral reefs fisherman depended on.”The Maldives government has ignored or undermined environmental protection laws, increasing flooding risks and other harm to island communities,” HRW said.
Ahmed Fizal, who heads the environmental campaign group Marine Journal Maldives (MJM), said he feared politicians and businessmen saw shallow lagoons as potential reclamation sites to turn a quick profit.”You have to ask ‘what is the limit, what is the actual cost of reclamation?’”, he said.
The U.S. Embassy in Colombo welcomed the U.S. Sports Envoys to Sri Lanka, former National Basketball Association (NBA) and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) players Stephen Howard and Astou Ndiaye, from June 8 through 14.
The Public Diplomacy section of the U.S. Embassy said that it would launch a weeklong basketball program intended to harness the unifying power of sports, made possible through collaboration with Foundation of Goodness and IImpact Hoop Lab.
While in Sri Lanka, Howard and Ndiaye, both retired professional basketball players, will conduct a weeklong program, Hoops for Hope: Bridging Borders through Basketball. The Sports Envoys will lead basketball clinics and exhibition matches and engage in leadership sessions in Colombo and Southern Province for youth aged 14-18 from Northern, Uva, Eastern and Western Provinces, offering skills and leadership training both on and off the court. The U.S. Envoys will also share their expertise with the Sri Lanka Basketball Federation, national coaches, and players, furthering the development of basketball in the country. Beyond the clinics, they will collaborate with Sri Lankan schoolchildren to take part in a community service project in the Colombo area.
“We are so proud to welcome Stephen and Astou as our Sports Envoys to Sri Lanka, to build on the strong people-to-people connections between the United States and Sri Lanka,” said U.S. Ambassador Julie Chung. “The lessons that will be shared by our Sports Envoys – communication, teamwork, resilience, inclusion, and conflict resolution – are essential for leadership development, community building, equality, and peace. The U.S. Sports Envoy program is a testament to our belief that sports can be a powerful tool in promoting peace and unity.”
SJB Colombo District MP Mujibur Rahuman in parliament demanded to know from the government the reasons for CEB suspending the leave of all its employees until further notice from Thursday.
MP Rahuman said that the CEB has got an acting General Manager anew and the latter yesterday morning issued a circular suspending leave of all CEB employees with immediate effect until further notice.
“We demand that Minister Kanchana Wijesekera should explain this to the House. This circular was issued while this debate on the new Electricity Amendment Bill was pending. There are many who oppose this Bill. The Minister must tell parliament the reason for the urge to cancel the leave of CEB employees,” the MP said.However, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena prevented Minister Wijesekera responding to the query and said that the matter raised by MP Rahuman was not relevant.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) successfully concluded the 8th Annual CIPM Symposium, which took place on 31st May 2024. Themed “Nurturing the Human Element—Redefining HRM in a Rapidly Changing World,” the symposium underscored the pivotal role of human resource management (HRM) in today’s dynamic global landscape. Since its inception in 1959, CIPM has been dedicated to advancing the HR profession through education, professional development, and advocacy, solidifying its position as Sri Lanka’s leading professional body for HRM.
Ken Vijayakumar, the President of the CIPM, graced the occasion as the chief guest. The symposium commenced with the welcome address by the Chairperson, Prof. Arosha Adikaram, followed by the Web Launch of the Symposium Proceedings and Abstract Book by the CIPM President. The event featured distinguished addresses, including a speech by Chief Guest Ken Vijayakumar, President of CIPM, and an address by Guest of Honor Shakthi Ranatunga, Chief Operating Officer of MAS Holdings Pvt. Ltd., Sri Lanka.
The symposium also featured an inspiring keynote address by Prof. Mario Fernando, Professor of Management and Director of the Centre for Cross Cultural Management (CCCM) at the University of Wollongong, Australia.
Vote of Thanks of the inauguration session was delivered by Dr. Dillanjani Weeratunga, Symposium Co-chair.
The symposium served as a comprehensive platform for researchers to present their findings across a wide range of critical topics in HRM. These included Cultural Diversity and Inclusion, Talent Development and Retention, Ethical Leadership and Corporate Social Responsibility, Adapting to Technological Advancements, Mental Health and Well-being at Work, Global Workforce Challenges, Employee Empowerment, and Reskilling and Upskilling.
The plenary session was led by Prof. Wasantha Rajapakse. Certificates were awarded to the best paper presenters during the valedictory session, followed by a vote of thanks delivered by Kamani Perera, Manager of Research and Development.
The annual symposium of CIPM was a truly inclusive event, attracting a diverse audience that spanned undergraduates, graduates, working professionals, research scholars and lecturers. This widespread interest highlights the symposium’s significance in the field of HRM, offering a unique opportunity for everyone to network and learn from scholarly brains.The CIPM International Research Symposium was sponsored by Hambantota International Port, Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT), E B Creasy & Co. PLC, and Print Xcel Company.
US sports envoys to Lanka to champion youth development
Rahuman questions sudden cancellation of leave of CEB employees
