Day: November 9, 2011

Council of Foreign Ministers agrees to inaugurate Indian Ocean ferry service

The Council of Foreign Ministers concluded its meeting today, with a draft of the SAARC declaration to be sent for approval by Heads of State and Government on Friday.

The Ministers “reached a consensus” on the main agenda items, Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem said today.

Speaking to press at the Equatorial Convention Center (ECC) in Addu City, Naseem, who chaired the meeting, explained that the draft proposed by the Maldives was endorsed by the foreign ministers with some amendments while the format has been “completely changed” from previous summits.

“We have very swiftly concluded our deliberations at the foreign minister’s council,” he said. “We have reached consensus on all the main agenda items we deliberated on. There’s obviously certain issues that will be discussed by the heads of state.”

Among the decisions made today, said Naseem, the council agreed to inaugurate an ‘Indian Ocean Cargo and Passenger Ferry Service’ before the end of the year.

The council agreed to conduct feasibility studies and submit proposals in six months, he added.

On the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), Naseem said the foreign ministers were in agreement that cross-border free trade and connectivity were “the most important issues for SAARC today.”

“The theme for SAARC this year is building bridges,” he said. “We believe that through these bridges we can improve the lot for the people in the SAARC region.”

Naseem observed that the implementation of the regional free trade agreement had been “delayed over the years,” adding that the council decided to “re-emphasize” the importance of implementation.

“Domestic issues” were an impediment to successful implementation, he suggested, and the Maldives as chair would be seeking consensus at the next foreign minister’s meeting due to take place in six months.

The foreign ministers also decided to hold next year’s SAARC Trade and Tourism Fairs in Kulhudhufushi in Haa Dhaal Atoll, Naseem revealed, which is the largest population hub to the north of the capital Male’.

The council also deliberated “strengthening the administrative framework of SAARC” to improve its functions, he said, including granting “more powers to the SAARC secretariat.”

“As Maldives is the chair, we feel that without strengthening the secretariat, progress we make in SAARC will always be hampered by administrative difficulties,” he said, adding that studies would be undertaken to identify reforms.

Asked if China had proposed becoming a member of SAARC, Naseem said he did not “know if China has requested full membership.”

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SAARC Heads of State arrive in Addu Atoll

Heads of State from SAARC countries have begun arriving in the Maldives.

Prime Minister of Bhutan Jigme Thinley arrived early this morning, followed by President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa and First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa, and Prime Minister of Nepal Baburam Bhattarai.

The leaders of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are due to arrive this afternoon, ahead of the opening ceremony tomorrow.

Roads around Addu Atoll have been closed during the arrival of the Heads of State, and boat traffic in the atoll halted by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) coastguard.

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Scale of the SAARC Summit

Addu’s new convention centre, purpose-built for the SAARC Summit, looms out of a deserted patch of swampy marshland in Hithadhoo like some kind of spaceship, thoroughly incongruous with the background.

When Minivan News first visited yesterday, a large crowd of local residents stood by the road leading to the giant building, staring at it dumbfounded as if waiting for extraterrestrials to emerge.

Past the polished lobby, the cavernous chamber inside is warmly lined with wood and resembles a modern concert hall. Opposition media outlets have ungenerously suggested the structure is sinking into the swamp, while assorted government officials were quick to attribute this to political jealousy.

Addu is a fiercely independent atoll, neglected by successive governments following an abortive attempt to secede from the Maldives alongside Huvadhu Atoll and Fuvahmulah as the United Suvadive Republic in 1959. This was brutally crushed in 1962 by then-President Ibrahim Nasir using a gunboat borrowed from Sri Lanka, and the entire island of Havaru Thinadhoo was depopulated and its inhabitants dispersed, killed or imprisoned.

The presence of the British airbase at Gan ensured steady employment, English proficiency and free medical treatment. Even today a disproportionate number of the country’s most successful businessmen are from Addu.

The departure of the RAF in 1976 hit the atoll’s independence hard, and the tourism boom beginning to take hold in other parts of the Maldives was slow to develop in Addu despite the presence of an airport and some of the country’s best dive spots.

President Mohamed Nasheed’s decision to declare Addu Atoll a city prior to the local council elections, the declaration that it would be hosting the SAARC Summit, and the building of the convention centre has played to the atoll’s independent sentiment and given it unprecedented political recognition.

There are 30,000 votes in that sentiment – and an additional 8000 with the opening of the new airport at Fumuvalah, a single-island atoll and the country’s most isolated, surrounded by rough and inhospitable seas.

As a domestic political strategy, SAARC appears to be working. Driving along the link road from Gan to Hithadhoo yesterday, Minivan News observed amid the country flags of SAARC nations an abundance of yellow buildings, the colour of President Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

A local woman, sweeping up weeds with a rake under a large billboard, described her work as a “national duty”. The billboard read: “Thank you President Nasheed, you led us to believe in dreams.”

Development after SAARC

Speaking to Minivan News in between juggling mobile phones, Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem observed that conferencing and event tourism had “huge potential” in the Maldives, given the country’s already “five star personality”. It would shift the Maldives from its reliance on beach and sun tourism, he suggested.

There were, he noted, some “tabloid” opinions about the centre, but said there was already interest in the tender for running the centre post-SAARC and the construction of a nearby hotel from hoteliers around the country and region.

“The infrastructure has been developed and people have been trained to run this kind of event,” he said.

SAARC dignitaries have been staying at the upmarket Shangri-La Villingili resort, while journalists around the world from London to Bangladesh have taken over Equator Village, the former RAF Sergeant’s mess, moaning about the sporadic shuttle bus and opportunistic US$10 taxi fares.

The locals have meanwhile launched a campaign of parades and evening entertainment, with music performances and enough fairy lighting along the link road as to give the place a festive feel. Participation was initially muted, acknowleged one official – “everyone still seems surprised. It hasn’t sunk in yet.”

Among the most successful local operations is the Hubasaana 2011 Arts, Crafts and Food festival, which has set up stalls at major venues and been doing a brisk trade in T-shirts, local handicrafts, and peppery Adduan short-eats and banana-leaf wrapped medicines all made by local producers. Trails of foreign journalists crunching their way through packets of homemade spicy gulha are a common sight.

Stalls have been selling local foods and handicrafts to visitors

SAARC Summit

The key day of the Summit is November 10, the opening ceremony during which SAARC heads of state will give their address. During the two-day Summit all traffic in the atoll will be stalled, divers pulled out of the water, and travel on the link road restricted. Last night checkpoints backed up as police logged the registration of every passing vehicle.

During the presence of the world leaders mobile communications around the centre will be jammed; foreign journalists became flustered after being told they would be unable to take laptops or phones into the convention centre during the opening and closing ceremonies due to tight security.

Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem told Minivan News the most important objective of the Summit was to improve and promote trade in the region, and remove existing barriers and impediments: “only three percent of trade among SAARC countries is regional.”

“We should adopt SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Area) as soon as possible,” he said.

Economically, the Maldives is most concerned about developing ferry transport connections with countries in the region, reducing its dependence on air travel, and on the climate change front, “promoting renewable energy investment”.

Naseem also raised the prospect of introducing a human rights mechanism into SAARC, but acknowledged that it was ambitious and that SAARC had “an embedded system.”

There was, however, “a lot of good will on all sides”, he said. SAARC would be a success “even if we can agree on the issues to be solved.”

For Addu, the outcome of SAARC has already been assured.

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Comment: Ages of ice and spice

In his book The Maldive Mystery, Thor Heyerdahl mentions the discovery of neolithic pottery on Male atoll. The shards were sourced to northwest India where they had been manufactured around 2000 BC or earlier, and many assumed that people from the subcontinent carried the original pots to Maldives.

It is more likely any traders visiting Maldives at that time were Indonesians using an ancient network of sea routes emanating from the Indonesian Spice islands and servicing markets in Africa, Asia and the Americas.

After analysing recent research in the diverse fields of ‘oceanography, traditional histories, physiology, genetics, geology and vulcanology, ship hydrodynamics, global climate history and palaeodemography,’ Charles and Frances Pearce in their book Oceanic Migration claim that seafarers from Halmahera island in Indonesia developed trans-oceanic vessels and navigational and horticultural skills during thousands of years of spice trading. This lucrative business led them to harness major sea currents in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and to colonise uninhabited islands. They were the ancestors of the Polynesians.

The Pearces assert that these trader-settlers discovered routes to Japan, Hawaii and the Americas by exploring West Pacific Warm Pool sea currents. Halmahera was directly on the equator in an ancient sea between the Sunda and Sahul continents. When the last Ice Age covered much of the northern hemisphere with massive ice sheets and freezing tundra, this area remained warm and fertile, supporting the most diverse plant and animal life on the planet.

Halmahera was not only a centre for the development of spice trade maritime technology and navigational expertise; it was also a hub for migration and the intercontinental transfer of plants, animals and horticultural knowledge, according to the Pearces. Around 5500 BC, when Sunda and Sahul lost their lowlands in a devastating flood, the new geography created by higher seas provided even more demand and opportunities for Halmaheran skills.

Maldives would have looked very different before the flood. The southern equatorial lagoons, shallower than those in the north, had been exposed for tens of thousands of years. Vegetation would have flourished in these sheltered basins and on the surrounding coral ramparts formed during previous high sea level periods. The rocky walls of Maldives must have been visible far out to sea, and equatorial atolls were excellent environments for the cultivation of large coconuts and other plants useful to the Indonesians and their customers.

Twenty thousand years ago during the peak of the last Ice Age, when sea levels were over 120 metres lower, Sri Lanka and India formed a single landmass and Gujarat extended far out to the west. The Persian Gulf was a fertile valley draining down into open lowlands. Dry land linked Africa and Arabia around a long lake in the deepest part of the Red Sea.

Halmaherans must have discovered the westerly route to Maldives and Chagos while following the southern equatorial current flowing from Indonesia to Africa past Madagascar. The current churns both north and south after hitting the African coast. The northern section splits again, offering spice traders the alternative of cruising straight home on the easterly Indian Counter Current, or striking out northwards along the Monsoon Drift to Arabia, the Middle East and eventually India. All these return journeys take them past Maldives.

After an Ice Age of cold winds up to 70 percent stronger than today, and equatorial sea surface temperatures as low as 25 degrees celsius, ocean sailing became more comfortable about ten thousand years ago, according to research cited by the Pearces. Conditions were particularly pleasant from 4000 BC until 1000 BC – a three thousand year period when underwater volcanic activity in Indonesia raised some sea surface temperatures to 35 degrees celsius.

This was ideal for long distance maritime trading and the Indonesians linked with ports supplying expanding markets in Egypt, the Middle East, India and China. Halmaherans were remarkably adapted for long voyages. Their genetic resistance to cold and famine exceeded even that of the Eskimos. The Pearces believe the hardiness of the Halmaherans and their Polynesian descendants was the result of many thousands of years of Ice Age sea travel.

Indonesian spices were readily available in the Middle East by 1721 BC and probably much earlier. Before 1000 BC, seven American plants, including maize, lima bean, phasey bean and Mexican prickle poppy, were introduced to India via routes that often bypassed China. Custard apples and pineapples also appeared in the Middle East no later than the 700-500 BC. At least forty useful American plants had been established in India by 1000 AD.

Halmaheran visits to the Maldivian atolls are a likely source of legends about ancient seafarers called Redin who preceded the Dhivehi speakers. The Redin often returned, appearing from a variety of directions to cruise through the atolls. Sometimes they stayed on an island before sailing off again in fast vessels.

The Pearces suggest that the Halmaherans also helped supply the Old World elite with American drugs such as coca leaves (or a derivative) and tobacco. Tests on nine royal Egyptian mummies, dated from 1070 BC to 395 AD, revealed that all nine had taken coca and cannabis while they were alive, and eight had used tobacco.

Though royalty may have partied on their wares, no powerful kingdom supported the Halmaherans. They survived primarily through their sailing, trading and horticultural skills. When Arab, Indian, Chinese and Malay pirates invaded the Spice Islands in 76 AD and established rival trading stations, the Halmaheran monopoly disappeared.

Before that invasion, spice trading had boomed along land and sea routes between the Roman and Chinese empires. Indonesian adventurers could earn a livelihood by simply riding a raft loaded with cinnamon along the southern equatorial current to Africa. Roman writer Pliny the Elder described their exploits two thousand years ago:

‘They bring their cargo over vast seas on rafts which have no rudders to steer them or oars to push or pull them or sails or other aids to navigation; but instead only the spirit of man and human courage. What is more, they put out to sea in winter, around the time of the northern winter solstice, when the east winds are blowing their hardest. These winds drive them on a straight course… they say that these merchant-sailors take almost five years before they return, and that many perish. In exchange, they carry back with them glassware and bronze ware, clothing, brooches, armlets, and necklaces.’

Cinnamon barges might be useful for one-way deliveries, but Halmaheran outriggers were much faster and capable of sailing almost anywhere. In 2003, Englishman Philip Beale and a team led by Indonesian shipbuilder Saad Abdullah on the Kangean islands north of Bali constructed a nineteen metre double outrigger inspired by 8th century AD relief carvings of Halmaheran vessels on the Borobudur temple. Beale and fourteen crew sailed the bamboo and wood ship, built without nails, from Java to Seychelles in 26 days. From there, they went south around the Cape of Good Hope and up to Ghana.

Cultural and economic change swept over Maldives in the first centuries AD. It transformed a frontier visited by Indonesian traders and subcontinental fishermen into a thriving export economy replete with monarchy, militias, slaves, monks and temples. Sri Lankan shipping and Buddhist business culture were the sources of much of this transformation, and its basic drivers were Bengali and Chinese consumer demand.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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Four SAARC agreements to be signed at summit

Four agreements are to be signed among SAARC member nations at the summit on November 10 and 11, chair of the standing committee, Mohamed Naseer, revealed yesterday.

With the exception of an agreement on disaster management, Naseer did not reveal details as the agreements are subject to endorsement or approval by the Council of Foreign Ministers, which has convened today. The council will also consider a draft SAARC declaration prepared by the committee.

Speaking to press after the 39th session of the standing committee, Naseer, permanent secretary at the foreign ministry, said discussions focused on transport and connectivity “to promote greater movement of people, investment and trade in the region.”

The committee also “underscored the need to intensify efforts in the area of poverty alleviation, particularly with regard to the completion of the regional poverty profile from 2009-2010.”

A mid-term review is to be undertaken to evaluate the SAARC goals before the next standing committee meeting in July, he added.

On SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Agreement), Naseer said the committee agreed to make the tariffs and rules of preference “more attractive than those under the bilateral trade agreement.”

Meanwhile an inter-governmental mechanism is to be set up “to guide the agenda of cooperation in disaster and risk management.”

The committee also decided to expand and institutionalise the annual South Asia Forum “as a platform for the widest possible engagement of stakeholders as a means of promoting ideas so that the SAARC process could be taken to a greater level.”

On a draft regional agreement on promotion and protection of investments, Naseer said the committee had “a very productive discussion” where it was agreed to finalise the agreement before the next meeting in July.

The committee agreed to hold the 12th SAARC Trade Fair and the SAARC Travel and Tourism Fair in the Maldives in 2012, Naseer continued, “so we will be hosting these two fairs hopefully in Addu City.”

On the proposed ‘Indian Ocean Cargo and Passenger Ferry Services,’ Naseer said the committee agreed to undertake feasibility studies before the end of the year “so that the project can start as early as possible next year.”

Meanwhile the committee discussed expediting the application process for the South Asian University to enroll “over 200 students from SAARC countries” next year.

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China opens embassy in Male’

China established a full diplomatic mission to the Maldives yesterday with the opening of its embassy in the capital Male’.

“They (the Chinese) wanted to open the embassy before the [SAARC] summit,” Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem told AFP.

“Indian officials have expressed fears that this is part of a Chinese policy to throw a ‘string of pearls’ – or a circle of influence – around India,” the AFP reported.

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Local handicraft producers join forces against imported counterfeits

The tourists who buy tokens of remembrances prior to returning home after a brief holiday in Maldives tend to believe that the items they have bought are authentic or “Made in Maldives”.

The souvenir items bought are carried all the way from the Maldives, far across the oceans to their home country and gifted to their loved ones, sometimes displayed in their living rooms, providing significance to the brief holidays the tourists have spent in Maldives. The items displayed often create interest and knowledge about the history and culture of the country and sometimes what the buyers learn about the work of art are fixed in their mind and are passed on with the products. The importance of authentic handicraft items and the handicraft industry goes beyond this.

Maldives is country rich in heritage and a culture worthy of immersion and discovery through token and memory. The authentic souvenir items bought by tourists buy show aspects of culture, history and identity, be it the Gadhdhoo mat, the coconut shell necklace or the lacquer item for Baa Thuladhoo.

These authentic handicraft items helps in defining who we are and the context which we live in both in the past and present.

Today, Maldives is a country where tourism has become the largest economic industry playing an important role in earning foreign exchange revenue and generating employment in the tertiary sector. The sector has its linkage to the handicraft industry as well. The constraints confronting the handicraft industry reflects that the weak linkage between the tourism industry and the authentic handicraft industry.

It is said that in the past Maldivian craftsmanship had a regional reputation of excellence reaching as far as the Arab nations. Over time development has taken place with 1972 marking the introduction of the tourism industry to the Maldives. Although the demand for handicraft items increased with this development, with the limited natural and human resources, the supply was not sufficient enough to cater for the increasing demand, resulting in imported handicraft items flooding the market.

Today imported handicraft items, with counterfeit labels identifying them as “Made in Maldives”, dominate the market. The local producer does not have the necessary marketing skills nor the proper channels to market their products as authentic local products, while the visiting tourists do not have the means of identifying authentic handicraft items.

With the market dominated by the cheap imported counterfeited products, the local producer is unable to compete in terms of price and supply. The significance of the culture and heritage of Maldives, which can be displayed through the handicraft items, are often lost and out of focus when the visiting tourists are unable to distinguish them from the imported counterfeits.

The visitors do not get a fair choice of choosing between the authentic local products and the imported counterfeits. These constraints confronting the local producers require measures and support from different stakeholders including the concerned government authorities, businessmen, producers and society at large.

Sustainable tourism requires these constraints to be minimised, paving way for the local producers to share the opportunities and gain more from the benefits of tourism. Maldives Authentic Crafts Cooperative Society (MACCS) was initiated with this aim – to assist the local producer to market their products. MACCS aims to overcome the current constraints confronting the artisans of the rural areas of Maldives and to become identified throughout the Maldives and the world as a development and marketing cooperative of authentic Maldivian handicrafts.

Registered in Male’, MACCS was inaugurated during the Hubasaana festival in October 2011 in Seenu Atoll Maradhoo. Following the inauguration, MACCS has been tirelessly networking with the producers of the country, finding ways and means of marketing their products for the SAARC Summit to be held in Addu City from November 10-11 2011.

During the SAARC Summit, First Lady Laila Ali graced the stall of MACCS at the Gan International Airport. Members of MACCS welcomed her with a handmade gift item designed and made by one of the MACCS members. The displayed products were shown which ranged from items of heritage value, items of utility, and items of beauty and adornment all of which are made by local producers.

The Gadhdhoo mats renowned for their meticulous artisanship, beauty and quality, produced by Faiza of Gdh Gadhdhoo, are displayed in different forms in the stall. It is framed as show piece and it is also displayed as small table mats ideal for a gift item. Bags are also designed with an “indigenous flair”, using designed pieces of mats providing a functional gift item.

Faiza is a producer who has networked with MACCS, and MACCS in turn is promoting her creations. Designed mats have been produced in Huvadhoo Atoll of Maldives for more than four hundred years. It is well established that fine pattern mats, or kunaa, were presented as royal gifts in ancient times. Mats are made from natural vegetation found in the islands. In making a Maldives mat it is dyed using natural dye to the three basic colors used in the kunaa, which are black, brown and yellow. The strips are then woven manually to produce fine quality mats of unique designs.

MACCS is not only showcasing heritage items like the Gadhdhoo mats or lacquer items produced in Baa Atoll. Contemporary creations like those of self-taught designer Wimla are also displayed. These creations are one of a kind pieces often fused with subtle touches of flaura and fauna of our environment. Her creations are also inspired by traditional themes and are often based on motifs and designs found in traditional mats and lacquer work.

Displayed in the Gan airport stall are her hand painted shawls – unique and excellent gift items. Using shells, small rocks pieces found on the beach and waste items such as plastic bottles, she also designs necklaces and brooches creating unique and distinct pieces of jewelry adding significance to recycling and re-using, one of the major goals of MACCS. There are many local producers and designers among us who are artistic and creative who wants to give significance to recycling and reusing.

Displayed are also the products of Moomina Abdulla of Lh Naifaru, who has skillfully crafted the Samusa Gonu, Thoshali and Mulhoashi, items which are commonly used throughout the Maldives in the past. These products are made from the leaves of the coconut tree and are basketry items use to carry fish and different type of things.

In addition to a source of food, historically parts of the coconut tree have been used to make household products such as food covers, sieves and winnowers while the timber is used for boat building. Her creations illustrate Maldivian island setting and the multifaceted use of our national tree, the coconut palm.

In total there are 28 producers out of which the work of 11 are on display at the Departure Terminal of Seenu Gan International Airport. Anyone who wishes to see these creations are welcome to stop by at the Gan International Airport departure terminal. MACCS hope to replicate this exhibition in the near future in resorts all over the Maldives.

MACCS is working with passion and interest to promoting local arts and crafts and facilitating market access for local products. The cooperative acts as a central buying and selling point and is creating a network of producers and buyers. The cooperative will procure the crafts from all over Maldives directly from the producer. The idea is to improve their income by doing away with the middleman, and also ensuring that the customer receives the item at a reasonable price. MACCS is committed and determined through its cooperative to support communities, in the promotion of handicrafts making it a sustainable livelihood for the producers throughout Maldives.

While we all recognize pieces of heritage need to be preserved for future generations we also believe that much has to be done to reap the benefits of the handicrafts industry, by marketing and promoting local authentic products.

MACCS is the logo that visitor has to look for when they are shopping for souvenir items. The logo involves not only the passion of a like minded house wives who are dedicated to promote the handicraft industry of Maldives but it also proudly represents a number of producers of Maldives who are living in the far flung island of Maldives.

The logo reflects the aim for wider outreach, empowering producers and pursuing sustainable development through promoting the local handicraft industry of Maldives. The next time when you are shopping for a souvenir item, perhaps you will see the small logo proudly displayed on authentic handicraft items representing the authenticity and quality of a product made and marketed by MACCS. The creativity and ingenuity of MACCS products will set them apart from counterfeited imported products. This is the way how MACCS is going to go forward and market the local producers’ creations.

Aminath Latheefa is a member of the Maldives Authentic Crafts Cooperative Society (MACCS): www.maccs.com.mv

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