Day: July 6, 2014

Kurendhoo and Fulidhoo erosion threatens communities

Both Vaavu Fulidhoo and Lhaviyani Kurendhoo are suffering the impacts of increased coastal erosion and Udha waves as the south-west monsoon season continues.

Vaavu atoll Fulidhoo Council has said it is about to lose the island’s football stadium, while the local graveyard on Kurendhoo is now just 15 feet from the encroaching waves.

Fulidhoo has already lost its cultural center and a 50 foot tower – erected as a navigation guide for vessels traveling within the atoll – to erosion, says the council.

It estimates that approximately 350-400 feet of soil has been eroded so far, with the erosion speeding up following the 2004 tsunami and accelerating every south-west monsoon since then.

Council President Moosa Faiz says the sea is now around just six feet away from the Dhiraagu telecommunications tower, with the power cable already in the water. At the current rate of erosion, he expects it to fall before this monsoon ends.

“Now the only option we have is to move the cable into the football stadium, but the youth and general public do not want this. Some are asking how long before we move the tower into the stadium?”

The council has instead opted to keep the cable as it is – in the sea – and to the electricity to the tower for safety.

With no sufficient funds at their disposal to protect the beach, the council traveled to the capital Malé city last month, meeting with nine different government ministries and Dhiraagu without a gaining a positive response, Faiz continued.

The council has now started requesting assistance from nearby tourist resorts.

Meanwhile the island is being approached by Udha waves from the northern side of the island which last month encroached 100 feet into the island, rather than the usual 10 0r 20.

“People were afraid this time,” explained the council president.

Kurendhoo

Approximately 114 miles north of Fulidhoo, the island of Kurendhoo in Lhaviyani atoll is also facing increasing land erosion.

The northern side of the island is eroding at a fast pace, leaving the only graveyard on the island within 15 feet of being taken by the ocean.

The erosion has accelerated in the past three years, with 15-20 feet of sand already washed away by the sea on Kurendhoo.

A Kurendhoo council official said that part of the beach was reclaimed earlier during the harbor construction approximately ten years ago, but all this had all now been washed into the sea.

The previous council had tried unsuccessfully to control the erosion by placing concrete blocks and stones at the area.

The council’s only hope at the moment is the now- stalled harbor project of the island, which includes a 309 meter rock revetment, the construction of a 207 meter concrete quay-wall, and a 582 meter Rock Armour Breakwater.

The MVR40 million project was handed over to Maldives Transport and Construction Company in March 2013 and was expected to be completed with a year.

Kurendhoo also faced Udha waves from the southern side of the island in this season, affecting approximately four houses and flooding the streets.

Possible causes

The Kurendhoo council president believes that beach erosion on his island could be related to the construction of the harbor at the thundi side of the island where sand naturally comes and goes from the beach.

These moving sands, which some locals call the ‘dancing thundi’ are an important part of the natural system which forms and sustains the islands, may have been interrupted by human interference.

The Environment Protection Agency’s (EPA) Senior Environment Analyst Rifath Naeem said that this is very likely to be an underlying reason for the increasing number of islands with chronic beach erosion.

“Sometimes construction of harbors or other development activity could throw off the balance in this system. When the complex dynamics and equilibrium of sand movement are affected by such activity, it could increase accretion or erosion of beaches. What’s happening to the beach of one island could affect that of another island in that same reef.” He said.

Since the establishment of the agency, all development projects are carried out with an Environment Impact Assessment, but Rifath said this information may not be enough considering how complex these systems are.

While this assessment minimizes the negative environmental impact, he said, to fully grasp the complex systems at work and minimize impact further would require a lot more time and work.

“Chronic erosion has been going on for a while now, both on inhabited and uninhabited islands. But lately the number of reports we receive have increased significantly along with reports of other environmental issues such as salt water intrusion and changes in rainfall,” he said.

At the moment there is not enough data to say clearly that it is in fact an increase in erosion or just an increase in reporting, he explained, if it is caused by human intervention or if it is a direct impact of climate change.

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Teachers Association condemn “overhauling of the academic calendar” for Ramadan

Following the government’s decision to close schools for grades 9 and under during Ramadan, the Teachers Association of Maldives had said the move will damage students academically.

“We cannot at all accept the way schools were shut down all of a sudden,” said President of the Teacher’s Association Athif Abdul Hakeem.

While teachers do not have a problem with the concept of closing schools for Ramadan, he said, the manner in which the decision was made had given rise to numerous problems.

“It would have been alright if it had been planned ahead and included in the academic calendar,” he said. “The excuse that the Education Ministry gave for closing schools is also unacceptable. If students in Grades 10 and above can understand lessons in three hours, so can those in grade 8. It’s illogical to claim otherwise.”

Hakeem also refuted the ministry’s claims that attendance was lower during Ramadan, adding that students will face disadvantages as a result of the sudden closure.

Earlier in June, the Education Ministry announced the decision, saying that the reduced three-hour days during the month of fasting were insufficient time in which to take lessons.

It further claimed that the decision had been made after holding discussions with those in the education sector and parents – a claim Hakeem has denied.

Parents and teachers

“It is a horrible decision,” said Mariyam Maanaa – mother of a Grade 8 student. “It is making children lethargic. How will they cope when they start working and have to go to office during Ramadan if they get used to this being a vacation?”

Civil service working hours – also the subject of some controversy prior to the start of the holy month – are between 10am and 2pm throughout Ramadan.

“This is the first time school has been closed during Ramadan and I see no reason why it had to be done,” she continued

Parent Rahima Ali, meanwhile, feels that it was a reasonable decision to not hold sessions for youngest of students.

“Perfectly understandable that school is closed for pre-schoolers. It might have been okay to close them even for Grades 1 to 5. But over that, they are not so young anymore. They must be able to concentrate on lessons even if fasting.

“Fasting is not meant to be a break from life when all you have to do is sleep through the day. The ministry’s decision is ruining our children’s discipline.”

Teacher Aishath Inas stated that while they had been asked to provide handouts to students for the holidays, teachers did not have sufficient time to effectively do so.

“It will also be extremely hard to try to cover a full month’s syllabus later. Many teachers are unhappy with the fact that we have to work through Ramadan even when students are not here, and while we will also need to come out to work on every Saturday for the rest of the year,” she said.

Extra classes

Despite the government’s decision, some schools – especially those in the islands – have begun to take sessions under the name of holding extra classes.

The Teacher’s Association was informed today that the ministry had notified those schools to stop holding such classes.

“The fact that schools are taking the initiative and holding classes shows just how concerned teachers are that we may not be able to complete the syllabus on time,” he said.

On July 3, the Ministry announced that the mid-term break would now be rescheduled to fit in into the last days of Ramadan.

Hakeem stated that this would once again pose problems as it may interfere with travel and other plans that parents may have already made in accordance with the annual academic calendar.

“The gist of the matter is we cannot accept the overhauling of the academic calendar in the middle of the year. There is no formula that will allow us to complete the syllabus on time now. As for working on Saturdays, it will be a burden on the state budget to have teachers work then as according to the law, teachers will need to be paid double the rate if they are working on an official holiday,” he continued.

Minivan News was unable to contact Ministry of Education Media Officer Maina Latheef at the time of press.

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Guest House Association established by Maafushi businessmen

Thirty-two managers of guest houses in the island of Maafushi have established the Guest House Association of Maldives with the objective of developing and promoting the sector.

Association member and Manager of Maafushi Inn Hussain Raznee interprets the government’s current guest house island policy as an attempt to inhibit the current guest house business model.

“The establishment of guest house islands will not have any benefits at all for those of us living in the islands,” said Raznee, saying that the current model provide local youth and businesses with an decent income.

“Guest house owners assist in all community activities, donating funds to schools, school events, island community events, and even to efforts to keep the whole island clean. This is all made possible because of guest houses,” he added.

After previously expressing a reluctance to promote the guest house tourism model for fear of damaging the country’s luxury resort brand, the new guest house policy is designed to make the traditional one island/one resort model accessible to small and medium enterprises – with the government’s PR wing, the MMPRC, taking a lead role.

Raznee called on the government to further facilitate the running of guest houses in all islands, suggesting that it could handle promotional activities as long as permits for the businesses were approved.

The group will work to protect the rights of guest house owners and employees from all over the Maldives and to promote local tourism in international markets, he continued.

Raznee noted that, although members of the association are currently all from Maafushi, they are now in the process of contacting and inviting guest house owners from across the country to join the association.

Guest House Islands

The recently launched guest house island project will begin begin with the development of the uninhabited ‘Thumburi’ island in Laamu atoll into a 2000 bed resort.

According to promotional material, the guest house island concept – endorsed by industry groups – aims to “responsibly” diversify the tourism industry without encroaching on inhabited islands.

Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb has previously explained the benefits of the policy – part of the Progressive Party of Maldives presidential election manifesto.

“It is a huge infrastructure investment to build a tourist resort. It becomes an expensive place to go to when they invest in water set-ups, sewerage systems – and all before building rooms,” Minister of Tourism Ahmed Adeeb explained to Minivan News during an interview in January.

Adeeb stated then that the Malé Water and Sewerage Company will set up water and sewerage, and electricity systems in guest house islands, after which plots of land from the island will be given to different individual businessmen.

“The thing is, we just don’t talk about guesthouses so much. From a marketing perspective, we have positioned the Maldives as a high-end destination. A-category guests will continue coming for a long as we market the country as an A-category destination. Guests for B,C,D and E categories are something we automatically get,” said Adeeb.

He added, however, that the government supports the running of guest houses even though it will not promote them in international markets.

Some leaders in the industry have also expressed similar concerns regarding the destination’s brand, while the sector’s capacity has tripled in the past six years.

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has meanwhile criticised the government’s launching of guest house islands, with former President Mohamed Nasheed last week suggesting that guest house islands would not benefit locals, describing them as a threat to the success of guest houses in inhabited islands.

In April, the MDP-dominated Addu City Council passed a resolution to create an ‘Addu Guest House Venture’ which will develop and expand the guest house tourism industry within the city under the guidance of a designated promotion board.

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Tourist arrivals reach half a million in 2014

Tourist arrivals in 2014 reached half a million at the end of May, registering an increase of 11.9 percent compared to the same period in 2013, the Ministry of Tourism has revealed.

“By individual market performances, China continues to show remarkable performances maintaining its number one position as the market leader with more than 27 percent shares. At the end of May 2014, a total of 141,249 tourists arrived in Maldives from China, which was 23.3 percent increase over the same period of 2013,” the ministry noted.

The Maldives welcomed a total of 518,166 guests from January to May 2014 with Europe contributing 48.3 percent of arrivals.

However, the Asia and Pacific region overtook Europe in the month of May with 55 percent of arrivals or 50,354 tourists.

Total arrivals from the region from January to May (229,847) also increased 24.7 percent compared to the same period last year.

“India, Japan and Korea were the second, third and fourth markets respectively from this region. Indian market saw an increase of 13.1 percent during the period in review contributing 3.5 percent as market shares at the end of the period.”

The Tourism Ministry also noted that the number of registered tourist establishments at the end of May was 460 with 30,510 beds, “out of which on average 291 establishments with a sum total of 27,004 beds were operational during the period in review.”

“These include 105 tourist resorts (23,029 beds), 17 hotels (1,510 beds), 112 guest houses (1,539 beds) and 57 safari vessels (927 beds),” the ministry revealed.

“The overall bed nights of these establishments saw an increase of 5.9 percent during the period reaching a total of 3,262,667 nights. While the occupancy rate recorded an increase of 2.3 percent to attain an average of 80.2 percent for the period, average duration of stay of the tourists saw a decline of 0.4 percent. The average duration of stay for the period was 6.3 days.”

Meanwhile, in its monthly economic review, the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) noted that tourist arrivals in May reached 91,296 visitors, which was an increase of 15 percent in annual terms.

“However, when compared to the previous month tourist arrivals showed a decline of 13 percent. The annual increase in arrival was contributed by the increase in the number of arrivals from Asia, despite the decline in number of arrivals from Europe,” the central bank observed.

“In May 2014, total bed nights rose by 4 percent in annual terms while the average duration of stay declined by 9 percent. With the increase in bed nights, the occupancy rate increased marginally to 68 percent in May 2014 compared to the same period last year.”

Chinese market

A consultation meeting was meanwhile held earlier this month – facilitated by Mega Maldives Airlines – between Maldivian government representatives and Chinese travel agents to discuss the potential of further increasing Chinese tourists to the country.

The Maldives was represented by Deputy Tourism Minister Hussain Lirar and Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) Managing Director Abdulla while the travel agents included CYTS, CAISSA, Russian Vision, Beijing Sunshine, Wendy Feeling, CTRIP, and Tuniu, Mega Maldives noted in a press release.

According to the airline, “significant ground work was done to address the concerns raised by the market as well as working on ways in which both parties can work to further improve the market.”

The government’s recently introduced guest house island policy was meanwhile received with enthusiasm by the Chinese tour operators.

“The agents were enthusiastic about the development of 2000 bed capacity in the mid-market range while at the same time retaining the resort concept and were keen to work with the local partners to block rooms in the future,” the statement said.

“The agents highlighted the importance of further marketing campaigns in China and developing a safe environment for the Chinese tourists.  The agents also further emphasized the importance of having more Chinese speakers in the resorts and airports that are equipped to give safety information to the tourists.”

Mega Maldives Airlines CEO George Weinmann meanwhile reportedly proposed incorporating a Travel Industry China-Maldives Association together with the Chinese travel agents and industry partners in the Maldives.

“The seminar was concluded with both parties agreeing to continue the dialogue to further improve the Chinese tourism arrivals to the Maldives,” the statement read.

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HPA warns of viral fever and common cold epidemic

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has warned of a viral fever and common cold epidemic in the Maldives.

According to the agency, approximately 1600 cases of viral fever 2000 cases of common cold and diarrhea are being reported every week.

A health alert issued on Thursday also expressed concern over rising dengue fever cases. Approximately 20 cases of dengue fever are being reported every week in the past two weeks.

“There have been 20 cases of dengue fever, reported on average, every week in the past two weeks. This agency also notes the common cold cases being reported at the moment are stronger than usual.”

Noting that viral fever and common cold are highly contagious, the agency has called on individuals with symptoms such as fever, cough or cold to avoid public places.

The HPA has also instructed those infected to cover their mouths and noses when coughing and to increase fluid intake.

Increase in dengue is linked to increased mosquito breeding with the southwest monsoon in full swing, the agency said and has urged the public to eradicate mosquito breeding grounds and take steps such as applying mosquito repellant to decrease the risk of infection.

HPA also called on the public to pay attention to cleanliness, such as washing hands before preparing food and refrigerating food, to decrease risk of infection.

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Man sentenced to seven years and six months for stealing laptop

The Criminal Court has sentenced Hussein Abdul Hakeem of Lhaviyani atoll Hinnavaru Island to seven years and six months for stealing a laptop.

This is the seventh count of theft against Hakeem. The Penal Code adds a year for every count of theft.

Hakeem was sentenced for stealing a laptop from a house in Malé in 2012.

In February, Ali Rasheed of Haa Dhaal Hanimadhoo Island was sentenced to four and a half years for stealing three lotion bottles. Rasheed also had been convicted of theft four times previously.

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Nine hospitalised in ferry accident in Kumundhoo

Nine people have been hospitalised after a ferry ran onto the reef in Haa Dhaal atoll Kumundhoo Island on Saturday.

According to the Maldives Police Services, the ferry had been traveling from Haa Dhaal atoll Kulhudhuffushi Island and was attempting to enter Kumundhoo’s harbor when it collided with the island’s reef.

Women and children were aboard the ferry and several had to receive medical care for injuries while nine individuals had to be taken to Kulhudhuffushi’s Regional Hospital for treatment.

The Maldives National Defense Forces (MNDF), the police and islanders are now attempting to sink the boat.

Meanwhile, the Meteorology Department has warned of strong winds, rough seas and tidal surges with the southwest monsoon in full swing. The government has urged boats to take extra caution.

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Police confiscate 190 bags of goods from local market

The Maldives Police Services have confiscated 190 bags of goods from the local market area in Malé.

According to the police, the goods were being kept for long periods in public spaces and were a nuisance to traffic and pedestrians.

The 190 bags include 70 bags of watermelon.

The police have warned it will continue to confiscate such goods and has urged the public to follow the rules in handling goods.

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