Day: November 22, 2014

Addressing challenges of small island states critical in protecting ozone: Environment minister

Minister of Environment and Energy Thoriq Ibrahim has called on the international community to give due consideration to the specific challenges faced by Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in phasing out harmful emissions.

Speaking during the 26th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, Thoriq said that the needs of the fishing industry should be addressed when assessing compliance with hydrocholrofluorocarbon (HCFC) reductions under the protocol.

The minister noted that “addressing HCFC uses for the cooling needs of the fisheries sector and related facilities would be critical for the compliance of SIDS under the Montreal Protocol,” explained the environment ministry.

One of the most vulnerable nations to the effects of climate changes, the Maldives relies on fishing for around 98 percent of its exports.

The Maldives is currently the Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States – formed of 39 low-lying coastal and small island countries, many of whose economies depend on fishing.

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer – the first treaty to achieve universal ratification – obliges signatories to freeze the consumption and production of HCFCs, which contribute to global warming and climate change, between 2013 and 2015.

Having largely replaced the more harmful CFCs, HCFCs are now used as refrigerants in refrigerators and air conditioning units.

Thoriq noted that the phasing out of HCFCs had seen a subsequent rise in the use of the alternative compound – hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), reiterating the Maldives’ support to address the rise of HFCs, which still contribute to global warming despite not being harmful to the ozone layer.

United Nations Environment Programme estimates suggest that HFCs are 1000 times as harmful as carbon dioxide and could, within 30 to 40 years, wipe out all the progress achieved in avoiding carbon emissions under the protocol.

“In this regard, the Minister noted that the Montreal Protocol was suited to take on the task given its expertise and track record in the successful implementation of global environmental agreements,” read a press release from the Ministry of Environment and Energy.

Responding to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report in March this year, Thoriq called for a cap on global temperature rise, pledging to increase renewable energy to 30% in the next 5 years.

While Thoriq stated his belief that “averting catastrophe is still possible,” former President Mohamed Nasheed has expressed fears that Maldivians could become the world’s first climate change refugees.

“The world has lost the window of opportunity to mend its ways. Big emitters have sentenced us. The world temperature will rise, and the seas will rise over our nose,” Nasheed told the International Bar Association last month.

Thoriq has previously noted that 90 percent of islands in the Maldives are affected by coastal erosion, while former environment minister Mohamed Aslam has found that 50 percent of islands in Huvadhoo atoll shrank in size between 1969 to 2013.

Last month the ministry launched the ‘It’s cool at 25’ campaign calling for a more energy efficient use of air-conditioning units in the Maldives , with Thoriq noting that the country had one of the highest rates of energy use per capita in the South Asia region.


Related to this story

“It’s cool at 25″: environment ministry launches energy saving campaign

Maldives elected chair of Alliance of Small Island States

Averting climate change catastrophe is still possible, says environment minister

Maldivians could be among first climate refugees, warns Nasheed

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Nasheed meets South Korean president while attending IDU meeting

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has met with South Korean President Park Geun-hye while visiting the country for the International Democratic Union’s (IDU) Party Leaders Meeting in Seoul.

Geun-hye thanked thanked Nasheed for accepting the IDU’s invitation as well a commending him for his pro-democracy work in the Maldives.

Taking place just once every three years, PLM is the most prestigious event on the IDU Calendar bringing together a number of heads of government and party leaders from around the world.

The IDU is a collection of over 54 centre-right political parties from around the globe who meet to discuss and exchange policy ideas. The group’s leadership includes former Australian Prime Minister John Howard and former UK Foreign Secretary William Hague.

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Dancehall star Sean Paul to perform in Malé

Jamaican dancehall star Sean Paul will perform in the Maldives next month, Minister of Tourism Ahmed Adeeb has told local media.

Adeeb told Sun Online that the rapper and singer has agreed to perform in Malé in order to help promote tourism in the country.

The concert will be held in the Alimas Carnival area on Wednesday, December 31 at 6pm. Entry to the event will be free of charge and is being funded by sponsors, explained Adeebl.

After launching his first album in 2000, Sean Paul has gone on to sell over 10 million records worldwide.

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The Maldives-Syria Connection – Jihad in Paradise?: Terrorism Monitor

“The Maldives, the Muslim-majority archipelago country in the Indian Ocean, is going through a tumultuous time, facing increasing Islamist activities at home, an exodus of radicalized youth to join the jihad in Syria and a growing domestic clamor for the implementation of Shari’a law,” writes Animesh Roul for the Terrorism Monitor.

“This has been accompanied by the targeted abduction and intimidation of local Maldivians who hold progressive ideals and secular values. Although the country is better known as a romantic honeymoon destination, these developments – which include the establishment of the ‘Islamic State of the Maldives’ (ISM) group – have exposed the deep extremist undercurrents in Maldivian society and are increasingly drawing the attention of local and international security forces.

In October 2013, some of the first cases of radicalized Maldivian youths attempting to travel to Syria were reported when two youths were detained at the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) in the capital Malé (Haveeru Online, June 1). Since then, about 100 Maldivians are believed to have joined the Syrian conflict and most of these are said to have joined up with al-Qaeda’s official affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra (or al-Nusra Front/the Support Front).

Several recent incidents shed further light on the ongoing jihadist exodus. In October, Sri Lankan security officials detained three Maldivians, including an 18-year-old woman, who were suspected of planning to travel to Syria through Turkey. Separately, another Maldivian family – comprising a 23-year-old radicalized man, his mother and his 10-year-old sister – was reported to have travelled to Islamic State-held territory in Syria or Iraq, from where they sent a message home stating that the Maldives is a “land of sin” and an ‘apostate nation.’

These statements were perhaps an early indication that jihadists might someday regard the Maldives itself as a legitimate target.”

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MMA warns of shortfalls in revenue due to ad hoc policy changes

The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has advised against making ad hoc changes to policies outlined in the 2015 state budget that could affect projected revenue and expenditure.

“If policies are changed the budget deficit would increase and become difficult to finance,” the central bank cautioned in its professional opinion (Dhivehi) on the budget, which was made public on Thursday (November 20) after media was excluded from parliament’s budget committee’s meeting with the MMA governor last week.

The MMA recommended ensuring that forecast revenue would be realised in full if policy changes become necessary during the year.

While the budget included a ‘green tax’ for tourists of US$10 per day, Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb later announced that the government has decided to lower the rate to US$6 and exempt guest houses.

The MMA recommended introducing the tax before November 2015 as planned in order to raise the income anticipated in the budget.

During the budget debate in parliament last week, minority leader Ibrahim Solih questioned whether the MVR21.5 billion (US$1.3 billion) revenue forecast in the budget could be realised.

While MVR340 million (US$22 million) was forecast as income from the green tax in the last quarter of 2015, Solih observed that the decision to lower the rate and delay implementation would lead to a revenue shortfall of about MVR300 million (US$19.4 million).

The MMA also advised against launching infrastructure projects without securing financing.

Following its annual Article IV consultation, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) advised last week that “large capital investments should only be embarked upon when full financing is secured at affordable costs and the growth benefits clearly outweigh the costs.”

The MMA meanwhile recommended targeting subsidies to the needy from January 2015 onward.

Finance minister Abdulla Jihad noted in his budget speech to parliament that targeting the electricity subsidy to low-income families or households would save 40 percent of the government’s expenditure on the subsidy.

In May, MMA Governor Dr Azeema Adam called for “bold decisions” to ensure macroeconomic stability by reducing expenditure – “especially the un-targeted subsidies”.

Deficit financing

The central bank also recommended implementing a population consolidation policy in the medium-term in order to “reduce state expenditure and provide services to the public in a sustainable way”.

Additionally, the MMA suggested that 85 MPs in the People’s Majlis and more than 1,000 councillors were disproportionately high and advised revisions to the framework of governance.

The current model of more than 1,000 elected councillors approved in 2010 by the then-opposition majority parliament was branded “economic sabotage” by the Maldivian Democratic Party government, which had proposed limiting the number of councillors to “no more than 220.”

The new layer of government introduced with the first local council elections in February 2011 cost the state US$12 million a year with a wage bill of US$220,000 a month.

Recurrent expenditure in 2015 is meanwhile expected to be MVR15.8 billion (US$1 billion) or 65 percent of the budget.

Referring to the proposed tax and tariff hikes in the budget, the MMA suggested that businesses were not able to adequately prepare or plan accordingly when new taxes are introduced with each year’s budget.

Taxation on businesses should be planned at least three years in advance and should not be raised in that period, the central bank recommended.

The MMA also recommended changing short-term debt to long-term and to cease depending on the domestic market to finance deficit spending in favour of “selling long-term foreign bonds at low interest rates”.

In his budget speech, finance minister Jihad revealed that public debt is expected to reach MVR31 billion (US$2 billion) or 67 percent of GDP at the end of 2014.

According to the central bank, the total outstanding stock of government securities was MVR13.6 billion (US$881 million) at the end of September while the outstanding stock of treasury bills sold in the domestic market was MVR10 billion (US$648.5 million) as of November 6.

“This year we estimate that MVR1.2 billion worth of T-bills have been used by the state for finances. In 2015, it will be MVR440 million,” Jihad told the budget committee earlier this month.

Rolling over T-bills was proving to be a “nightmare” as the finance ministry has to plead with banks for extension of repayment periods, Jihad said.

While the government proposed raising MVR112.3 million from the domestic market to finance the deficit, the MMA revealed that the figure reached MVR1 billion during the year.

The MMA noted that reliance on commercial banks to finance deficit spending would squeeze lending to the private sector.

In its concluding statement, the MMA stressed that expenditure should not exceed budgeted amounts and income should be collected in full if the government was to achieve it economic policy objectives.


Related to this story

US$6 green tax to be introduced from November 2015, says tourism minister

Parliamentary budget debate concludes

Maldives economy “relatively buoyant” but fiscal imbalances continue to grow: IMF

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