A deal in the pipeline last year between the Maldives and Bangladesh to ship sand from Bangladeshi rivers to increase the land level of Maldivian islands in anticipation of sea-level rise appears to have been shelved, according to a report by Business Standard.
“I don’t think the plan is still there. They wanted to export sand to up the land level in defence against rising sea level. We had asked them to dredge and take the sand from our rivers, but they never came back with a complete proposal. I do not think that Maldives has such technical expertise,” Ghulam Muhammed Quader, Bangladesh commerce minister was quoted as saying.
The plan was reportedly conceptualised during a meeting between former President Mohamed Nasheed and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed in 2010.
“Even if, Maldives was willing, there were some pros and cons for the project as it involved environmental issues too,” Quader added.
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