A digest of news and opinion from the Maldives.
Ali Sobah* was 13 when a concrete block fell on his leg and his thigh bone snapped in half. Kulhudhuffushi’s only hospital was unable to treat his injuries and said he would have to go to the capital. His two brothers, the only breadwinners in a family of nine, scrambled for the funds needed for […]
President Abdulla Yameen has told the people of Kulhudhuffushi they can either stay in the past or move with the times. He has not visited the island for two years but was there on Sunday for the ruling party’s annual rally. PPM supporters, heads of state-owned firms and senior government officials have been flocking to […]
NGOs have slammed the decision to destroy mangroves to make way for an airport in Kulhudhuffushi, ahead of next week’s official project launch by President Abdulla Yameen. The white clay mangroves, said to be the largest of their kind in the Maldives, are home to endangered species and serve as a natural defence system against […]
The imminent destruction of Kulhudhuffushi’s mangroves to make way for an airport and ensuing environmental damage have dominated headlines recently. The airport’s development was a major campaign pledge of President Abdulla Yameen. Following is a timeline of events since the presidential pledge. August 12 2013 – Presidential candidate Yameen pledges to build an airport on […]
The Kulhudhuffushi council expects about 2,500 trees and plants to be felled or removed from the island’s mangrove forest for the construction of an airport. With dredging and land reclamation expected to begin in early November, the wetland area in the island’s northern end is now under the authority of the Regional Airports department of […]
Work began Saturday on a controversial airport project on the island of Kulhudhuffushi after fast-tracked environmental regulatory processes. The state-owned Maldives Transport and Contracting Company started digging on the beach near the island’s mangroves for a “bund wall” to mark a boundary for reclamation, a company spokesman told the Maldives Independent. But the deadline for public feedback […]