In
the middle of the Indian Ocean, far away from highways that
could transport building and construction materials for 600
houses and all the infrastructure that goes with it… the
Red Cross is taking on the challenge of redeveloping a community
from scratch.
Janine Gray from Australian Red Cross takes a look at the progress
14 months after construction began.
It’s a muggy 31 degrees in the Maldives and time for lunch.
We are invited by Solih, the island chief of Kandholhudhoo to
join him for an impressive spread of tuna steak, reef fish,
potato curry, roti, another type of tuna curry and coca cola.
Despite the uncomfortable heat, everyone is hungry so the line
is long at the buffet table. The tuna steak is typically overcooked
but the reef fish is deserving of seconds.
Solih was island chief of Kandholhudhoo for six years before
it was completely destroyed by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.
Three people lost their lives and everyone had to abandon their
densely populated homes to seek temporary shelter on five neighbouring
islands in the Raa Atoll. That was three years ago, and the
citizens from Kandholhudhoo are still living in IDP camps while
they wait for their new homes to be built on Dhuvafaaru.
At times it feels like a long wait, especially in the IDP camps
which are hot, cramped and uncomfortable. But as Michael Wardick
of the Federation explains, the logistical challenges of building
a community in the middle of the ocean are immense. ‘Absolutely
everything has to be imported and run through customs in Male
before being transported by dhoni (boat) to Dhuvafaaru. The
blocks for the housing foundations, the cement, sand, steel,
all the building equipment, the dump trucks, fork lifts, the
light fixtures… all the food for the workers, even the
workers themselves have to be imported and the consultants too,’
he adds with a laugh. It’s a logistical challenge to say
the least and from an engineering perspective it’s ‘pretty
amazing.’
Pretty amazing indeed when you consider just what’s involved
in building 600 houses, four schools, a community centre, administrative
complex, multipurpose hall, sports ground and a hospital. The
300 or so workers who ‘haven’t seen their wives
for the last year’ are from all parts of the Southern
Hemisphere. They look tired, hot and grubby, but determined
to get the job finished.
For the beneficiaries who get monthly tours of Dhuvafaaru to
see the progress on their new island to be, the reactions are
overwhelmingly positive. Grandma Ameena, as she likes to be
called, recently visited Dhuvafaaru for the first time and was
in awe of what she saw. ‘I came here to see for myself
what the others have been talking about. I wanted to see with
my own eyes, and now I am speechless. I am in awe. By god’s
will I will bring my husband here one day to show him this place.’
It’s a strange concept to get one’s head around,
but for the Maldivian people it’s quite common to move
to other islands. Many of the islands are barely above sea level
and prone to being washed away – literally.
Kandholhudhoo was a very small overpopulated island, so there
were already plans to move before the tsunami, says Solih. It
had a population of 3,600 with the majority of the population
under the age of 20. The island was very low to the sea, with
an average elevation of 1.2 metres.
The Kandholhudhoo community was doing relatively well economically
due to the healthy fishing industry off its shores. In fact,
explains Solih, the fishermen continue to fish from their former
island home. ‘It is very rich for fishing which is why
it was a popular community. They fish from Saturday to Thursday
and then come back to their families for a few days before repeating
the cycle. In a good week they could earn 3000 rufiyaa (around
265 US$ or 188 Euros or 315 Swiss Francs).’
It is likely they will continue that pattern once they move
to Dhuvafaaru, says Solih. ‘This is a good place. There
are so many advantages to this island compared to our previous
island. This one is big and there are opportunities to extend
this island by reclaiming.’
Dhuvaafaru was chosen as the island for redevelopment because
it’s one of the ‘safer’ islands – at
least it’s on higher ground, says Michael. ‘I think
in time, due to the size of the population and the facilities
that will be here it may become the Atoll capital.’
In addition to the usual infrastructure plans such as a sewage
system and waste management centre, there are also plans to
provide a renewable energy system for Dhuvaafaru. The Maldives
were the first country to sign the Kyoto Protocol and ratify
it in 1998. In a report put out by the Maldivian Government,
the main goal of the national energy policy was to ‘enhance
national energy security by promoting indigenously available
renewable sources of energy.’
The community expressed overwhelming support for wind and solar
technology to be introduced on Dhuvaafaru so as to supplement
the fossil fuel driven power system.
It is expected that the Kandholhudhoo community will be able
to move to Dhuvaafaru in 2008.
In the meantime, Grandma Ameena will be telling her people to
be patient. ‘Everyone knows me in the village because
I have a big mouth. I’ll be talking about this for weeks.
I think I can justify myself a bit more, now that I know I’m
right. I am so happy I cannot say anything more.’
|
 |
 |
|
|
In
the middle of the Indian Ocean, far away from highways
that could transport building and construction materials
for 600 houses and all the infrastructure that goes with
it…the Red Cross is taking on the challenge of redeveloping
a community from scratch. (p16529)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Solih
was island chief of Kandholhudhoo for six years before
it was completely destroyed by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.
Three people lost their lives and everyone had to abandon
their densely populated homes to seek temporary shelter
on five neighbouring islands in the Raa Atoll. (p16530)
|
|
|
 |
|
|
| Absolutely
everything has to be imported and run through customs
in Male before being transported by dhoni (boat) to Dhuvafaaru.
The blocks for the housing foundations, the cement, sand,
steel, all the building equipment, the dump trucks, fork
lifts, the light fixtures… all the food for the
workers, even the workers themselves have to be imported
and the consultants too. It’s a logistical challenge
to say the least and from an engineering perspective it’s
‘pretty amazing. (p16531)’ |
|
|
 |
|
|
| The
300 or so workers involved in building 600 houses, four
schools, a community centre, administrative complex, multipurpose
hall, sports ground and a hospital, haven’t seen
their wives for the last year’ are from all parts
of the Southern Hemisphere. They look tired, hot and grubby,
but determined to get the job finished. (p16532)
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Dhuvaafaru
was chosen as the island for redevelopment because it’s
one of the ‘safer’ islands – at least
it’s on higher ground. (p16533)
Grandma Ameena, as she likes to be called, recently visited
Dhuvafaaru for the first time and was in awe of what she
saw. ‘I came here to see for myself what the others
have been talking about. I wanted to see with my own eyes,
and now I am speechless. I am in awe. (p16534)
For the beneficiaries who get monthly tours of Dhuvafaaru
to see the progress on their new island to be, the reactions
are overwhelmingly positive. (p16535)
|
|
News
