“Maldives requires US$ 239 million in emergency relief aid, and a further US$ 1.3 billion in the next three to five
years for reconstruction after the tsunami”, says President Gayoom
6 January 2005 (Thursday) – The President of Maldives, His Excellency Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, this morning said that an
estimated US$ 239 million was required as emergency relief aid, and a further US$ 1.3 billion was needed over the next 3
to 5 years for reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in the Maldives, after the tsunami of 26 December. He made the
statement in his address at the Special ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting in the Aftermath of the Earthquake and Tsunami, which was
held today in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.
The President appealed for urgent assistance for reconstruction and recovery. He said that the tsunami had, within a
matter of minutes, destroyed much of the infrastructure built over two decades of development in the Maldives. He noted
that the Government’s priorities were to rehabilitate the lives and livelihoods of tsunami victims, provide shelter to
internally displaced persons, reconstruct and repair social and economic infrastructure, and generate economic recovery
to pre-tsunami levels.
Elaborating on the effects of the tsunami, the President said that the ecological impact was yet unfathomable. He said
that the massive force and pressure of the waves had washed out the topsoil of the islands onto the reef. He added that
the long-term damage of this sudden erosion and silting of the reefs on the country’s agriculture and fisheries was yet
to be assessed.
The President said that the tsunami had taken many lives in the Maldives, and that socioeconomic infrastructure was
destroyed in many parts of the country. He said that whole communities had suffered economic ruin, and that fishing
boats on numerous islands had been damaged, thus threatening the economic survival of these islands. Noting that the
economic lifeblood of one of the islands that he had visited after the tsunami was its banana crop, the President
recalled that the plantain fields had been completely devastated, and that the island had become non-arable. Speaking on
the importance of jetties in an island’s development, he noted that without them, islands lose their trade, especially
those who had catered to visitors from resorts. Further, he pointed out that it was imperative that the destroyed
livelihoods were restored and those economically vibrant islands rehabilitated.
“In proportionate terms, the Maldives may be the worst affected country. The Maldives has been the most vulnerable to
the rising seas even before the tsunami struck. The country has now become the most crippled,” President Gayoom said in
his address.
Speaking to the press a short while after the President’s address in Jakarta, member of the Maldives’ delegation at the
Meeting, the Chief Government Spokesman, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, noted that preliminary estimates of recovery, rehabilitation
and reconstruction cost was US$ 4.412 billion.
“As the President noted in his address, the emergency relief efforts to save lives and livelihoods over the next 12
months has been estimated at US$ 239 million. This will include building temporary shelters for the 15,000 people who
are internally displaced as a result of the tsunami, as well as utilities such as water and sanitation, food and medical
supplies. It also includes transport and communications, infrastructure, resources and teachers for education,
assistance to vulnerable persons, resorting livelihoods, repairing damaged housing and management costs,” Dr. Shaheed
said.
“The rehabilitation and reconstruction over the next 3 to 5 years is estimated at US$ 1.325 billion, and will including
housing, water and sanitation, health, education, communication infrastructure, public infrastructure such as mosques
and roads, repairing and restoring coastal structures, tourism and fisheries infrastructure, and agriculture. It will
also include repairs to the country’s only international airport, as well as business losses and reef losses and
rehabilitation.
“Authorities estimate that a further US$ 2.848 billion will be required beyond the fifth year, for environmental
protection and mitigation. This phase will include coastline rehabilitation and reconstruction, reef rehabilitation and
protection, coastal ecosystems protection, airport protection, land elevation, a tsunami warning system and
environmental monitoring capabilities,” Dr. Shaheed went on to say.