Largest Post-Tsunami Project Handed To Government

The Maldives’ largest single post-tsunami reconstruction project is set to draw to a close this month, with 600 houses on Raa atoll Dhuvaafaru due to be handed over to the Maldivian government on 31 August.

An empty, new town of 600 housing units – funded by the International Federation of Red Cross nd Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) – stands ready to accommodate over 4,000 Raa atoll Kandhulhudhoo islanders, displaced after the 2004 Asian tsunami.

Islanders will move in early next year, but final essentials – such as roads and a harbour – have yet to be provided by the Maldivian government, whilst future residents complained of being uninformed.

Former Kandhulhudhoo resident and Internally Displaced People (IDP) committee member Mohamed Jameel said: “People don't know what’s happening. They don’t know how the setup of Dhuvaafaru works.”

Handover

In 2004, the people of overcrowded Kandholhudhoo were warned by a phone call from Malé of the approaching tsunami, 15 minutes prior to its arrival.

Thanks to the warning, the death toll was limited to three. But 520 buildings were damaged, and the island completely flooded. Its 4,000 residents have never returned.

Three years later, their new homes and buildings on the nearby island of Dhuvaafaru will be transferred from the contractors to the government of Maldives on Sunday, the next-to-last step in a US $42 million project.

A lottery to distribute homes to locals is scheduled for October, to be followed by a three month period that will allow for families to switch and negotiate.

New Dhuvaafaru residents will then be given a certificate of ownership from the government, establishing a system of private home and land ownership on the island.

Not Easy

After the negotiation period, former Kandhulhudhoo islanders will move in “as soon as possible,” said IFRC Dhuvaafaru Programme Coordinator Kevin Duignan.

Life for the displaced people has “not been easy,” he added.

The Kandhulhudhoo islanders received the promise of new homes within five months of the tsunami, after their native island was wrecked by the tidal wave.

For nearly four years, most former Kandhulhudhoo residents have been living in temporary shelters in an internally displaced persons camp on Raa atoll Ungoofaaru, straining the host island’s resources and creating friction between the two communities.

Resident Jameel said a majority of the islanders believe the resettlement project will better their quality of life.

“[We are] very happy with the houses and other structures… The office buildings are probably the best in the country,” he said.

Dhuvaafaru Project

The Dhuvaafaru project was designed with several two-storey buildings large enough to protect the population in the event of future flooding or sea surges.

On a formerly uninhabited island, the development consists of 600 housing units, three schools, an auditorium, an administrative building, and a sewerage system.

The structures were part of a joint venture project arranged and funded by the IFRC, and constructed by Lian Beng of Singapore and the Maldives’ Amin Construction.

It includes a mosque, health centre, electrical power system and athletic facility.

The athletic facility has yet to be completed, whilst construction of the island’s second mosque has not started.

Construction of the island’s harbour – crucial for access to the island – is ongoing through a contract arranged by the Maldivian government.

But roads, also the government’s responsibility, have yet to start. According to Duignan, their construction is currently being negotiated.

Business and retail services will also not be established when resettlement begins, but temporary shops will be set up to provide necessities.

Concern

As one of 50 Kandholhudhoo members on the IDP committee, Jameel has been in contact with IFRC throughout the project, but expressed his concern that islanders are uninformed over logistics.

“There is no waste disposal system, and no spaces for shops,” he said – whilst for the fishing community, completion of the harbour will be crucial.

“We will face a lot of difficulties,” Jameel said, whilst calling for more information on services available through the health centre.

“Right now we don’t have to pay for food or electricity bills,” he said. “If these things are not arranged, then we might be going to an even worse situation.”

But he concluded, “I guess we can only pressure the government once the project is handed over.”

Rebuilding

As the Dhuvaafaru project comes to close, other reconstruction projects continue.

Even after the resettlement of 4,000 Kandholhudhoo islanders, there will still be well over 3,000 internally displaced people, according to July statistics from the National Disaster Management Centre.

The construction of 250 homes by the British Red Cross in Thaa atoll Vilufushi is expected to be complete by the end of the year, as is construction of another 109 houses in Dhaal atoll Kudahuvadhoo.

But contracts for nearly 300 houses in four islands in Gaaf Alif atoll, funded by a loan from the Saudi Fund, were only signed in April this year.

And a French Red Cross 160-home project on the island is ongoing, whilst a 55-home project in Meemu atoll Kolhufushi project is temporarily on hold.

Tsunami’s Reach

Approximately a third of the Maldives’ population of 300,000 were severely affected by the tsunami, which left 82 dead in the country.

Twenty-six remain unaccounted for and are also presumed deceased, whilst 21,663 were displaced.

In total, the 26 December 2004 earthquake and tsunamis killed at least 226,000 people in ten countries across the Indian Ocean.

As part of a long-term recovery plan, the Red Cross Red Crescent will be involved in the construction of about 50,000 permanent houses in Aceh in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Approximately US $3.8 billion was donated to Red Cross Red Crescent tsunami appeals.