“We do not move, we build, that’s all”
If storms are stronger, monssons longer and the threat of coral bleaching is going to strike again, paradoxically, Maldivians seem less concerned about their future than foreign observers.
Archipelago of 1.200 islands, the Maldives are spread over 840 km long, 2.40 m above the level of the sea. The President, Abdulla Yameen, spoke of buying land in neighboring Sri Lanka to install it its 350.000 inhabitants.
Asked by the reporter for Liberation, Thomas Le Berre, a French coastal engineer married to a Maldivian, working in the Maldives for sixteen years, says, “we are not going to move, we will build, that’s it. But that is going to change the lifestyle. Everyone will eventually gather in Male and Hulhumale.”
The artificial island Hulhumale has 40.000 inhabitants and still could accommodate 180.000 residents through a sand extension
One kilometer wide and two kilometres long, Male, the capital island, has 150 000 inhabitants, making it one of the most densely populated cities in the world. A third of Maldivians live in the capital, which has doubled in size since the 80s Built 20 minute ferry ride from Male, Hulhumale, built 2 meters from a small sand bank, is a suburb flourishing 40.000.
Under the direction of Belgian engineers, 240 new hectares of sand arose, which would further accommodate 180,000 inhabitants. Which for now seem more attracted than worried consumer society the level of the sea.”For fifteen years, people are told that the sea will rise. But they did not take it seriously, thinking it is still possible to build on stilts. Ecology is a tourist argument and it is the only reason why turtles, sharks and corals are protected.”
