Ocean swells destroy Funadhoo sanitation office

The sanitation office at Shaviyani atoll Funadhoo has been significantly destroyed as large ocean swells swept into the land resulting in notable damages to the island.

For the past two days and on Saturday, the industrial area of the island has faced significant impact from large swells crashing into the land, President of the island's council, Ahmed Ibrahimfulhu confirmed.

The affected area is generally used to prepare salted fish.

Since 2019, the area has been affected multiple times and each time it had been due to ocean swells. The industrial area, previously a jungle, had been getting affected from ocean swells significantly since the area's transformation.

The pump station and the sanitation office are both located in the industrial area and close to a high impact zone of the said area.

"If the pump station gets destroyed, it would be a significant expense for the state. Parts of the office block are already in water because of erosion. The storage is no longer there," Ahmed commented.

While highlighting the growing public concerns about the imminent threat of erosion mostly due to rising ocean levels and sea swells during bad weather conditions, Ahmed expressed his worries over the delays in finding a sustainable solution for the matter.

Funadhoo is among the local islands that have been experiencing significant erosion for years and though the government began a shore protection initaitive earlier, the project has since been in limbo.

Ahmed added that the local authority has been seeking central government's assistance for the issue since 2020 with little to no avail, and noted that the council had written a letter to the Ministry of Housing back in 2022 emphasizing on the imminent threats the island faced.

A shore protection initiative was announced and contracted to the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) back in 2023 during the Solih Administration at a value of MVR 18.5 million.

Project scope entailed:

• Dredging and reclamation of 12,145 cubic meters
• 7,878 cubic meters of sand filling designated to the island's beaches
• Construction of a 670-meter geo-bag revetment
• Construction of a 60-meter groyne

Despite the large scale effort launched back in 2023, the project has been on halt for unspecified reasons.