Maldivian government has officially announced that Maldives will be open to international bidders to search for petroleum within the Maldivian territory. According to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, two international companies have sent requests to the government seeking permission to explore Maldives in search of petroleum; one among them is a well known petroleum company.

Due to the recent discovery of petroleum in the neighboring countries, India and Sri Lanka, foreign companies has been enthusiastic about the possibility of discovering oil in the Maldives.

If discovered, this could be a much needed step for the Maldives to move towards economic diversification and be less dependent on the highly vulnerable tourism sector for its bread and butter. However before the excitement takes its course, there are a few things we must be highly concerned about.

As tourism contributes to more than one third of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, any adverse effects which may result from the heavy drilling and exploration processes should be carefully studied, before it’s carried out. As the Maldives has little except its beautiful beaches and clear waters, safeguarding our tourism industry must be highly prioritized before we get carried away with the mere possibility that Maldives has petroleum.

At the same time, any disturbance to the vulnerable balance in ecosystems which our fisherman rely on will prove to be disastrous to our economy as well as to our people, considering the fact that fish and sea food is the major part of Maldivian household diet.

For these reasons, I hope that the relevant authorities will not be blind sighted by the overwhelming possibility of future prosperity, so as to compromise on our present livelihood.

Related posts:

  1. Tax Reforms in the Maldives?
  2. How should Maldives downsize its government?
  3. How Maldives can climb out of its fiscal dark hole
  4. Is Maldives becoming more corrupt or seeing more of it?
  5. Maldives mourns the demise of its second President, Ibrahim Nasir