Islands for sale – ocean reclamation mandatory
FOR the oligarch who has everything, it is tantalising news. The Maldives Government has passed a law which will, for the first time, allow foreigners to purchase land, meaning that the tropical islands with their white sands could be snapped up by anyone with a spare US$1 billion (NZ$1.51b). But the detail of the new law has a sting in its tail.
Not only must potential investors be prepared spend at least US$1 billion to own land on one of the 1200 islands in perpetuity, they must also commit to 70 per cent of that land being reclaimed from the Indian Ocean. The conditions have raised concern that the bill is designed to clear the way for the Chinese to set up bases in the Maldives, which straddle vital international east-west shipping routes. China has expertise in reclamation technology and can easily make investments of that size.
India is already wary of increased Chinese involvement in the area. Eva Abdulla, an MP of the Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party, said she feared the nation could become a front line for a potential power struggle between India and China.
‘‘What is in our interest is peace and stability in the Indian Ocean. India is our neighbour and we are not a country in the South China Sea,’’ she said.
President Abdulla Yameen’s halfbrother Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ruled for three decades until 2008, had urged further debate on the move.
Anand Kumar, a strategic affairs analyst at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses in New Delhi, agreed that the law could be designed to help China gain a foothold in the region.
‘‘They have been creating islands in the South China Sea, and will try to replicate the same exercise in the Indian Ocean,’’ he said. ‘‘They tried to do the same thing with Sri Lanka. It appears that since they have lost political influence in Sri Lanka they are trying to regain ground in the Maldives.’’
The government claims the move would not threaten the Maldives’ sovereignty and is needed to attract largescale foreign investment. However, it is just the latest in a string of controversial decisions by Yameen since he came to power in 2013. He was declared president after a runoff vote, which had been delayed on the orders of the Supreme Court following a first-round election led by Opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed.
Nasheed was then arrested on terrorism charges and in March was jailed for 13 years.