STORY: MALDIVES / CLIMATE CHANGE
TRT: 7.23
SOURCE: 21st CENTURY / TELEVISION MALDIVES
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / DIVEHI / NATS
DATELINE: DECEMBER 2009, MALDIVES
SHOTLIST:
ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE / TELEVISION MALDIVES
1. Various shots, tide flooding streets
2. Wide shot, people running away from tide
3. Various shots, tide flooding streets
4. Tilt up, from water to street
UNTV / DECEMBER 2009, MALDIVES
5. SOUNDBITE (Divehi) Abdul Gayoom, native of the Maldives:
"I was never this scared. I am sure that the waves swelled up to 20 feet, then came crashing down."
6. Wide shot, view of kandholhudhoo from the sea
7. SOUNDBITE (Divehi) Abdul Gayoom, native of the Maldives:
"I was forced to leave because of the tsunami."
GOOGLE MAP GRAPH
8. Zoom in, map of the Nation of the Maldives
9. Zoom in, map of Kandholhudhoo Island
UNTV / DECEMBER 2009, MALDIVES
10. Zoom out, leafy village street
11. Med shot, Gayoom walking down street
12. Pan left, interior of derelict house
13. Tilt down, large cracks in building wall
14. Various shots, debris
ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE / TELEVISION MALDIVES
15. Aerial shot, view of the Maldives coastline
16. Various shots, underwater marine life
17. Tracking host, coastline
18. Various shots, locals fighting against the rising water level and leaving the scene
UNTV / DECEMBER 2009, MALDIVES
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Ahmed Nihad, Chief, Huraa island:
"What you can see here is erosion in action now. The sand near the trees has started moving out. The whole beach is eroded from there. The roots will die, and palm trees will fall down."
20. Med shot, palm tree roots
21. Med shot, fallen palm tree
22. Med shot, Ahmed Nihad at beach
23. Various shots, Island coastline
24. Pan right, Island
25. SOUNDBITE (English) Ahmed Nihad, Chief, Huraa island:
"I believe the sea level is rising"
26. SOUNDBITE (English) Ahmed Shaig, environmental expert:
"With climate change, the debate is ongoing."
27. Med shot, bird in flight over the water
28. SOUNDBITE (English) Ahmed Shaig, environmental expert:
"Our view is that you can debate on it, but we can't sit around here until one of you wins or until one of you says I told you so."
29. Various shots, fishermen using pole and line technique
30. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohammed Waheed Hassan, Vice President, Maldives:
"We have tried to relocate people to bigger islands, relatively safer islands."
31. Various shots, local residents moving out from their homes
32. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohammed Waheed Hassan, Vice President, Maldives:
"But this is very difficult because the people have to leave their homes, their traditional burial grounds, and move to a new area."
33. Various shots, Abdul Gayoom walking to his house
34. SOUNDBITE (Divehi) Abdul Gayoom, native of the Maldives:
"I did not want to move because that was the island where I was born. When I go to Kandholhudhoo now, I know that we cannot live there anymore."
GOOGLE MAP GRAPH
35. Zoom in, map of relocation project between Kandholhudhoo and Dhuvaafaru
36. Zoom in, map of Dhuvaafaru
UNTV / DECEMBER 2009, DHUVAAFARU, MALDIVES
37. Wide shot, family walking
38. Various shots, plaza
39. Various shots, children playing football
40. Various shots, Abdul Gayoom in his new home
41. SOUNDBITE (Divehi) Abdul Gayoom, native of the Maldives:
"This is the refrigerator in my kitchen. The rooms are bigger and more spacious. I was thrilled. I was so happy to be reunited with my family, my friends, and people I am familiar with."
42. Various shots, scenes of Dhuvaafaru beaches
43. Med shot, Ismail Ahmed walking
44. SOUNDBITE (Divehi) Ismail Ahmed, Chief, Dhuvaafaru Island:
"During the last southwest monsoon, the waves came here and flooded some houses."
45. Med shot, Ismail demonstrating the change in shoreline
46. SOUNDBITE (Divehi) Ismail Ahmed, Chief, Dhuvaafaru Island:
"Previously the beach here was 40 feet wide. Now, the beach is just three to four feet, reaching almost the houses."
47. Wide shot, reconstruction attempt at the shoreline with a crane
48. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohammed Waheed Hassan, Vice President, Maldives:
"The government is planning to do the sea wall there. It's a priority for the government to protect that island because we've already put so much into it."
49. Various shots, building homes
50. Various shots, youth playing in the water
UNTV / DECEMBER 2009, MALE, MALDIVES
51. Various shots, wall in the sea
ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE / TELEVISION MALDIVES
52. Aerial shot, view of the wall
GOOGLE MAP GRAPH
53. Zoom out, map of Male
UNTV / DECEMBER 2009, MALE, MALDIVES
54. Various shots, scenes of busy male streets
55. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohammed Waheed Hassan, Vice President, Maldives:
"So we have to now invest much more in population centres outside of Male. But the problem is developing a large island also means putting more investments in infrastructure. They are all expensive."
56. Various shots, harbour scenes
57. Med shot, Gayoom praying in his home
58. Zoom out, Gayoom walking along the beach
59. SOUNDBITE (English) Abdul Gayoom, native of the Maldives:
"I prefer Dhuvaafaru. I will not go back. I will stay here... I hope that the disaster that struck Kandholhudhoo does not happen to Dhuvaafaru."
ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE / TELEVISION MALDIVES
60. Aerial shot, Dhuvaafaru
UNTV / DECEMBER 2009, MALDIVES
61. SOUNDBITE (English) Abdul Gayoom, native of the Maldives:
"Obviously we are not packing our suitcases to leave. We want to stay on these islands and live here as long as we can."
62. Wide shot, sunset
STORYLINE:
In 2004, one of the largest natural disasters in recent history swept across the Indian Ocean. In its wake, 200,000 people died or disappeared.
SOUNDBITE (English) Abdul Gayoom, native of the Maldives:
"I was never this scared. I am sure that the waves swelled up to 20 feet, then came crashing down."
Abdul Gayoom's island became uninhabitable.
SOUNDBITE (English) Abdul Gayoom, native of the Maldives:
"I was forced to leave because of the tsunami."
Now 81, he had spent his life on one of the 1,200 islands that make up the nation of the Maldives, located off the coast of India.
A tiny speck of land floating in the ocean, Kandholhudhoo, was once a thriving fishing village of nearly 4,000 people.
Now, it's a ghost town. With most buildings in ruins and ground water contaminated by sea water, no one can live here.
The tsunami was a wake-up call to the fragility of the Maldives. Scientists say it was a grim preview of what could happen to the entire country if global warming continues uncurbed, and sea levels continue to rise.
The archipelago of the Maldives is made up of coral islands.
Its sandy coral beaches, crystal blue lagoons, along with a rich collection of exotic live corals and tropical fish, have drawn people here from around the world, bringing in billions of tourist dollars.
But with an average height of less than six feet, these islands are in increasing danger of disappearing into the rising waters. Over the last six years, storm surges as high as 15 feet have flooded half of the Maldives' 200 populated islands, crumbling houses and causing severe coastal erosion.
SOUNDBITE (English) Ahmed Nihad, Chief, Huraa island:
"What you can see here is erosion in action now. The sand near the trees has started moving out. The whole beach is eroded from there. The roots will die, and palm trees will fall down."
Ahmed Nihad, Chief of the Huraa island, says his island, home to about 2,000 people, is shrinking. There is a fear that within one or two years some houses will be right next to the water.
SOUNDBITE (English) Ahmed Nihad, Chief, Huraa island:
"I believe the sea level is rising."
SOUNDBITE (English) Ahmed Shaig, environmental expert:
"With climate change, the debate is ongoing."
Dr. Ahmed Shaig is an environmental expert.
SOUNDBITE (English) Ahmed Shaig, environmental expert:
"Our view is that you can debate on it, but we can't sit around here until one of you wins or until one of you says I told you so."
Many Maldivians, like Gayoom, are fishermen on the other small islands. They use the traditional technique of pole and line to catch fish one by one. Protecting these small and vulnerable fishing communities from rising waters is an almost impossible task.
SOUNDBITE (English) Mohammed Waheed Hassan, Vice President, Maldives: "We have tried to relocate people to bigger islands, relatively safer islands.
Dr. Mohammed Waheed Hassan, the Vice President of the Maldives.
SOUNDBITE (English) Mohammed Waheed Hassan, Vice President, Maldives: "But this is very difficult because the people have to leave their homes, their traditional burial grounds, and move to a new area."
SOUNDBITE (English) Abdul Gayoom, native of the Maldives:
"I did not want to move because that was the island where I was born."
But the tsunami left him with no option.
SOUNDBITE (English) Abdul Gayoom, native of the Maldives:
"When I go to Kandholhudhoo now, I know that we cannot live there anymore."
In 2005, the Maldives launched an experiment to relocate Gayoom and his entire community to an uninhabited island, Dhuvaafaru. Surrounded by a large reef, it's about 10 times the size of Kandholhudhoo.
The government has built up Dhuvaafaru from scratch. Supported by international relief groups, it took three years and cost some 35 million US dollars.
After living in temporary shelters on other islands, Gayoom and his family now have their own house with modern amenities.
SOUNDBITE (English) Abdul Gayoom, native of the Maldives:
"This is the refrigerator in my kitchen. The rooms are bigger and more spacious, I was thrilled. I was so happy to be reunited with my family, my friends, and people I am familiar with."
But unfortunately the experiment has not gone according to plan. Dhuvaafaru is as vulnerable to erosion as any other island.
SOUNDBITE (English) Ismail Ahmed, Chief, Dhuvaafaru Island:
"During the last southwest monsoon, the waves came here and flooded some houses.
Ismail Ahmed, Island Chief of Dhuvaafaru.
SOUNDBITE (English) Ismail Ahmed, Chief, Dhuvaafaru Island:
"Previously the beach here was 40 feet wide. Now, the beach is just three to four feet, reaching almost the houses."
Experts believe that a strong sea wall is needed to stop the erosion.
SOUNDBITE (English) Mohammed Waheed Hassan, Vice President, Maldives: "The government is planning to do the sea wall there. It's a priority for the government to protect that island because we've already put so much into it."
The government already built a massive sea wall made of concrete tetrapods around its capital Male. The wall cost 60 million dollars which was donated by the Japanese government. It has helped reduce the vulnerability of the city during the tsunami.
But Male, so small that one can walk around in half an hour, is already home to 110,000 people, nearly one third of the country's population.
SOUNDBITE (English) Mohammed Waheed Hassan, Vice President, Maldives: "So we have to now invest much more in population centres outside of Male. But the problem is developing a large island also means putting more investments in infrastructure. They are all expensive."
People in the Maldives have survived three thousand years on these islands. Their willingness to move among islands seems to be the key to survival.
SOUNDBITE (English) Abdul Gayoom, native of the Maldives:
"I prefer Dhuvaafaru. I will not go back. I will stay here, I hope that the disaster that struck Kandholhudhoo does not happen to Dhuvaafaru."
SOUNDBITE (English) Mohammed Waheed Hassan, Vice President, Maldives: "Obviously we are not packing our suitcases to leave. We want to stay on these islands and live here as long as we can."
But unless their government can afford to relocate people from the lowest-lying islands and to build giant sea walls surrounding higher islands, their fate is uncertain.