Maldives: Fighting corruption and construction in a tropical paradise

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The Maldives is as an ocean paradise. Made up of 26 ring-shaped atolls with more than 1,000 coral islands, the tropical nation is full of beautiful reefs, white sandy beaches and blue lagoons. Little wonder, it's become a beloved holiday destination, particularly for the wealthy.

As such, tourism is the single largest contributor to the Maldives' economy and in the last 10 years, the number of beds there has nearly doubled. That's put a lot of pressure on the atolls, which has limited space.

The region around the capital Male is already chocked full of development, so investors are building artificial islands and recreating lagoons. In the process, they're damaging reefs and are flying in palm trees from neighboring islands.

Some, like Shaziya Ali, who works for Transparency Maldives, a local chapter of global anti-corruption group Transparency International, are fighting against the rampant construction and trying to get the government to consider locals and the environment when it comes to approving new building projects.

A film by Robert Richter

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Information

Length
06:44 Minutes

Date of publication
2019

Project

Climate Governance Integrity: Safeguarding the Climate and Climate Finance against Corruption

Global Ideas

The television reports and documentaries of Deutsche Welle's 'Global Ideas' media project provide people all over the world with information on model projects which implement biodiversity and climate protection. The media project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety through the International Climate Initiative.