Maldives: Tsunami Summary

Updated: 3 March 2006

Latest News

According to ADB's Country Strategy and Program (CSP) update for 2006-2008, the tsunami disaster has not changed the fundamental priorities of promoting economic development in key islands supported by investment in physical and social infrastructure. Thus, ADB will continue to support the Government in its development priorities, primarily regional or atoll development.

A $400,000 grant from ADB's Cooperation Fund for the Water Sector to Promote Sound Environmental Management in the Aftermath of Tsunami Disaster was approved in August.

To facilitate smooth and speedy implementation of its tsunami emergency assistance projects, ADB and the World Bank established a joint office in the Maldives (the ADB Extended Mission in the Maldives, EMM) and the office was operational in mid September 2005.

The Maldives was one of the worst affected countries by the tsunami. Although the loss of life was comparatively small, the tsunami resulted in total damages of nearly $0.5 billion, equivalent to some 62% of the GDP. The country is currently facing a large fiscal deficit due to the slow recovery in tourism, Government recovery policies (increase in tsunami reconstruction related imports), and high international fuel prices. In September 2005 the Government requested budgetary support from ADB. Subject to Board consideration in early 2006, ADB Management has approved the processing of a total of $17 million for an economic recovery program loan to the Maldives.


TSUNAMI IMPACT

Casualties

Dead: 83; Missing: 25; Displaced: almost 20,500

Overall Damage

The impact of the December 2004 tsunami was felt across the country, rather than in certain parts or regions. About 100,000 people, or a third of the population of 300,000, were severely affected.

The Maldives will need about US$304 million to effectively implement a recovery and reconstruction strategy, according to the joint needs assessment Tsunami: Impact and Recovery carried out by ADB, the United Nations system, and the World Bank.

Of the 198 inhabited islands in the archipelago, 53 suffered severe damage, and 10% of the islands were totally destroyed. Schools, clinics and pharmacies were destroyed in some 50 islands. According to the National Disaster Management Centre 64 schools, 30 health centers, and 60 island administrative facilities need to be reconstructed or rehabilitated. In total, more than 5,000 buildings were damaged. 79 islands had no safe drinking water and 15% of the water systems is destroyed or contaminated.

In the tourism sector, out of the 87 resorts, 19 were severely damaged and had to be closed down, while 14 others suffered major partial damage.

Economic Impacts

While loss of life, fortunately, was low in Maldives, damage on many islands was great, especially hitting tourism on which the economy depends heavily. GDP growth is expected to decelerate to about 1% in 2005, but a resurgence in tourist arrivals should push GDP growth back up to 9% in 2006, according to ADB's Asian Development Outlook.


ADB ASSISTANCE

ADB focal sector in Maldives for tsunami assistance is infrastructure (transport, water supply/sanitation/solid waste management, power, agriculture and fisheries).

ADB assistance to Maldives on the tsunami can be summarized as thus:

Tsunami Emergency Assistance Project for $21.8 million (of which $1.8 million is reallocated loan funds and $20 million is a grant from ADB's Asian Tsunami Fund) approved on 31 March and became effective on 23 May 2005. As of early December 2005, a total of $7.5 million has been disbursed and liquidated.

• Technical assistance for Saving the Tsunami-Affected Trees ($250,000 approved on 11 February)
• Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR) grant, financed by the Government of Japan, for Restoration of Livelihoods of the Tsunami-Affected Farmers in the Maldives ($1 million approved on 29 April)
• Grant from ADB's Cooperation Fund for the Water Sector to Promote Sound Environmental Management in the Aftermath of Tsunami Disaster ($400,000 approved in August)
• Total (including TAs): $23.45 million

ADB Projects

The sectors to be rehabilitated under the Emergency Assistance Project include:

Sanitation and sewerage;

• Transportation, including repair of jetties, sea walls and quay walls, causeways, and harbor basins
• Power, including installation of new generators and distribution network, streetlights, and panel boards to synchronize operations of multiple generators
• Fisheries, including providing 128 islands with fish processing equipment, working capital, and extension services
• Agriculture, including tools and equipment for farmers, and working capital to rehabilitate farms.
• Implementation will involve extensive community participation. Read the project document.

The JFPR grant for farmers, the first JFPR-financed tsunami assistance, will help about 390 farmers engaged in field crop farming in the 26 most affected islands to restart their livelihood activities and raise their quality of life above pre-tsunami levels.

The grant for environmental management will focus predominantly on environmental health and awareness. It will design a strategy for reconstructing the water and sanitation sector following the tsunami and improve the country's environmental assessment capability. It will also test innovative environmental public awareness programs and promote community management of sanitation and solid waste systems.

About ADB