Affordable water for Maldives
In Maldives we use one of the most expensive method to get potable water – reverse osmosis desalination. Below are some alternative methods which could be more affordable.
Large-scale desalination is a smart solution if you live near the ocean and have energy to spare. But Nirmala Khandan, a civil-engineering professor at New Mexico State University, has developed a system that can be used in remote areas where there’s brackish water available but no power. The system consists of two tall vertical pipes, one of which sits atop a tank to which saltwater has been added. The tops of the pipes are connected with a third, horizontal pipe, essentially creating vacuum that enables the water to boil a lower-than-normal temperature. As it boils, fresh distilled water evaporates out and condenses in a second tank at the base of the second pipe. What little energy the system requires comes from a connected solar generator, which can give the batteries enough juice when the sun is out to last more than twenty-four hours. Worldwide Water, a Seattle company, recently licenses the technology and is developing a prototype that will cover the daily water needs of as many as fifty people at a time.
The strange thing about the water crisis is how much seemingly unusable water we have in our oceans. What we don’t have is a way for desalination plants to pump the amount of water we need without sucking every last watt of energy from the grid. But that’s about to change, starting at the molecular level. California start-up NanoH20 is developing desalination membranes engineered with nanomaterial that sift the salt out of ocean water at far lower pressure. The organic-polymer membranes, which will be available by 2010, will be compatible with existing desalination equipment, enabling plants to reduce their energy use by 20 percent or to increase their output by 70 percent when maintaining current power consumption.
The ocean isn’t the only potentially endless supply of freshwater. Australian inventor Max Whisson’s latest project uses air as its source, extracting water using a specialized windmill. The blades draw air into a pressurized chamber where it’s cooled by refrigerated plates, causing the water vapor it contains to condense and run into a storage receptacle. A small version of the turbine could extract 50 to 130 gallons of water per day, with larger units producing as much as 500 gallons. Water UnLimited, Whisson’s company, expects to have a prototype that can service an individual home up and running early next year.
Is it justified to give ex-president Maumoon a place to live?
An important bill is being debated in the parliament these days – what are the privileges for an ex-president. While some accuses that the bill aims to give undue benefits to Maumoon, this will also be the bill which will give those same benefits to the next ex-president, Nasheed.
Most, if not all citizens of Maldives, would agree to extend some kind of privileges to any ex-president. But what the citizens may not understand is why ex-president Maumoon will be give a house on the expense of Maldivians while he already owns a house? Yes, we do agree that Kinbigasdhoshuge is not in habitable condition as it’s currently rented as a warehouse – but there is no doubt that the rent would suffice to provide accommodation for the family of Maumoon.
Most Maldivians will find it easier to digest if an ex-president is given a living allowance or appropriate accommodation if he dosen’t own a house. This will be more appropriate for Maldives, as a huge chunk of our population still lacks basic housing facilities.
Petrol price goes up, taxi fare goes up. Petrol prices goes down, taxi fare remains the same
Price of crude oil on the global market has dropped to lower than $60 a barrel. Petrol price in Maldives has gone down to Rf 8.50 per liter –which was approximately price of petrol 2 years ago. Taxi fare in Male’ was Rf 15.00 and raised to Rf 20.00 on 1st December 2007 by Ministry of Transport (link), citing increase in fuel prices.
We have seen a pattern of government authorisation to increase taxi fare every time fuel prices go up. To some extent this is understandable. But what consumers do not understand is why taxi, pickup and lorry fare never goes down no matter how low fuel prices are!
Will President Nasheed be just like President Maumoon?
President Nasheed changed government structure and appointed 14 ministers immediately after coming to office. After a few days 14 state ministers and some other senior officials were appointed. As a start, his government has also decided to close down a trade related office in Singapore which would serve no useful purpose under the new government. Obviously these are measures taken to reduce government expenditure.
Almost all the state minister portfolios are given as political gifts, as some likes to call it. Some says this is exactly what the previous president did – and nobody can blame them for saying it. Speculation now is that, President Nasheed will be ‘forced’ to live in Theemuge and keep the presidential retreat Aarah through a parliamentary resolution!
Those who voted for a change obviously voted expecting change. Their hopes are still high and will remain so until proven otherwise. If proven otherwise, they are willing to stand up and fight for change just like the fights they had with previous government.
The Art of Burning Cash
I’m surprised that during the last presidential campaign no candidate talked about alternative source of energy and drinking water for the Maldivian people. Is that because public would not be interested in the idea? Or are there more pressing issues?
While the whole world is struggling towards implementing alternative source of power generation we are still using the most expensive method – burning fossil fuel – which eats up a huge chunk of people’s income.
I do agree that to start such a project, it requires a huge capital and a lot of expertise. However, I think, it would be rewarding for the new government to look into the area. I’m sure finding finance for such projects would be very easy considering environmentally consciousness of people in the industrialized world. Outsourcing the project to a R & D company is the other and easier alternative.
Whatever method used, it is time we do something about it!
Rf 2000/- to the needy
On the first day of office, Mr. Nasheed promised a pension of Rf 2000.00 to each Maldivian who is above the age of 65. Hopefully this will be the beginning of a package offered to all Maldivians not according to their age but according to their needs.
A comprehensive benefit package should include health care and housing for the old, unemployment benefits and several other elements. However these benefits will only be well received if distributed according to requirements of the community. For example, rather than including all the citizens above 65 as beneficiaries, it should only include those who are in need of the funds.
We are waiting anxiously for details of the promised pension scheme.
A new start
Today the fourth president of Maldives started his office. We are expecting a lot of good changes from the new government as per the promises made during the first multiparty presidential election. Some of those promises include:
Create a transport network between islands: already work is in progress to make this a reality. The project is already open for public bidding – that is a good first move. We are assuming this project will be heavily subsidized by the government making it feasible for the public to move among islands.
Create an independent body to handle Islamic affairs: This is something which we have not seen in most of the Islamic countries! We are hoping that Maldives will be an exception with an independent body overlooking Islamic issues in the country without any influence from the president or anybody else for that matter. However, we were discouraged after Mr. Nashid announced an Islamic Affairs ministry. This is because, as we all know, all ministries will be under the control of government (meaning non-independent).
We will be looking forward to steps taken in order to achieve the promised independent Islamic affairs body.
Our hopes are with the new government!
