MALDIVES, GOVERNING FROM DOWN UNDER WATER?

A government that will go under water to conduct the affairs of governance just to prove a point, should and must be taken seriously; as what they are crying for touches their very existential soul. Icheoku says, President Mohammed Nasheed of Maldives and his cabinet were exceptionally proactive in graphically and symbolically drawing the attention of the world to their plight, - the possibility that they may soon someday be submerged under water due to effects of global warming phenomenon?

Adorned in scuba diving gears and using hand signals, the government of Maldives held their first underwater executive meeting seating at a conference table on the sea floor, to highlight the threat of global warming to the their country, the lowest-lying nation on earth. The venue for this aquatic government meeting was in a lagoon, off the island of Girifushi, usually reserved for military training; where they were submerged under about 20 feet of water! Icheoku says what an incredible feat to pull off and a logistical nightmare overcame, which took more than just planning to accomplish.

If the objective of this meeting was to draw attention to their fears that rising sea levels caused by the melting of polar ice caps could swamp their Indian Ocean archipelago within a century, Icheoku says, it definitely achieved its objective as the whole world tuned in, watched and listened to the one of a kind first meeting under water surrounded by coral reefs.

The Maldives is a front-line state in the battle against the effects of global warming; which could result in many ocean surges. With some of the islands on the archipelago barely 7 feet above water, Icheoku says, their fears is probably well founded as it will only take a fair surge of tsunami-like water current to wash the island off?In the president's words, "we have to get the message across by being more imaginative, more creative and so this is what we are doing!" Icheoku says, it was as creative as it was well imagined, Mr. President!

As bubbles floated up from their face masks, the president, vice president, Cabinet secretary and 11 ministers signed a document calling on all countries to cut their carbon dioxide emissions. Icheoku says, this is major in view of the upcoming United Nations climate change conference in December 2009 in Copenhagen Denmark. Particpating countries will negotiate a successor to the Kyoto Protocol with aims to cutting the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, that scientists blame for causing global warming by trapping heat in the atmosphere?

Pursuant to further securing the future survival of his islands nation, President Nasheed announced plans for a fund to buy a new homeland for his people should the 1,192 low-lying coral islands ever submerge. He also promised to make the Maldives, with a population of 350,000, the world's first carbon-neutral nation within a decade! Icheoku says, taking governance under water is a remarkable feat and hopefully the message has been received by the parties whose actions affect climatic changes! Kudos to President Nasheed of Maldives and his cabinet.