The president of the Maldives was named Wednesday the winner of the annual for his efforts to fight climate change and his role in bringing democracy to the island nation.
The Anna Lindh Memorial fund said President Mohamed Nasheed, 41, was honored for highlighting the effects global warming will have on the population of the Maldives. If climate change continues at its current pace, the island nation risks being covered by water within 100 years, the fund said.
«President Nasheed and the people of the Maldives show us that climate change is an issue of existential dimensions,» fund chairman Jan Eliasson said.
Nasheed declared in March that the Maldives would become the world's first carbon-neutral country within 10 years.
In a statement on the president's office Web site, Nasheed said the prize «will stand as an apt testament to the brave and diligent efforts of all ordinary Maldivians.
Last year, Nasheed was sworn in as the Maldives' first democratically elected president, ending three decades of single-party rule in the Indian Ocean archipelago. He had been jailed while in opposition and in 1996 Amnesty International named him a prisoner of conscience.
The 150,000 kronor ($19,000) prize was established to honor Lindh, the Swedish foreign minister who was stabbed to death in 2003. It supports those fighting prejudice and oppression.
resort is having problems,the beaches are not as described in any brochure they have had machines pull coral from the sea and compact it so you can walk along it with hard sole shoes on,the water in the lagoon is not clear and blue it is murky and smelly
you are greeted when you arrive withh a map of the atoll showing you that they recommend you do not swim in the sea they advertize all inclusive spirits when we arrived they took brandy and bacardi off the all inclusive,there was no wifi in our rooms the sat tv went off after the 2nd day,the service from the bar was very slow,i think the staff need to be trained properly,the island closed its al acarte restaurant the day we arrived due to low occupancy whilst we where there it was not only the british complainig a danish couple moved off the island,unfortunately we asked and they informed us we would have to pay again,there was six in our party and between us we have visited several different atolls never to be met with one as poor as this,i have complained to our tour operator because they knew before hand as they sent us an email 2 days before we travelled telling us to take shoes to wear on the beach its then to late to cancel other travellers received the same email two or three days before they travelled vodaphone works well as i made a lot of calls to the uk one was over 45 mins long to our tour operator complaining.everything ive wrote hear ,i have photos of and have asked for a refund there was also a couple who had young children that went to bed early and the hotel would not give them room service so they had to work a rota on who would baby sit 1st whilst the other one watched the children
Date of stay February 2009
Visit was for Leisure
Traveled with With Friends
Member since March 07, 2009
Would you recommend this hotel to a friend? No
“Beware of Handhufushi!!”
Hello,
This is just a warning to all who may consider going to Handhufushi, the resort is not at all finished, the new "beach" they have built is little more than coral dug up form the foreshore and compacted to create a concrete strip between the shrubs and the waters edge. There is rubbish everywhere, the paint is coming off the walls... and this place is a year old??? the food is limited and "road" is like a mountain bike track, and swimming from the shore is not much fun at all thanks to all the rocks dug up in the beach building exercise. The TV's in the rooms don't work half the time, there are no bikes for the guests and they run out of drinks regularly.
The reason for most of this... they haven't paid the staff there for a couple of months, both local and international. Also many of the bills so suppliers are stopping sending things.
I worked there for 9 months, and saw what could have been an amazing resort fall into a state of severe disrepair. After completing my contract i am still waiting to be paid my final monies including two months wages and travel costs.
The Maldives has many great places to go... this is not one of them and neither are any of the other resorts operated by Yacht Tours Maldives, the parent company of J Resorts.
Date of stay February 2008
Visit was for Other
Member since January 27, 2009
Would I recommend this hotel to my best friend? no way!
I do not recommend this hotel for Young singles, An amazing honeymoon, A romantic getaway, Girlfriend getaway, People with disabilities, Older travelers, Pet owners, Families with young children, Families with teenagers, Tourists
