- Maldives' first underwater museum
- Huge emphasis on the environment
- Keyodhoo to be showcased as a diving destination
The residents Keyodhoo island in Vaavu Atoll have set out to clear the area which will eventually become the first ever underwater museum in the Maldives.
With a population of around 800 people, the work on clearing the area had been started by a youth from Keyodhoo and Maldivian volleyball star, Ahmed Abdul Kareem, at a special ceremony held to launch the effort.
Participating in the ceremony were Maldivian Getaways, who came up with the idea of the museum in Keyodhoo, the Keyodhoo Member of Parliament Moosa Nizar, as well as leading officials of Keyodhoo guesthouses.
Around 100 tourists who are also currently at the island actively took part in the effort.
Nizar said the much needed project would bring global recognition to the island.
"This will enable Keyodhoo to become famous throughout the globe. This is an important step in promoting Keyodhoo to the international community. This Atoll is rich despite being small, and this Atoll has 20 world class [dive] points. So this would be a privilege," Nizar said.
Maldivian Getaways, a company known for it's leading role in promoting Maldivian guesthouses, said that the objective was to promote Keyodhoo as a dive point.
Maldives boasts a USD250 million diving industry with over two million tourists coming to dive, and the industry is expected to reach USD400 million with four million divers by 2020, the company said.
"We believe Keyodhoo will share a large part of this after the museum is built. We have proposed to the island council and the guesthouse community to advertise Keyodhoo in the Dive Magazine for next year. This will enable the Keyodhoo Museum to be promoted in tourism fairs around the world,"
The Council President Ahmed Yusuf said that this will be beneficial to the island.
"We believe that if the islanders remain committed then this project will succeed. We've received great cooperation from the islanders and relevant institutions," Ahmed said.
Keyodhoo Guesthouse Committee member, Ahmed Ibrahim said that the project would bring to light the damages caused to the environment to the world.
"No one should litter from now on. This is important. That is why this project will succeed," Adam said.
The sale of free plastic bags have also been stopped in Keydhoo, with special bags now available.
Maldives Getaways said that the museum will be open sometime this year.
