Male’, Maldives – The Ministry of Environment and Energy and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with assistance from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) have decided to build automatic weather stations in six more islands and have assigned necessary work to companies.
The Ministry of Environment and Energy said that this was carried out through a joint venture between them and UNDP under the project “Supporting vulnerable communities in Maldives to manage climate change-induced water shortages”.
The Ministry explained that this project aims to place high accuracy weather forecasting facilities where there are no Maldives Meteorological Service (MET Office) stations and to establish a countrywide network of weather stations.
The 6 islands selected for the automatic weather station project are, Sh. Komandoo, R.Alifushi, Dhuvaafaru, Adh. Mahibadhoo, F.Bilehdhoo and S.Hulhumeedhoo.
The stations have been agreed to be supplied by Italian company CAASPA for MVR 2.2 million and the installation of these has been awarded to local company Maxstar Maldives for MVR 737,760.
The Ministry stated these stations will assist in covering the data gaps between weather stations currently established across the nation, and will assist in accurately forecasting weather patterns and finding solutions for water shortages caused by low rainfall.
