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Emergency motion to stock up staple foods, fuel over COVID-19

Fathmath Shaahunaz
04 March 2020, MVT 11:25
MP Adam Shereef speaks at a parliament sitting. PHOTO/MAJLIS
Fathmath Shaahunaz
04 March 2020, MVT 11:25

An opposition lawmaker filed an emergency motion at the parliament on Wednesday, calling on the state to ensure that there would not be a scarcity of staple foods and fuel in Maldives in the event of a COVID-19 breakout.

The motion was filed by Maduvvari MP Adam Shareef, the vice president of People's National Congress (PNC) and former Minister of Defence in the previous administration.

The lawmaker urged the government to import sufficient amount of staple foods and fuel in advance, in case of possible transport and travel restrictions should the novel coronavirus be detected in the archipelago.

Listing his reasons for filing the emergency motion, MP Shareef noted that the global pandemic already shows negative repercussions on the Maldivian economy, and that freighters and cargo containers may halt travel in the event of a breakout. Should the latter come to pass, the MP stated that the country would face great challenges in importing staple foods and fuel. He further noted that they are usually transported in bulk, enough to last a fortnight, to the atolls.

He thus called on the government to prepare and import in advance, and make arrangements to provide sufficient amounts to all regions of Maldives.

Prior to calling for a vote on accepting the emergency motion, former president and incumbent Speaker of Parliament, Mohamed Nasheed, highlighted that the World Health Organisation (WHO) did not encourage trade and travel restrictions over the COVID-19 outbreak.

However, the emergency motion was accepted with 44 out of the 45 lawmakers present at the sitting voting in favour. The majority of Wednesday's sitting comprised of members from the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

As the debate commenced, MP Shareef raised concerns over the speaker's remark. In response, Nasheed reiterated, "It is the World Health Organisation's advice to not stop trade and transportation over the coronavirus".

In the wake of a number of countries halting travel to and from China over the COVID-19 outbreak, WHO had earlier urged them to reconsider, advising not to impose travel and trade restrictions.

Maldives has not recorded a positive case of COVID-19 to date. Meanwhile, the state has implemented several precautionary measures to prevent an outbreak in the country, such as increasing border control, halting all flights from China, and banning entry to cruise-liners and all entities arriving from China and a number of other countries. The administration has also established screening procedures at all entry points, and set up COVID-19 testing via kits donated by the WHO.

COVID-19, which originated from Wuhan City in Hubei Province, China, has infected over 93,100 and claimed over 3,200 lives across the world.

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