Former Minister for Agriculture Dr. Mohamed Shainee has said that there are signs of oil and fuel in various areas of the ocean and that current Minister for Fisheries and Agriculture is not aware of it. He further said that the current Minister for Fisheries and Agriculture, Zaha Waheed, is also not aware of the research carried out that proved signs of fuel and oil.

Mohamed Shainee had spearheaded the search and research for oil and fuel in Maldives in the previous administration.

Speaking on PSM’s “Rajje Miadhu” program, current Minister Zaha Waheed said that the former Minister for Fisheries and Agriculture Dr. Mohamed Shainee is spreading false news that there is fuel or oil in Maldives.

Dr. Mohamed Shainee spoke to One Online and said that Minister Zaha is someone who has been sworn to office. He said therefore that  she has to provide evidence to back up her claims if she were to instigate false news concerning another who had been sworn into office. He further said that if the current Minister’s claims are proven as false, the right measures need to be taken against her.

He said that she has not taken part in any research or seen any documents on the topic of finding an energy source in Maldives. Dr. Mohamed Shainee said therefore that she cannot make any claims regarding the topic without any evidence to back her up.

Dr. Mohamed Shainee stressed that the previous administration had only stated that there were signs of fuel, and that no announcement had been made regarding actually finding said fuel.

He said therefore that no one can claim that he had spread false news. He said that the documents released to the media back then proving signs of fuel in Maldives were factual and that he still has possession of them. Dr. Mohamed Shainee said that no one can claim with certainty that there is absolutely no fuel or oil resources in Maldives.

The former Minister for Agriculture said that the previously carried out research showed that various areas in the Maldivian ocean had hydrocarbons. He said however that there were still several aspects that were not made certain through this research. Dr.Shainee saud that it is still uncertain whether the hydrocarbons are fuel or come from another source such as gas and that the research did not conclude the amount of availablr stock- if any. He said that the answer to these questions can only be obtained through further research. The former Minister said that countries surrounded by ocean have found oil or fuel and that this is not a novel approach to seeking resources.

He said that the team’s comments in the media had been clear that it would take a further 10 years to establish extraction after locating it, even if oil or fuel had been found in the oceans. Dr. Mohamed Shainee reiterated that the pledge was made to seek oil and fuel and that the work was carried out. He further noted that the research was carried out without the help of government finances and that the evidence of this can still be found.

Dr. Mohamed Shainee said that the research to locate fuel and oil had ceased during the previous administration when global oil prices went down. He said that the main reason the work stopped was due to a loss that may be incurred if Maldives had found oil at that instance.

He said that the research needed to be carried out by experts and that the situation was critical as Maldives is a fragile environment and that the appropriate researchers may not have been located by demanding or bargaining for them. He further said that the research needed to be carried out by experts only.

He said that he respects the current Minister’s claims that fuel will not be found in Maldives and that he understands that different administrations will have different views. He said however that he is certain that the current administration will not work on finding the fuel.

Minister Zahaa has not been available for a comment.