President Mohamed Nasheed has abolished the Maldives Water and Sanitation Authority and the Environment Research Centre and transferred all activities to the newly established Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Following this change, the EPA will be linked to the Ministry of Housing, Transport and Environment. The EPA will also operate as a regulatory authority administered under a governing board.

Mohamed 'Anni' Nasheed, an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, won the country's first democratic presidential poll in October 2008. In March 2009, he launched an ambitious 10-year plan for the Maldives to become the world’s s first carbon neutral country.

Web sites: Environmental Protection Agency ; Ministry of Housing, Transport and Environment

Source: The President's Office. Republic of Maldives, 18 Feb 2009 ; Guardian, 15 Mar 2009

Tags: governance, sanitation, south asia, water supply