MOHELI, THE FORGOTTEN COMORAN ISLAND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANTANANARIVO 000702

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/E AND OES
USAID FOR GH/HIDN - CHTHOMAS
FOR EGAT/NRM - CJELRON, CGILL, MCOLBY
FOR AFR/SD - JBORNS
FOR AFR/EA - OSMOAK, KO'DONNELL
NAIROBI FOR USAID/EA/LPC - AKARAS, MBARRY, MKIRBY
PRETORIA FOR USAID/HEALTH - KCRUNKLETON
ADDIS ABABA FOR REO LISA BRODEY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID SENV TBIO EAGR ECON PGOV CN
SUBJECT: MOHELI, THE FORGOTTEN COMORAN ISLAND

REF: ANTANANARIVO 0685


1. SUMMARY. There are four inhabited islands in the Comoran
archipelago. France administers Mayotte. Of the other three,
comprising the Union of the Comoros, two are of comparable size and
population - Grande Comore being slightly larger than Anjouan. The
third is Moheli, an environmental jewel with a population of barely
36,000. Its size lends itself to serving as a "laboratory" for
development and may lead to its selection as a Millennium Village.
What is more, under the "rotating presidency" provision of the Union
constitution, four years hence the next President will hail from
Moheli. This cable provides some general impressions of the island.
END SUMMARY.


2. In conjunction with the Comoros July 6 National Day, and to
congratulate the recently elected island presidents of Grande Comore
and Moheli (Reftel),Charge visited Moheli (called Mwali in Comoran)
from July 7-9.


3. Moheli might be described as "bite-sized." As such it has
attracted considerable interest in recent months from some
significant players seeking to use it as a "laboratory" for
development. According to Opia Kumah, the United Nations
Development Program (UNDP) Resident Coordinator in the Comoros, he
has interested Jeffrey Sachs in making Moheli - the entire island -
one of Sachs' model Millennium Villages. These are designed to test
Sachs' hypothesis that a substantial infusion of development
assistance can jump-start societies caught in the poverty trap and
start them down the road to prosperity. In addition, the Chinese
Government is reportedly willing to fund an effort to eradicate
malaria on Moheli. Here the theory is that malaria needs human
hosts to propagate. If everyone on the island were to be
simultaneously given treatment and prophylaxis, the chain of
transmission could be broken and Moheli could become malaria free.
The Comoros Government is awaiting World Health Organization (WHO)
certification that the medication the Chinese are proposing to use
is WHO-approved. Following that, a major education effort will be
needed to get buy-in from the residents of the island. However, it
remains an intriguing concept that may prove successful - at least
until the first cousins/aunts/uncles return to visit carrying the
malaria parasite in their blood.


4. Politics in Moheli is largely dysfunctional. The Charge's
driver joked about a pothole on the main road being ex-island
President Fazul's "four million Euro" pothole. He meant Fazul had
claimed infrastructure improvements but that the results were
lacking while the funds went missing. For example, the road
circling the island has a ten-kilometer gap that is impassable by
car, defeating the purpose of a "circle." Newly-elected president
Mohamed Ali Said told Charge that he hopes to improve the lives of
the people of Moheli but he worried that he would not have the
resources necessary to make a difference. This concern appeared
justified, when a walking tour of the offices and residence of the
president showed that Fazul and his staff had removed everything
overnight on moving out after losing the election - furniture,
appliances, even down to fixtures and light bulbs.


5. Ali Said forwarded a note describing some of the problems he
faces on Moheli (and, of course, seeking U.S. assistance in
addressing them). Over eighty percent of the population falls below
the poverty line. Fifty percent of students do not complete primary
school and less than five per cent complete secondary school. In
addition, costs are much higher on Moheli as many basic needs must
be imported from Grande Comore and Anjouan. The shipment costs
raise the price, and supply disruption is common.


6. The economy is largely agricultural. Subsistence farmers and
fishermen form the bulk of the economically active population.
Although money poverty is widespread, hunger is virtually unknown
thanks to the bountiful banana plantations, a staple of Mohelian
diet. Agricultural exports are diverse but small in quantity:
cloves, vanilla, and ylang-ylang (flowers whose extract is used in
perfume production) all are grown. Copra had been a substantial
export but is declining as a virus decimates production in the
island's palm groves.


7. For all of these problems, the ecotourism potential of Moheli is
enormous. On the north shore, dozens of 200-pound green turtles
come ashore every night to lay their eggs. In the past, villagers
would eat the turtles and their eggs, and poachers reportedly
visited from Anjouan to partake of the hunt. This is becoming
increasingly rare as local and international NGOs have raised

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conservation awareness among the villagers and as tourist visitors
with cash to pay guides provide a more lucrative alternative value
for the turtles. Moheli's hills are one of two places on earth
where the critically endangered Livingstone flying fox may be found.
This is the largest species of bat in the world having a wingspan
of nearly five feet. Finally, almost the entire south shore of
Moheli, extending to include several offshore uninhabited islets,
forms the Comoros' only national park - a marine sanctuary. One
modest resort on this stretch of coast shares a beach with the local
village - and it also has two private beaches of its own. It is a
jewel and, when the Charge dropped by, it was empty. Without better
infrastructure, clearly, Moheli's environmental treasures will
remain largely unexplored by visitors. Unless this development is
done very carefully, perhaps it is better that way.

SIBLEY