India and China have been vying for influence in the region for years. The 133-year-old bridge was closed indefinitely to motorists in April 2019 after "critical faults" in the cast iron casing were found. The Maldives is famous as a picture-perfect tourist destination - but the archipelago is also strategically located, with islands dotted across the northern Indian Ocean. "China never imposes additional requirements to the Maldivian side or any other developing country, which they do not want to accept or against their will.". Video. Hundreds of millions of dollars poured in from Indian, Thai and Chinese investors. The US president vows to hit the campaign trail, though he is still receiving medical care. © 1998 - 2020 Nexstar Inc. | All Rights Reserved. The condition of Italy's road bridges has come under close scrutiny ever since 43 people died in the collapse of the giant Morandi bridge in Genoa in August 2018. He argues the cost of projects was inflated and the debt on paper is far greater than the money actually received - which he says was only $1.1bn, although he hasn't released documents to back up his sums. Police were called to the scene just before 5:45 p.m. The figure included government-to-government loans, money given to state enterprises and private sector loans guaranteed by the Maldivian government. Protesters storm parliament over Kyrgyzstan vote, How a Holocaust survivor is changing US policing. TDOC: High-ranking gang member faces federal indictment for drug trafficking, Metro police investigating deadly shooting in Germantown, Delta strengthens into a Category 1 hurricane, forecast to become major storm, Teen sexploitation suspect allegedly threatened middle school teacher for naked photos years ago, Sports Extra Daily with Cory Curtis and Emily Proud: October 5, 2020, No. Late last year Mr Yameen was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of money laundering. Read about our approach to external linking. The fears over debt are not restricted to the Maldives. Decaying steel rods suspending the bridge were blamed for the disaster. VideoCivilians and BBC team flee shelling, Senator who hugged White House guests has Covid-19. Speakers include NDOT Director Kyle Schneweis, Governor Pete Ricketts, industry partners, and local stakeholders. What they found shocked them. "It's a sheer stroke of luck that a collapse hasn't turned into a tragedy - because of a lack of traffic caused by the coronavirus emergency," said Michele de Pascale, head of the Italian provinces union UPI. Its wind speeds climbed to 80 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center's 11 p.m. Monday advisory. Police tell News 2 a man and woman were walking on the bridge when the suspect approached the two. Police have blocked off the road to traffic at Rosa Parks Boulevard and Garfield Street. The driver of a second van was able to clamber out of his vehicle unscathed but suffering from shock, reports said. The bridge would normally have been busy but lockdown measures meant there was little traffic. On your mobile After the debt was restructured, a Chinese state-run enterprise acquired a 70% stake in the port on a 99-year lease in 2017. .css-gw44ni-IconContainer{display:inline-block;height:1em;width:1em;vertical-align:-0.125em;margin-right:0.25em;}play.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:link{color:inherit;}.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:visited{color:#696969;}.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:link,.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:visited{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:link:hover,.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:visited:hover,.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:link:focus,.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:visited:focus{color:#B80000;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:link::after,.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:visited::after{content:'';position:absolute;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;left:0;z-index:2;}Morandi bridge towers demolished in Genoa, 'Don't be afraid,' Trump says on leaving hospital. The bridge was one of several major projects built under Abdullah Yameen, a pro-China president elected in 2013. It had previously been run by the local authority in Massa Carrara, the province on the Tuscany side, but then placed under the control of Anas, a firm run by state-owned railway group Ferrovie dello Stato. BBC News Services. The celebration will take place at the west end of the Mormon Canal Bridge at 9:30 a.m. The airport serving Male is on a different island and a speedboat was needed to get between the two. His party described it as a political vendetta. However, the current Maldives government doesn't see it that way. It was moving in a west-northwest direction at about 7 mph, the NHC said. The woman’s injuries are not life-threatening. "[It] has helped taxi drivers like me to earn more money.". In 2018, that all changed, as did Ms Waheeda's life. Last year, after a change of government, Malaysia renegotiated a Chinese-funded railway project, bringing the cost down by a third to $11bn. For China, the port is a valuable strategic asset overlooking one of the busiest shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean. "We do not attach any pre-condition for the loans. This latest bridge collapse took place 100km further east. China News Service said that the bridge took three years to build and cost around 300 million CNY - £33.7 million. One of the main reasons behind growing tourism, is that successive Maldivian governments have encouraged investments in new islands. The suspect allegedly walked up to the woman and stabbed her in the leg and walked away. Inmate Terry “Cockeye” Smith has been charged as part of a multi-state drug trafficking investigation involving federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. A local mayor, Roberto Valettini, said he had sent three letters to the bridge operator warning about the bridge. Stay with News 2 and WKRN.com for updates. It's heavily reliant on tourism, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak. At the time Chinese President Xi Jinping was embarking on his grand "Belt and Road Initiative" to build road, rail and sea links between China and the rest of Asia, and far further beyond. It soon emerged that motorists had reported a crack in the bridge after a period of bad weather last November. ... Facebook and Twitter 10. Mr Zhang says Mr Nasheed's figure of $3bn debt is "highly exaggerated". In 2018, Myanmar reviewed a Chinese-funded multi-billion dollar deep-sea port project and scaled it down to three-quarters of the original cost, fearing the loan would be unrepayable. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. These are external links and will open in a new window. "The [Chinese debt] bill was $3.1bn," Mr Nasheed, now Speaker of parliament, told me. Proud Boys: Far-right group becomes LGBT trend online, Flawless 102-carat diamond a 'bargain' at $16m, Perez Hilton: I never needed to be so cruel, Covid-19 updates: One in 10 worldwide may have had virus, WHO says, Kyrgyzstan election: Protesters storm parliament over vote-rigging claims, Excel: Why using Microsoft's tool caused Covid-19 results to be lost, Trump continues Biden attack ads on Facebook. A 2.1km (1.3-mile), four-lane bridge built with $200m (£148m) from Beijing means Male's taxi drivers can now pick up passengers right from the airport entrance. Some argue that some of the big-ticket infrastructure projects, like the expansion of the airport built with Chinese loans during Mr Yameen's time in power, have helped to boost tourist arrivals in the Maldives. The Maldives GDP is around $4.9bn and if you go by Mr Nasheed's figures, then the debt is more than a half of the country's annual economic output. Estimates suggest the country may lose more than $700m, more than a third of its tourism income, this year if the pandemic persists. He points out "other countries in the region as well as faraway [countries] were quite reluctant to lend to the government because the institutions that controlled the whole process were being slowly compromised". If government revenues fall it may struggle to repay the loan by 2022-23. What happens to your body in extreme heat? The change of guard also enabled Mr Nasheed to return and re-enter politics. Rules on foreign investments were relaxed to build more resorts and hotels. Last year US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hit out at China for what he described as "corrupt infrastructure deals in exchange for political influence" and using "bribe-fuelled debt-trap diplomacy". I can see the islands going to them very quickly," Mr Nasheed says. Credit: Images_By_Kenny/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images. 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Media playback is unsupported on your device, Before the bridge people had to travel to the capital by boat, Amina Waheeda and other taxi drivers used to be unable to pick up fares at the airport, Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) pictured with Maldives' former President Abdulla Yameen, Chinese money has brought a boom in new property and commercial developments in Hulumale, Mohamed Nasheed is worried the country borrowed too much money, Hambantota port in Sri Lanka was funded by Chinese money, The Maldives economy relies heavily on the tourism industry, Zhang Lizhong says claims of a "debt trap" are baseless, Maldives-China deal 'one-sided', says ex-president Nasheed, Maldives election: Opposition defeats China-backed Abdulla Yameen, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52743072, suffered a surprise election defeat to his rivals, 'We don't like our land being given away to China', Sri Lanka clashes over Chinese investment, acquired a 70% stake in the port on a 99-year lease in 2017.