Toriq: It

Environment Minister Toriq Ibrahim said on Monday that it was not only oil that the government hoped to find.

Speaking to reporters at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) after returning from Paris after attending COP21 Summit, Minister Toriq said that the government wished to find out which resources the country possessed and which it did not through the exploration efforts.

“…And just because something is there, doesn’t mean it will be used. Therefore the first thing we are doing is to finding out which resources we possess. Not only oil. Finding out what all else we possess,” said Minister Toriq, in response to a question posed by a reporter as to whether he believed it to be a good thing to explore for oil with him being the country’s environment minister.

He said that it was imperative that people find out the resources the country possessed, and questioned whether any previous government had done any extensive research into finding that out. He said that expanding the economy of the country depended on finding that out.

He said that the COP21 Summit on Climate Change was very successful, and that the biggest challenge was for all small island nations to unite and speak in one voice.