Former President Mohamed Nasheed has chimed in on the ongoing coconut price hikes, stating that had his administration’s program to harvest palm trees continued, there would a million more in the country.

He said this in a tweet on Tuesday which said the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) had introduced a venture dedicated to harvesting more palm trees in the country.

Coconuts have been unprecedently expensive in local markets, with prices ranging from MVR 10 to 50 each. Merchants maintain that prices will not drop in the foreseeable future.

They credit this price hike to most merchants importing in young coconuts, creating a lack of mature ones in the market.