Conflicting reports of dengue alert issued by Health Ministry

State Health Minister Abdul Bari Abdulla was unable to confirm whether the ministry had issued dengue alert today.

Earlier today, Haveeru reported that the Health ministry had issued a warning over a recurring dengue outbreak in the Maldives. Hospitals have seen an increase in the number of reported and admitted dengue cases over the last three weeks.

The report stated that heavy rains are sustaining mosquito breeding activities, and that Maldivians should be aware of the increased risk of contracting the illness.

An outbreak in July made 2011 the worst year for dengue fever on record with 11 fatalities since January.

A task force headed by Deputy Minister of Education, Dr. Abdullah Nazeer, was appointed to handle the outbreak. The Ministry of Health did not assume control of the situation for a week after the outbreak began.

At the time, Dr Nazeer told Minivan News that the government faced two obstacles in its response to the outbreak.

“Number one is a lack of proper communication between the Health Ministry and local councils,” he said. “The second was that they did not have the capacity to resolve the issues.”

In 2006, dengue claimed ten lives. This year’s earlier outbreak fatality rate surpassed that record when a 22-year old man died in late July. A 37-year old Indian national also died of dengue fever that month.

The ministry said 2421 cases were reported in August this year, Haveeru reports.


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MACI Build Expo positive about construction “boom”

The Maldives Association of Construction Industry’s (MACI) annual exhibition concluded today at the Dharubaaruge Centre in Male’, after enduring three days of gloomy weather and a lower-than-expected turnout.

The annual event showcased over twenty construction companies and their newly developed or imported products. Sales people interviewed said that the event was a significant business opportunity each year, and that sales were expected to improve.

“Every year we are introducing new products,” said Ali Shaathir of MUNI Homecare. “These products have a good impact on construction–they are safer, and friendly to the environment.”

Veligaa Hardware representative Muaz Mohamed said that construction would continue to “boom” in the Maldives. “You can always see construction on Male, and Hulumale is just beginning to boom,” he said.

Other companies represented included Humaru Maldives, Polytechnic Maldives, Thilafalhu Industrial Zone, and Habitat. Several observed that resort construction played a significant role in the industry.

One construction sector said to interest resorts is renewable energy. Earlier this week, President Mohamed Nasheed told an international audience in London that the Maldives needs to become carbon neutral.

Renewable Energy Maldives (REM) representative Maufooz Abdullah said that although eco-construction isn’t prominent, it is growing. “People are actually interested here and in resorts, and some are even buying our products,” he said.

REM currently sells solar-hybrid air conditioning units to residents and businesses around the country. These units recover their cost in two years, and are said to be used across Male. Abdullah said that use of REM products could reduce pollution “by 30 to 60 percent”.

“We hope environmentally friendly construction practices grow in the Maldives, it’s catching on slowly but we hope it moves faster.”

Abdullah said the MACI exhibition was valuable to the industry, but wished more people would benefit from it.

“I think it’s a very important event for educating people about the industry, but I don’t see too many people coming in.”

Maldives Income Revenue Authority (MIRA) said that construction was important to the Maldivian economy. Representatives noted, however, that the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill, due to become active on 2 October, will “have an effect on wholesale and customer prices.”

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Social stigma limiting employment of local women in resort industry, report finds

A new study finds that Maldivian women are the least employed demographic in the resort industry, accounting for only three percent of the total eight percent of female workers at resorts in 2010. Local and foreign men constitute 92 percent of the industry.

Tourism directly accounts for 30 percent of the Maldives’ GDP, and for 70 percent indirectly.

The thesis, “Women in Tourism: Challenges of Including Women in the Maldivian Resort Sector” was prepared by Eva Alm and Susanna Johansson during their five-month stay in the Maldives in 2010.

According to their findings, “culture, religion, and women’s role in the family, the role of the family, safety, geographical spread, transportation, education and awareness” were the main factors preventing women from seeking resort employment.

Interviews show that resort life is perceived as ‘western’ and imposes the negative practices of consuming pork and alcohol, supporting nudity, and allowing extramarital sexual encounters on Muslim Maldivian women.

By contrast, Maldivian male resort employees are exempt from these risks.

“Working in a resort as a woman is perceived as bad, as going the wrong way, as not a good place for a woman to be,” said one source.

Women interviewed said social stigma prevented them from seeking resort employment. The combination of not being able to come home at night and working at a resort with a significantly higher ratio of men to women is considered intimidating, sources said.

One father said, “If my daughter would not have the possibility of going home every night, I would not let her work in the resort, it is not safe […] if a woman will not come home at night after work, and she would maybe have a relationship with a man in the resort, which could result in a pregnancy […] this would have very bad impact on the family and would not be tolerated.”

Maldivians who engage in extramarital intercourse risk social ostracism, and women sometimes face punishment for pregnancy outside marriage. The country has among the highest divorce rates in the world.

Parents are said to play a significant role in a woman’s professional future. “In Maldives, in our religion, we are not allowed to drink or be with just any guys and things like that. So our parents are scared about that,” said one young woman.

One resort manager said awareness is a major challenge to promoting female employment. “Convincing the parents is difficult. They are very possessive of the girls. The parent’s perception is that they will mix with the European culture and do bad things such as drinking alcohol.”

A government representative added that “there needs to be a focus on educating mothers and fathers of the women who are willing to join the industry and demonstrate that it is perfectly in order for their daughters to work in the resort sector.”

Female unemployment in the Maldives is estimated at 24 percent, while male unemployment is only eight percent. Reports indicate that the industrialization of fishing, an enterprise previously shared between women and men, and the beginning of tourism eliminated the need for two incomes per household.

According to the report, Maldivian culture does not encourage women to take on entrepreneurial or leadership roles in business. Women are found to be raised to follow men, and a lack of domestic care services prevent women from leaving their posts as mothers and wives.

Women interviewed said that in order to employ more women resorts should “become more Muslim.” Most said they would not work where they could not wear the burqa, although when told that several resorts allow the burqa they maintained their position.

Women were also unaware that many resorts provide mosques for their Muslim employees.

Separating resorts from local island culture was an early tourism strategy, claims the report. Tourism officials at the time were said to believe the policy would protect local culture.

The separation is now considered a factor in island underdevelopment. “The problem we have is that we have first class resorts in the Maldives, next to them are the third world local communities, the villages,” said a government representative quoted in the study. “We have to get these engaged as the people from the island communities can get direct benefit from the resort industry through participatory involvement and inclusive growth.”

Some resort companies, such as Hilton and Soneva, try to compensate for this gap by outsourcing tasks to local islands.

Hilton resort began the “Green Ladies” program, bringing in groups of women from neighboring islands to sweep the resort during the day. Soneva supported the Veymandhoo women’s production of chili sauce in 2008.

Soneva’s Social and Environmental Manager said localizing resort development made Muslim women more comfortable in new professional opportunities. “It has got all the elements necessary for a solid livelihood project. You got women involved, it’s got livelihoods, it’s got commercial value to it, and it’s got localization aspect to it”.

Yet island production capacity does not meet resort demand. “’The communities have to be very much upscale to be able to manage small businesses, because resorts are big business and they wont rely on people who can‟t provide for their demands’”, said one source.

“Women in Tourism: Challenges of Including Women in the Maldivian Resort Sector” was presented at Sweden’s Lund University in May, and is due for publication this month.

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MNDF warns seafarers to be cautious of bad weather

The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) has warned that the seas of the Maldives will be rough with heavy showers and strong winds predicted, and has warned seafarers to be aware of the bad weather and not to overload any boats.

In a press release issued the MNDF said that the Maldives will experience rough weather for the next 24 hours, including strong winds of up to 40-50 miles per hour throughout the country.

‘’We appeal to seafarers to be cautious of the bad weather condition and to check the weather forecast before setting off sail,’’ the MNDF said in the press release. ‘’Also, make sure life jackets are readily reachable for the passengers and that all vessels contain water pumps.’’

MNDF also requested boat captains to keep to the sea safety regulations while travelling by sea.

Director General of National Meteorology Centre Ahmed Shareef told Minivan News that no incidents were so far reported to the centre.

‘’No one has officially reported us any incidents that occurred due to bad weather, but I have seen media reports of an incident occurred in Thulusdhoo in Kaafu Atoll,’’ Shareef said. ‘’I read in that the island has flooded due to swells.’’

Shareef said the Maldives was currently experiencing bad weather due to North West Monsoon.

‘’Weather forecast show that seas will be rough and strong winds will be experienced with lots of rain until Thursday,’’ he said adding that the worst weather will be focused in the central area of the Maldives.

He also noted that swells and rough sea with strong winds were not uncommon for this time of year.

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Court acquits pair arrested for 2009 armed robbery of Campus Didi

The Criminal Court has acquitted two persons arrested for the alleged street robbery of prominent businessman Ahmed Ibrahim ‘Campus’ Didi.

In the one paragraph verdict uploaded on the Criminal Court’s official website, the court stated that not enough evidence to rule that the pair was guilty was presented to the court.

The two persons charged in the matter were Aseel Ismail, 20 of Henveiru Agi and Gassan Ali of Fares-Mathoda in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll.

On 28 December 2009, ‘Campus’ Didi was stabbed and robbed of almost US$300,000 in cash while he was on his way back to home with the proceeds of sales from his shops in Male’.

Police said the incident occurred late at night around 12.30 pm on Fareedhee Magu, in front of the Novelty Bookshop.

A Bangladeshi man accompanying Didi suffered a gash to his arm, while Didi was badly injured and was flown to India for medical treatment. Eye witnesses told the newspaper Haveeru at the time that the pavement outside the shop resembled “a red river of blood.”

Haveeru also reported the attackers escaped with almost US$200,000 and Rf 1 million in cash.

Mohamed Ibrahim Didi, younger brother of Campus Didi, told the media that his brother’s condition was very serious.

The incident occurred following a series of armed robberies of large amounts of money from local businessmen. A man was robbed of over $US30,000 by a gang who attacked him at Gadiburu roundabout in late November that year, while the previous month of the same year four men were arrested after attacking two men with iron rods and stealing Rf762,700 (US$60,000).

On January 17 last year, police arrested 19 people in connection with Didi’s stabbing.

Chief Inspector of Police Mohamed Jamsheed told the media at the time that the 19 suspects were arrested with variety of weapons, including knives, spears and knuckle dusters, which police believed were used in the attack.

“We suspect these weapons were used to stab Campus Didi, as some of the [forensic evidence] we needed was found on these weapons,” Jamsheed said.

Five of the people arrested were under the age of 18 and out of the 19, only a few cooperated with police while most remained silent.

Gassan and Aseel both have been identified as the police as dangerous criminals, although they have not been yet found guilty of any criminal charges.

Today Prosecutor General Ahmed Muiz told Minivan News that the PG will study the case further and decide whether or not to appeal the verdict in the High Court.

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Speedboat Hulhumale’ ferry service introduced

The Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) has introduced speedboat ferry services between Male’ and Hulhumale’.

Haveeru reported that the speedboat has a capacity of 17-passengers and will make a round trip every 30 minutes.

“A speedboat ride from Male to Hulhumale will take seven minutes. We will increase the speedboats depending on the demand,” Transport Services Department Manager Adam Zaki said.

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Faafu Atoll Council Chair resigns

Idhrees Abubakur, chair of the Faafu Atoll Council, has resigned from his post and as a councillor.

Sun Online reports Idhrees, who represents the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), as saying that he resigned because of a “serious matter,” which he would reveal in the near future.

An unnamed MDP councillor however insisted that Idhrees resigned because of an impending no-confidence motion against him. The ruling party has a majority on the Faafu Atoll Council.

Idhrees had previously survived a no-confidence motion by a narrow margin.

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Details of government spending and revenue made public

Government expenditure outstripped revenue by 20 percent between January 1 and September 8, 2011, according to the first of weekly expenditure statements made public by the Ministry of Finance and Treasury yesterday.

While government income reached Rf6.3 billion (US$408.6 million) at the end of last week, government spending however stood at Rf7.5 billion (US$486.4 million), resulting in a fiscal deficit of Rf1.3 billion (US$84 million) financed by loans and sale of Treasury bills.

In addition to Rf3.2 billion (US$207.5 million) spent on salaries and allowances for state employees – the single largest source of expenditure – Rf2.4 billion (US$155.6 million) was needed to cover recurrent expenditure or administrative costs.

Capital expenditure was meanwhile Rf1.2 billion (US$77.8 million) while spending on debt service or debt repayment reached Rf563 million (US$36.5 million).

President Nasheed announced at a ceremony held in August to unveil the government’s ‘Fiscal and Economic Reform Programme’ that the government would publicise details of expenditure on a weekly basis.

In December 2010, parliament approved a Rf12.37 billion (US$802 million) annual state budget with a projected revenue of Rf8.8 billion (US$570.7 million) and recurrent expenditure of Rf9.8 billion (US$635.6 million) – 49 percent of which was to be spent on salaries and allowances.

Recurrent expenditure was expected to be 79 percent of government spending.

An additional Rf200 million (US$12.9 million) was injected to the budget in anticipation of the local councils that came into being in February this year.

Plugging the deficit

In March this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that “significant policy slippages” have undermined the country’s ability to address the ballooning budget deficit.

“On the expenditure side, there have been no net fiscal savings from public employment restructuring, public sector wages will be restored to their September 2009 levels earlier than expected, and the new Decentralisation and Disability Bills will lead to considerable spending increases,” the IMF noted in a statement. “Also, the Business Profit Tax will come on stream eighteen months later than planned [the tax came into force on July 18, 2011].”

The IMF warned that the Maldives economy was presently unsustainable, on the back of “expansionary fiscal policies” from 2004 which left the country especially vulnerable to the decline in tourism during the 2008-2009 recession.

The country’s fiscal deficit exploded on the back of a 400 percent increase in the government’s wage bill between 2004 and 2009, with tremendous growth between 2007 and 2009. On paper, the government increased average salaries from Rf3000 (US$195) to Rf11,000 (US$713) and boosted the size of the civil service from 24,000 to 32,000 people – 11 percent of the total population of the country – doubling government spending from 35 percent of GDP to 60 percent from 2004 to 2006.

The IMF said that while it recognised “the difficult political situation facing the authorities”, “decisive and comprehensive adjustment measures” were required to stabilise the economy, allow sustainable growth and reduce poverty. In particular, it raised concern about the “lack of significant progress in public employment restructuring.”

An internal World Bank report produced for the donor conference in May 2010 meanwhile noted that increases to the salaries and allowances of government employees between 2006 and 2008 reached 66 percent, which was “by far the highest increase in compensation over a three year period to government employees of any country in the world.”

President Nasheed told delegates at the conference that the government was “committed to financial prudence and long-term stability.”

“We have scrapped the reckless policies of the past, which saw money printed to finance a growing budget deficit,” he said, adding that the government was working with “international multilateral organisations, to ensure we do not spend more than we can afford.”

On the size of the bloated civil service, Nasheed said, “In the past, the government offered people jobs not because there was work that needed doing. The government offered people jobs as bribes; to get their allegiance to a repressive regime. Almost 10 per cent of the population works for the government – a staggering amount.

“And there are more civil servants than there is work to be done. Many government employees are under worked; chained to demoralising jobs. Our administration will therefore dramatically reduce the number of civil servants. But we must provide loans for outgoing civil servants, to help them set up businesses or acquire new skills.”

In April, the government announced a programme to incentivise voluntary redundancy in the civil service.

“Political backlash”

A UNDP paper on achieving debt sustainability in the Maldives published in December 2010 meanwhile observed that former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom responded to growing calls for democratisation in 2004 with “a substantial fiscal stimulus programme” of increased government spending, “much of which was not related to post-tsunami reconstruction efforts.”

When the impact of the worst global recession in decades struck the Maldives in September 2008, “the Maldivian economy was already in the middle of a severe economic crisis with substantial fiscal and current account deficits, high liquidity growth, double digit inflation, pressure on the fixed exchange rate, increases in public and private sector debt, rising inequalities between the capital and the atolls, and a costly civil service.”

However the new government’s efforts to reduce government spending with pay cuts of up to 20 percent along with plans to downsize the civil service – which employs a third of the country’s workforce – was met with “a severe political backlash from parliament.”

“In March 2010, the parliament passed a 2010 budget with amendments which increased the government’s proposed budget by 7 percent (or 4.5 percent of GDP),” the paper noted, referring to parliament’s addition of Rf800 million (US$51 million) to the 2010 budget.

“Three quarters of this increase funded a reversal in civil service wage cuts implemented the previous year. Progress on redundancies has also been slower than expected and reforms in this area are unlikely to be completed until the end of 2011 at the earliest. This will have important fiscal consequences.”

In July, the Finance Ministry publicised details of expenditure on state employees, showing that Rf1.6 billion (US$103 million) had to be spent on salaries and allowances for 20,476 civil servants.

State wage expenditureAnnual expenditure on salaries and allowancesPercentage of total wage bill or expenditure on employees
Civil servants or employees under the executive (excluding political appointees and councillors)Rf1,596,029,00739 %
Uniformed bodiesRf1,001,489,48624 %
Political appointees in the executive branchRf99,178,9802 %
Administrative staff at the President’s OfficeRf27,326,7301 %
CouncilsRf717,250,03017 %
JudiciaryRf210,282,4635 %
People’s Majlis or legislative branchRf79,210,7182 %
Institutions dependent on state budgetsRf393,620,94310 %
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Thasmeen warns DRP councillors against helping PPM recruit members

Main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali has warned that the party’s island and atoll councillors who help the newly-formed Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) – led by former DRP ‘Zaeem’ or Honorary Leader Maumoon Abdul Gayoom – recruit members will be dismissed from DRP.

Thasmeen told MNBC One today that the party’s charter outlined procedures for disciplinary action against members who violate the charter or party rules and regulations.

PPM Spokesperson MP Ahmed Mahlouf told local media last week that the party would seek to amend the Decentralisation Act to allow councillors to quit their parties without losing their seats.

Thasmeen however said that the law should not be changed merely because it puts the newly-formed party at a disadvantage.

The Decentralisation Act was passed in a completely partisan vote after MPs of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) walked out in protest of the high number of councillors and the committee decision to scrap province councils in the original draft legislation.

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