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Comment: Dengue fever, a problem for everyone

Although the MNDF has been drafted in to help combat the problem of dengue fever that is affecting Male and several other atolls, it is important that people don’t stand back and think that this action alone will solve the problem.

Experience in many other countries has shown that a ‘top-down’ or vertical campaign against dengue fever is only part of the solution to preventing outbreaks of the virus from getting worse.

Most people know that dengue fever is spread by a mosquito that takes the blood of an infected person. The blood contains a virus that causes dengue fever and this is passed on to a new person when they are bitten in turn by the mosquito. The mosquito seems fine – but people infected by the virus may become very seriously ill and a small proportion may die.

Most action to prevent the spread of dengue fever is aimed at the mosquito itself. If the mosquitoes are stopped from breeding then the transmission of the dengue virus from person to person will be interrupted and no new cases will occur. Often the strategy against the mosquito relies on spraying chemicals and treating water storage containers. But without having fully integrated community involvement, this strategy has failed almost everywhere in the world that it has been tried. The mosquitoes will always find ways to outwit their human adversaries unless locally tailored eradication programmes are implemented.

Community involvement is key to the success of the eradication programme and every member of the community should be involved in understanding the problem of controlling the mosquitoes (vector control). Within each community the local community leaders should be involved in forming a dedicated steering committee that can create formal task forces or community working groups that will undertake environmental management. The working groups will need to know in detail exactly what they are supposed to be doing and precise training sessions need to be organised. Every locality is different so each community task force needs to identify the exact local conditions in which their mosquitoes will be breeding. Precise local knowledge is the most important resource for beating the disease. In particular waste water needs to be evacuated efficiently; water pipelines and water storage containers must be protected and communal waste collection improved.

A research programme in Cuba compared the usual ‘top down’ ways of combating dengue fever with a community activist approach as described above. They found that the community based environmental strategy was much more effective that the usual eradication programme. You can read more about this research on:

http://www.bmj.com/content/338/bmj.b1959.full

Garbage: a special problem throughout the Maldives

The mosquitoes love little collections of water. When I was in the Maldives as a volunteer for the Friends of Maldives health programme I noticed that outside almost every house there is a little collection of garbage. This includes plastic drink containers, tins, discarded tyres, containers and invariably a pile of half coconuts. These are ideals breeding sites for the mosquitoes that carry dengue fever. Unless each and every one of these piles is cleaned up, dengue fever will continue to be a problem throughout the Maldives in urban and rural areas.

Mosquitoes love the little collections of water that form in garbage piles.

Dr Tom Heller is a Senior Lecturer in the Open University’s Faculty of Health and Social Welfare.  He has previously visited the country as a medical volunteer for the UK-based NGO, Friends of Maldives.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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Committee composition approved at “unlawful sitting”: Z-DRP MPs

MPs of the main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party’s (DRP) breakaway Z-faction vowed today to disrupt future sittings of parliament in protest of last night’s “unlawful sitting,” claiming that the revised committee composition voted through was not the same proposal agreed upon by parliamentary group (PG) leaders.

Today’s sitting was meanwhile cancelled after just 15 minutes when the Z-DRP MPs and Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) MP Riyaz Rasheed left their seats to protest in front of the secretariat desk.

With the latest forced cancellation, parliament has now been deadlocked since Tuesday (June 28) last week.

At a press conference after the cancellation, DRP Deputy Leader Ilham Ahmed argued that last night’s sitting was “unlawful” because MPs were informed via text message just two hours before it began.

Ilham’s Z-DRP colleague MP Ali Arif explained that MPs were not sent agendas as required by parliamentary rules nor provided details of the revised composition: “Therefore, as last night’s sitting was illegitimate and unlawful, we do not accept any decision made at the sitting.”

The Z-DRP MPs objected in particular to the composition of the coveted ‘241’ Security Services Committee, which the MDP could potentially control with the support of the two Independents Ali Mohamed and Ismail Abdul Hameed.

While the former resigned from DRP last month, the latter has a record of voting with the ruling party. However Velidhoo MP Ali Mohamed notably voted against the MDP to approve Jumhooree Party (JP) Leader Gasim Ibrahim to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

Meanwhile Z-DRP MP Ahmed Mahlouf alleged that Speaker Abdulla Shahid held a secret meeting with President Mohamed Nasheed after last night’s sitting.

All three Z-DRP MPs strongly criticised DRP Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali as “incompetent,” reiterating their accusation against the minority leader of “making deals with the government.”

The Z-DRP MPs demand that last night’s vote should be invalidated and the committee composition revisited.

However the parliament secretariat has issued a press statement in response to the Z-DRP MPs’ claims, noting that the revised rules of procedure does not require MPs to be informed three days in advance.

It adds that both the agenda and items up for a vote could be viewed on the computers at each MPs’ desk.

Moreover, MPs were informed of sittings via text message on two occasions in the past: “The 79th sitting of the 17th parliament held on 28 December 2009 and the 26th sitting of the third session of 2010 on 20 December 2010 were held after MPs were informed on short notice via text messages. Those sittings took place at 8.30 at night.”

DRP response

Meanwhile at a press conference by the rival opposition faction, DRP Deputy Leader Ibrahim ‘Mavota’ Shareef defended the compromise agreed upon by DRP Leader Thasmeen following “a long negotiation process.”

Shareef revealed that Jumhooree Party (JP) Leader Gasim Ibrahim refused to enter into a formal coalition with the DRP “for some reason after [the coalition agreement] was signed and finalised to be sent to the Majlis secretariat. We are seeing the bitter [consequence] of that now.”

If the coalition agreement had been signed, the allied opposition parties in parliament would have been level with the MDP at 34 MPs each.

“Considering the composition of the People’s Majlis today, in circumstances where our coalition has less than 34 seats, there is no way that we could have got more than what we have achieved through negotiations,” he said. “We have not lost even one seat that we deserved.”

He added that the opposition retained control of influential committees such as the Public Accounts Committee and the Government Oversight Committee.

As it was “a political reality” that MDP were entitled to control of some committees, Shareef said that the Z-DRP MPs’ claims were “deliberate lies intended to deceive the public.”

The DRP deputy leader also warned that opposition politicians risked raising “doubts about our sincerity” due to the ongoing internal squabbles: “Any loss to the DRP is a gain for the government and a loss to the whole opposition effort.”

Shareef called on the Z-DRP to “set aside political rivalry and dreams of winning the 2013 presidential election for the sake of the nation.”

DRP MP for Thulusdhoo Rozaina Adam meanwhile pointed out that JP Leader Gasim Ibrahim had also voted to approve the compromise reached by PG leaders.

She added that Thasmeen held out on a compromise until leaders of minority opposition parties People’s Alliance, JP and the DQP endorsed the agreement.

“Last night’s sitting was held because opposition parties reached an agreement, not at all because the Speaker himself wanted it,” she said.

The DRP had also “sacrificed” its slots on some committees to allow Independents and DQP MP Riyaz Rasheed to have a seat, Rozaina said.

She added that the Independent MPs on the 241 committee were “two MPs that both sides believe to be neutral.”

Z-DRP MP Ahmed Nihan however told Minivan News today that the Z-DRP MPs’ protest last night sprang from concerns about the Speaker’s political affiliation.

“We strongly believe he has connections with the government as he is working to an unknown agenda in their favour,” he said.

Nihan added that he expects protests on the Majlis floor to continue indefinitely.

“Today, we are seeing the government appoint the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) to step in to run immigration here in the country,” he said. “How can we hold this government accountable if the opposition is not in control of the 241 committee?”

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Maldives customs reveal million rufiya heroin haul

The Maldives Customs Service has said it last month foiled a “major” attempt to smuggle Rf1 million worth of heroin int0 the country after 100 packets of the drug were found to have been swallowed by a Pakistani national.

Customs representative Mohamed Ibrahim told Minivan News today that 100 packets of “high-grade” heroin,  a combined total weight of 797 grammes, were found to have been swallowed by a 23 year-old male from Pakistan when he had arrived at Male’ International Airport on June 25. Police are now said to be investigating the case, which is said to remain at an early stage.

The seizure come as the government pledges to crackdown on the sale, packing and distribution of hard drugs in the country.

In committing to this crackdown, Mohamed Ibrahim said the challenge of detecting drug packages that have been swallowed by smugglers was nothing new for customs and did not require authorities to review their screening processes in the future. The customs spokesperson claimed it had made similar “significant seizures” in the past.

However, Ibrahim added that the financial value of drugs found during the seizure was particularly significant.
“[The seizure] was worth quite a lot. Heroin like this is very expensive when you compare it to cannabis leaf or hash oil,” he said.

Just last month, the government has vowed to crackdown further upon significant players within the country’s hard drugs trade.  Police announced on June 24 that they had arrested an individual suspected of being one of the country’s most high-profile drug kingpins following months of investigation.

About 896 grammes of drugs were said to have been discovered inside the suspect’s apartment during its investigation. The apartment, which was rented in a building belonging to MP ‘Redwave’ Ahmed Saleem, contained a number of tools that could be used to pack drugs, while powdered narcotics were also found, according to police. Saleem was not himself linked to the drug operation.

Speaking following the police raid last month, President Mohamed Nasheed promised a more compassionate approach would be adopted for dealing with the country’s addict population. However, he additionally pledged to directly target any individuals profiting from the trade of substances like heroin, even if it led back to friends or family.

“We can seize the hard drugs that enter the country. We can find out how it enters, too. And as I envision it we can stop [the trafficking]. While undertaking these efforts, it is now becoming very much certain to me…for example, what happened the other day [the raid] was the sort of thing I find quite shocking,” he said. “800 packets of heroin a night were getting sealed in the house of an honourable member of parliament. 800 packets of heroin were being distributed in the ground floor of this house. True, there might be no connection between the MP and his house to the people doing [the drug dealing]. But what I know is, in my home, in my own home…the laws of the country definitely say this. That I should know what happens in my own home, under my own shelter.”

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Revised committee composition revealed

Revised composition of 13 standing committees as agreed upon by parliamentary group leaders and approved in a 36-1 vote last night : –

1. Rules Committee – five seats for the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP); five seats for the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party-People’s Alliance (DRP-PA) coalition; Eydhafushi MP Ahmed “Redwave” Saleem as the Independent MP

2. Public Accounts Committee – five seats for MDP; four seats for DRP-PA; one seat for Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP); Eydhafushi MP Ahmed “Redwave” Saleem as the Independent MP

3. Economics Committee – five seats for MDP; three seats for DRP-PA; one seat for Jumhooree Party (JP); one seat for DQP; Kaashidhoo MP Ismail Abdul Hameed as the Independent MP

4. Social Affairs Committee – five seats for MDP; five seats for DRP-PA; Velidhoo MP Ali Mohamed as the Independent MP

5. Independent Institutions Committee – five seats for MDP; five seats for DRP-PA; Kulhudhufushi South MP Mohamed Nasheed as the Independent MP

6. Government Oversight Committee – five seats for MDP; five seats for DRP-PA; one seat for JP

7. National Development Committee – five seats for MDP; five seats for DRP-PA; Meedhoo MP Ahmed Shiyam Mohamed as the Independent MP

8. National Security Committee – five seats for MDP; four seats for DRP-PA; Dhuvafaru MP Mohamed Zubair and Guraidhoo MP Ibrahim Riza as the Independent MPs

9. General Affairs Committee – five seats for MDP; four seats for DRP-PA; Kudahuvadhoo MP Ahmed Amir and Dhuvafaru MP Mohamed Zubair

10. Petition Committee – five seats for MDP; four seats for DRP-PA; one seat for JP; Kaashidhoo MP Ismail Abdul Hameed as the Independent MP

11. Privileges Committee – five seats for MDP; four seats for DRP-PA; one seat for JP; Guraidhoo MP Ibrahim Riza as the Independent MP

12. Ethics Committee – four seats for MDP; four seats for DRP-PA; one seat for JP; Meedhoo MP Ahmed Shiyam Mohamed and Kudahuvadhoo MP Ahmed Amir as the Independent MPs

13. ‘241’ Security Services Committee – four seats for MDP; two seats for DRP-PA; one seat for JP; one seat for DQP; Guraidhoo MP Ibrahim Riza, Velidhoo MP Ali Mohamed and Kaashidhoo MP Ismail Abdul Hameed as the Independent MP

* Article 241 of the Constitution states, “A committee of the People’s Majlis shall be established to exercise continuing oversight of the operations of the security services. The committee shall include representation from all the different political parties within the People’s Majlis.”

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Task force fears slight increase in dengue infections despite recent declines

A representative for a government-appointed taskforce working to coordinate responses to a national dengue fever outbreak has claimed provisional data has indicated a slight increase in infections over the last 24 hours – days after cases appeared to be declining.

Earlier this week, the government labelled the latest outbreak of dengue fever across the country as an “epidemic“ on the back of growing concerns about infection rates.   By Tuesday (July 7), the outbreak had been linked to the death of seven people within a week, with a number of children reported among the fatalities.

Although today’s figures are yet to be officially released at the time of going to press, a media spokesperson for the taskforce told Minivan News that case numbers once again appeared to have increased.   However, the spokesperson claimed that the anticipated increase in infection rates was not thought to be “significant” in comparison to numbers recorded earlier this week.

“We had believed that the number of [dengue] cases was being reduced. However have seen figures that suggest the number of cases were increasing again,” the spokesperson said.

The claims were made despite previous predictions that the present outbreak of the virus was beginning to be brought under control and was in decline.

On Monday (July 4), the dengue taskforce said that it had expected the current outbreak to be fully under control within seven days. The claims followed the release of official figures supplied by the same coordination body that indicated that 11 suspected cases of dengue were reported July 4, compared to 16 cases recorded Sunday (July 3) and 18 cases the day before that.

2011 spike

A media spokesperson for the taskforce said earlier this week that while dengue outbreaks were nothing new in the Maldives, the number of suspected cases of the virus that traditionally were expected to drop by this time of year had in fact spiked.

The spokesperson added that this apparent spike in infections had created a number of coordination difficulties for the new system of local administration put in place following the country’s first local council elections in February.

“Compared to last year, during these dates, figures usually go down.  However, this month, there has been a spike [in numbers of dengue infection cases],” he said. “When the local councils took over [collecting data about the virus from the Health Ministry], the whole process was stalled, nothing was moving.”

The spokesperson said at the time that there was insufficient research to identify the exact factors driving a suspected spike in infection numbers of late. However, he claimed there had been “many internal and administrative problems” that when combined with the country’s wet season – resulting from the south west monsoon that runs from May to November – may have served to exacerbate the impacts of the outbreak.

According to the task force spokesperson, the decision to hand over the responsibility for detailing information on the spread of dengue from the Health Ministry to island councils had initially raised notable problems for the government; though these issues were now being resolved.

“There were some problems in getting councillors initially to work on weekends, but I think everyone has understood the severity of the outbreak,” he added.

The opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has continued to maintain that the government had acted too slowly in its initial response in dealing with dengue outbreaks.  However, the party has said it will cooperate with the government where possible to try and support efforts to limit the further spread of the virus.

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Over 1000 Maldivians set for Umra pilgrimage

An estimated 1,120 Maldivians are expected to take part in a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, later this month in celebration of the Islamic holy month of Ramazan, according to local media.

Miadhu reports that 10 different organisations within the country are said to be involved in providing Umra packages that include transportation to Saudi Arabia, as well as accommodation and food. Each year, around two million people are said to take part in the Ramazan Umra pilgrimage.

According to the report, packages are believed to cost around Rf30,000, though these costs are thought to have increased by 15 percent since changes imposed to the fixed US dollar exchange rate came into effect earlier this year.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Islamic Affairs was unavailable to confirm the figures when contacted by Minivan News at the time of going to press.

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Tata announces government link-up for residential developments

India-based construction giant Tata Housing Development has announced a multi-million dollar cooperation agreement with the Maldives government to construct residential and resort properties in the country.

The Wall Street Journal newspaper reports that as part of a Maldives government-commissioned programme valued at an estimated US$190million, Tata will develope around 350 residential flats and a number of island villa properties that will be sold both to the state and on the open market.

Tata estimates that about 80 per cent of the flat developments from the project would be sold to the Maldivian government, with the remaining properties sold privately in the country. No plans were mentioned for the proposed island villas.

Tata Housing Managing Director and Chief Executive Brotin Banerjee has told media that the project is expected to be completed within two to three years, with work carried out by a company called Apex Realty, part of the SG18 Developers group.

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Revised committee composition approved over Z-DRP MPs’ objections

Pandemonium broke out in the chamber tonight as Speaker Abdulla Shahid called a vote to approve a compromise reached by parliamentary group (PG) leaders over the revised composition of standing committees.

In a riotous sitting that saw Jumhooree Party (JP) MP Ibrahim Muttalib tear off his mic and opposition ‘Zed-faction’ MPs on their feet in protest, the proposal agreed upon by the PG leaders was passed with 36 votes in favour and one against.

MPs of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party’s (DRP) breakaway Z-faction and some MPs of the coalition partner People’s Alliance (PA) were gathered in front of the Speaker’s desk when the vote was taken. The MPs contended that the agenda item was tabled against parliamentary rules and did not participate in the vote.

After the result was announced, some MPs were seen screaming and chasing after their erstwhile colleague.

Minivan News understand that Shahid was unharmed after security personnel stepped in between the Speaker and irate MPs.

The Z-DRP and some PA MPs had objected that they were not consulted before the committee lists were agreed upon by PG leaders.

The revised composition of the committees and list of MPs will be announced tomorrow.

Dispute

The dispute over control of voting majorities in powerful and influential committees was sparked by the defection of two opposition MPs to the ruling party in May. It has since led to forced cancellations and rendered the 12 parliamentary committees dysfunctional.

As parliamentary rules dictate proportional representation, the committee reshuffle was necessitated at the beginning of the current session in June when the MDP became the majority party with 34 seats.

The increased share of the ruling party in parliament (45 percent) had to therefore be reflected in the 11-member standing committees (45 percent or five seats).

With the DRP-PA coalition entitled to four seats, the dispute got drawn out with disagreements over filling the two remaining seats with either one of eight Independents or four minority opposition MPs (three Jumhooree Party MPs and one Dhivehi Qaumee Party MP).

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Media bodies slam police questioning of reporter accuracy

The police service has come under renewed criticism from media bodies like the Maldives Journalist Association (MJA) over claims it continues to stifle free speech by questioning reporters over both the identity of sources and the accuracy of their stories.

The MJA’s concerns relate specifically to the recent decision by police to summon DhiFM News Editor Mohamed Jinah Ali for questioning to prove the accuracy of a news report from December 29, 2010.  The report itself alleged that an international standard O’ Level examination paper was leaked and found hidden in a fish container in the country.

MJA founder and President, Ahmed ‘Hiriga’ Zahir, has told Minivan News that he is “very worried” that police were operating outside of their constitutional role by questioning journalists and media outlets over the accuracy of news reports. Similar concerns have been shared by the Maldives Media Council (MMC), which has said it also holds reservations over the nature of police questioning of journalists, despite itself calling for more professionalism and training within the national media.

In addressing these criticisms, Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed to Minivan News that authorities had spoken with the DhiFM editor in regards to the examination paper story, after it received complaints concerning the accuracy of the report and its relation to an ongoing investigation.

“Before we go ahead with any case on this matter, we needed to confirm if [DhiFM] are standing by their story,” Shiyam said. “We requested that if the story is true, then the reporter had to prove the details to us.”

The Department of Public Examinations that oversees handling of the papers has reportedly denied there is any truth to claims in the report that an international examination had been leaked.

According to police, the DhiFM report had claimed that an unidentified source within the Department of Public Examinations had revealed details of the alleged loss of the examination paper.

However, in responding to concerns from organisations like the MJA that it was for specialised authorities like the MMC and not the police to decide upon the legitimacy of a story, Shiyam said that law enforcement authorities had to respond to complaints received by members of the public, even in regards to the media.

“We don’t want to have to deal with issues like this, but there are presently many problems with the report,” he said. “Once we have confirmed whether the report is factual or not, then we will decide whether to send any case to the media council (MMC).”

However, the Police sub-inspector was unable to share the exact nature of the its concerns or the complaints made regarding the report when asked by Minivan News.

In responding to the police questioning of the DhiFM editor, MJA president Ahmed ‘Hiriga’ Zahir claimed that whether the report was true or not, the country had a specific journalism authority in the MMC that deals with potential issues of ethics and professionalism in the media. Hiriga said that he believed it therefore remained important to keep the police from overseeing media in this way.

The MJA founder gave a hypothetical example of the problems he believed police questioning posed for the media. Hiriga pointed out that if the media was confronted by a source within police detailing possible unethical practices by law enforcement officials, the media should be free to report this without possible prosecution.

“This really raises questions over freedom of expression in the country,” he said. “I don’t know if the report is true or not, but it is not the role of the police to decide this.”

Hiriga added that the country’s journalists were also protected under article 28 of the Maldives’ constitution. This article prevents reporters from having to give up the identities of their sources to police if they did not wish to do so.

The President of the Maldives Media Council (MMC) Mohamed Nazeef said that it had been made aware of the questioning issue by DhiFM, but added that no decision had been taken yet on its next course of action.

Nazeef added that he was concerned however that police had appeared to become involved in deciding upon issues of media ethics and the factual nature of an article’s content, which was the main purpose of the MMC.  The media council, which has an elected board of eight representatives from the media and seven public members, has stated aims of trying to safeguard a free national press that acts in a responsible manner, as well as reviewing complaints over coverage.

Rather than a problem that should be seen solely as an issue for police to resolve though, the MMC president said that it was important for society as a whole to break away from a long-standing culture of looking to punish the media for its reportage.

“There is a culture within society to want to punish the media through measures like giving prison sentences to journalists for their reporting. The way of thinking has changed now and we can’t penalise the media just because of something we might not like,” he claimed. “However, I think we need to see changes both within the media and the public too.  Society needs to accept that media is now free and can report on any issue, while the media has to be more professional in how it reports the news and trains journalists.”

As a wider concern, media freedom – and the industry’s responsibility in exercising it – has remained a prevalent issues for the country during the last year, both in terms of the right of police to question reporters and editorial independence.

Back in May, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) released a report entitled ‘Press Freedom in Peril‘ relating to the South Asia region that claimed there were a number of issues in the Maldives where “discord between journalists and the government is rife”.

In the findings, SAMSN stated that “going beyond the perception-based indexes of press freedom that have put Maldives among the most rapidly improving countries in terms of media reform, there are certain difficulties that journalists in the nation continue to face, even if these are not reflected in the broad numerical indexes, which are admittedly of limited value.”

However, the Maldivian media – including the government-owned Maldives National Broadcasting Company (MNBC) – is frequently accused of overt political bias in favouring one or other of the major political parties, viewed as a legacy of decades of autocratic governance and a state-controlled media establishment.

Several opposition-allied MPs and businessmen remain key owners of much of the country’s private media, and visiting journalism trainers have previously voiced concerns from young Maldivian journalists that senior editorial management obstruct them from reporting ethically.

Iraq Editorial Manager for the Institute of War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), Tiare Rath, observed in September 2010 following a series of journalism workshops that “one of the major issues all my students talked about is resistance among newsroom leadership – editors and publishers.”

“Even if the journalists support and understand the principles being taught, they consistently tell me they cannot apply them,” Rath said.
“This is a very, very serious problem that needs to be addressed.”

However, despite the issues of self-regulation facing the media, local press associations have continued to raise concerns about the conduct of police in questioning journalists over controversial and politically sensitive issues.

In February, the MJA spoke out along with other prominent media figures like the editor of the Haveeru newspaper to criticise police for requesting to speak with some of its journalists regarding the identity of sources on which it based a report.

The story focused on an alleged blackmail ring that reportedly obtained pornographic images of some high-profile national figures through the internet, which has been the basis of an ongoing police investigation. Haveeru said at the time that its staff declined to reveal the identities of its sources.

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