Author: Hawwa Lubna

Maldives has solid framework for women’s rights, but numbers still disturbing

Ling Ya is fighting a challenging battle to protect young girls forced into sex slavery in Cambodia. She is a survivor of the sordid crime which is destroying lives of thousands of young girls in the turbulent region.

Khadija is among several lobbyists in Pakistan who are tirelessly working to push authorities to expedite the endorsement of stalled legislations on ending the sexual harassment and domestic violence Pakistani women are suffering.

Bothaina from Jordon is fighting with a system that allows a man to kill his wife for suspected infidelity and escape harsh punishment. Similar to several other Muslim communities, Jordanian young girls and women are forced to marry their rapists or abusers while some parents often dictate decisions for daughters who have to oblige in silence or face unimaginable consequences.

These are just only few stories shared by participants at the UNiTE Global Youth Forum held in Bangkok with a focus on strengthening the youth movement in ending gender inequality and violence against women and girls.

Forty participants aged 18-30 from 29 countries participated and shared their experiences and challenges they faced in ending violence against women and girls. The forum began on May 22 and came to a close on May 24 with all participants pledging to carry forward the UNiTE Campaign in their personal and professional lives.

Listening to these horrifying stories at the workshop, I was naturally prompted to ponder on the comparative successes my small island nation has achieved in ensuring the rights of women and girls. Indeed, we have come a long way forward.

UNiTE Global Youth Forum particpants

Progress in Maldives

In the Maldives – despite our religious conservative exterior – women can choose their spouses, marry, get divorced and even re-marry more easily than anywhere else in the world, while openly engaging in relationships outside marriage is not so taboo.

Not only do Muslim women and girls have equal access to education, health services and opportunities in Maldives – but these rights are guaranteed under the country’s constitution.

Women are also encouraged to be economically active in small and medium scale businesses to  jobs in public officesor private companies. They receive equal protection under laws and are subjected to same punishments as men.

There is no institutional discrimination or barriers to political or social activism, thus allowing women to be teachers, police officers, judges, parliamentarians or even the President should she choose to be.

Accessible healthcare to mothers and newborns in Maldives have drastically reduced the maternal deaths and child mortality rates. Today, Maldives ranks as 45th best place to be a  mother among 80 developing nations compared in international NGO Save the Children’s 13th State of the World’s Mothers report.

Participants from other countries noted the aforementioned legal frameworks, equal legal provisions and opportunities as some key solutions to solving several problems faced by women.

Perhaps it is these positive approaches that drive some people to ask, “What rights don’t women have in Maldives?” whenever the issue of women’s rights is raised here.

However, I was not surprised when a facilitator commented, “All things we say are needed for ensuring women’s rights are already in Maldives, but the numbers are yet so disturbing.”

What are these disturbing numbers?

Widespread domestic abuse and child molestation

Although the Maldives’ women development performance has been admirable with long standing pro gender equality policies, statistics available from multiple sectors indicate gross violations of women’s rights.

The country is faced with major challenges in addressing gender inequality and combating the widespread violence perpetrated against women and girls while growing religious conservatism is threatening the pace of women’s progress.

The first numbers showing the magnitude of women and girl’s suffering in Maldives was found in a 2007 survey named Maldives Study on Women’s Health and Life Experiences which revealed that one in every three women aged 15 to 49 have experienced some form of physical or sexual violence during their life time.

Half of the women had experienced ‘severe’ injuries, such as gashes, fractures, broken bones or internal injuries while 6.3 percent women, who have ever been pregnant, reported having been physically abused during at least one pregnancy. Of those, 41 percent were punched or kicked in the abdomen.

“He (my husband) tied me up “face down” on a bed with a woven rope. I was eight months pregnant then…I had to stay like that for four hours. When he untied me, my hands and feet were swollen and cut. My stomach hurt really badly because I was tied “face down”…I cried. I had a stillborn child and the midwife told me that it was probably due to the violent act of my husband,” a respondent reported during the survey.

The survey also flagged that the violence is not limited to intimate relationships either.

Girls reported that male family members, particularly father or step-father perpetrated ‘physical violence’ while family friends, work colleagues and strangers ‘sexually abused’ them.

Meanwhile, the statistics analysed in the report also substantiated the high prevalence of childhood sexual abuse.

“We found that 12.2 percent of women aged 15-49 had been sexually abuse before the age of 15,” the report read. “Approximately 10 percent of women reported that their first sexual experience was either coerced or forced and that the younger the girl at the first sexual encounter, the more likely it was that sex was forced.”

The data also reflected the fact that girls are at greatest risk of sexual abuse by male family members and male acquaintances – this, and several sordid cases of inter-familial or incest cases prompted the authorities to endorse a legislation in 2010, stipulating harsher punishments for child abusers who are in a “trusted position” or otherwise guardians of victims.

However, the enactment of the Domestic Violence Bill in April has filled the gap in the legal system, which has been a great challenge in preventing violence against women and providing justice and protection to survivors of domestic violence.

However, we are yet to witness the positive outcome the important piece of legislation brings while much is needed to raise public awareness on it.

Little or no economic emancipation

Although the 2008 constitution has removed the bar on women from holding the highest political office and there is no institutional discrimination against women in politics and decision making per say—the numbers show a grim reality.

Only five out of 77 elected parliament members are women and 57 out of 1086 elected island and atoll council members are women. Even among the few women who are currently politically active, almost all are notably linked to high status families, or have been appointed to the position.

Only a staggering two percent of the economically active women hold senior decision making position compared to the eight percent of men while, according to planning department, the the unemployment rate for women is nearly double compared to male counterparts.

Over one third of working age women are economically inactive due to the gender stereotyping that demands house work and child care from women, the 2006 Census found. The absence of childcare facilities makes it difficult for women to remain employed after they have children

“I was a teacher for five years. But I had to stop working after birth of my child. I always hoped to start teaching when my son turned four. I did start even. But stopped because my husband’s family complained about looking after my son all the time and there is no child care facility here,” a 28 year old woman with a degree in education told this author.

“Besides, I don’t think my husband will approve putting our son in child care,” she added.

Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has also reported that some employers discourage women from marriage or pregnancy, as it could result in employment termination or demotion.

Meanwhile, the Maldives has the highest divorce rates in the world, with up to 47 percent households headed by females and single mothers.

An audit of the courts found that large amounts of money received as child support has not been distributed to the recipients while some remains uncollected – indicating that single-mothers are bearing the financial burden of raising children.

A monthly allowance of Rf2000 (US$130) is distributed by state to single-mothers; however, flaws in the system and miscommunications leave many mothers empty-handed, especially in the atolls.

“I have a five year old son. His father has not provided child support since we got divorced. But I do not get child support because I am a civil servant. That is very upsetting because I can barely cover the costs,” a school supervisor working on Hithadhoo island commented.

Meanwhile, the high level of drug abuse results in many women co-dependent on drug users, the UNFPA Maldives says. It puts women at high risk of violence and abuse while those women who have experienced violence are significantly more likely to have health problems, emotional distress and thoughts of suicide.

Rising sexual health-illnesses

Reports also suggests that Maldivian women are greatly at the risk of reproductive illnesses due to unavailability of information on reproductive health.

Centre for Community Health and Disease Control (CCHDC) flagged high prevalence of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) in a report released last year. Eighteen 18 HIV positive cases were detected and over 400 cases of STIs, of which 97 percent were women.

Detection STIs included chlamydia and gonorrhea – both conditions that can cause infertility if left untreated.

Rising STIs were associated with high risk behaviors such as increased sexual activities with reduced contraceptive use,  lack of awareness and human trafficking for purposes including sexual entertainment.

Even though no specific statistics are available, anecdotal evidence additionally suggests that the number of unwanted pregnancies and unsafe aborions have dramatically increased – particularly among adolescents.

The current Health Minister Dr Ahmed Jamsheed acknowledged these disturbing trends in his blog last year.

Dr Jamsheed wrote on his blog in June 2011, “I believe that a high rate of abortion by our women, both in the Maldives and in neighbouring countries have been going on for some time.”

He made the comments following the discovery of three abandoned babies in the same year, out of which two were premature foetusus while the third was a dead new born.

“This is very much a public health and social issue, strongly related to societal values and faith. Criminalisation will never solve it and this will go on unless we address the root causes or have upstream interventions,” Dr Jamsheed argued.

Broader reproductive health should be taught in the schools, either incorporated to the curriculum or as a separate programme, he said. Furthermore, he contended, all barriers to access contraceptives must be removed.

He admitted: “I understand that some people would condemn this opinion, arguing that this will promote unlawful and out of wedlock sex. However, I don’t believe that the availability or non-availability of condom or contraceptives would ever be a factor determining whether two people who want to have sex will have it or not!”

UNFPA Assistant Representative Shadiya Ibrahim also echoed Jamsheed’s remarks contending that research has proven “sex education does not increase promiscuity”. Of 68 studies on family life and sex education in a scientific review, she said, 65 studies found no associated increases in sexual behavior.

“Young people taking part in such programs had higher levels of abstinence, later start of sexual activity, higher use of contraceptives, fewer sexual partners and/or reduced rates of STDs and unplanned pregnancy,”  according to Ibrahim.

She added: “Non-health factors such as lacking education, lacking status in family, early marriage make girls highly vulnerable to unwanted pregnancy. It could be lacking basic knowledge and information about sexual and reproductive health and the means to prevent conception.”

“Other unintended pregnancies result from rape, sexual abuse and incest. Sexual education to boys and girls help reduce these instances and provide strategies for girls to reduce their vulnerability,” she observed.

Overwhelming majority of the married young girls are getting  pregnant, which brings “high costs in lost opportunities, limited life options and poor health, according to her.

“It also affects the ability to provide opportunities for their children too. When young girls delay starting their families, they have better opportunities for further education and skill development and mean to fulfill whatever dreams they may have and contribute to productive integrated members of the society and economic development.” she further explained.

However, these contemporary  strategies have fallen short from being transformed into concrete actions amid religious pressures in Maldives.

In addition, Education Ministry reported last year that girls are not being vaccinated and female school enrollment rates are falling.  Both were associated with “religious reasons” which  have been described as misinterpretation of religion by some Islamic scholars.

Meanwhile, claims that female circumcision is rising in practice in the Maldives also triggered alarm across the government and NGO sector in 2011.

“We are beginning to hear reports of this occurring, and I have heard on radio and television people justifying the practice. It is quite disheartening,”  said President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan, who was Vice President at the time.

Though he did not pinpoint a specific area where female circumcision was taking place, but attributed the “general trend” to “rising conservatism and traditional values imported from other parts of the world.”

These perceived  influence from growing conservative religious groups in the country, according to gender experts, “are causing fear that recent gains in addressing gender equality could be reversed.”

Therefore, they argued that the authorities must prioritise gender mainstreaming to achieve the international goals of gender equality  and also expand the efforts into eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls.

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What does the future hold for Kinboo?

Meet the famous Nile crocodile, whom we Maldivians call “Kinboo”. The cage pictured here, has been Kinboo’s home since it was caught 15 years ago on February 14.

The year, 1998, in which the Kinboo was caught in the Maldivian waters, I had  just started school. The report of its capture brought a mixture of shock and delight.

Like everyone, both children and adults, I was curious to see a crocodile. After all, the famous predator is an alien species to the Maldive’s eco system. Before that day, the only crocodiles people had seen or heard were from movies and books. For me, it was the Peter Pan cartoon – the “tick tock” crocodile that wanted to eat villain Captain Hook is an all-time favorite of mine.

But all the pushing and fighting my way through to the front of the flock surrounding the cage on my visit to see the Kinboo turned out to be a big disappointment. Unlike I had imagined, Kinboo was so small that he was barely visible in the little enclosure built at the children’s park.  The water at the enclosure completely covered it.

I struggled to get a glimpse and, before I could, was soon pushed back by the eager crowd. From what I overheard, Kinboo did  not surface.

It was almost over decade later that I got to visit Kinboo for the second time. While living in Addu, I heard stories told by visitors from Male’ about how big the Kinboo had grown. But again, it was nothing like I expected. The sheer size of its growth left me in shock: “It is so big,” I said to my friends in bewilderment.

Once barely visible, Kinboo was now almost 10 feet long. The water in the cage barely covered its belly as it lay flat inside. Its long powerful tail was curled up to fit inside the roofed-cage that is no larger than 15 by10 feet. Pieces of papers and candy wrappers were scattered inside, most likely thrown by eager visitors in an attempt to get  Kinboo’s attention.

Thinking of all those years of captivity disturbed me. After few more looks I went home like other visitors, but the thought of Kinboo’s miserable life never faded away.

“Free Kinboo” is of course not a new subject for a story, as some may have already thought whilst reading this article. Yes, I am guilty of bringing you old news.

Yes, I also know campaigns were started to “Free Kinboo” years ago. Kinboo even has its own Facebook page, calling for its immediate release, and bloggers have often repeated the lonesome story of Kinboo.

Children from Billabong High EPSS International school embarked on a mission to save the Kinboo in 2010 and for a moment it seemed that the Kinboo was finally going to be freed.

But the purpose of writing this piece  is to remind readers that the mission failed. Kinboo continues to miss out on the world beyond the bars.

As we grow up, finish school, start jobs, cast votes and even witnessed three president’s in office – nothing has changed for Kinboo.

The life expectancy of a Nile crocodile in captivity can be up to 80 years. Will Kinboo still be in the same cage when we have retired or even passed away?

So now you may ask, “What can we do about that?”

Some may even respond,”There are more important issues like a coup to write about, rather than a dinosaur.” For the latter, I have a request. Put yourself in Kinboo’s shoes. But wait, Kinboo doesn’t have shoes, so I rephrase, put yourself in Kinboo’s cage for a moment. Now imagine that moment was 15 years.

What exactly can we do for the Kinboo?

Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Director General Ibrahim Naeem believes there are two options.

“The first option is  to transfer the crocodile to a suitable zoo or wildlife park abroad, where it can be rehabilitated before being freed into the wild. Some efforts were made to rescue the crocodile. But it did not work for some reason,”  Ibrahim Naeem explained.

During the Billabong School’s mission to save the Kinboo, the school’s former Biology Teacher, Kate Wilson, wrote to an international agency in Australia, which rescues crocodiles that are injured or in bad condition.

Unfortunately, she never heard back from the agency.

“If we cannot work out a plan to rescue the crocodile,” Naeem said, “it should be killed”.

“It is indeed time we do something about the crocodile. We cannot keep it caged forever. Either we should kill it or move it to zoo in a foreign country,” he said. “It is costly to move the crocodile abroad. But the state also bears expenses to feed and keep the crocodile alive in the enclosure. So we have to decide,” he added.

The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), which oversees the crocodile, also expressed their discontentment at the prospect of keeping the animal caged for life.

“We don’t want to keep the crocodile inside the cage. It is there because no decision has been made otherwise. If possible we want to see what options we have,” said MNDF media official Lieutenant Abdullah Mohamed.

Friends with whom I shared the idea of  a “mercy killing” rejected it instantly, calling it “inhumane”.

But should we not take a moment to reconsider what exactly is inhumane. How long are we  to keep a living creature behind those bars for mere entertainment? Five more years? Maybe 20? Or until it dies naturally?

So I ask, how human are we to cherish our freedom, while the crocodile lies in a cage until death sets it free? A wise man once said, all that is needed for evil to triumph is good men to do nothing. Letting the crocodile suffer in cage is wrong, if not evil. It is time the authorities must decide.

Either kill Kinboo or free it.

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Planning statistics show surge in unhealthy eating

Statistics for Maldives household food expenditure show a disturbing shift towards an “adverse dietary pattern”, with increased intakes of high-fat and sugary products, the Planning Department has revealed.

Health experts in the country have blamed the unhealthy diet of Maldivians for the high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and metabolic disorders such diabetes among Maldivians, which account for almost 50 percent of the all deaths in the country. The comparative figure for the US is 25 percent.

According to the Household Income and Expenditure Survey, the structure of the Maldivian diet has shifted towards a “higher energy density diet with a greater role for fat and added sugars in foods, greater saturated fat intake, reduced intakes of complex carbohydrates and dietary fiber, and reduced fruit, vegetable and fish intakes.”

Eating less vegetables, fruits and fish

Overall, household expenditure on all the food groups has increased except for fruits and nuts, fish and vegetables.

The food expenditure on fruits and nuts reduced by 41.8 percent in the Maldives, although the percentage of the decline was higher among atolls, where a 45 percent reduction in fruits and nuts was recorded compared to the 30 percent decline in the capital Male’.

Within this group, food expenditure on bananas, tender coconut, papayas, coconut and apples declined by 50 percent or more in in 2010 compared to 2003, while the statistics further flagged a growing trend of substituting natural fruits with preserved or canned fruits.

“The household food expenditure on fruit cocktail and other canned and preserved fruits has increased over the period significantly,” the report read.

Household expenses on vegetables meanwhile recorded a 4 percent decline nationally, although an 18 percent and 33 percent increase was recorded in the atolls and Male’ respectively.

The Planning Department explained that expenditure on vegetables such as breadfruit, curry leaves and green chilli had reduced significantly, while spending on vegetables such as cabbage, onion and other fresh vegetables had “increased significantly.”

The department concluded: “If the changes in the prices are taken into account, in real terms, there is a decline in the household expenditure on fruits and vegetables. It is likely that there is an under-reporting of the consumption of own-produced fruits and vegetables such as breadfruits, green chili, curry leaves, coconut, papaya, etc, particularly in the atolls, as there is a difficulty valuing them in monetary terms.”

In the fish category – the traditional source of food for Maldivians – a net decrease of eight percent was recorded nationally in 2010.

In the same period, the spending patterns shows that eating fish declined by 23 percent in the atolls and in Male’ by 28 percent.

According the Planning department, the decline has most likely been caused by the decline in the overall fish catch since 2007 – therefore, shifting the people’s demand to the available alternative, imported meat.

“The household expenditure on frozen chicken and chicken products increased by 105 percent while the demand for sausages has increased by 306 percent,” the report observed.

“Sugar high”

According to the planning department, the food category that showed a “huge increase” in expenditure was sugar, jam, honey, syrups, chocolate and confectionery.

The major food products in this category that had a huge increase in the household expenditure included ice-creams, accounting to a staggering 4,630 percent increase in 2010, while chocolate increased by 1,071 percent, jelly by 1,332 percent and honey by 719 percent.

Although the planning department’s report does not specify, demand for caffeine, and energy drinks made with high fructose syrups or added sugar is on the rise among young.

Studies have concluded that added sugar is one of the greatest factors in the rise in obesity and other health conditions such as diabetes, tooth decay, poor nutrition and elevated triglycerides.

Furthermore, recent studies have also found eating too much sugar can make people forgetful and potentially cause permanent brain damage.

Meanwhile, spending on spices, short-eats and other snacks such as chicken rings, potato chips, popcorn – high in saturated fats –  increased substantially over the period.

Health concerns

Growing consumption of high-fat and sugary products, combined with behavioral risk factors such as physical inactivity and tobacco use,  has put a high number of people at the risk of non-communicable diseases such as heart and blood-related diseases, diabetes mellitus and other degenerative and chronic diseases, according to health experts.

Statistics from Health Mininstry show that in 2009, a total of 459 people (39 percent) died from circulatory system diseases which includes strokes, placing it at as the most common cause of death among all age groups, followed by respiratory diseases (12.3 percent).

Speaking to Minivan News, Internist Dr Ahmed Razee noted that consumption of healthy foods such as vegetables and fruits never reached the “preference levels” in the Maldives.

“Spending on vegetables or fruits have not declined. In fact, the truth is that it never increased,” Dr Raazee argued. “Junk food is commercially marketed and made available easily while the same thing has not be done for the vegetables and fruits,” he added.

Meanwhile, with unhealthy eating habits more people are in the having high levels of cholesterol and blood glucose, resulting in a higher risk of endocrine abnormalities leading to strokes and metabolic disorders among young people, said Dr Raazee, who has a special interest in diabetes and kidney diseases.

In an earlier interview to Minivan News, Public Health Programme Coordinator for the Center for Community Health and Disease Control (CCHDC), Dr Fathmath Nazla Rafeeq, also observed that malnutrition in the country was “quite alarming” considering the number of medical advances made in the country over the last few years.

Her comments, made on World Health Day, related specifically to fears over the national promotion of healthy diets, including issues of vitamin deficiency in expectant mothers and children, to the consumption of high-calorie junk food and energy drinks by young people.

According to figures published in 2009 by the World Health Organisation (WHO), 17.8 percent of children under five years of age were found to be underweight in the Maldives according to international standards for ascertaining health in young people. The same figures found that 6.5 percent of children were classed as overweight in the country. 20.3 percent of children in the same age group were found to be suffering from ’stunting’, a term describing children suffering growth retardation as a result of poor diet and infection.

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MGM film studio options desert island romance novel set in the Maldives

A best-selling novel based on the captivating love story of a mismatched pair deserted on an uninhabited island of the Maldives is to be made into a feature-length film.

According to reports, leading Hollywood production company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) has optioned the rights to Tracey Garvis-Graves‘ best-selling castaway novel “On the Island”, a five-week inhabitant of the New York Times bestseller list.

Film website Cinema Blend compared the novel to a cross between Hollywood blockbuster Cast Away, featuring Tom Hanks, and Fifty Shades of Grey, a runaway hit on the New York Times bestseller list made infamous for its explicit descriptions of bondage, domination and sadomasochism.

According to the website Variety, MGM  is in negotiations with Temple Hill Productions, producers of the teenage blockbuster “Twilight”, to produce “On the Island”.

“Perfect location for book”

The story centers on Anna Emerson, a 31-year-old English teacher who signs up to tutor TJ Callahan, a 16-year-old recovering from cancer at his family’s vacation home in the Maldives.

On the way to family’s vacation home, the sea plane carrying the pair crash lands in the Indian Ocean, leaving them stranded on an uninhabited island.

The book synopsis describes: “Now Anna and TJ just want to survive, and they must work together to obtain water, food, fire, and shelter. Their basic needs might be met but as the days turn to weeks, and then months, the castaways encounter plenty of other obstacles, including violent tropical storms, the many dangers lurking in the sea, and the possibility that TJ’s cancer could return. As TJ celebrates yet another birthday on the island, Anna begins to wonder if the biggest challenge of all might be living with a boy who is gradually becoming a man.”

According to the author of the novel,  Maldives was the “perfect location” for the book.

“I needed an uninhabited island and when I did a Google search, the Maldives came right up. It was a perfect location for the book,” Garvis-Graves told Minivan News.

Although Tracey has never been to Maldives, she adds: “I did extensive online research. I looked at hundreds of images and I read everything I could about the plants, animals, climate, marine life etc.”

“I have never visited the Maldives but hope to be able to someday,” she said.

The Maldives is an upmarket tourist destination in the Indian Ocean with a population of nearly 350,000 inhabiting only 200 of its 1,192 low-lying islands.

Perfect location for a movie?

As reports of converting the compelling love story into a movie brings exciting news to its  fans, the possibility of filming the movie in Maldives has sparked “special interest”.

“It is great news for the Maldives that it has been mentioned as a country in a best selling novel, and the  idea of the story being converted into a movie is even  more interesting,” Mohamed Maleeh Jamal, Deputy Tourism Minister said.

As the story speaks of the Maldives as the desert island-set where the romance begins, Jamal contended that “the Maldives would make the best setting to shoot the movie.”

“We are more than happy to assist in anyway to get the shooting of the film done in Maldives. We welcome any project that would generate positive coverage to Maldives,” he added.

The Deputy Minister welcomed the authour and  MGM productions to consider the Maldives as a shooting location: “I invite the author and the producers to the Maldives. We will communicate with the tourism industry, resorts, tour operators, and make a collaborative effort to facilitate the production of the movie here. I’m sure we can broker a deal,” he said.

When Minivan News asked Garvis-Graves whether the Maldives would be chosen as a location, she responded “I don’t have any information on possible shooting locations as the film is only in the option stage. But the Maldives would be a beautiful location for filming for obvious reasons!”

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Maldives police ordered to hunt for Abdulla Luthfee

Maldives police are searching for Abdulla Luthfee who was given a life sentence for his role in the 1988 coup attempt.

The Home Ministry reported that Luthfee had escaped from the authorities while on a medical trip abroad.

According to the Home Ministry’s State Minister Mohamed Fayaaz, the former government authorised Luthfee to go to India in 2009 for medical treatment and he was supposed to return back by January 2010.

However, Fayaz told local media that he never returned and had escaped to Sri Lanka, where he was reported to be living under a false identity. Therefore the police had been asked to find Luthfee and hand him over to the Maldives Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services (DPRS).

“It has been over a month since we notified the police to hand Luthfee over to us. Luthfee was allowed to travel to India following a letter he submitted requesting  medical treatment abroad,” Fayaz told Sun Online.

“A copy of a ticket to India was attached to the letter. He was issued a travel document passport with a validity of one year. This is how he was permitted to go to India. But now we have received information that he lives in Sri Lanka. He has changed his name. This is against the document which was issued to him, so the police have been notified to hand him over,” Fayaz added.

Police media official Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef confirmed that police had started the search for Luthfee.

“We are using all our resources to find Luthfee and hand him over to the DPRS as requested by the Home Ministry,” he noted.

The government aligned Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), headed by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, accused Former President Mohamed Nasheed’s administration of setting free Luthfee last year.

However the government at the time responded that it would “never help a detainee escape” and denied the allegations made by PPM.

‘’The Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Service (DPRS) will not hold anyone in detention if a doctor advises them to send an inmate abroad for medical reasons, but that does not mean that we are making way for him to escape,’’ then State Home Minister Mohamed ‘Monazer’ Naeem told Minivan News at the time.

Luthfee and his aides were sentenced to death for attempting to overthrow Gayoom’s government in the 1988 plot, assisted by armed mercenaries of a Tamil secessionist organisation from Sri Lanka, the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE).

Eighty Tamil mercenaries landed on Male’ on November 3, 1988, and quickly took over the airport. However they were caught in a shoot out with military forces in Male’ and were forced to retreat after India deployed 1600 paratroopers to the Maldives on Gayoom’s request. Nineteen Maldivians were killed in the gun fire.

Gayoom however, commuted the death sentences to life imprisonment.

Sri Lankan newspaper The Island reported Luthfee as saying on the 23rd anniversary of the November 3 coup attempt, “I wanted to get rid of [former President Maumoon Abdul] Gayoom at any cost. As the election process in my country never gave a reasonable opportunity to the opposition, I felt an outside force should be used to oust Gayoom.”

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LGA to revise US$64 million-a-term local governance system

Plans are underway to bring several structural changes to the local governance system in a bid to create a more “economically viable and productive system”, the Local Government Authority (LGA) has said.

According to LGA member Ahmed Faisal, discussions on proposing changes to the system were prompted by serious concerns raised over the “economic sustainability” of the existing decentralisation model which compromises of total 1091 elected councilors. This includes 17 councilors from the two city councils; 132 councilors from the 15 atoll councils and 942 councilors from 179 island councils.

From the inception of the local governance system, over Rf200 million (US$36 million) has been spent on salaries and office expenses of elected councils, Faisal told Minivan News.

The LGA estimates the total expenditure will amount to almost Rf1 billion (US$64 million) at the end of the three year term. He added, “This is a far too economically costly model for the Maldives” – a key argument raised by then-ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) members in 2010 as they opposed to pass the decentralisation legislation citing it will provoke serious “serious social and economic consequences”.

“Therefore, our priority is to revise the existing local governance system into a more economically viable model by bringing major structural changes,” Faisal explained.

According to Faisal, LGA is working to” identify and incorporate international best practices most suitable to Maldives depending on the geographical uniqueness of Maldives, and create a cost-effective and productive system.”

He emphasised the proposed changes is expected to come into effect with the next council elections scheduled in 2015.

However, he added that the authority is pushing to implement some changes as soon as possible, provided it does not violate the Decentralisation Act and have no effect on the interests of existing councilors.

Appointment of part-time members

Among the key proposed changes include changing all the elected council members – except president and vice president of the councils– to “part-time members with a sitting allowance”. The current layer of government introduced by the elections cost the Maldives over US$12 million a year in salaries and allowances, or US$220,000 per month. The President of every island council receives a salary and allowance of Rf15,000 (US$1160), council members Rf11,000 (US$850). The mayor of Male’ receives Rf45,000 (US$3500).

Should the proposed amendment pass, full-time salaries must be only paid to the President and Vice President – elected through polls – while other elected members will be paid an allowance based on the number of meeting they attend.

“We are proposing this amendment to allow for a more technically sound team in the council. As the post is part-time, people employed in other fields such as doctors, legislators, teachers can participate in the councils.” Faisal observed.

Either the island council president or vice president will represent the constituency in the atoll council and will similarly receive a sitting allowance, he added. Meanwhile, the president and vice president of the atoll council will be elected based on atoll wide poll.

“This model will provide an equal voice to all islands while allowing a sense of ownership of the atoll council, as the elected president and vice president can be made accountable by the constituents. Currently, all members are representatives from the islands and no specific member is personally responsible for the council,” Faisal noted.

No changes will be made to the number of seats in any councils, except for the two city councils: the capital Male’ and Addu City in the south. The LGA suggests the Mayor and Deputy Mayor must be elected, in addition to the members elected from each constituency of the city.

Although the number appointed to city councils would increase, Faisal argued that the costs will decline as the members – except mayor and deputy mayor – will remain as part-time.

“We want the the proposed part-time members to become effective as it will facilitate the council’s work. A lot of decisions are pending due to the absence of members, and other work is hindered due to operational difficulties. But they will be paid full salaries until term is over,” the LGA member noted.

Parliament created Local Government Authority

In a bid to address the current operational difficulties, the LGA has requested parliament form the regulatory body of the councils with five members.

“Right now only two members in the LGA are appointed by the parliament vote while the remaining are representatives from the authorities and councils. However the authority has to do a lot of technical work, so it must compromise of a technical team.”

He also observed that the decentralisation legislation must be amended with a clear mandate on how to remove a member deemed to be unqualified.

“The LGA’s primary responsibility would be to regulate, monitor the councilors and conduct capacity-building initiatives,” he noted.

Increasing Women’s Participation

A great emphasis was put on increasing women’s participation in the local governance process, Faisal noted. “The LGA has however stopped short from proposing to [specifically] allocate seats for women as it may be deemed as marginalising women.”

Meanwhile, he said that the authority will push for women’s participation through the introduction of Women’ Development Committees `(WDCs) as proposed in the legislation. “Women will become more engaged in community development work, empowered and use the platform to kick off their career into local governance, and ultimately run in the elections on an equal footing with men.”

Currently only 57 out of the 1091 councilors are women- a disturbing trend of gender inequality observed from economic, political and public spheres of Maldives.

Flawed from start

The Act was passed in mid-2010 after months of deadlock in parliament. The MDP wanted 200 councillors and seven province councils instead of 21 atoll councils. Husnu Suood, attorney general at the time, warned of the exorbitant cost of paying salaries and allowances for over 1,000 full-time councillors- who were elected as a direct result of the changes proposed to the bill by then opposition.

The bill was eventually passed in a completely partisan vote after MDP MPs walked out in protest.

In line with these concerns, at the time parliament’s Deputy Dpeaker Ahmed Nazim took the example of the number of decentralised administrative posts created through last month’s Local Council Elections as an example of unsustainable spending.

The PA MP claimed that MDP government policies based on building housing or harbours across a wide number of islands was creating further problems for future national cost cutting. As a solution, Nazim claimed that it would be important to consider depopulating and reducing the total number of inhabited islands by offering the population a choice of relocation possibilities.

Meanwhile Chairperson of the MDP at the time, Mariya Ahmed Didi, accused the DRP of ”total disregard to the democratic state we want to develop.”

“We parliamentarians did warn the public that DRP is still a dictatorial group,” she said. “Their behaviour in the Majlis proves the point. We are approaching the deadline in the constitution to have local government in place and to have local elections. I do not think we have time to veto and go through the whole process,” she said.

It would be difficult to ensure development of the atolls with the bill as it was passed, she added.

“I hope people remember that the MDP had nothing to do with the bill when in campaign the DRP starts screaming about the islands not being developed as envisaged by the MDP. The basis of our election promise was that the Maldives would be developed as seven provinces. They have by this bill destroyed the fundamental basis on which those promises were made,” Didi said.

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Police to crack down on tour agents scamming tourists

Police have announced plans to crack down on tour operators who are allegedly scamming tourists visiting Maldives, after several complaints were filed by tourists who have been targeted in these scams.

The reports of the tourist scams will be unwelcome for an industry which is already struggling to remain on top of its niche market of small island tourism as it faces fluctuating arrival rates, a decline in traditional markets, potential tax increments and a deteriorating image as political instability grows.

According to the police, some tour operators are defrauding tourists by charging large amounts of money in advance to pay for reservations, without actually making the payments to the resort.

“A lot of problems are created when the tourists arrive in Maldives after making the payments to the travel agencies and discover [the agencies] have not paid the resorts,” Deputy Head of Crime Specialist Command Mohamed Riyaz told press on Saturday.

Although the reported cases are uncommon and several were successively resolved, Riyaz noted that the police have started investigations into the tourist rip-offs as they are being “repeated”.

Police are taking administrative action against four agencies suspected of defrauding tourists, while investigations are pending in six “serious” cases, according to the Deputy Head of Crime Specialist Command.

He added: “The licence of agencies not paying advance money to the resorts will be terminated and their bank accounts will be frozen under the criminal investigation.”

The police have also requested tour operators to refrain from such scams that have the potential to “deeply harm” the tourism industry of Maldives, which contributes almost 80 percent to the national income.

“Operated from bedrooms”

Speaking to Minivan News, the Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) and Maldives Association of Tourism Industries (MATI) – associations which represent tour operators and resort owners, respectively – revealed that the roots of the scam runs deeper.

MATATO’s President Mohamed Khaleel contended that there are “no legal restrictions to the fraudsters who want to run these scams”.

“Anyone can go to the Economic Ministry and set up a company. Get a travel agent licence, set up a website and start bringing tourists. Over the past two years, we have raised several concerns in various platforms about these paper companies defrauding the tourists and resorts,” Khaleel explained.

Police yesterday confirmed that the tour operators suspected to be complicit in the tourist rip-offs were registered, liscenced and had their own online booking service. However, the police did not reveal the identity of the companies as the investigation is pending.

However, MATATO’s President claims that out of nearly 500 registered and licensed tour operators and agents, only 50-70 are  professional agents “committed” to the industry.

“Others don’t even have offices, they just put a name board on the street and operate from bedrooms. No commitments. They take money from tourists, close it down and go open another agency again,” he added.

MATI’s Secretary General Mohamed Ibrahim Sim echoed similar concerns, recalling several instances where resorts have faced difficulties in collecting payments: “Some tour operators with outstanding payments have declared bankruptcy and disappeared. We have not even been able to trace some of them back.”

Both Sim and Khaleel emphasised the establishment of legal frameworks to provide legal protections to the industry and to prevent “a few fraudsters from tainting the image of whole tourism sector”.

“The solution lies in establishing better legal frameworks where the tour operator, resort operator and the customer is protected,” Sim argued.

“We have to enforce these laws and regulations. Beacause of the new innovations in the sector, the dealings between the resort and the tour operators are changing very quickly. We need to keep up with them in terms of an updated legal framework, where laws and regulations are revised and revamped consistently as the technology changes everyday. If we do not keep up with it, we are going to face these problems.” he further noted.

Meanwhile, MATATO’s President Khaleel observed that they are working on a draft of Local Travel Agent Regulation and Code of Conduct to gap the loopholes in the system and facilitate in protecting the industry. However, it is yet to be approved from the ministry and necessary laws need to be amended as well, according to Khaleel.

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Criminal court frees 2007 Sultan Park bombing suspect

The Criminal Court ordered the release of 2007 Sultan Park bombing suspect Mohamed Ameen from police custody on Thursday.

Ameen is said to be  a member of the extremist group Jama’athul Muslimeen, the leader of whom died in a suicide attack on the Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence in 2009.

The suspect was taken to the court for an extension of detention after the two-month detention previously warranted by the court expired, according to Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef.

Haneef noted that the suspect had to be released as the court did not issue the extension.

However, he refrained from commenting on why the court released the alleged bomber.

Ameen was one of the Interpol’s most wanted and was not apprehended until October 2011 following a combined operation by Maldivian and Sri Lankan authorities.

The Criminal Court’s spokesperson Ahmed Mohamed Manik told Minivan News that would clarify the reasons for Ameen’s release but had not responded at the time of press.

Local newspaer Haveeru meanwhile reported that the suspect was released by the court “on the condition that he not get involved in any further terrorist activities, and not leave the country.”

The 27 year-old  had reportedly fled the Maldives before the bombing took place on September 29, 2007. The bomb blast from a homemade IED (improvised explosive device) was the first bombing incident in the country.

The bomb blast at Sultan Park – a major tourist attraction in the capital located in front of the Islamic Centre – was triggered using a mobile phone and washing machine motor attached to a gas cylinder.

The attack injured 12 tourists, including eight from China, two from Britain and two from Japan. The incident received widespread publicity around the world, damaging the country’s image as a luxury tourism destination.

The attack meanwhile prompted the authorities to declare a state of high alert and arrest 12 suspects within 48 hours.

Terrorism charges were filed against 16 suspects, including 10 who had fled the country.

In addition to Mohamed Ameen, Interpol red notices were issued for Hussain Simaad, 25, of Baa atoll Dharavandhoo; Hassan Riyaz, 21, of Haa Dhaalu atoll Nellaidhoo; Mohamed Imad, 27, of Baa atoll Dharavandhoo; Abdul Latheef Ibrahim, 25, of Laamu atoll Kalhaidhoo; Mohamed Iqbal, 42 of Maafannu Naseemee Manzil; Moosa Manik, 20, of Seenu atoll Hithadhoo; Hassan Yoosuf, 24, of Laamu atoll Kalaidhoo; Ali Shameem, 25 of Shaviyani atoll Komandoo; and Ibrahim Maslamath of Maafannu Gold Ring.

Three men – Mohamed Sobah, 19, Moosa Inaz, 21, and Ahmed Naseer, 20 – were sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in December 2007 after they confessed to the crime.

In August 2010, the former administration commuted the sentences of Ahmed Naseer and Mohamed Sobah from incarceration to three year suspended sentences under observation.

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Maldives ranks 45th best place to be a mother among developing nations

Maldives has been ranked as the 45th best place to be a  mother among 80 developing nations compared in international NGO Save the Children’s 13th State of the World’s Mothers report.

The ranking includes 165 countries split into three categories – 43 more developed  countries , 80 less developed countries and 42 least developed countries.

Norway is ranked first, ahead of Iceland and Sweden, while Niger is the worst place to be a mother in the world – replacing Afghanistan for the first time in two years.

The Maldives landed first out of  42 countries listed in the ‘least developed’ tier of the 2011 mother’s index rankings.

However, with the transition to a less developed country status from January 2011, the Maldives was placed in the second tier in 2012, which looked at 80 developing countries across the globe, out of which the island nation ranked 45th.

That puts Maldives three points below the neighboring Sri Lanka but far ahead of India, Pakistan and several other Islamic nations in the Middle East.

“More than 90 years of experience on the ground has shown us that when mothers have health care, education and economic opportunity, both they and their children have the best chance to survive and thrive,” said President and CEO of Save the Children USA, Carolyn Miles, in the report.”But many are not so fortunate.”

“Alarming numbers of mothers and children in developing countries are not getting the nutrition they need. For mothers, this means less strength and energy for the vitally important activities of daily life. It also means increased risk of death or giving birth to a pre-term, underweight or malnourished infant,” Miles observed.

She added: “For young children, poor nutrition in the early years often means irreversible damage to bodies and minds during the time when both are developing rapidly. And for 2.6 million children each year, hunger kills, with malnutrition leading to death.”

Maldives achievements

The 45th ranking was derived from the Maldives’ performance in the factors or areas measured for the State of the World’s Mothers report, including the mother’s health, education and economic status, as well as critical child indicators such as health, mortality rate and nutrition.

The statistics included in the report shows that in the past six years the Maldives with a population of approximately 350,000 has achieved notable success in improving the maternal health, thus achieving the goal 5 of Millennium Development Goals.

According the report, lifetime risk of maternal deaths in Maldives has been significantly reduced to 1 per 1200 and females have a life expectancy of 77 years while under-five mortality rate dramatically declined to 15 per 1000, compared to 41 per 1000 in 1990, as the country’s 95 percent of births are attended  by a skilled health worker.

Almost 95 percent of the population has access to safe drinking water and the school enrollment ratio remains significantly high, the report adds.

Maldives Health Statistics Report 2011 concluded: “Overall it can be said that the trends show improvement in the health and wellbeing of people in the Maldives”.

These successes were attributed to the effective immunisation programs, and improved accessibility of health services across the islands.

“Consistent improvements in quality of services are crucial to sustain these developments and further the achievement” the report read.

Challenges

Predictably, the statistics revealed that the Maldives needs to improve on areas of reproductive health with increasedaccess to contraceptives, economic and political participation of women and dietary needs of children –  issues highlighted by the stake holders in various platforms.

  • Malnutritution: Minivan News reported in April about the increasing concern among the health experts as malnutrition in the country remains “quite alarming” considering the number of medical advances made in the country over the last few years. According to figures published in 2009 by the World Health Organisation (WHO), 17.8 percent of children under five years of age were found to be underweight in the Maldives according to international standards for ascertaining health in young people. The same figures found that 6.5 percent of children were classed as overweight in the country. 20.3 percent of children in the same age group were found to be suffering from ’stunting’, a term describing children suffering growth retardation as a result of poor diet and infection
  • Economic and Political Participation: Gender inequality is one of the social determinants at the heart of inequity in health, so progress in  equal participation of women is crucial. However, with the Maldives’ Islamic background, the society prescribes predominantly domestic and traditional roles for women, while men take the role of breadwinner.According to the ‘Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2009-2010′, out of the 38,493 people unemployed in 2010, 63 percent were women, almost double the male rate of unemployment. Meanwhile in the political sphere, women’s representation is significantly low with only 57 out of 1091 are island level councilor seats filled by women and 5 out of 77 Parliament members as women.

    “The absence of childcare facilities make it difficult for women to remain employed after they have children. HRCM also received reports that some employers discouraging women from marriage or pregnancy, as it could result in employment termination or demotion,” the UNDP ‘s “Women in Public Life in the Maldives”report said.

    Restrictions on women’s mobility and reluctance from family members to allow women to travel alone to other islands for work were also identified as key obstacles to employment.

  • Reproductive Health and Access to Contraception: Greater attention to improving sexual and reproductive health care and universal access to all its aspects are required to prevent unintended pregnancies and provide high- quality pregnancy and delivery care, according according to the UNFPA in the Maldives.However, there is social stigma surrounding the purchase of contraceptives and “talks” of sex several reproductive illnesses.

    Data suggests that contraceptive prevalence rate for modern methods declined from 34 per cent  in 2004 to 27 per cent in 2009, and the number of adolescent pregnancies has increased. Abortion is illegal, yet the number of women experiencing complications from unsafe abortions is reported to be increasing.

    “These complications, along with the high contraceptive discontinuation rate and the high unmet need for family planning, are jeopardising previous gains in maternal health. Policies and services do not adequately address the reproductive health needs,” UNFPA said in the country programme document (2011-2015) for Maldives.

    While Maldivian women aged 15-49 is expected to grow for the next 30 years, the Maldives needs a comprehensive program to create awareness and set up wider adequate reproductive and maternal health facilities and services.

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