Author: Hawwa Lubna

Large discrepancies in Transport Ministry’s financial records: audit report

Auditors have found large discrepancies between the financial records maintained by the Ministry of Transport and Communication and the general ledger kept by the Ministry of Finance and Treasury.

According to the Transport Ministry’s 2010 audit report, the ministry’s records show that a total of Rf26 million (US$1.7 million) was spent on purchasing  information technology hardware, while the Finance Ministry’s ledger for National Center for Information Technology had no record of the expense.

Meanwhile, income received as Driving Licence Insurance Fee was recorded in the Transport ministry’s books as Rf229,935 (US$14,911) more than the amount stated in the Finance ministry’s ledger while the total income received by the Transport Authority in 2012 was recorded as Rf2.3 million less in the ministry’s ledger.

The latter discrepancy occurred because the ministry had not updated their records with the income generated from ministry’s services provided in the atolls under the Decentralisation Act, the report said.

Furthermore, Rf47 million (US$3 million) allocated to three regional airports in 2010 were recorded as expenses in the ministry’s financial statements, although  auditors found a sum of Rf947,014 (US$61,500) remained unspent in the respective airport’s bank accounts.

Over Rf 600,000 (US$39,000) received as revenue to the Kadhoo Regional Airport between November 2008 and February 2010 was not deposited to the state’s consolidated revenue account, the report added, while  poor management of  airport’s invoices and records made it difficult for auditors to determine how much money is owed to different parties or supposed to be received as income.

Auditor General Ibrahim Niyaz observed in the report that the the ministry had not “identified and reconciled” the aforementioned discrepancies.

The ministry also did not compile its financial statement in accordance with ‘International Public Sector Accounting Standards’ (IPSAS) as stipulated by regulations under the Public Finance Act, and as a result lacked important information such as detailed disclosure notes, Niyaz added.

Therefore, Auditor General refrained from providing an opinion of the ministry’ financial statements and instructed to adjust the figures accordingly to remove discrepancies and compile it in accordance with IPSAS.

The report further noted that the ministry had purchased equipment without the stipulated bidding process and had assigned maintenance of traffic lights to a company prior to signing the contract, thereby violating public finance regulation.

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Service inequalities plague thalassaemia sufferers

Eighteen years ago when Aishath Hassan got pregnant with her third child, little did she know of how her life was about to be completely changed. Six months after the birth of her daughter, Aishath became extremely concerned about the worsening health conditions of her baby.

Worried, she took the baby to a doctor, where she heard the word “Thalassaemia” for the first time.

“The doctor told me my daughter was thalassaemic. Till that day, I did not know what it was or how it had happened. But from that day onwards, my life completely changed,” Aishath, now 45, recollected.

With almost 18 percent of the population registered as carriers, Maldives has the world’s highest incidence of the crippling genetic blood disorder. For those like Aishath’s daughter with Beta Thalassaemia Major, the disease causes severe anaemia and requires lifelong blood transfusions and treatment.

“Screening for thalassaemia, as well as treatment of thalassaemics, is costly but at the moment it’s free in the Maldives. Thalassaemic children require continuous and regular care and treatment to stay alive,” wrote Dr Ibrahim Mustafa, PhD in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, an important contributor of thalassaemia projects in his blog in January 2012.

“They require monthly transfusions and treatment with the drug Desferrioxamine, injected five times a week. The annual cost of treatment exceeds US$6,000. At present only, Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) ensures permanent cure for Thalassaemics. But the cost of this treatment ranks between US$30,000 and US$50,000. Due to the low income of average people, this costly treatment BMT cannot be afforded by many families,” he noted.

Currently, 535 patients with thalassaemia major are registered and receive regular blood transfusions at the National Thalassaemia Center (NTC) in the capital Male’. Aishath’s daughter is among them.

The pair visit the centre every two weeks, despite the costly and exhausting four-hour journey from their home island of Thodoo in Alif Alif Atoll.

“It is very tiring and every trip nearly cost nearly Rf3000 as travelling and accommodation prices. We don’t have any other choice,” Aisthath noted.

“On the islands, sometimes blood and medicines such as Desferal (a drug used to moderate iron in the blood of transfused patients) is not available while vital medical treatments charge money. But once we came [to the NTC]almost everything is free. Blood is guaranteed. All services and medicines are available,” she further explained.

Inequalities and financial burdens

The inequalities in the services available to the thalassamia patients in Male’ and    on other islands was noted as a key problem in the statement released by  Maldivian Thalassaemia Society (MTS) on the occasion of World Thalassaemia  Day, marked on May 8.

While the world marks thalassaemia day with the motto “Patients Rights Revisited”, MTS contended that today authorities have “largely neglected” the rights of thalassaemia patients who face numerous challenges to stay alive, especially those in small inhabited islands of the Maldives.

The statement read: “We see huge inequalities in the provision of medical treatments and services to thalassaemia patients living in the islands and services available from the centre established by the government in Male.”

Even though the government has arranged for blood transfusions on the islands, MTS says that for various reasons the service and necessary medications are unavailable, forcing patients to bear high costs of travelling to other nearby islands or to the capital in order to get blood transfusions, without which they will die.

Meanwhile, Program Manager of the Maldives Thalassaemia Society, Imaan Mohamed, noted that the organisation was receiving numerous complaints regarding problems receiving services under the national health insurance scheme, Aasandha.

“We have received several complaints from thalassaemia patients and their parents that hospitals and health centres are charging for medical treatments, including blood transfusions, because they have reached the outpatient coverage limit. But, we were  informed during the scheme’s inception that thalassaemia patients would not have the Rf10,000 limit allocated for outpatient services,” Imaan explained.

“So we are discussing with relevant authorities about how to solve this problem, but we have not received a good response,” she added.

Aishath meanwhile called for authorities to make mandatory blood donor tests and other associated treatments free.

“Around Rf1000 is required to test a blood donor,” she said. “That money is deducted from their Aashandha account or we have to pay the donor. So it will be a huge relief if the tests are available for free,” she noted.

The Aasandha Office was not responding at time of press.

“More awareness”

With contributions from the government and NGOs across the country, thalassaemia awareness increased dramatically after 1992 and the word became a household name.

The intitiatives included the Thalassaemia Prevention Program, comprising health education, population screening and genetic counseling  by the Society for Health Education (SHE), while in 1993 the National Thalassaemia Program was  formulated and in December 1994 the National Thalassaemia Centre  inaugurated with a 17 bed ward, blood bank facilities and a diagnostic laboratory service.

Of those screened for thalassemia in 1999, 21.9 percent were carriers, while this rate fell to 18.3 percent in the same period while the number of new thalasaemia cases decreased by almost 50 percent from 43 in 1999, to 24 in 2003.

However, Imaan from the Maldives Thalassaemia Society warned that with “no existing comprehensive national  program” to address thalassaemia in the Maldives, the success rates may not be maintained in the future.

“In the past five years, 30 new cases of thalassaemica  have been registered while earlier statistics show that the figure was lower,” Imaan observed.

She noted that the Health Ministry’s National Thalassaemia Program, which ended in 2006, included important elements such as population screening, thalassaemia education, prenatal diagnosis and medical termination of pregnancies of foetuses with thalassemia major.

“It is very upsetting that we don’t have a national program now. People need these services and more awareness programs need to be conducted for prevention of Thalassaemia,” Imaan concluded.

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“Dire economic outlook” as budget deficit estimated to reach 27 percent of GDP

Parliament’s Financial Committee has projected that the Maldives budget deficit will reach  27 percent of the GDP by the end of year 2012, a 175 percent increase on earlier forecasts.

While the 2012 budget put the deficit at less than 9.8 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP),  the figures revealed by the committee last week shows that the amount will increase up to a staggering 27 percent.

These figures confirm the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s earlier warnings that the Maldives had “substantially understated” its budget deficit, by underestimating its spending and “probably” overestimating tax revenues.

Head of the Majlis’s Financial Committee, Deputy Speaker and People’s Alliance (PA) MP Ahmed Nazim, revealed to the reporters that government revenue for 2012 will be Rf2.6 billion (US$168.6 million) less than the projected amount of Rf10.87 billion (US$704 million) – a 23 percent plunge.

Meanwhile, government spending in 2012 is expected to increase by almost 24 percent, reaching Rf17.45 billion (US$1.13 billion) at the end of the 2012.

With the shortfall of revenue and increased government spending, Nazim observed that the budget deficit will exceed from Rf 3.9 billion (US$ 252 million) to Rf9.1 billion this year (US$590 million), amounting to 27 percent of the country’s GDP.

“The information shared by the Finance Minister Abdullah Jihad shows a dire economic outlook for the Maldives,” he warned, echoing the IMF’s recent predictions on the Maldives’ economic frailty.

Chief of the IMF mission in the Maldives, Jonathan Dunn, warned parliament in April  that if the country does not reduce its expenditure, it risks running out of reserves and miring the country in poverty.

Although 2012 budget put the deficit at less than 10 percent of GDP, Dunn told Minivan News that “the IMF team sees the figure as more likely to be 17.5 percent of GDP, and perhaps larger than this.”

As a result of this, he warned that the economic growth and stability in the Maldives were unlikely to be maintained “in the medium term” unless the government substantially cut spending.

Dunn emphasised that the only sustainable solution was for relevant parties to rationalise the budget by boosting revenues and cutting expenditure, despite the political difficulties.

“These may be politically difficult measures, but the consequences of not reducing the budget deficit are likely to be even more difficult,” he warned.

New government increases spending

Despite urgent calls to reduce spending to curb widening deficits, parliament’s finance committee projects the government spending will have to be increased to cover additional costs which were not included in 2012 projections.

These expenses include food subsidies worth Rf270 million (US$17.5 million), electricity subsidies worth Rf250 million (US$16.2 million), capital expenditure by government institutions Rf735 million (US$47.6 million) and an allocation of Rf200 million (US$12.9) to the Aasandha Health Insurance  scheme’s budget, according to Nazim.

Visiting Hirimaradhoo island last weekend, President Waheed said he would allocate Rf 30 million (US$1.9 million) in the 2013 state budget for development.

A total of Rf3.4 million (US$220,500) is also said to be allocated as benefits to former President Mohamed Nasheed of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) which alleges that Nasheed was ousted in a coup on February 7.

However, committee member and MDP MP for Kulhudhufushi, Abdul Ghafoor Moosa, told reporters that unplanned spending on police and military personnel and  planned reimbursement of civil servants pay cuts  in 2010, are both significant causes for rising costs to the government.

He observed that the largest shortfall in revenue is a direct result of the US$135 million pulled out from the budget with new government’s recently revised policy on lease extension payments for resort islands.

Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) anticipated receiving a total of Rf375 million (US$ 24 million) for lease extensions, however the income received dropped to Rf23 million (US$1.5 million) as a result of the decision to accept the lease extension fees in an annual installment instead of a lump sum as decided by former  administration.

The loss of concession fees from Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA), the result of a successful Civil Court case to block the Airport Development Charge (ADC) filed by the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) while it was in opposition, also saw the government receive only US$525,355 from the airport for the quarter, compared to the US$8.7 million it was expecting.

The government-aligned PA’s Deputy Leader Nazim however contended that the the 23 percent drop in government income was caused by unrealised revenue from privatisation schemes and a shortfall of Rf 166.7 million and Rf435 million (US$28 million) from the projected dividends of Dhiraagu and import duties respectively.

He noted that the committee has decided to increase the treasury bond limit up to Rf1 billion following a request by the  Finance Ministry to increase the limit from Rf727 million to Rf 1.5 billion. The ministry says that all monetary transactions will be halted if the limit is not extended, according to Nazim.

The IMF’s Dunn has however stated that further domestic borrowing “will be difficult to achieve, as it is unclear whether the banks have much more appetite for buying treasury bills.”

Meanwhile,  in a bid to address spiraling costs, the committee is reviewing the Aasandha universal health scheme to block the Rf200 million extension of its budget, cut the budget of all institutions by 10 percent to save nearly Rf 1.5 billion, and save a further Rf300 million by issuing a moratorium of the further employment of staff.  These measures will reduce state costs by Rf 2.2 billion (US$142 million), Nazim estimated.

However, recently released figures from Finance Ministry show that between January 1 to April 26, state expenditure exceeded over Rf 4 billion (US$259 million) while the income remained at Rf 2.10 billion (US$136 million), a deficit of Rf 1.5 billion (US$100 million).

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Department of Judicial Administration failed to distribute RF1.3 million in child support

The Director of the Department of Judicial Administration (DJA) has made no effort to distribute child support money worth over Rf1.3 million (US$85,000), according to the Auditor General, while large amounts of money owed after court rulings has not been collected from offenders or distributed to successful plaintiffs.

According to a 2010 audit report on the DJA released on Thursday, auditors found that if the recipients of the child support did not explicitly collect the money from the court, the money remained undistributed and no additional measures were taken by the court deliver the child support to its rightful recipient.

“Until December 2010, a total of Rf1,301,767.67 million remains undistributed with the court. However, the documents indicate that the court has made no efforts to distribute the money,” the report reads.

Following the breakdown of a marriage, husbands are mandated to make payments to their former spouses to cover the costs of childcare.

The report further notes that “as the records on child support money received by the court so far have not been maintained by the court properly”, it was unclear as to how much money the court was also supposed to receive as per the court orders.

The audit report noted that the DJA had not collected a total of Rf 1.6 million (US$104,000) owed by men found guilty of divorcing their wives outside the court.

A total of Rf2.1 million US$136,000) needs to be collected by the Civil Court as of February 2011, while a significant sum of Rf22 million (US$1.42 million) is owed to the Criminal court following court rulings and remained uncollected as of January 2011.

“The Department of Judicial administration has not done adequate work to collect the funds,” Auditor General Ibrahim Niyaz observed in the report.

Niyaz refrained from issuing an opinion on the financial statements provided the DJA, citing that the statements were not prepared in accordance with international public sector accounting standards (IPSAS) following principles of “accrual accounting” or the “financial reporting under cash basis of accounting” issued by the IPSAS board, while several “fundamental records” were unaccounted for in the statements.

He noted that earnings from the magistrate court amounting to almost Rf4.9 million (US$318,000) were not recorded as income in the financial statement, while the funds remained in court safes and bank accounts. Similarly, Rf6.9 million (US$448,000) dispersed in advance to magistrate courts were recorded as an expenditure in the financial statement, while the auditors found that the funds remain “unspent” by the courts.

In an issue highlighted in previous audit reports of state institutions for 2010, the AG noted that between October 2008 and December 2011, Supreme Court judges had paid their phone bills amounting to Rf281,519 from the state budget, despite the fact that parliament had not allocated any phone allowances to the judges.

Therefore he recommended the amount be reimbursed and that the granting of phone allowances be determined as per parliament’s decision.

Meanwhile, Rf117, 832 (US$7640) was found to have been overspent on wages and allowances to the driver of a judge’s car.

DJA’s reponse: “loophole in the system”

The Director of the Department of Judicial Administration Ahmed Maajid said there is a “loophole in the implementation and enforcement” system that is resulting in millions of rufiya not being collected or distributed after legal decisions have been made.

Maajid explained these findings, arguing that there was currently no governmental authority or body to handle this aspect of the court’s work.

“It is upon the mother to get [the child support]. We have not executive or judicial authority to distribute it. There is a loophole in the system. It is not a case of corruption but a weakness in the system itself,” said Maajid.

“Currently the courts have no authority to give money over to the women. What normally happens is that the men get away without paying,” he continued.

Maajid went on to say that the issue concerned both the collection and the distribution of moneys owed. He argued that a new authoritative body was needed with the responsibility to collect these outstanding fees.

Maajid, however, did not see the problem as insurmountable although he felt it required urgent attention.

“This shortcoming in the system must be patched up very soon in order to fix this loophole,” he said.

Additional reporting by Daniel Bosley.

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Maldives’ first protective order issued to a woman allegedly abused by husband for 21 years

A woman allegedly abused by her husband for 21 years has received a protective order against her husband, the first to be granted under the recently enacted Domestic Violence (DV) Law which provides protection for victims of domestic violence.

According to the police, the protective order – intended to protect the victim from further harm or harassment – was requested by the Ungoofaaru Police Station following a complaint filed by the victim at the station on April 30.

In a statement released on Thursday, the police said that the woman has been “a victim of domestic abuse for 21 years” and has faced various forms of abuse from her husband over the years.

“During the investigation police found that the woman definitely needs protection,” the statement read.

Police media official Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef told Minivan News that the case is under further investigation and no arrests have been made yet.

Meanwhile, the woman remains protected from any further abuse under the protective order, he observed.

“A great help”

“The enactment of the Domestic Violence Act has certainly facilitated  police investigations into domestic violence cases. But more importantly, it is a great help for victims of such crimes,” the Sub-Inspector added.

Should the police find reasonable evidence to believe  a person is a victim of domestic abuse, the DV legislation stipulates the police can enter the place of crime without a court order and arrest perpetrators and even request for a protective order on behalf of the victim.

Furthermore, if requested, the courts can command the accused person to refrain from certain activities (a restraining order) in a domestic violence case and even  issue a maintenance order to ensure a means of support or livelihood to the victim.

The court can grant a three-month provisional order without a trial, or the knowledge of the alleged perpetrator, while he or she is given the right to challenge the order during the trial to make the order permanent.

The Domestic Violence Act defines sexual, physical and emotional abuse of victims, economic and psychological abuse, intimidation, stalking and harassment, deliberate damage to property of the victims as offences while the perpetrators can be subjected to the punishments and court orders.

Violations of these orders are considered criminal offences and the perpetrator can face a maximum fine of Rf50, 000 (US$3242) and a maximum three years of imprisonment.

In addition, the legislation stipulates the formation of “Family Protection Authority”, mandated to conduct programs to support victims of domestic violence, setting out measures for taking all necessary steps to prevent domestic violenceincluding rehabilitating perpetrators of such crimes, arrange easy reporting mechanisms and facilitating the investigations.

A seven member board needs to be appointed to the FPA . The board will be appointed soon, President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan said after ratifying the legislation on April 23.

The passage to endorsement took over a year longer than anticipated, mostly due to the resistance from several MPs who had argued the bill was “un-Islamic” and criticised it for “unduly favouring women” while at the same time making life “extremely difficult” for men, who they said, were wronged by women.

Maldives has a high rate of gender-related violence, particularly affecting women and girls. A national survey on “Women’s Health and Life Experiences” conducted with the support of UNFPA, UNICEF, and WHO showed that one in every three Maldivian women aged 15-49 reported experiencing some form of physical or sexual violence at least once during their lifetime.

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Waheed opposes GMR’s concession fee deduction, seeking a “solution”

President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan has said that the government is seeking a “solution” to the deduction of US$8.1 million from concession fees paid by GMR, the Indian infrastructure giant which has been developing and operating Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) since it was awarded the concession by former President Mohamed Nasheed’s administration in November 2010.

The government received only US$525,355 out of an expected US$8.7 million in concession fees for the first quarter of 2012, after GMR deducted the Airport Development Charge (ADC) chargeable under its contract but which was thrown out after a Civil Court case on the matter was filed by the opposition during Nasheed’s tenure.

The ADC was intended to be a US$25 fee charged to outgoing passengers from January this year, as stipulated in the contract signed with GMR in 2010. The Civil Court blocked the fee on the grounds that it was essentially the same as a pre-existing Airport Services Charge (ASC), and that any new fees would constitute a new tax and was subsequently required to go through the People’s Majlis.

The case was filed by then-opposition Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) – which had opposed the handing of the airport to GMR.

“I do not believe [the ADC] can be charged in the current situation because of the court’s decision,” Dr Waheed stated while speaking to the media at the inauguration of the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) Asia-Pacific Conference held today in the Kurumba Maldives Resort.

According to the President, GMR can only take the Airport Development Charge following the “completion of all necessary legal procedures”.

“We are now having discussions with GMR. The government has now formed a team. As they are proceeding with the discussions, I believe a solution will be found without further delay,” President Waheed noted.

“Some of the things related to [the ADC] must be coordinated with the parliament. Therefore, when parliament convenes after the recess, we will submit the matter. So the work will proceed with parliament’s decision,” he said.

Parliament is now in recess until early June.

Managing Director of the Airports Company Mohamed Ibrahim was recently quoted in the local media as saying that the current administration does not support the decision of former President Mohamed Nasheed’s government to allow GMR to deduct the ADC from the concession fees.

GMR has been asked to reimburse the deducted amount, Ibrahim said.

GMR has not commented recently on the subject, however it noted following the civil court ruling that the payment of a development fee was “a common concept in many airports globally”.

“The reason for the inclusion of ADC in many global concession agreements is to address the funding needs to meet the investment model required to upgrade and develop new airport facilities at significant costs,” GMR stated.

The company further stated that the charge was included in the concession fee proposed between GMR and the government in 2010.

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for INIA’s new terminal on December 19, then-President Nasheed said he wished to assure GMR that the government was “200 percent behind your contract, and every single other contract the government has signed with any other foreign party in this country. Not just contracts signed by our government, but also contracts that any ruler of the Maldives has signed with any party. We will honour it.”

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Rise in female unemployment, growth in gender pay disparity

A woman working in the Maldives between 2006 and 2010 monthly earned a third less than her male counterpart in the same job, according the results of a new survey by the Department of National Planning, while young female entrants  are struggling to find jobs.

High female unemployment

According to the ‘Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2009-2010’, 38,493 people (28 percent) were unemployed in 2010, of which 14,142 (37 percent) were male while 24,351 were female – almost double the male rate of unemployment.

The report highlights that between 2006 and 2010 unemployment increased by 20,000 – an increase of over 100 percent. The number of jobless women and men rose by 93 percent and 141 percent respectively.

According to the report, unemployment continued to be highest among females. In 2006, the overall unemployment rate for women was 15 percent, increasing to 39 percent in 2010, while male unemployment increased 10 percent to 19 percent in the same period.

Furthermore, nearly half the population of working-age women (45 percent) were recorded as not economically active, while only a fourth of the male working age population fell in this category. However the study did not take into account the high proportion of women working in small household-manufacturing activities, or those working on industrial islands or resorts – which if included, will significantly affect the results drawn under this survey.

While 40 percent women surveyed reported the reason for their unemployment as “unable to find suitable employment”, the second highest reason for female joblessness was due to their “engagement in household chores”. This was followed by “lack of opportunities” and “school attendance”.

The report also concluded that most unemployment existed in the young age groups, with the 15- 19 years and 20 – 24 years age group accounting for about 43 percent of the unemployment in the country. Out of the 17,083 unemployed youth, 51 percent are males, and 49 percent female.

The planning department stated that “for policy purposes, it is very important to decipher the reasons for the high levels of unemployment, in the youth age group as well as among the females, and understanding the differences between locations.”

Among the reasons for unemployment in the youth group (15 – 24 years), “unable to find suitable employment” ranks the highest followed by “lack of opportunities” and in third “youth engaged in studies”, according to the survey.

Struggle for work

Employment of males increased four percent during the four year period, while employment of women fell seven percent.

The planning department concluded that “this indicates a huge influx of ‘new working age population’ to the labour force, of which more male entrants succeeded in obtaining a job while the fairer sex did not.”

“It is clear from the rising levels of unemployment that the Maldives has been unable to create jobs to accommodate new job seekers. Particularly young new entrants, and specifically females in the job market, struggle to find a job.”

“For males, it is the age groups at both ends that experience significant unemployment, while for the females, all age groups have similar unemployment rates except for the 65 years and above,” the department added.

Between 2006 and 2010, the total working age population increased significantly, however, “new jobs did not emerge to absorb this huge increase, boosting unemployment,” the report observed. “In fact compared to 2006, in 2010 there were close to 600 fewer jobs in the labour market.”

The total larbor force amounted to 136,886 people in 2010, of which 45 percent were women.

According to a UNDP report “Women in Public Life in the Maldives” published last year  a “considerable gap”  exists in women’s opportunities in taking active part in economic and political life” while “there were no policies in place that provide equal opportunities for women’s employment.”

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

Restriction 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 obstacle to employment.

While the tourism industry contributes indirectly to over 70 percent of the national income, a report published in September 2011found that social stigma prevented women from working in the sector.

According to the study, “Women in Tourism: Challenges of Including Women in the Maldivian Resort Sector”, Maldivian women accounted for only three percent of all women working in the sector – which was already 92 percent male dominated.

Gender earning gaps

The planning department found during the survey that “similar work  paid different remunerations depending on sex and location.”

According to the report, on average a male earned Rf7036 (US$456) per month, whereas a female earned about a third less of what a male earned – Rf4674 (US$303). This discrepancy is observed across Male’ as well as the atolls.

For example, in the ‘Financial Intermediation’ and ‘Extra-territorial’ industries, which account for highest monthly incomes, a male earned more than Rf11,000 (US$713) whereas a female in this same industry earned 19 percent less – Rf9000 (US$583). Men earned more than women in almost all industries studied.

Meanwhile, legislators, senior officials and managers across the board on average earned the highest monthly income, with males in this occupation category earning more than Rf13,000 (US$843) while females earned only a little more than Rf 9000 (US$583).

“Those employed in Male’ earn more than those in the atolls for all industries except quarrying and the financial intermediation industries,” noted the Planning Department in the report. “This signifies that across all industries, males are paid higher than females and earners in Male’ are paid higher than those in the atolls.”

“It is interesting to study the returns to employment for wage earners by occupation, by location, and gender. The question why males are paid higher incomes than females, for the same jobs and in the same occupation or same industry, is worth additional research,” the department suggested.

Financial intermediation sector and extra-territorial organizations and bodies sector were found to have the slightest indication of gender balance in the workforce, while all other industries were dominated by male or female.

More women were employed in elementary occupations with a substantial 21 percent increase while male employment decreased in this occupation by three percent, the report noted. A high proportion of these jobs are concentrated in the public administration, with a higher share of women amongst the government employees.

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Vice President pushes for population consolidation plan

The Vice President Waheed Deen has called for the country to prioritise a population consolidation plan to foster sustainable economic development in Maldives.

With a total population of nearly 350,000, dispersed over 196 inhabited islands spread over a distance of more than 600 miles, the Maldives is one of one of the world’s most dispersed countries. The extremely dispersed population and small island communities have been long recognised as key challenges to the sustainable social and economic development of Maldives.

“Without population consolidation we cannot achieve sustainable economic development,” Deen contended, speaking to the media first time since taking office, after parliament unanimously endorsed the resort tycoon as the Vice President on April 25.

Deen observed that islands with population below 400 still demand services such as sanitation, harbors, schools and hospitals, but the distribution of such social and economic services to the remote and least populated islands is an economic burden due the state to the high expenditures.

“So where is the economy of scale?” Deen asked. “If government continues to spend on small island populations, the expenditure will turn out to be a waste.”

According to the new VP, people need to understand that they can have access to be better services under a comprehensive sustainable economic model if they live together. He identified capital Male’, Hulhumale’ and Addu city as key examples of such development.

“Divide and Rule”

Meanwhile, the new Vice President also shared concerns over several obstacles to the resettlement of the people into larger populations.

“A policy of divide and rule has long existed among us and we need to move away from this,” said Deen, well known for his philanthropic works and praised as “the founding father of local government in the Maldives” for spearheading efforts to introduce local governance through elected councils, before resigning as Atolls Minister in August, 2008.

“Getting votes in smaller populations are easier. However, if the community grows larger, influencing or controlling the people will not be easy,” Deen explained. “So, this is a very important point people needs to think about.”

He noted that detailed discussions on the matter are yet to be had with the government, but the issue remains a top priority: “I envision that people of Maldives will live in 25 to 30 islands. Each island will be of twice that of Hulhumale’. Around 60,000 to 70,000 will live on each island. This a a dream I see. I will try to make this dream come true.”

Currently, around 130 islands have populations less than a 1000, and others between 1000-6000, while Male’ accounts for one third of the total population, where the density of the population is over 40,000 per square kilometer.

Failed initiative

Deen’s remarks today on population consolidation mark a renewed ambition to follow through on the much awaited population strategy that has been discussed for a quarter-century, but has fallen short of making any significant outcomes. The former MDP government – now replaced by a coalition of former opposition parties – had favoured connectivity and transportation, but stopped short of relocation.

Population consolidation plans originated in the 1980’s under the banner of ‘Selected Islands Development Project’. However, concerned by the inefficiency of distribution of social services and basic infrastructure in islands with small population, and counter in-migration towards capital Male’, President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s administration embarked on a revised resettlement program called the ‘National Population Consolidation Strategy and Programme’, published in 2001.

Under this proposed strategy, two regional growth centers were agreed to be created serving respectively the Northern and the Southern atolls. In addition, 85 focus islands were selected to receive a high order of services; the other inhabited islands, called primary islands would receive a minimum level of services and population would be encouraged through various forms of subsidies to move toward the focus islands and the regional centers

Resettlement of nearly 17 islands were reportedly under review during the Gayoom’s last term in office, but confronted by the aftermath of 2004 Tsunami and the pre-2008 democratic reforms, the population consolidation plans were pushed to to the background. The talks ultimately disappeared from the tables following administration of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) which lobbied for a national transportation network between the islands to boost connectivity and economic progress.

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Criminal court employees screened amid tuberculosis scare

Public health workers screened Criminal Court staff for tuberculosis (TB) and conducted awareness sessions about the disease on Thursday after an employee tested positive for the infectious disease.

A court employee told Minivan News today that staff were relieved health officials were now working to put a stop to the potential spread of tuberculosis at the court.  However, the member of staff said their colleagues were  “seriously concerned after one employee was tested positive”.

The employee speculated that the disease may have been transmitted to the court employee from a TB patient, who was brought to the court two months ago for a police custody extension.

Local media has reported that three court employees are thought to have tested positive for the disease so far.  These reports were today dismissed by court workers.

The staff member observed that the local media had picked up on the TB case because of the awareness session being held at the court today, while claiming that reports of multiple confirmed cases was misleading.

“It was just one confirmed but everyone was very scared.  All the employees have been screened now and nobody else was tested positive. But since there was widespread scare, doctors came to the court today and gave us information on TB,” the employee noted on condition of anonymity. “There was some concerns but everything is normal at the court now,” he added.

The potentially serious disease spreads from person-to-person through the air, for example, if someone coughs or sneezes.  It primarily attacks the lungs.

Despite, the TB scare at the Criminal Court, the Maldives has achieved notable success in TB control since the establishment of a National TB control programme (NTP) by the Department of Public Health in 1976. Maldives has an estimated incidence of 47 per 100,000 population of all forms of TB and has sustained the global targets for TB control since 1996, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO’s) communicable disease department for South East Asia.

Tuberculosis, which had a prevalence in the Maldives of 35 cases per thousand people in 1974, had declined in 1996 to about 0.66 per 1000. Childhood TB (under 5 years) is almost nil for the past three years due to the high rate of BCG vaccination, the report added.

The WHO also observed that upon adopting the recommended Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTS)  in 1997, the TB patients in the Maldives continues to receive effective treatment.

However, the Health Ministry has recently raised concerns over a growing number of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in Maldives. The rate of TB prevalence among the country’s  expatriate population is also reportedly on the rise as well.

“Large migrant workforce from high TB-burden countries,” is identified by the WHO as major challenge for local health bodies. However, the WHO has claimed that “MDR-TB and TB-HIV are not major problems in Maldives.”

Meanwhile, a growing diagnoses of multi drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and treatment sites are being established in the region. In 2010, almost 4000 MDR-TB patients were put on treatment.  There are currently 105,000 MDR-TB cases estimated of affecting the region.  These figures were taken from the WHO annual report on tuberculosis titled “Tuberculosis Control in the South-East Asia Region 2012”.

The South-East Asia Region registered an estimated five million prevalent, and about 3.5 million incident TB cases in 2010.  Though the death rates in the region have declined due to successful implementation of the DOTS (directly observed treatment, short course), the disease still claims about half a million lives a year in the Region, the report read.

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