Author: JJ Robinson

Human trafficking on the rise, warn police

Police have reported a day-by-day increase in human trafficking in the Maldives, pointing to the rising numbers of illegal expatriate workers as evidence of the practice.

So far this year 308 cases have been reported to police involving expatriates leaving their sponsors, and more than 4000 passports belonging to illegal migrants have been found.

On June 11 “a huge number” of expats were brought to the Maldives illegally using forged documents, police said in a statement.

An ongoing police investigation into labour trafficking this year uncovered an industry worth an estimated US$123 million, eclipsing fishing (US$46 million in 2007) as the second greatest contributor of foreign currency to the Maldivian economy after tourism.

The former Bangladeshi High Commissioner to the Maldives, Dr Selina Muhsin, had told police that many Bangladeshi workers were brought to the Maldives through the promise of high salaries and employment, which was not forthcoming, police said.

In today’s statement, police noted that the Maldives still lacked a specific law against human trafficking, but said that enslavement and forced labor was a violation of the constitution. An Anti-Trafficking Act was now being drafted, police observed, and called for a policy of information sharing between concerning institutions, as well as guideline for treating victims.

This year 35 police officers were trained to combat human trafficking and police took part in a workshop held on ‘Integrated Approach to Combating Trafficking in Persons, organised by the International Organisation for Immigration (IMO), the statement said.

During her visit to the Maldives last week, UN High Commissioner on Human Rights Navi Pillay highlighted the plight of expatriate labourers in the Maldives, who make up a third of the population and in many cases have been lured to the country by unscrupulous employment brokers.

“The Minister of Foreign Affairs [Ahmed Naseem] is very aware of the suffering of foreign workers, and agreed that something needs to be done for these people,” Pillay said.

“You can’t have 60,000 people suffering here while performing work for the benefit of Maldivians and the tourism industry, and pretend this is invisible. The media has a role to give these people a voice so they can explain their problems.

“Many of them are trafficked and the little money they earn is exploited. This is of grave concern to me, because people like this are are protected under the UN Convention on Migrant Workers and their Families. I have urged the Maldives to ratify this, and regularise the presence of 60,000 people

“I also call for an end to the stereotyping of these people as a threat and unwanted.”

In July, members of Male’ City Council proposed solutions to “the nuisance and bother of expatriates [congregating] at the Republic Square”.

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Island President opens to packed audiences

The pre-release premiere of the Island President opened last night in Dharubaarge to packed audiences.

Tickets that had originally been sold for Rf 80 (US$5) were selling for Rf 150 (US$10) on the black market yesterday afternoon. Such was the demand that organisers squeezed an extra 50 chairs into the auditorium at the last minute for on-the-door sales.

The film details the lead up to President Mohamed Nasheed’s election and the introduction of multi-party democracy. This is by no means an objective film: former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom is treated harshly by the filmmakers and portrayed as thoroughly creepy, as in one scene where he stares unblinking at the camera while soldiers goose step past and a tinny patriotic song plays in the background.

Neither is it propaganda – rare archival footage of brutal military crackdowns and photos of the battered body of Evan Naseem lead up to one of the film’s strongest moments: time-lapse footage of the tin shed in which Nasheed was incarcerated in solitary confinement for 18 months.

“You walk in your mind,” he explains. “Even if you can only take 4-5 steps, you walk it over and over again.”

Nasheed’s seriousness on the subjects of democracy and climate change is given contrast as the filmmakers home in on endearing personal touches – the President’s assistant struggling to do up his tie, Nasheed’s request that the Muleaage staff fetch his mother’s spicy fish recipe, his bitter asides expressing frustration with diplomatic bureaucracy, his phone call home to tell his mother he had secured a deal in Copenhagen, and photos from the days he sported an afro.

The film portrays him as a very human and accessible leader, qualities which are sure to make the film a success among the liberal university student demographic when it is released to cinemas in the US in February.

Foreign audiences with more interest in global climate politics than in the Maldives will find much to take from the film. Nasheed serves as a fascinating behind-the-scenes ticket to the Copenhagen Summit and the diplomatic wrangling of 192 world leaders. In one scene he bullies the President of Grenada into rewriting a document on the climate change ambitions of small island states, in another he disappears behind a palm tree to speak to the Australian Prime Minister over the phone – the filmmakers follow.

Descriptions of The Island President as ‘the West Wing of climate change’ are apt – in one scene, a Chinese diplomat is filmed asking a protocol officer to identify the Maldivian President. “Your government should know this,” she snaps.

The impact of the film locally will be hard to predict. Whatever the politics of the viewer, there is a great deal for Maldivians to be proud about in The Island President. In one scene, Nasheed and Environment Minister Mohamed Aslam argue bitterly about whether to compromise on 1.5 degrees in order to at least secure an adaptation deal.

“People listen to you. We don’t want to look like we’ve been bought,” Aslam insists. Nasheed’s explosive reaction quickly dispels any doubt that his is a calculated attempt to milk foreign aid – he is clearly convinced the threat is existential, but is forced to come to terms with compromising his global ambitions for the sake of his country.

The first screening last night was predictably brimming with Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) supporters, but the second session was a mixed – and younger – crowd. With 40 percent of the population aged between 15-24 and many disenfranchised by the ‘he said, she said’ nature of Maldivian politics, the film could well have political ramifications in 2013 if it proves popular with this set.

Eleanor Johnstone:

“The Island President” sets a mood of gravity and hope. Using footage and interviews original and historic, television broadcasts, and moments intimate as well as highly public, the film offers a cinematic collage of President Nasheed’s pursuit of democracy and in putting, and keeping, the Maldives on the map.

A combined sense of crisis and action dominates the film, particularly on the environmental issue. But threads of hope are strung throughout, most notably in the Maldivian government’s negotiating style. Regularly confronted with the baby-step methods of many foreign powers, Nasheed’s strident style may unnerve his own delegation but it presents him as a man of action, keen to keep his word.

Everyone knows someone who disdains politics as a sport of chatter and show. Nasheed is one of them. At Copenhagen he regularly vents of the slow-moving discussions and hesitant delegations to his own group of ministers. The Island President might leave Maldivians in fear for their homeland. But with a leader who speaks his mind without reservation, the country has more than many world powers can boast.

Extra showings of The Island President will be held at Athena Cinema on Friday
and Saturday, following unprecedented demand.

Friday 25 November at Athena Cinema: 14:30; 17:30; 20:30; 23:30.

Saturday 26 November at Athena Cinema: 17:30; 20:00.

Tickets can be bought from Athena Cinema between 16:30 – 23:00. Planned screenings for Dharubaarge on Thursday will be moved to Athena Cinema to meet demand. Ticket hotline: 9797356.

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“Don’t give in to fanatical minority”, Reporters Without Borders urges government

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) have issued a statement urging the government “not to give in to the fanatical minority” and to do “all it can to ensure the media are free to tackle any subjects they choose.”

The statement came in response to the Islamic Ministry’s ordering of the Communications Authority of the Maldives (CAM) to block the website of controversial blogger, Ismail Khilath “Hilath” Rasheed, on the grounds that it contained anti-Islamic material.

“The increase in acts of religious intolerance is a threat to the Maldives’ young democracy”, RSF said its statement, requesting the “immediate reopening of [Hilath’s] blog.”

RSF noted that there were harsh penalties for blasphemy under Maldivian law following new regulations enforcing the 1994 Religious Unity Act, which bans the media from circulating any material that “humiliates Allah, his prophets, the Koran, the Sunnah or the Islamic faith”.

Incidents involving media workers are rare in the Maldives, RSF observed, “but that is only because most of them prefer to censor themselves and stay away from subjects relating to Islam, unlike Ismail Khilath Rasheed.”

“According to Rasheed, the Islamic Affairs Ministry had his blog in its sights because he is a Sufi Muslim, not a Sunni like most Maldivians, and has always been highly critical of religious fundamentalism.”

RSF compiles the annual Press Freedom Index. The Maldives is currently ranked 52nd out of 178 countries.

President Mohamed Nasheed’s Press Secretary, Mohamed Zuhair, acknowledged that the decision would affect the Maldives’ reputation for press freedom.

“The government has a responsibility to protect the tenets of Islam,” Zuhair said, but urged Hilath to appeal the decision: “I believe there should be more dialogue and discussion before action is taken.”

“Blocking a website containing undesirable material is not an option for the Maldivian government. The Internet is larger than 1-2 Maldivian bloggers. Should we shut out all content deemed undesirable by Islamic scholars, and is it even technically possible with filtering?”

Zuhair noted that the Maldives had benefited from having one the highest rates of Internet penetration in the region.

According to Facebook statistics, one third of the Maldives population have accounts on the social network, the vast majority of them aged between 18-35.

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Civil Court overturns EPA’s Rf100 million fine against Champa over Thunbafushi

The Civil Court has overturned the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA)’s Rf100 million (US$6.5 million) fine against local business tycoon Mohamed ‘Champa’ Moosa.

The EPA fined Champa the maximum possible penalty in June and labelled him an “environmental criminal” for irreversibly damaging the island of Thun’bafushi and the marine ecosystem of Thun’bafalhu, notably conducting dredging and reclamation works in the area without an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

The Civil Court however ruled that the fine was not valid as the EPA had not given him the opportunity to respond to the allegations.

Judge Maryam Nihayath noted that under Article 43, “everyone has the right to administrative action that is lawful, procedurally fair, and expeditious.”

The judge said that the EPA had conducted many surveys in Thun’bufaru but had not shared the surveys with Champa, and that Champa was not informed of what actions had violated the law or what damage had been caused.

Judge Nihayath then ruled that the EPA had not completed “administratively fair procedure” that was required before any action against the accused could be taken, and invalidated the Rf100 million fine.

Director of the EPA Ibrahim Naeem told Minivan News today that the EPA had given all necessary documents to Champa and that he had been given “more than enough time to prepare his appeal.”

Naeem said the EPA had not been officially notified of the verdict and had yet to decide whether to appeal the decision in the High Court, or address any procedural issue and reissue the fine.

Naeem previously told Minivan News in June that the area had been irreversibly damaged and a large reef habitat destroyed.

“This was originally a reef ecosystem with a small sand bank in the middle, but he has been dredging the island without any clearance and the changes are now irreversible,” Naeem said at the time.

After three surveys of the area, the EPA had assessed the damage as amounting to Rf2,230,293,566 (US$144.6 million), not including the impact of sedimentation from the dredging which can smother coral kilometres from the site.

A foreign consultant who was involved in surveying the island had meanwhile told Minivan News that the area “seems to have been used as a dumping ground.”

“There were what looked like hundreds of used car batteries, waste metals and oil drums leeching into the marine environment,” the consultant said.
“We were looking at the effect of the dredging on sedimentation, and there were no water quality tests done. But you can just imagine what it would have been like with all the batteries and waste metals.”

Images of the island obtained by Minivan News showed discarded piles of rubbish and batteries, old earthmoving machinery rusting in the sun, and half a dozen reef sharks in a tank containing a foot of tepid water.

Several days after Champa was issued the fine in June, the then-Director General of the EPA Mohamed Zuhair suddenly resigned from the post, publicly stating on DhiTV – a private network owned by Champa – that his departure was due to “political interference” in the EPA’s fining of the tycoon.

Environment Minister Mohamed Aslam claimed that Zuhair had previously signalled his intention to participate in the government’s voluntary redundancy program three weeks before his sudden departure, which rendered him ineligible for the lump sum pay out.

Zuhair’s decision to apply for the program had caught the government by surprise, Aslam said at the time, explaining that he had met with the EPA’s Director General to try and retain him.

“His reason was that government pay was not meeting his financial needs, and he was looking to move to the private sector. We offered to move him to another department that would allow him to also work in the private sector – which is not allowed under the EPA’s regulations.”

Aslam said he became concerned when he pressed Zuhair for an explanation, “but he said on this matter he couldn’t tell us anything further.”

“We asked asked him then if this was a matter of national security, but he said no. So we respected his decision, and he submitted [the voluntary redundancy forms] with the Ministry of Finance, and we were just about to sign them – my signature was to be the last.”

Around this time Zuhair was allegedly sent a letter containing a mobile phone SIM card and a slip of paper note requesting he use it to call Nawal Firaq, the CEO of DhiTV.

Minivan News understands the letter containing the note and SIM card, registered in the name of a Bangladeshi labourer, was delivered to Zuhair’s flat on Friday morning but instead found its way to police.

Firaq denied knowledge of the letter when contacted by Minivan News in June. In the police inquiry subsequent to his resignation Zuhair cooperated with police but denied any knowledge of receiving the letter.

“This is Champa building his court case by attempting to question the independence of the EPA,” Aslam alleged at the time, noting that as the EPA’s Director General, Zuhair’s signature was on all the correspondence with Champa, including the notice informing him of the fine.

“Thun’bafushi has been an issue long before we took office,” Aslam told Minivan News, explaining that the previous administration had initially rented the island to Champa for Rf 100 a year (US$6.40) under an agreement that stipulated that he “not do anything detrimental to the environment – he was allowed to grow trees and monitor the shifting of the islands. He was not allowed to reclaim or extend the island.”

However Champa had conducted these works without ever submitting an EIA, Aslam alleged at the time.

“The area has been surveyed 2-3 times now, and last year the Director General attended himself a survey to assess the cost of the damage.”

The government had on several occasions asked Champa to explain himself, and he had corresponded with the EPA, Aslam said.

“Champa disputes he has done anything illegal, and states that has done everything according to the initial agreement.”

Champa had not responded to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

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Q&A: Swedish Radio journalist Margita Boström

Margita Boström is a visiting news reporter for Swedish Radio, Sweden’s national publicly funded radio broadcaster, producing stories about climate change in the Maldives.

JJ Robinson: Given its remoteness, why do you think international media is so interested in the Maldives?

Margita Boström: The Maldives drew [the media’s] attention to what is going on here when it held the underwater cabinet meeting, and through the President’s comments saying he was going to buy land in other countries.

But that was 2-3 years ago. The climate issue is now coming up again, in Europe. It very much went down after Copenhagen because everyone was fed up with it, and then there was the economic crisis, which is still going on. That’s the biggest news item at the moment: is the euro going to continue? Sweden is not in the euro, so we’re fairly happy about that right now.

Then there is the upcoming meeting in Durban. [Journalists] are looking at what kind of countries can you report on to describe what happening in an easy way.

People in Sweden know the Maldives – we are a travelling people, especially in winter time. It easy for people to connect to the Maldives because they have a picture in their heads of these beautiful islands.

I have been working in Bangladesh on similar stories, but for people back the perception is just of people starving on the streets.

JJ: How has the perception you had of the Maldives as a reporter prior to coming been matched by the reality when you arrived here?

MB: I also had perception of the Maldives as small islands with crystal white beaches and blue lagoons. But coming to Male’ was totally different. It is not like an Asian country – maybe a little like Singapore. When I first arrived on the ferry, it seemed like a mini-Manhattan in the middle of nowhere.

JJ: How hard was it to find information about the real Maldives, as opposed to the resort side, when you were researching the country?

MB: Very hard. The only thing you find when you put ‘Maldives’ into google are the resorts and companies selling trips here. You have to put in more words to get close to anything else. I put ‘Maldives’ and ‘environment’, and then after a while I found the Bluepeace [local environment NGO] website.

But their website is not up to date, and I sent a message but didn’t get an answer. There was no telehpnhone number on the whole web page, and I went through it very thoroughly..

It was really hard to find information on the Maldives. I was quite frustrated when I first came here. Usually I come to a place and just start working – it is easy to get into. But here the stretch at the start was longer here because I couldn’t find any information beforehand.

JJ: What kind of impact do you think this lack of information has on the international coverage the Maldives?

MB: I think it is hard for people to understand the scale of the problem. People don’t understand climate change is very difficult for Maldivians, and that they depend on the rest of the world being aware of what’s going on. [The lack of information] means the Maldives loses opportunities to get the world focused on the problem.

When I in Bangladesh it was very easy to find NGOs and people in government – it was very easy to get in contact with people.

JJ: How did this lack of information affect your work as a journalist?

MB: It has been getting better [during the trip], but the stretch at the start was longer. I am glad I didn’t just stay 5-6 days. I stayed a bit longer. It is hard to get in contact with people, but when you do it is very easy to get interviews – Bluepeace has been very helpful now, but I couldn’t contact them before I got here.

Working out who are you going to talk to, and how contact them, that is hard. It seems like only a few people know how. Normally you can set up interviews beforehand, so it has been very frustrating.

JJ: How has seeing the Maldives first-hand affected the stories you thought you were going to produce?

MB: I thought I was going to do stories about sea level rise and the President buying land in Sri Lanka, but I see now it is a more complex story. I didn’t really understand why the President was saying he wanted to make Maldives carbon neutral.

Now I understand that was a way of showing up the rest of the world. It will be hard for other countries to say “carbon neutral doesn’t work”, when the Maldives can come to climate meetings in 15-20 years and say “We did it.” It will be hard for the US or China. [The Maldives’ emphasis on climate change] is political way of [fighting climate change].

JJ: What can the Maldives do to encourage more foreign journalists to come and look at the stories behind the resorts and the obvious environmental pieces?

MB: One idea is to make it easier to find information on the internet. Maybe there should be a government page with information on which person deals with different things, telephone numbers and emails, so they can be contacted. It is very hard [for foreign media] because it is quite an expensive trip to come here, and you really need to know beforehand that you can make stories.

I also found it very hard to understand how the country can be so hard to travel around when it is 99 percent water. How can you travel around? You can’t find that information either. I found two airports, in the north and the south, but nothing on how to fly there, or boats you can go on, the cost of it, or a contact to find out. These are practical things – there should be a portal for information.

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Pre-release screenings of The Island President to be shown this week

Tickets are on sale for pre-release screenings of The Island President, a documentary feature film following President Mohamed Nasheed to the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Summit.

Screenings in the Maldives will be subtitled in Dhivehi for the local audience. Director Jon Shenk will attend the premiere.

The film, which has a 9/10 rating on IMDB (Internet Movie Database) and received the People’s Choice Award for Best Documentary at the Toronto International Film Festival, will be released in cinemas across the US in February 2012.

The Island President has been warmly received by film critics overseas both for behind-the-scenes look at international climate politics, and Nasheed’s candour in his dealings with foreign heads of state.

Reelfilms criticised the film for its 101 minute length and “dry, overtly political final half hour”, but praised director Jon Shenk’s opening of the film “with a whirlwind look at Nasheed’s journey from political prisoner to public official.”

“It’s ultimately Nasheed himself who compensates for the movie’s uneven atmosphere, as the remarkably even-tempered politician comes off as a tremendously likeable and engaging figure who seems universally beloved by his people,” wrote reviewer David Nusair, following the film’s airing in Toronto.

Toronto weekly entertainment publication NOW described the film as “a fascinating look at an extraordinary personality”, with Shenk given “impressive access to this humble head of state”.

“Unfortunately, the director undermines the urgency of his material with poor choices including flashy visuals and a soundtrack featuring Radiohead that feels completely out of place,” wrote Radheyan Simonpillai.

The film was funded by several American charitable foundations, including the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Ford Foundation, John D. and The Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Atlantic Philanthropies and the Sundance Institute Documentary Fund.

It has also appeared at the Telluride Film Festival, a documentary film festival in New York, and will be be aired at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam this week before travelling to the Maldives.

After the Maldives, the film will travel to Goa, to be screened at the International Film Festival of India.

The Island President premieres at Dharubaaruge on Wednesday night at 8:30pm Tickets are on sale at Raalhugandu point and Athena Cinema from 4:30pm to 11:00pm.

It will also be shown at 11:30pm on Wednesday, and at 8:30pm and 11:30pm on Thursday. The film will also be screened at Athena Cinema at 8:30pm and 11:30pm on Thursday. Tickets for the Athena showings must be bought from Athena Cinema.

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JSC completes report on misconduct of Chief Criminal Court Judge

The Judicial Services Commission (JSC) has completed its investigation into the alleged misconduct of Chief Criminal Court judge Abdulla Mohamed.

The JSC has not yet decided whether to take action, however Supreme Court judge Adam Mohamed, also a member of the JSC, told local media this week that the Chief Judge had violated the Judges’ Code of Conduct by making politically contentious statements to local television media.

A JSC official who requested he not be named told Minivan News that while the report into Abdulla Mohamed’s misconduct had been completed, “there are still proceedures to follow. The judge will have 30 days to reply to the report, and then a decision will be made [whether to forward the matter parliament]. We are not obliged to give any information to the media until the report is finalised.”

The case against Abdulla Mohamed was presented to the JSC in January 2010 by former President’s member of the JSC, Aishath Velezinee, after Abdulla Mohamed appeared on private network DhiTV and expressed “biased political views”.

In 2005, then Attorney General Dr Hassan Saeed forwarded to the President’s Office concerns about the conduct of Abdulla Mohamed after he requested that an underage victim of sexual abuse reenact her abuse for the court.

In 2009 following the election of the current government, those documents were sent to the JSC.

Velezinee said today that this was the first time the JSC had ever completed an investigation into a judge’s misconduct.

“There are many allegations against Abdulla Mohamed, but one is enough,” she said.

“If the JSC decides, all investigation reports, documents and oral statements will be submitted to parliament, which can then decide to remove him with a simple two-thirds majority.”

Press Secretary for the President, Mohamed Zuhair, welcomed the JSC’s investigation and said that it had the potential to be the “first time ever that a Maldivian institution has decided against a judge.”

Abdulla Mohamed had presided over the ongoing corruption trial of Deputy Speaker and People’s Alliance (PA) MP Ahmed Nazim, Zuhair noted, in which he banned media from entering the courtroom.

A decision on Abdulla Mohamed would signal that the JSC intended to “clean up the judiciary”, Zuhair said.

He acknowledged that the executive had little ability to involve itself with the judiciary under new separation of powers, “however there is a clause that requires the President to ensure the rule of law and respect for justice, and respect for the Constitution.”

“There has been growing public concern within the President’s party over the impartiality of the judicial system,” Zuhair said.

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Vandalism of Pakistani monument damaging to Maldives’ image: Foreign Ministry

The Foreign Ministry has issued a statement expressing regret over the vandalism and theft of the SAARC monument designed and gifted to the Maldives by Pakistan.

The monument, which protesters contend is idolatrous, was first knocked off its plinth during the SAARC Summit on the evening prior to its unveiling by Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Yousaf Raza Gillani.

It was subsequently set ablaze and on Monday night, stolen. Two men have been arrested in connection with the incident.

The religious Adhaalath Party and the party of former President of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), have declared those responsible for destroying the monument to be “national heroes”, and vowed to fight for their release in court.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said the incident had “affected the Maldives’ long time relationship with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan”.

The attacks on the monument were “undemocratic” and the type of behaviour that would damage the image of the Maldives to the outside world, the Foreign Ministry said.

Following the first attempt to damage the monument during the SAARC Summit, a member of the Pakistani delegation told Minivan News that it had approached the Foreign Ministry over the incident and was told by an official that it was a rumour spread by the opposition.

In today’s statement, the Ministry said that the monument represented the culture and traditions of the Indus Valley Civilisation, and was not intended to be idolatrous. However because of public concerns the Pakistani government had already agreed to redesign the monument prior to its destruction and theft, the Ministry said.

“There are ways that people can citizens can solve these issues within the principles of democracy and religion,” the Ministry statement read.

Adhaalath Party President Sheikh Imran Abdulla this week told Minivan News that the monument “should not be kept on Maldivian soil for a single day” and “should be removed immediately.”

“We believe it conflicts with the constitution of the Maldives, the Religious Unity Act of 1994 and the regulations under the Act,” he said, because it depicted “objects of worship” that “denied the oneness of God.”

Gayoom’s lawyer Mohamed Waheed Ibrahim ‘Wadde’ claimed that the arrest of those who toppled and vandalised the monument were “unlawful,” as they were opposing “something the government did in violation of the constitution.”

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New7wonders announces winners of competition

The Switzerland-based New7wonders foundation have announced the seven winners to be the Amazon rainforest, Vietnam’s Halong Bay, Argentina’s Iguazu Falls, South Korea’s Jeju Island, Indonesia’s Komodo, the Philippines’ Puerto Princesa underground river, and South Africa’s Table Mountain.

The Maldives, the Dead Sea, Mount Kilimanjaro, the Great Barrier Reef and the Grand Canyon did not make the final seven.

Votes were collected online and via paid SMS voting in the various countries, in collaboration with assorted telecom providers. Final vote counts for the winners were not revealed.

In an announcement aired on YouTube, New7wonders founder and self-described “filmmaker, aviator and adventurer”, Bernard Weber, stated that “once the voting validation process is completed in early 2012, we will work with the confirmed winners to organise the official inauguration events.”

Weber also announced that New7wonders would be launching a competition to determine the greatest cities in the world.

Indonesian and Maldivian tourism authorities withdrew from the competition earlier this year, citing demands for large amounts of money from New7wonders for licensing and event hosting, that had not been explicitly outlined in the original contracts.

Indonesia’s Tourism Minister Jero Wacik claimed in the Jakata Post that the decision was taken “because the organisers – the New7Wonders Foundation – have taken actions that are not professional, consistent and transparent.”

“We have spent around (US$1.1 million) on campaign activities over the past three years,” Wacik told the Jakarta Post, claiming that New7wonders had subsequently demanded a US$10 million licensing fee and a US$35 million fee to host a ceremony celebrating the competition’s winners.

Meanwhile, Maldives State Minister for Tourism Thoyyib Mohamed announced in May that the Maldives was similarly withdrawing “because of the unexpected demands for large sums of money from the New7Wonders organisers. We no longer feel that continued participation is in the economic interests of the Maldives.”

The Tourism Ministry initially paid a US$199 participation fee to New7Wonder’s commerical arm, New Open World Corporation (NOWC), registered to a law firm in the Republic of Panama.

Subsequent requests for money included ‘sponsorship fees’ (‘platinum’ at US$350,000, or two ‘gold’ at US$210,000 each), and funding of a ‘World Tour’ event whereby the Maldives would pay for a delegation of people to visit the country, provide hot air balloon rides, press trips, flights, accommodation and communications.

After complaining, the Maldives was offered a bare-bones ‘protocol visit’, but informed that winners of the previous competition had all hosted a big event.

NOWC also attempted to charge telecom provider Dhiraagu US$1 million for the right to participate in the New7Wonders campaign, a fee that was dropped to half a million when the company complained about the price.

In response to the Maldives’ decision to resign from the campaign, New7wonders spokesman Eamonn Fitzgerald quoted John Donne’s ‘No man is an island’, and insisted that the Maldives remained in the competition “because the authority to withdraw a participant from the campaign is a decision for New7Wonders alone, not for any government agency.”

Following Indonesia’s decision to withdraw, Fitzgerald said that “Despite a series of malicious attacks on New7Wonders by the [Ministry of Culture and Tourism], the public and media opinion consensus in Indonesia is that the MCT should not interfere in the democratic right of the Indonesian people to vote for Komodo Island in the New7Wonders of Nature.”

“The MCT had no authority in this matter as it ceased to be the legitimate New7Wonders representative in Indonesia in February, so the announcement was absurd,” Fitzgerald said, stating that the foundation’s new representative in Indonesia was a group called P2Komodo.

“P2Komodo is an alliance of positive and forward looking members of Indonesian civil society, who are keen to ensure that Komodo Island has a fair chance of participating in the New7Wonders of Nature,” Fitzgerald said.

In the Maldives, New7wonders approached the Maldives Association of Travel and Tour Operators (MATATO), but the arrangement was never cemented.

Secretary General of MATATO, Maleeh Jamal, said at the time that the association had been in contact with New7Wonders and was considering working on the event in the government’s stead.

The studies offered by New7Wonders promised an “enormous return on investment”, Jamal suggested.

“I think US$500,000 for such an award would be quickly recovered. Although the money was a concern, we had a fair chance of winning. A lot of competing destinations, such as Australia and South Africa, are taking this competition very seriously,” Jamal said in May.

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