Category: Society & Culture

Government pursues Sri Lanka currency exchange as devaluation deadline passes

Maldivian financial authorities are reportedly in negotiations with Sri Lanka to try and establish a currency swap mechanism in an effort to stabilise the value of the rufiya against the US dollar – a move opposition MPs claim is at best, a short-term relief.

Sources linked to the country’s financial sector have told Minivan News that a deal between the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka was “in the pipeline” in order to try and create a system for a direct exchange between the rufiya and the Sri Lankan rupee.

Mahmood Razee, the Maldives’ Economic Development Minister, did confirm that talks were taking place over a possible exchange movement with Sri Lanka, reflecting the government’s intentions to try and stabilise the local currency against high demand for the dollar.

While claiming to welcome government initiatives for economic stabilisation, a spokesperson for the opposition Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) said that although a currency exchange may provide “short-term” relief for dollar demand, the government would be required to show shrewd financial management to maintain confidence in the rufiya in the long run.

Income aims

The currency swap is the latest development in the government’s plan to boost income of foreign money that has maintained a lucrative blackmarket for the US dollar in the country. Three months ago, the government began pursuing a controversial plan to devalue the rufiya. The local currency, which was pegged at an exchange rate of 12.85 to the dollar since July 2001, was this year amended to within 20 percent of this figure to try and bridge a limited national supply of foreign money in circulation.

The devaluation stance was welcomed at the time by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), yet was domestically met with derision by opposition politicians and a week of public protests across the capital during April over fears about the resultant rises in living costs.

Despite accusing certain opposition parliamentarians of manipulating protests and media coverage for their own political gain, financial authorities requested patience for three months for the dollar demand and supply to stabilise – a deadline that passes this month.

With local news reports  claiming the local currency was trading at up to Rf16.5 to the dollar on the country’s black-market, Mahmood Razee said at the time that authorities could consider additional support measures such as currency exchanges if its stabilisation aims were not met.

While discussions are said to have been ongoing for sometime over trying to establish methods to exchange currencies with other nations, a report in the Pakistan Observer newspaper today cited Razee as claiming discussions were very much continuing between finance heads in Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

However, a source with knowledge of the discussions who wished to remain anonymous told Minivan News that “figures” at the very top level of the MMA were involved in ongoing talks with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to provide a currency exchange system.

Talking to Minivan News today, Razee confirmed that talks were ongoing, though he said he was unsure as to what stage they had currently reached. The economic development minister claimed that although the currency exchange talks had begun before the decision to devalue the rufiya, he added that it did form part of the government’s response for trying to balance local dollar demand.

However, with the initial three-month target period to introduce economic stabilisation now passed, Razee said that he believed the finance ministry was limited at present in terms of additional support measures that could be introduced to the economy, particularly during the low-tourism season and its impact on government earnings.

“At present, I’m not so sure the Ministry of Finance will be able to undertake any urgent [new] measures to ensure stabilisation,” he said. “It would be more difficult at the moment to introduce these measures due to the low tourism season.”

Since January this year, the government had pledged to try and balance its books with a focus on generating direct revenue through the gradual introduction of taxation schemes. These schemes have included a Business Profit Tax scheduled to be launched this week for higher income enterprise and the tourism Goods and Services Tax (GST) introduced over the new year.

DRP Spokesperson Ibrahim ‘Mavota’ Shareef claimed that although the opposition party welcomed stabilisation measures from the government, it did not believe that longer-term measures had been successfully planned by authorities to bridge the dollar demand. However, Shareef said that the black market was testament to the fact that dollars did exist in the country, but that they required sufficient management to ensure they are finding their way into wider circulation.

“Any measures that encourage financial stabilisation we would welcome. This is more a national than political issue. But we do not see [stabilisation]happening yet,” he said. “If we are all spending more than we earn, especially the government, then we cannot balance the economy. These currency swaps are a short-term solution to achieve this.”

Claiming that the government had shown limited long-term measures to protect the economy, Shareef said he believed that there was a danger many local people would not want to keep savings in the form of rufiyaa as a result of “deceptive” government policy.  “When the government said that three months of the [rufiyaa float] policy would bring stabilisation people believed them,” he said.

Yet with government earnings expected to increase on the back of taxation drives, Shareef said that there were reasons to believe stabilisation was possible and that the tourism industry was a strong example of where sufficient foreign currency revenue could be generated.

“This depends though if the market is well managed. When the government first decided to manage the ruifya float [devaluing the currency against the dollar] they should have calculated the availability of foreign currency,” he said. “Dollars are clearly available on the black market and it is the duty of the government to supply them to [society].”

As such, Shareef claimed that it was therefore the government’s responsibility to have managed the devaluation “properly”, alleging that it had instead hoped for a positive outcome for finance rather than ensuring correct measures were available.

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Sheikh refuse to preach at MDP Religious Council

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Religious Council’s Chair Al-hafiz Ahmed Zaki has said that many Maldivian religious scholars were invited last night to preach in a sermon organised by the council but the sheikhs refused to show up “because it was an MDP podium”.

“The scholars have decided not to preach to MDP members to try and let others believe that MDP members belong to another religion,” Zaki said, speaking last night. “However, MDP members are all Muslims and they do want to hear religious sermons.”

Zaki speculated that the scholars refused the invitation thinking that the series of religious sermons commenced by the MDP Religious Council was politically motivated.

“The religious sermons are not only targeted solely for MDP members but for all the Maldivians,” he said.

Zaki said the result of handing over the Islamic Ministry to another political party was that the party assigned to implement the MDP manifesto in upholding religion was not implemented.

“Despite the Maldives consisting of many religious scholars, it was a big challenge that there are many scholars that refuse to preach on MDP podiums,” he said.

He urged religious scholars to preach to everyone, from the President to normal citizens.

Former President of Adhaalath Party Sheikh Hussein Rasheed told Minivan News that the Adhaalath Party has always cooperated MDP in its religious sermons.

“I don’t have any information that anyone among us received an invitation to go preach at last night’s religious sermon,” Shaikh Hussein Rasheed said. “Last year also we went to Seenu Atoll with MDP to preach, so we have always cooperated MDP in that.”

Sheikh Rasheed said that the reason why scholars refused to preach on an MDP podium might be that scholars think it meant getting involved in politics.

“Now many of the scholars are independent and they are not involved in any political activity or political party, perhaps that’s the reason why they won’t go on sermons organised by political parties,” he said, adding that Adhaalath had “no issues” with MDP.

In November last year, former Chair of MDP Religious Council Sheikh Adam ‘B. A’ Naseem resigned claiming that he was unhappy with the party’s religious policy.

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“Dangerous criminal” acquitted of assault charges

Criminal Court yesterday acquitted Hassaan Ali, 22, from the island of Fares-Maathoda in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll, who was identified by police as a ”dangerous criminal” and charged with assault by the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO).

The accused faced charges of allegedly assaulting Mohamed Shuaib, Ma. Shady Cabin, on August 12, 2008.

According to the Criminal Court, none of the witnesses presented by the prosecution testified that they saw Hassaan commit the assault.

Hassaan was accused of stabbing Shuaib in the neck with a bayonet knife.

The Court ruled that the PGO had not submitted sufficient evidence or witnesses statements to prove that Hassaan was guilty of the crime.

Hassaan had meanwhile denied the charges in court.

According to police records, Hassaan had previously been arrested 13 times for offences ranging from violent assault to robbery, with two cases forwarded to the PGO.

In March this year, Hassaan was arrested again during a special operation conducted to avoid potential clashes between rival gangs following the fatal stabbing of 21 year-old Ahusan Basheer.

After holding the “dangerous suspect” in pretrial detention for several days, Hassaan was released by the Criminal Court to house arrest. However he was arrested again shortly afterward.

The Criminal Court at the time extended his detention for three days, and after keeping Hassaan in pretrial detention for a further three days, he was released by the court after denying a police request for a further extension.

However Hassaan was taken into custody on his way home from the court, who requested yet another extension of detention.

On the last occasion, the judge ordered Hassan be placed under house arrest for his alleged involvement in a fight that occurred in Boduthakurufaanu Magu on December 3, 2010.

The PG then accused Hassan of aiding the escape of assault suspect Aseel Ismail, who had allegedly attacked Rilwan Faruhath with a machete.

In April this year, police publicised criminal records of 17 persons taken into custody and identified as “dangerous criminals.” The list includes Rilwan and Aseel as well. All 17 suspects have been arrested on average more than 10 to 15 times.

While the court has acquitted Hassan yesterday, he remains in remand custody until the trials of his pending cases could be conducted.

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Comment: Manufacturing slavery

According to psychology research undertaken in the USA, people express being happy when they experience what is called an ‘internal locus of control,’ a sense of being in charge of one’s own destiny.

One of the fundamental doctrines of Sunni Islam is that Everything happens acording to the Will of Almighty Allah, hence, a very strict Muslim will say ‘Insh’allah’ whenever they say that they will do something or expect something to happen. It is called Taqdir, the Doctrine of Qadar, or, the Doctrine of Power. If understood correctly, this doctrine can give great hope and power in times of loss and struggle. Yet the way that this doctrine has traditionally been used in the Maldives was to render the masses completely impotent, dependant on the power brokers of society in a fashion which sapped the Dhivehin of any sense of control or capacity for resistance.

Life swung from depressed helplessness, to explosive rage, the type of rage one experiences when one is frustrated deeply, dehumanised, humiliated.

The power brokers controlled the Dhivehin like Gods, and the Dhivehin were at their Mercy, degrading and debasing themselves in front of these ‘Befulhu’ Gods for every little favour. The experience was one of slavery. It was cruel, and deeply painful for the poor.

Attempts to break this power down in the name of the liberation of the Dhivehin through the creation of a republic, ultimately failed to break this system down. Once in power, the ‘Republican Presidents’ were possessed by the same culture of power, that all consuming ‘beast’ of narcisistic bliss bestowed by the general cultural understanding of any institution of leadership. One with even the greatest, the noblest sentiments, could not contain the beast,, its irepressible hunger for the bliss of being Worshipped, could overcome the greatest, most selfless heart.

This monster, now starved of its insatiable, ferocious lust for power for over two years is now rising through the possessed opposition.

This is why the opposition do not want democracy to succeed. This is why they wish to strangle the cultural development of personal autonomy and move of democracy. They wish the Dhivehin to beg at their feet, worshipping them, powerless before them like slaves, debased. This is the only motive that they have for their lack of co-operation in Parliament. They wish for Maldivian people to believe that they are not ready for democracy, to prove themselves correct, so that the masses look to them as the ones who were correct and therefore, who should be followed.

According to Ludwig Feurbach, humanities experience of God is in fact the experience of the power in ones society, the anthropomorphic projection of the will to power of a King or tribal leader, for example.

Maumoon, having tasted the complete control of power, wishes to once again immerse you in his power, to render you completely powerless in your own right. He wishes to do it by projecting his will as the all Powerful Will of God. He wishes you to remain a helpless beggar before the God that he presents, as it is ultimately, as Ludwig explained, worship of Maumoon himself.

Freud observed that one who is deeply religious to the point of anxious self debasement is in fact psychologically undeveloped, development being the experience of relative capacity for self determination, or, as Maslow would express it, ‘self realisation.’ Maumoon wishes to use religion to deprive the Dhivehin of the development of personal and social autonomy. He wants you to remain infantile, ‘his children’, forever.

On the other hand, if Durkheim was correct, and ‘God’ is the personified projection of our own society, then the concept of God can be utlised to inspire, motivate an oppressed society to struggle for freedom. God can be an expression of ones own force for personal and social, yet ‘non-violent’ resistance. When we magnify our own thrust for liberty by making it Divine, we can universalise, magnify the power, elevate the level of emotional energy fuelling our own struggle. We see this quite strongly in the moderate side of what we call Islamic Revival. The teaching in the Mosques of the struggle, the ‘non-violent’ Jihad, and those who embrace this Islamic Jihad (in a non-violent manner) as the essence of their dignity are examples of this expression.

Ones understanding of God will depend on who one is in society, and how much agency one has. We see the battle over the ownership of the true nature of God being played out in the Maldives.

Nietzche also argued the experience of God is the experience of power. He said that the will to power, for the elite, is called “Love and Benevolence,” for the middle classes it is called “equality” and for the oppressed, the will to power is called “Justice.” The Arabic equivalent of all these words are part of the ’99 attributes of God…’

Indeed, we see that the God of Maumoon and of the affluent middle classes is Compassionate, Benevolent, and the God of many of the islanders and the poor, is angry, hungry for Justice.

These anthropomorphic expressions of the will to power will remain in competition with each other, unless one particular class of people become so psychologically smashed that that their social will dies. For the class whose will dies, this is the beginning of depression, anxiety, helplesness, dependancy disorder and consequentially, physical sickness. For the class who wins the struggle, this is the beginning of bliss, of absolute power, of the complete appropriation of God and everything God is into themselves.

The death of political and religious pluralism is the death of a particular class of people. Religious and political pluralism is the sign of a healthy people, of a healthy society. To destroy political or religious pluralism in the name of creating unity, order, and love between all, is to create pain, disorder. This is because, to control a society completely and to control the religious thought of a people in the name of Benevolence, which Maumoon wishes to do, and done so for 30 years, is to take absolute power. It is to rob the masses of any will of their own.

In this scenario, rendered powerless, the defeated class must be kept poor to stay dependant on the leaders. They must be dehumanised by institutional protocol.

For they who feel so helpless, so controlled, so powerless, the only hope for freedom, for dignity, is belief in an afterlife.

The will of this class of people, which the opposition wish to create in the name of restoring order and humanity, can be awakened by the presentation of a kind of a Deity I have not yet described, a Deity of Death, the Deity of the radical suicide bomber.

In the name of restoring religious unity which they think will restore social order, the opposition are, without even knowing that they are doing it, working hard to awaken a suicide bomber mentality.

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

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Troubled paradise: Skilled expatriates falling foul of workplace challenges

In the first of a two part article, Minivan News looks at the challenges facing skilled expatriates coming to work in the Maldives and the current systems in place to prevent both employees and employers from suffering workplace malpractice.

A growing number of expatriate workers in fields ranging from education to project management have told Minivan News they are considering leaving the Maldives, and in some cases have already left the country, amidst difficulties and desperate circumstances linked to “cultural clashes” and discrimination from local employers.

Several foreigners who have worked in the Maldives have spoken to Minivan News of the more negative experiences they have had with local employers, who they allege in cases have been “suffocating”, “scary”, and even deceptive in their treatment of expatriate staff, leading them to leave their posts prematurely and in some instances flee the country.

Statistics

Despite these claims, statistics from government organisations upholding the country’s employment act suggest that the number of official complaints from expatriates regarding their work situation were significantly less than the complaints received by local staff.

The Employment Tribunal told Minivan News that between 2009 and 2010, the proportion of complaints received from expatriates regarding poor or illegal treatment represented less than 10 percent of its total cases.

A tribunal spokesperson, who wished to remain anonymous, said that it had yet to receive a single case of alleged workplace discrimination facing foreign workers, although it accepted the practice undoubtedly occurred and that foreigners required greater recourse should they face illegal treatment in their work.

The Ministry of Human Resources, Youth and Sports, which has the Labour Relations Authority under its remit, said it had not been made aware of significant concerns among expatriates – particularly those from Europe and Asia Pacific – of widespread difficulties or a culture clash experienced working with local employers.

Senior government sources have in recent months outlined concerns about the treatment of huge numbers of unskilled labourers from countries like Bangladesh that are often illegally trafficked into the country, though skilled workers from abroad also appear to have issues with work practice.

While the number of expatriate staff complaints is statistically limited in comparison to the number of concerns received from local employees, foreigners who have sought career development in the Maldives have raised concerns about a pattern of experiences they fear others may face.

One Australian teacher, who spent a year at an international school in the Maldives, found that after years of working across Asia the Maldives was the most “personally challenging”.

The teacher said that while not regretting his experiences in the Maldives, there was very little information on what workers should expect and a seeming lack of interest and acceptance of the foreign experience he had been employed to provide.

“I found work in the Maldives extremely challenging from the point of view of trying to initiate and foster an ‘international education’, with huge limits being put on what could be facilitated in the classroom in terms of curriculum and content – mostly due to ‘culture clashes’,” he said.

“I found many levels, from management, staff and the local community down to students themselves, very unyielding in accommodating ‘international quality teaching and learning’.”

Although working in a very different industry, one UK expatriate – employed for several months as a project coordinator for a high-profile reclamation and construction project before opting to leave the country and her job – said she felt her position was ultimately untenable and that she had put too much faith in the word of her employer before arriving in the Maldives.

“The owner informed me that I should not compare myself to other expatriates from Europe and that expats should work weekends and holidays as they do not have a social life,” she claimed.

“My advice to anyone moving to the Maldives would be to make sure you have a contract that is legally recognised in the country, including the provision of allowances, medical insurance and a job description before you commit. Promises can turn to dust and someone’s word is not necessarily their bond.”

Another employee from the UK, bought to the country to work as a travel journalist and writer after several years working in the Middle East, claimed that she was also unprepared for office life in the Maldives. The employee said her employer led her to feel powerless from treatment she believed amounted to bullying.

“[I] began to feel I was being watched at every step at work. Despite there being one rule for Maldivian staff – keeping whatever hours they pleased, turning up in the afternoon and going to meetings through the day – they brought in a performance management system especially for me, increasing my workload and making me work six days a week,” she said.

Speaking to Minivan News, a representative for the Maldives Employment Tribunal – formed in 2008 to ensure companies were fulfilling their obligations to the country’s labour laws – said that the Maldivian Employment Act was designed to protect both local and foreign workforces equally.

However, the tribunal spokesperson added that the formation of a special union or workers’ associations to protect the interests of foreign employees would no doubt be beneficial to foreign staff, particularly those not fluent in Dhivehi or English.

“If there is a union that can represent foreigners on their behalf, or a workers’ association or something that can represent [foreign workers], then it will be easier to give them access to the tribunal,” the spokesperson said.

According to the tribunal’s figures, in 2009 a mere eight percent of complaints received regarding workplace mistreatment were from expatriate workers, despite these workers constituting a third of the country’s population. In 2010, this figure halved to four percent.

No enforcement

At present, employers in the Maldives are not bound by decisions of the tribunal even if they were found to have breached their contractual or legal obligations, the spokesperson said.

The tribunal is awaiting changes to the Employment Act that will allow edicts to be legally enforced by the country’s Civil Court. A true reflection of of the number of disgruntled foreign employees was likely to follow, the spokesperson said.

“The tribunal itself and the Employment Act is silent on enforcement, so if we issue a verdict and no one enforces it, there is nothing we can do on this,” the spokesperson said.

“Maybe this is why people do not want to go through the hassle of [the tribunal]. If the decision is not implemented, what do they get at the end of the day? We have proposed the Employment Ministry amend the act so that enforcement power could be given to the Civil Court. But these amendments are still going on.”

Local considerations

The tribunal spokesperson said that there was little difference in the standard and type of complaints coming from either local or foreign employees, with few cases concerning discrimination.

“We normally get complaints about unpaid wages and unfair dismissal so it’s sort of the same. It’s basically unfair dismissal and unpaid wage that we receive, even from locals. We get very few cases of discrimination,” the spokesperson claimed.

The tribunal had not dealt with cases such as forced labour or discriminatory behavior from employers, she said, “although this does not mean it is not taking place fairly openly.”

“I think it is all happening in the country, even if we do not receive such cases. Anybody who in this society knows it is happening in the country,” the spokesperson added, emphasising that employment laws were nonetheless designed to treat local and foreign workers equally regardless of their nationality.

Foreign workers in their own words

Three expatriate employees who have all moved on from their posts recount their experiences of working in the country. The names of the individuals have been changed to protect their identities.

Michael, 28, Australian teacher

“I found working in the Maldives to be a thoroughly challenging, but rewarding experience. Unlike other regions of the world, which provide you with a plethora of websites, books and other resources to enhance your knowledge of what the country will be like to live and work in, there was little to go on before leaving – apart from the Lonely Planet guide (which is more of a resort guide than a window into the inner workings of the country itself).

So going there I had little idea of what living and working in the Maldives would be like. Early challenges included the ‘norm’ for ex-pat life abroad – finding suitable accommodation, getting acquainted with new work conditions and new colleagues, finding friends and generally finding your feet in a new place. I lived in Hulhumale’, which is a swift ferry ride away from the capital city of Male’ – this provided the quiet I desired, but I was close enough to experience Male’ when I had to or wanted to.

I was employed as an English teacher at an international school, which is my profession in my home country. I found work in the Maldives extremely challenging from the point of view of trying to initiate and foster an “international education”, with huge limits being put on what could be facilitated in the classroom in terms of curriculum and content – mostly due to ‘culture clashes’.

I found many levels, from management, students themselves, staff, down to the local community, very unyielding in accommodating “international quality teaching and learning”. To me this is what an international school should provide – opportunities for students to develop holistically and develop critical thinking skills, with an empathy and understanding for different cultures and lifestyles.

The culture of the Maldives and its unwillingness to broaden its horizons and be open to outside influences made school life extremely challenging, not to mention the management of the school ( European in origin) not being open to “local interests and desires” for a child’s education.

The Maldives can also be quite a ‘suffocating’ place, especially for foreign women – Maldivian males are quite primitive in some of their behaviour and I have both witnessed and heard of gross misconduct and harassment on many levels towards Western women. As a male, the country is without doubt an easier beast to handle, but foreign women definitely have cause for concern when dealing with locals at times.

On the whole, once settling into a vastly different style of ex-pat life that I had been used to, I really enjoyed living and working in the Maldives. It is quite a shock to begin with, with rigid cultural and religious elements, quite foreign to many western day-to-day lives, having to be adhered to.

Outside of work there is plenty to do if you have a thirst for everything outdoors. I wouldn’t trade my year there for anything, I met some wonderful people – both local and international, and would recommend people give the Maldives a go.”

Natalie, 47, British project coordinator

“Recruited by a Sri Lankan businessman in the UK to work as a project coordinator in the Maldives, I was very excited about finding what seemed to be an excellent opportunity for my career development, working on a reclamation and construction project.

Having thoroughly researched the UK company, I accepted the job offer to work for the newly established Maldivian company, set up specifically for the project. With what I understood to be tight project timescales, I relocated within a month having the draft of a skeleton contract in email, trusting the owner of the business that the company and its employees were like a family; we could finalise the details of the contract at a later date.

Once there the owner informed me that I should not compare myself to other expatriates from Europe and that expats should work weekends and holidays as they do not have a social life. My advice to anyone moving to the Maldives would be to make sure you have a contract that is legally recognised in the Maldives, including allowances, medical insurance and a job description before you commit. Promises can turn to dust and someone’s word is not necessarily their bond.

Life in the capital of Male’ for a woman is not an easy one. Despite respecting the culture and religious beliefs, wearing suitable clothing and behaving appropriately, the Maldivian men do touch and grab women inappropriately.

There is a great deal of resentment from some Maldivians towards expats and contractors from Europe and the Americas. Fortunately though, some recognise the potential for change to achieve future growth and prosperity in a greener and more international culture.

My experience is something I do not regret. I had the pleasure of meeting His Excellency the President on more than one occasion and was fortunate to make good friends and business associates. Lessons have been learned: such is life.”

Dana, 30, UK journalist

“I have lived and worked on respected publications in the Middle East, I was used to cultural differences and striking harmony between the two ways of working. I believed I was well prepared for the challenges of working in a society with similar beliefs to the Maldives, but nothing prepared me for the challenges that lay ahead.

I was at first pleasantly surprised with the apartment where I would be living. It was a three-bedroom flat with all mod-cons. Upon arriving, the publisher asked me which room I wanted to take and then proceeded to lock the other rooms, he retained a key for the flat and left.

The next morning, for my first day at work I had a rude awakening. The office boy who had collected my luggage was standing above me saying “madam, madam wake up!” Frightened out of my mind, I screamed at him to get out of my room. It was a strange and scary start to the day.

Any newsroom is supposed to be buzzing with reporters going in and out the office and colleagues coming in and out. Instead the publisher wanted it to be like a factory, rehashing press releases. He even had the general manager prepare us job descriptions, though it was clear that he hadn’t the first clue about journalism and was contending with staff with more than five decades of media experience between them.

Increasingly I also began to feel I was being watched at every step at work. Despite there being one rule for Maldivian staff, keeping whatever hours they pleased, turning up in the afternoon and going to meetings through the day, they brought in a performance management system for me, increasing my workload and making me work six days a week.

The office itself was dangerous and there were no health and safety regulations. The unlit entrance to the office had live cables swinging above the off the stairs and water on the bathroom floor. A campaign to bring it up to safe standards fell on deaf ears.

The general manager took me aside and tried to blacken the names of my colleagues, telling me they were not acting professionally in his eyes, but that he liked them and would give them more chances to improve.

Why was he telling me this I thought? I didn’t want to get involved, being such a newbie. Then he tried insinuate if I played by the rules I would do well. I didn’t like his tone or his allusions. It was as if he was trying to see what side I was on and divide and conquer. Baffled, I said that my colleagues had showed me nothing but kindness and respect and I didn’t want to be part of anything he was insinuating. I felt really uncomfortable with all of this.

I told my colleagues about his strange behaviour and bribes. They said they were not surprised. At various times he had tried the tactic with them all.

This alarmed me. Understandably at this point I was scared because I did not know what I had got in to. I only took the job because I thought this was an opportunity to further develop myself after my Middle East experience. I didn’t have the resources to move on.

Strangely, there was another power struggle going on between the publisher and the GM, who used to turn up late in the afternoon. Overall their attitude was arrogant and disdainful towards us and they showed no recognition for how hard the staff had been working to make their product
a success. Morale was so low in the office and all the energy and enthusiasm I had brought with me was being sapped. I felt I had served a lifetime, though barely a week had gone by.

There was a clocking in machine and we were required to clock in between 9am and 5pm and soon our interviews were being classed as time out by the publisher and his minion. I couldn’t believe their method of thinking!

We had contacts begging us to go out and visit them, yet we were ‘trapped inside the office.’ We tried everything to convince the publisher in the value of letting us out of the office. Yet he turned it into a punishment, banning press trips from the second week.

The day after Halloween, I received a phone call from my colleague who said she had just been fired. I was running late into the office from a meeting, so I couldn’t quite process it, she said that she had not been given any reason for the dismissal. My editor and the other reporter were in the office when I arrived and you could cut the atmosphere with a knife. It was such an awful morning. My macabre mood suited the topic of my writings that day a feature about ghouls and jinnis of the Maldives for a Halloween special.

We met outside for lunch and one of the reporters revealed that he was tendering his resignation on principle. The editor said he was looking for other jobs abroad but he would need to stay in this job for as long as possible. I felt for them and for the nightmare struggle they must have had so far. I felt suicidal after a few weeks, how about these poor souls?

I began to feel increasingly fearful as I did not want lose my job and have to go home. Not after all the struggle to get here. All those hours spent working in three menial jobs back to back, and taking on limited freelance contracts over the summer just to manage the airfare to the Maldives. I had no option, I was trapped, without enough money to go forward or back.

A few days later all hell broke loose. First the reporter who had tendered his resignation was called in and told that he was going to be dismissed that day, even though he was owed 30 days notice.

Then the editor was called in – luckily he had also just written his notice and handed it in before he could have the satisfaction of dismissing him. Two bully security guards were called in to almost forcibly remove them. I was so upset and shocked by the whole events which were unfolding. It was all going too fast – I couldn’t compute.

My state of mind was in tatters at this point imagining the worst, wrestling with my conscience, my pride and my dignity. My home was part of the work package so could not leave the company and try to find another job.

I didn’t have a choice. At this stage still hadn’t even been paid. I was also running out of cash and there was no one to help back home.

So I stayed… but at this point I still hadn’t even received my visa, and was required to leave the country and go to Sri Lanka. Still with no money, I asked the publisher to pay my expenses, but he said he would only pay for the airfare. I asked for an allowance to spend but he refused. Instead he turned out his moth-eaten wallet with £5 GBP and 15 rupees he said I could exchange.

In the meantime my colleagues had an awful time of it having to shift from place to place, but with the help of friends they got by and began setting up their own plans for the future. I tried to support them where I could.

Then I was called into the office and the publisher said he had been told that someone was else living in the flat and there were people visiting me. So what? I felt violated and angry as he had just admitted he been watching my flat. He said that he needed to give permission for anyone to stay. Another control mechanism.

The wheels were already in motion for my own removal. My visa was still in the process of being arranged and they had my passport. Less than 10 days later my fears were realised. I was called into the office and told that they would no longer continue with my employment and when I asked about my passport I was told I had to go to the immigration building to collect it.

I called one of my friends who had contact with immigration and I was told to come down to the office, they had my passport and tickets for me to fly out with Qatar within two days. I filed a case
with the employment tribunal and got my passport back.

The employment tribunal was a long and arduous process and in the end they ruled against me, as I hadn’t worked there long enough so I could not receive any compensation for the trauma of the last few months. Despite a ruling by the court to issue a one way ticket to the country of my choosing, I still have to receive that ticket from the employer. Along the way he pulled all sorts of nasty tricks including putting holds on empty tickets so that he would look good in court, and gazumping me when I went to buy a ticket at the same travel agent.

Overall, I felt an overwhelming feeling of freedom. I want to help people from making the same mistakes as me.”

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Comment: Majlis fiddles with democracy as society burns

The country is broke and the price of living is going up every day while the standard of living is going down.

The price of a can of tuna is now 20 percent higher than it was a few months ago. A valhoa mas kiba, part of our staple food since time immemorial, is now beyond the common person’s reach. A bottle of water was Rf10 just a month ago; it is Rf14 this month.

Electricity bills, water bills, gas bills, are all hugely more expensive than any other country in the neighbourhood. A majority of people are living hand to mouth.

A vast chunk of the country’s youth population are either addicted to drugs or recovering from it. They are unemployable, and out on the streets, committing crimes big and small or looking in vain for another chance at life.

The standards of teaching in public schools are abysmal, and private schools remain an unaffordable dream for the majority. To say that public schools are free is to lie through one’s teeth; for people are paying through their noses for private tuition – a parallel education system that exists in a parallel universe. It is the elephant in every classroom that nobody in authority wants to talk about – the government cannot regulate it without first acknowledging the massive failings in the education system; and a majority of the teachers do not want to talk about it because it is the cash cow that supplements their meagre incomes.

Children from other islands are having to migrate to Male’, boarding with host families or packed into small rooms the rent of which they share; paid by parents who break their backs working on farms or on fishing boats, just so their children can get an education. The housing crisis and social problems related to overcrowding increase.

The health system is too weak to cope with any unexpected outbreaks of disease; Maldivian doctors are still the minority and are offered less pay and benefits than their expatriate counterparts; and infant and adult mortality rates are needlessly high. It was all too clear to see with the recent dengue fever outbreak.

Unemployment rates are sky-high while trafficked Bangladeshis are bought and sold by the planeload. They live in their scores of thousands working and living on building sites; existing in an alternate realm of worker drones, buzzing away in the background, building, serving, cooking, cleaning, maintaining; jobs that Maldivians consider themselves too good to be doing.

Their presence is acknowledged only when the buzzing gets annoying; when their levels of ‘civilisation’ are deemed not to match our allegedly impeccable manners and faultless social graces; and when foreign governments chastise the Maldives for its cruelty for putting a price on the heads of human beings and selling them to the highest bidder.

Longstanding traditions of peace, friendliness and cleanliness have disappeared; replaced with avarice and aspirations of grandeur achieved by any means possible. Basic civility, let alone friendliness, is conspicuous in its absence: the smile; the queue; the exchange of niceties; respect for the elderly; the weak and the vulnerable; the knowledge of belonging together – what are they? People push, shove and climb over each other to get to an undefined ‘there’ faster than anyone else – literally and metaphorically.

It is all there to see in the pantomime that the Majlis is enacting, fiddling with democracy as society burns. What is the purpose of these theatrics? Are we supposed to be impressed with his behaviour? Are we supposed to admire this display of ignorance as ‘people power’? Is this to be seen as standing up (or sitting down) for the rule of law? Are we supposed to applaud these MPs for their ‘valour’ in forcing a needless confrontation between legislative and military power?

Are we supposed to cheer in adulation or tremble in fear when one MP who was only recently bought by one party now shouts at the party he had just left?

Are we to ignore the fact that if such members did indeed have an ideology, or a set of deeply held political beliefs or values they would not be so easily bought and sold?

Are we supposed to laugh with them and chuckle at the smirks on their faces when they are being led away by the army? Are we supposed to let our children hear the filth that is sprouting from their mouths into our airwaves on daytime TV? Are we to appreciate as media savvy the manner in which, like a bunch of schoolboy bullies in a playground, they are taking photographs and videos of each other being bundled away by men in army fatigues?

Are we supposed to be appreciate as role models of feminism the female voices heard screeching like cockatoos at the spectacle of MPs being carried away like chimpanzees by zoo handlers? What exactly is being celebrated here? What state will our nation be in the coming years if these are our highest representatives, if this is the pinnacle of success that our children as future leaders can aspire to?

Whatever destruction that three decades of dictatorship could not unleash on our society with its ruinous policies, society is wreaking upon itself. We did not have a transition to democracy, we just changed one supreme power to which we subjugate ourselves for another: Mammon for Maumoon.

The Majlis should be where the people turn to for solutions to their problems. It is, however, both the representation of all our problems as well as their nucleus and their source.

What a sham.

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

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Aviation authorities await seaplane crash report before considering safety review

The Civil Aviation Department has said that it will wait to complete an investigation into the crash landing of a Trans Maldivian Airways (TMA) seaplane near Biyaadhoo Island Resort during a training flight this morning, before considering amendments to flight policy in the country.

The aviation body’s Director General, Hussein Jaleel, confirmed to Minivan News today that no injuries were reported to the two pilots involved in the crash – reported to be the only people on board at the time. The spokesperson said that investigators currently believed the crash had resulted only in structural damage to the seaplane after it came down near an assigned landing point in a reef by the South Male’ Atoll resort.

Jaleel said that he was presently unable to presently reveal many details about the collision, other than that the Civil Aviation Department’s Accident Investigation Committee were now interviewing the pilots involved in the flight as part of ongoing investigations into a possible cause of the crash landing.

An official spokesperson for TMA – which is one of the country’s two largest operators of seaplane services along with Maldivian Air Taxis – was unavailable for comment when contacted by Minivan News at the time of going to press.

However, in terms of the possible need to implement changes in regulation or seaplane policy following the crash, Hussein Jaleel said authorities would wait for investigations to be completed on today’s incident before making any changes. “However, if it is revealed that new policies are required we would ensure we did this,” he added.

Seaplane incidents

When asked about the number of incidents investigated in relation to the country’s seaplane operations from the start of this year, Jaleel said he did not have the exact figures on him at the time of going to press as aviation authorities investigated incidents of varying severity in the course of their work.

However, the aviation department director general told Minivan News that in terms of events like a crash landing, this was believed to be the first case of such an incident occurring in 2011.

Back in December 2010, the Civil Aviation Department confirmed that a collision had occurred between a Maldivian Air Taxi seaplane and another aircraft at Male’ International Airport that resulted in no injuries or major damage being recorded.

Authorities said at the time that investigators had found the collision to be a minor accident involving the wingtip of an aircraft colliding with another craft, an event which was not seen as “a major safety concern” for future operations.

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Dengue task force to hand control to Health Ministry as outbreak calms

The Ministry of Health is expected to once again take the reins of the national response to a dengue fever outbreak linked to the deaths of eight Maldivians this year, after last week handing control of the focus to a task force appointed to bring island management of the disease under a single body.

A spokesperson for the task force, which has attempted to combine the efforts of the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF), government ministries and NGOs, said the body expected its work to be “wound down” today, with the Ministry of Health once again taking control of efforts after infection rates were said to have fallen.

The task force had initially been budgeted to operate from within the social centre at Maafanu School in Male’ for seven days. However, despite initial optimism that the outbreak – which has been labelled by the government as an “epidemic” – would be under control in this time, doubts arose later during last week about the likelihood of meeting such a deadline.

Speaking to Minivan News today, a media spokesperson for the task force said it once again expected management of the virus outbreak to revert back to the Health Ministry, after having itself overcome a number of difficulties allegedly including collaborating with recently established local councils.

“We are seeing the number of confirmed cases dropping once again and I expect we will be winding up our work today,” the spokesperson added. The spokesperson claimed that Male’s Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) was itself now returning to normal operations after adapting several wards and surgeries specifically to coping with dengue during the outbreak.

On Thursday (July 7), several Male’-based hospitals including IGMH said that although they were busy continuing to deal with a significant numbers of patients suspected of contracting the virus, the situation was said to be under “control” by some senior management staff.

Deputy Education Minister Dr Abdulla Nazeer, who has spoken on behalf of the taskforce created by President Mohamed Nasheed to combat the outbreak, said he was “glad to say the situation is under control and we are winding up our work and will transfer it to the Health Ministry.”
During its work the taskforce had identified several factors that contributed to the difficulty of managing dengue outbreaks, he noted.
“Number one is a lack of proper communication between the Health Ministry and local councils,” he said. “The second was that they did not have the capacity to resolve the issues.”
“Councillors on some islands thought it was not in their mandate to follow the requests of the task force,” he added. “The MNDF and local authorities had to intervene, and the councillors realised it was a matter of national safety.”

Government view

In addressing the work undertaken as part of a collaborative approach to disease control , Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair claimed that the initiative’s work in identifying and focusing on regional and island prevention measures would ensure the government was better prepared in the future for similar outbreaks.

“The government’s main focus has remained targeting mosquito breeding grounds, particularly areas such lakes and stagnant water collections,” he said. “However, we have also been working on community focal points where we have focused many types of control measures.”

Zuhair claimed these control measures had been focused specifically on trying to put more emphasis on focusing on island communities to identify possible difficulties with dengue, despite reports from the dengue task force of initial coordination problems in working with the local councillors.

A spokesperson for the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) was unavailable for comment at the time of going to press over its views of the government’s response in dealing with the dengue epidemic” of recent weeks.

Yet over the course of last week DRP Spokerson Ibrahim ‘Mavota’ Shareef, reiterated his belief to the press that the government had “bungled” their response to trying to control dengue fever. Shareef added that although the DRP welcomed and would cooperate with the government in efforts to try and limit the spread of the virus, he said that authorities had acted too slowly in trying to deal with the outbreak.

“From what we have seen the government is just not doing enough. We don’t believe they have been willfully negligent, but there has been negligence in their approach [to dengue outbreak],” he claimed. “They have not responded fast enough, which could be inexperience on their part. But I think this will be a wake-up call for them to change policy in dealing with these type of situations.”

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Tiny Hearts praises record attempt as “huge success” for charity in the Maldives

Maldivian NGO Tiny Hearts might have fallen short in its attempts to secure a place in the Guinness book of World Records, despite thousands of people turning up at Male’ National Stadium yesterday, yet the NGO said the event was nonetheless a great success for charitable aims in the country.

The NGO, which was formed back in 2009 to help local children suffering with Congenital Heart Defects (CHD), attempted to gather thousands of people into a heart shape to raise awareness about the number of Maldivians affected by the condition. The charity estimates that one person in every 100 born around the world suffers from a CHD.

According to organisers of late nights record attempt, the target number for participants needed to enter the record books was 11,708 – a figure corresponding to the date of the attempt July 8 2011 – with 4,665 turning up to be involved.

Although not sufficient to make the record books after several attempts yesterday evening, a spokesperson for tiny hearts said that as a means to create awareness and organise local people to a cause, the event was still a success for the group.

“Ultimately, we aimed to get as many people together as possible to raise awareness [about CHD] across the country. We therefore achieved our objective,” said the spokesperson. “We managed to organise thousands of people together for a single cause, with no salaried staff: this is a huge success.”

Future goals

Yesterday’s event was designed as a means to celebrate two years of Tiny Hearts being registered as a charity in the country. Yet in looking ahead to its future goals, the NGO’s spokesperson said that it was not presently planning to renew its attempts to break into the record books – focusing instead on fundraising measures.

“Right now, we are trying to minimise costs in looking for events for funding,” the spokesperson said. “At present one surgery [for a local child] costs US$5,000, this does not include additional charges for transportation abroad. People affected by CHD are increasing all the time in a country. We have more than 200 children registered with the charity and there are likely to be an even larger number unregistered.”

Last year, a charity football match organised by the charity involving public figures and celebrities raised Rf265,000 (US$20,500) for patients.

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