Category: Society & Culture

Religious scholars dispute government’s healthcare scheme

The vice president of religious organisation Jamiyyath-al-Salaf, Sheikh Hassan Moosa Fikry has claimed the government’s ‘Madhana’ healthcare scheme resembles an insurance program and is against the principles of Islam.

Sheikh Hassan said that the Madhana health insurance scheme “was not a balanced system” and represented
”a loss for both the people and the government.”

He also claimed that the Madhana scheme was not organised according to the Islamic banking system.

‘Madhana’ is a scheme run by the government that provides up to Rf100,000 (US$7782) of medical treatment for members, in return for an annual fee of Rf2000 (US$155).

”For example, I pay the government Rf2000 to take part in the Madhana program, and if I do not get ill that year, wouldn’t that be a loss of Rf2000 for me?” Sheikh Hassan said.

He claimed that the State Minister for Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed once wrote a religious article about insurance, which on the first paragraph stated that health insurance was not allowed for Muslims.

However President of the Adhaalath Party Sheikh Hussein Rasheed Ahmed said that all health insurance programs were allowed under Islam, with the exception of self-insurance, and that Madhana was “a help” offered by the government to its people.

”I’m not saying this in response to what Salaf has said,” he added.

Religious scholar Sheik Ilyas Hussein also claimed that only self-insurance was prohibited for Muslims.

“If the Madhana health scheme was done as business then it might be a problem,” he said. “If it is done as charity it would be allowed.”

Spokesman for the Islamic Ministry Sheikh Ahmadhulla said he could not comment on the issue at the moment “because this is a religious matter” and he did not have the right to give religious advice.

Permanent secretary for the Health Ministry Sheena Moosa said that she was also unable to comment as the issue was a religious matter, but claimed the Madhana scheme was not modelled on health insurance.

”We do it as charity for the benefit of people,” she said, adding that the government did not invest any of the money received it received through the scheme.

”We keep all the money as a separate fund,” she explained.

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Government departments strike over salaries

Staff at several government departments, including the fisheries ministry and the attorney general’s office, have gone on strike in protest at the restoration of salaries for only some areas of government.

Staff a some of the other ministries, including the tourism ministry, are rumoured to be deciding whether they should take part.

Yesterday salaries were restored for staff at the independent commissions, courts, parliament and the judicial services. The president announced over the weekend that the remaining civil servant salaries will be restored in April if the country’s economy has stabilised.

A senior staff member from the attorney general’s office told Minivan News that more than 40 people working at the office were participating the strike, and would continue to do so until their received the restored salaries.

“We will come to the office every day, but we won’t be doing any work,” he said, claiming that the strikers were just trying to get their legal rights.

A senior staff member from the fisheries ministry confirmed that most of the civil servants at the ministry were on strike, including the management.

Some of the ministry’s senior staff had threatened legal action against the strikers, he said.

”We are working legally to get our rights,” he claimed, explaining that civil servants were present at the office but were refusing to work.

A civil servant working in the tourism ministry said staff were planning to sent a letter to the Civil Service Commission (CSC) about the issue.

”We will decide to strike or not depending on the answer we get,” she said.

The economic ministry said that all of its staffs were present and all of them were working “as normal.” A staff member said that they were not planning to strike.

Spokesman for the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Ibrahim Shareef said that no legal action could be taken against the civil servants protesting.

”It is a right for the civl servants according to the law,” Shareef said, but added that the DRP had not yet decided whether to support the strike.

CSC spokesman Mohamed Fahmy Hassan said the CSC had yet to discuss the issue in detail but was currently “definitely not calling for strikes”, and was instead trying to solve the dispute through administrative and legal means.

“We have stated very openly that if we cannot solve it administratively, we will take the issue to court until we get a verdict,” he said.

Strikes would disrupt the services provided by the ministries and inconvenience the public, he added.

“I think the fact that some salaries have been restored has made it harder to persuade civil servants that the country has a financial problem. It’s very unfair what’s happened.”

State Minister for Finance Ahmed Assad said that civil servants were entitled to strike for their rights.

”We have not decided to change any of our decisions yet,” Assad said, refusing to answer more questions “as it is too early to say anything.”

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Police testify against president’s office staff member over drugs charge

Two policewomen have testified in court against the deputy under secretary of the President’s Office, Aishath Eeman, after she was arrested on drugs related charge.

The police testified that Eeman refused to give them a urine sample when she was brought into the police station on suspected drug possession in December 2009.

Constable Mahdhoodhaa Saleem told the court that Eeman was requested to give a urine sample three different times, but she had refused.

Constable Thalia Ali also said she asked Eeman for a urine sample, and explained that the procedure was that the person would only give the sample if they wanted to.

When judge Abdulla Mohamed heard this, he said that giving the sample was a person’s own choice and that an accusation could’t be made just because someone refused to do something out of choice.

However the state prosecutor said that the judge had misunderstood, and that Constable Thaila had used the right of the police to request a urine sample.

Eeman’s defense team meanwhile said that Eeman could refuse giving a urine sample as part of her right to remain silent.

The policewomen’s testimony conflicted in the time Eeman was reportedly brought in. Constable Mahdhoodhaa said Eaman was brought to the station around 6:00pm in the evening, while Constable Thaila said Eeman was brought to the station between 9:00pm and 12:00pm.

Speaking on behalf of the president’s office, Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair said Eeman was “technically on leave at the moment. We are providing legal assistance for her through the president’s office.”

Zuhair said the case was being conducted by the judicial system, “so even if the person is from the president’s office they must be investigated.”

The Deputy Prosecutor General Shameem said that despite the high profile of the defendant prosecutor general’s office was not giving the case any special attention and was treating it “like any other normal case.”

The trial is continuing.

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Education ministry shifts functions to province offices

The ministry of education signed management contracts with seven province offices yesterday to decentralise certain administrative functions of the ministry.

Minister of Education Musthafa Luthfy signed the contract on behalf of the Ministry and state ministers for each province signed on behalf of their province.

President Mohamed Nasheed said the government intended to eventually shift all the ministry’s powers and services to the province offices.

Dividing the Maldvies into seven provinces was one of the five election pledges Nasheed made in 2008, a move that has met with considerable controversy in parliament to the extent of stalling it completely in the closing sessions of its last sitting.

Independent MP Mohamed Nasheed said the government’s plan to “wipe out” the atolls from the Maldives by dividing them into provinces was against the law.

”The government is physically trying to re-distribute the country – it is not advisable,” Nasheed said.

Nasheed said the president could name ministries, provide offices and give them whatever powers he wished, but there were no provinces in the Maldives “according to the law.”

Furthermore, he claimed it was “not wise” for the president to beginning carrying out the work of decentralising the Maldives before parliament had approved it.

”We hope the next bill on decentralising the Maldives will include more compromise than the previous bill,” Nasheed added.

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MTDC agrees to pay Yacht Tours $3.5 million to end court dispute

The Maldives Tourism Promotion Board (MTDC) has agreed to an out of court settlement with Yacht Tours Maldives (YTM) after a long-running dispute over Herathera Island Resort.

MTDC claimed that YTM had been running Herathera Island Resort without paying rent and took the company to court. In May last year YTM was ordered to pay US$8 million in outstanding rent to MTDC.

Managing Director of MTDC Mohamed Mihad said if necessary, the board would withdraw the funds from the US$10 million bank guarantee YTM had paid to to secure the resort during the bidding process to sublease the island.

YTM stopped paying rent in December 2008, claiming MTDC had failed to fulfil a contractual obligation to build a channel between Herethere Resort and Hulhudhoo, an adjoining inhabited island, by 30 November 2008.

MTDC responded by terminating the company’s contract and giving Yacht Tours seven days to hand over the resort. In response, Yacht Tours lodged a civil case to sue MTDC for US$47 million in compensation for the incomplete channel and projected losses.

“Yacht Tours doesn’t have the right to stay on the island and do business without paying rent… We have sent them a letter asking them to leave as soon as possible,” Mihad told Minivan News at the time, adding that MTDC would file a court case if YTM refused to hand back the island.

YTM claimed it was unable to pay the rent because the occupancy of the island was low, due to the financial crisis. At one point YTM CEO Ahmed Mohamed claimed 600 staff were working at the resort despite there only being 28 guests.

In October 2009 the court gave MTDC control of the resort, which it claimed to have spent US$55 million developing.

At a press conference held today, journalists expressed confusion when the chairman of MTDC, Ibrahim Saleem, said that the organisation would now pay YTM would US$3.5 million over 24 months including including a US$1 million down payment.

Saleem said the decision was “a commercial decision” and “the best way we found to solve the problem.”

“If we continue disputing this we might have to continue for two or three years. It’s taken too long to solve this problem,” he said.

MTDC would earn a substantial profit from running the Herathera Island Resort while courting interest from foreign investors, he said.

YTM and MTDC sent a letter to the court saying both parties considered the problem resolved.

CEO of YTM Ahmed Mohamed was unwilling to comment to Minivan News regarding the matter.

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Hospital charges to remain stable despite Apollo deal, pledges health ministry

The ministry of health has pledged that hospital charges will remain stable at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), even though it is to managed by private company Apollo Hospital Group.

Health Minister Dr Aminath Jameel said the hospital remained a state asset “and we have only handed the management of the hospital over to Apollo.”

The minister also said that IGMH would be turned into a teaching hospital, which would provide training for nurses and paramedics in line with the government’s aim of ensuring at least 80 per cent of hospital staff are Maldivian within 15 years. Currently 60 per cent of the hospital’s nursing staff are foreign.

The health ministry acknowledged that IGMH was not at the standard that a tertiary hospital should be.

“Even though it’s hard to accept, we don’t have the capacity within the country to bring the hospital up to standard. We needed help from a foreign party,” Jameel said.

A situational analysis of the hospital will be conducted in the first three months of new management, after which a work plan will be submitted to the government.”

“We want the hospital to have a good management team to oversee the daily management of services,” Jameel said.

She also offered reassurances that Maldivian jobs would not be lost as part of this deal, and that the agreement was within the Maldivian employment act.

The current ratio at IGMH is three foreign staff for every Maldivian, a statistic Jameel said the ministry hoped to reverse.

Where’s the money?

The ministry paints the deal as very good for the Maldives on paper. But what does Apollo stand to gain?

Zubair Mohamed, CEO of IGMH said the deal with Apollo “wasn’t done to make a profit, but to provide good health care.”

Asked if how Apollo would be able to make a return on their US$20 million investment in the dilapidated Male’ hospital, Zubair said money “was a combined investment made by Apollo, the Indian government and the Maldives – not to be recovered, but to motivate the hospital.”

The benefits would be quickly realised, he said, “and after the first five years, IGMH will have the capacity to train doctors on the job as general practitioners.”

Zubair also said that having a high standard of hospital would open up possibilities for medical tourism, a lucrative sub-sector of the tourism industry in countries like Thailand.

“Having a good hospital means doors are opened for things like wellness tourism and palative care. Even tourists can comfortably have a medical check-up,” Zubair said.

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NGO hold a meeting on decentralisation

Decentralisation is one of the biggest issues facing the Maldives, a group of NGOs said yesterday at a meeting intended to inform the public on the subject.

Transparency Maldives, Democracy house, Rights for All, Madulu, Maldivian Detainee Network, Strength of Society and the Hodehdhoo Association for Development gave out information on decentralisation, an issue which last month caused gridlocks inside parliament and protests outside.

During the last term of parliament, President Nasheed presented a bill to decentralising the Maldives and divide up the islands into seven provinces, as stated in the manifesto of MDP.

Opposition DRP MPs stalled the bill with ammendments leading to quarrelling in the final sessions and several protests. The DRP claimed dividing the Maldives into provinces would affect the provision of services to people, while the MDP claimed it would make it easier.

President Nasheed withdrew the bill due to the heated dispute between MPs, with the intention of returning it later.

DRP MP Ahmed Mahloof said that dividing the Maldives into seven provinces was “illegal”.

Mahloof claimed only 15 per cent of the population would vote for decentralisation if President Nasheed put it to a referendum.

”We asked them to take a vote among the people, and I know they are afraid,” said Mahloof.

Meanwhile, MDP MP Ahmed Easa claimed according to the law Nasheed is compelled to divide the Maldives into provinces because it was in the MDP’s manifesto.

”We believe that people voted for MDP because they want to have what is in our manifesto, so we do not need to be taking another vote on this which will cost more than Rf50 million to undertake,” said Easa.

He claimed that dividing the islands into provinces would bring facilities closer to people.

”For instance, is it easier to come Male’ to get a service provided by the housing ministry or to get that service from the nearby island?” Easa asked.

The bill will return to parliament when it resumes in March.

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Prisoners at Gan “living in cages”

Prisoners in the Seenu Gan temporary jail, run by the MNDF, are being deprived of basic human rights according to an anonymous source claiming familiarity with the matter.

“[Inmates] are kept in small cages, four per block, they have to urinate in small water bottles, and if they want to use the toilet they are blindfolded, handcuffed and escorted by two guards,” the source told Minivan News.

Around 40 inmates were transfered to the temporary jail last October, after a fire caused by the inmates led to congestion in Maafushi jail.

When the prisoners were first transferred to the MNDF-run prison in Gan they were kept blindfolded and restrained for 72 hours, the source claimed.

“They have been here for three months now. It’s difficult to contact the outside world, and it was a long time before their families even heard from them. Inmates are being deprived of even the most basic necessities, even little things like soap, toothpaste and clothes are scarce. They feel they are not being given their rights.”

Contact with the outside world was minimal, “and they can’t see their parents, wives or children.”

The prisoners had previously gone on a hunger strike in protest at their treatment, the source claimed, and in response four were allegedly taken into a nearby wood and tied up for three days.

In addition, the source said the proximity to a military base meant the prisoners “hear gunshots all the time and can’t sleep at night.”

A prison cage at Gan
A prison cage at Gan

Most of the 40 inmates transferred to the prison were serving time for “small” convictions, “around five years”, the source claimed, and felt they should be treated as civilian rather than military prisoners as their court sentences had dictated.

Response

Minivan News attempted to contact the Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services (DPRS) to confirm the allegations but was referred to the MNDF.

Brigadier General Ibrahim Mohamed Didi, in charge of the Gan MNDF base, said “the reason they are here is because they burnt the jail [at Maafushi], and a place was needed to keep them temporarily. This place was chosen,” he said.

“This is a military training base, not a proper jail. We can’t provide facilities to the inmates for things such as family visits. As for matters such as toilets, we are doing the best we can, but they have to remember this is a military base and we can’t give them five star service.”

Asked how he felt about being given the prisoners to look after, Didi said “it is not an issue of us being burdened with prisoners. That there was no place for the prisoners after the jail was burned is a national issue, and the government asked us to look after them.”

Didi said the prisoners were monitored by the military “to ensure there isn’t any violence going on. We also have to keep in mind the safety of the people of Addu and international airport. The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) recently came and did a report.”

Ahmed Saleem, president of the HRCM said the organisation had been made aware of a problem at Gan jail.

“We have recently received reports of this as well, and we are investigating the case,” he said.

“We have no problem with the MNDF guarding the perimeter [of the prison], but direct contact with the inmates should be by civil authorities. MNDF personnel will treat the inmates like prisoners-of-war, not criminals.”

Saleem added that the prisoners were at the temporary prison because some inmates set fire to the Maafushi jail, and “there wasn’t enough space there. We don’t want to release them, but they needed to be treated humanely.”

Treatment of prisoners in the Maldives had changed over the last few years, he said, “and the police have a very positive policy now. But there are always going to be individuals [involved in mistreatment].”

Fathmath Afiya from the Society for Women Against Drugs (SWAD) said “we have received information about this as well,  and recently sent a letter to the parliament asking that the conditions in the Gan jail be improved.”

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IMF warns restoring salaries will “jeopardise” international financing

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that international funding to the Maldives would be threatened if civil servant salaries are restored to former levels.

“One of the primary drivers of the large fiscal deficit has been government spending on public wages, which has more than doubled between 2007 and 2009, and is now one of the highest in the world relative to the size of the economy,” said Rodrigo Cubero, IMF mission chief for the Maldives.

“Measures that would substantially raise the budget deficit, such as a reversal of previously announced wage adjustments, would also put the program off track, jeopardising prospects for multilateral and bilateral international financing,” he warned.

State minister for finance Ahmed Assad confirmed that international funding might be at risk if the salaries were restored in the manner demanded by the Civil Servants Commission (CSC).

“The IMF have been saying that for a while,” Assad said, reiterating that the government was not capable of increasing civil servants salaries this month.

Permanent secretaries of various ministries had been submitting two salary sheets, he said, “so we know the difference.”

Spokesperson of the CSC Mohamed Fahmy Hassan said according to Maldivian law, the finance ministry had to pay the increased salary this month.

”For instance, if give you  work to do and say I will pay you 100rf when the work is done, after you complete the work is it fair for me to say, ‘Oh, I cant give you Rf100, I only have Rf50′,” he asked.

In response Assad said the IMF only gave economic advice, and was indifferent to a country’s law.

During talks between the CSC and finance ministry yesterday no agreements were made beyond a decision to continue negotiations.

In its statement, the IMF warned that “the Maldivian economy continues to face serious challenges. In particular, addressing the very large fiscal deficit is of paramount importance to secure a stable economy, equitable growth, and lasting poverty reduction.’

“A larger fiscal deficit would drive up interest rates, deprive the private sector of the credit it needs, and threaten growth and employment. It may also stoke inflation and erode the purchasing power of all Maldivians, including civil servants. It is to avoid such undesirable outcomes that the fiscal deficit needs to be reduced.”

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