Day: January 24, 2010

Apollo Hospital Group to run IGMH in privatisation deal

The ministry of health and family has announced a 15 year agreement with Apollo Hospital Group to manage Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in Male’.

The deal was signed on behalf of the government by Health Minister Dr Aminath Jameel and Dr Preetha Reddy, who represented Apollo Hospital Group.

Apollo estimates it will need to spend US$25 million to bring the hospital up to global standards, according to the  Economic Times, an Indian newspaper.

A statement released by the ministry claimed the objective of the deal is to improve health services while keeping prices stable.

Apollo Hospital Group was first established in 1983, and is now considered the third largest private healthcare provider in the world. The company currently administrates 8,000 beds and has plans to reach 15,000 beds, reports the Economic Times.

Apollo is expected to make an assessment of the hospital’s needs in the first three months, and plans to offer orthopedics, cardiology, gastro, neurology and acute care and trauma specialities in the first phase of the privatisation deal. The hospital will set up and operate a cardiology unit within the year, the health ministry added.

Chairman of the privatisation committee Mahmood Razee said one of the first changes to be made by Apollo would be to management.

“The major issue was that the management structure [at IGMH] was not working properly, this led to high costs and some services and medicines not being available. The overall qaulity of service went down,” he said.

“Over the next three months there will be structural changes to management changes at IGMH, and an evaluation plan will be submitted as well. Apollo group gives IGMH the advantage of economies of scale, which will lower the overall running costs.”

The hospital’s new management group has also revealed its intentions to make 80% of its employees Maldivian over a 15 year period, although it was unclear as to how this would be achieved given the lack of medical higher education facilities in the country.

Another objective the ministry noted was to ensure that all employees are treated within the correct employment regulations set by the government.

Razee noted that the deal was not part of the government’s public-private partnership scheme.

A doctor working at IGMH said staff were unable to comment on the deal “because we haven’t been officially informed yet. All the information we have received has come through the media.”

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Story of three decomposing corpses remains a mystery, say police

Three dead bodies have mysteriously washed up on Maldivian shores in under a month, and police still confess they have no idea who they are.

The first body was found in the lagoon of of the Reethi Rah resort on 15 January, floating three to four feet off the shore. A resort worker told Minivan News the badly decomposed body was discovered by a beach cleaner at 8:30 am in morning, and was collected by a police forensic team that arrived at 12:30 pm that afternoon.

Another body was found near the island of Mahibadhoo in north Ari atoll on 21 January. Police said the body, also badly decomposed, was discovered by a fishing boat. Police took the body for investigation.

The third body was found on a sand bank near the Taj Exotica resorts in Male atoll by staff on a diving expedition.

Police inspector Ahmed Shiyam said that because the bodies were so badly decomposed it was proving very difficult to identify who they are.

”It shows that they have been dead for a long time,” he said.

Shiyam said that the bodies found near Reethi Rah and Taj Exotica were male, while the body found near Mahibadhoo could not be identified as either gender. Neither could the nationalities of the bodies be recognised, he said.

DNA had been taken for analysis, he said, and explained that police were now trying to discover whether any of the bodies were of people reported missing from fishing boats.

”None of [the bodies] have yet matched to the family members of the people who have been reported lost,” he said.

The investigation continues.

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President reiterates commitment to electricity subsidies

The president has revealed the government will further subsidise electricity bills to cushion people in Male’ from rising energy costs.

Speaking in his weekly radio address, President Mohamed Nasheed acknowledged that many households in Male’ were having difficulty with the new electricity prices.

“Our estimate is that about 3000 households struggle to pay their bills. Therefore, the government has decided to provide them with more support,” he said.

President Nasheed also stated that more people were being made aware about the application process for subsidies.

STELCO, the state electricity company, recently dramatically increased the price for the first 300 units of electricity. In response, a group MPs from the ruling government’s own party came forward to urge the government to do something.

The government has said previously that it will broaden eligibility for subsidies, noting that the current eligibility criteria was based on data collected in 1997.

Under that data, the poverty line is considered Rf 21 (US$1.50) a day. The president said that a new survey was under way.

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Civil Servants Association threatens to sue finance ministry if salaries lowered

The Maldivian Civil Servant Association (MCSA) said at a rally yesterday that it will file a lawsuit against the finance ministry if civil servants are given the lowered salary this month.

MSCA spokesman Abdulla Mohamed said the organisation was placing five lawyers on standby.

”The finance minister [Ali Hashim] has personal issues against the civil servants, he’s being stubborn,” Abdulla said, adding that the problems were getting worse “because [Hashim] does not have much knowledge on how to handle a government’s finance ministry.”

”Whatever he thinks is right at the moment, he does. He does not plan things well,” Abdulla claimed.

The ministry’s request that the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) and parliament mediate its dispute between the CSC “is not a solution”, he said, insisting that the ministry needed to “follow the law” and pay the full salaries for this month.

Otherwise, he said, the government would be in debt and owe civil servants the rest of the money.

Abdulla further added that the CSC had been careless, and failed to fulfill its responsibility to ensure the deductions applied the independent commissions, judiciary and police as well as other civil servants.

State Finance Minister Ahmed Assad said holding discussions with just the CSC would not lead to a solution, and that the involvement of a third party was needed.

The civil servants would be receiving the lowered salaries this month, he said. “The MCSA has a right to go to court and file a lawsuit if they have problems with the finance ministry.”

In addition, Assad claimed the CSC did not discuss the restoration of civil servants salary with the finance ministry.

”But they did asked us once: ‘is the country still in the state of a economic crisis?’, and we said ‘yes’,” Assad explained.

Governor of the MMA Fazeel Najeeb said the organisation would not outline its involvement in the arbitration process yet, but would speak to the press in several weeks.

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Fisherman remains lost at sea

A fisherman from Seenu Meedhoo who fell into the ocean on 21 January is still missing.

The coast guard’s search effort locate the man has been unsuccessful despite the authority covering 275 square miles by sea and 580 square miles in a Dornier aircraft.

Ahmed Faruhaad fell into the ocean near a fishing site at Seenu Vilingili. The MNDF have urged all vessels travelling the area to keep an eye out for Faruhaad.

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