Day: January 27, 2010

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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Maldives to ease trade barriers with India

The government will ease trade barriers with India to promote trade between the two countries and accelerate foreign investment. Foreign Minister Ahmed Shaheed is currently leading a delegation in India to facilitate trade.

Indian financial newspaper Business Standard claimed Indian companies, including Tata, Suzlon, GMR, Apollo Hospitals and Oberoi, could invest as much as US$1 billion in the Maldives and significantly boost the country’s economy.

The Standard also reported that the Maldives foreign ministry will increase the leasing periods for resort development to 50 years and reduce the base rent in a bid to promote foreign investment in the hospitality sector.

Ahmed Naseem, state minister for foreign affairs said “many items that are traded between countries in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) will have tariffs eased on them, and this will make trade between the countries easier.”

Indian High Commissioner to the Maldives, Dnyaneshwar Mulay, said such a move would benefit the Maldivian economy.

“The lower tariffs will make exports and imports cheaper and make the market more competitive,” he said, adding that such a deal would also encourage the Maldives to increase its own exports.

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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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Maumoon leaves on ‘official trip’ to India

Former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has today left for New Dheli, India on an ‘official trip’, according to a press release from the former president’s office.

Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) vice president Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, who has put himself forward as a candidate for the DRP leadership after Gayoom’s departure, is accompanying.

During this trip Maumoon will meet Indian Prime Minister Dr Mammauhan Singh and other senior government officials.

Thasmeen also announced the DRP would be offering Maumoon an honorary position at the party’s national congress in February.

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Five hundred homes is short of 10,000 promised, claims DQP

Minister for Housing and Transport Mohamed Aslam has announced the government will sign for the construction of 500 homes next month, after early agreements with an Indian contractor.

However the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) claimed the government had promised to build 10,000 housing units across the Maldives before the end of 2009, including 900 flats in Hulhumale, and called for Aslam’s resignation over the delay.

Housing was one of the five key elements in the Maldivian Democratic Party’s election manifesto.

Secretary general of the DQP Abdulla Ameen accused the government of promising “wonderful dreams” it was unable to fulfil.

”It felt like he was going to build the [10,000] flats on spot,” Ameen said. “President Nasheed may build [a few] flats, but he is ignoring his pledge to build many more housing units.”

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing and Transport Ali Waheed said that the construction projects had slowed because the country’s financial condition.

“We cannot complete such big projects as soon as we close our eyes and open them,” he said, and noted that the minister “does not have to resign when [DQP president] Hassan Saeed says so.”

He reiterated that the government would fulfil its pledges within its term of power.

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SAFF games might not be broadcast

The SAFF games, which start on Friday in Bangladesh, may not be broadcasted in the Maldives.

According to Haveeru, a TVM official claimed the station was trying to broadcast the games, but were having communication difficulties with their Bangladeshi counterparts.

TVM broadcast the recent SAFF championhip because a company named Singapore World Sports Group had the license to broadcast the event, and had an agreement with TVM.

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Transport regulations published

Four public transportation regulations and regulations were published yesterday in the government’s Gazette by the Ministry of Housing, Transport and Environment.

Transport rules published included motor vehicle driving license regulation, motor vehicles speed limit regulation, exempted vehicles regulation and public transport ferries regulation.

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Evnoy for science meets science society

Maldives Envoy for Science and Technology Ahmed Shafeeq Ibrahim Moosa yesterday met with President of the Maldives Science Society (MSS) Mohamed Ijaz and Secretary General Amal Shaheed.

Moosa said it was important to have small scale grassroots movements to achieving important outcomes for the development of the nation.

The MSS could contribute to the government’s plans to make the Maldives the first carbon neutral country in the world, he suggested, and urged the organisation to work to make the public more aware of green technologies and environmentally friendly ways of living.

The two parties also discussed ways of providing government support and assistance for the MSS’s activities.

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Cardiologist now working at IGMH

The first cardiologist in the Maldives has begun work at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).

According to Miadhu, Dr Ali Shafeeq had previously worked at IGMH and received his specialised medical studies at India’s Sri Chitra institute of medical science.

The cardiology unit at IGMH has been closed for a while now, Miadhu reported.

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