Day: November 10, 2010

Government reportedly terminates Apollo-IGMH deal

The deal between the Maldives government and Apollo Hospitals to manage Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) has fallen through, local media reported Health Minister Dr Aminath Jameel as saying on Tuesday.

“We had to terminate the agreement because they [Apollo] were unable to meet the terms and conditions stated in the agreement. Every agreement specifies deadlines to settle certain matters,” Dr Jameel reportedly said.

“We have also informed them [Apollo] that the agreement has been terminated.”

Senior staff at the Health Ministry and Chair of the Privatisation committee Mahmoud Razee told Minivan News they had not been informed of the deal’s collapse and had only heard media reports. Minivan News contacted Dr Jameel but she was unable to confirm the reports as she was “travelling in the islands.”

The government reportedly terminated the agreement with Apollo after the Indian hospital giant was unable to invest the agreed amount to develop the hospital.

Apollo had estimated that it would cost US$25 million to bring the hospital up to global standards. The group also revealed intentions to make 80 percent 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.

Apollo planned to offer orthopedics, cardiology, gastro, neurology, acute care and trauma specialities in the first phase of the privatisation deal, as well as set up and operate a cardiology unit within the year, the Health Ministry stated when the deal was first announced in January.

CEO of IGMH Zubair Mohamed was not responding to calls at time of press, but expressed concern when the deal stalled in July, stating that uncertainly over the arrangement was making “little investments” more difficult.

“Apollo is an expert group and would bring a lot of benefits to the people,” he told Minivan News at the time. “They have the capacity to raise existing standards. But even if they do not come we will continue trying to improve services.”

However the agreement stalled after the private healthcare giant failed to submit a required operational management agreement by the July 2010 deadline. Both parties were required to cement the deal and sign the 12 year management agreement by the end of July.

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Maldivian women seldom seen by tourists: BBC Women’s Hour

Maldivian women are seldom seen by visitors to the Maldives, High Commissioner of the Maldives to the UK Dr Farahanaz Faizal has told BBC Radio 4, for the station’s ‘Women’s Hour’ program.

Dr Faizal and Olympic rower Guin Batten – who recently set a record for the ‘zero degree’ crossing in the Maldives and is trying to reintroduce rowing to the country – were interviewed yesterday by journalist Jane Garvey.

Dr Faizal explained that since the introduction of tourism to the Maldives, women tended to stay on their home islands to look after their families while the men went away to work on the resorts: “There is also little in the way of commuting on the islands so it’s not easy to travel to resorts to work on a daily basis. This has meant that women no longer have the economic empowerment they used to have,” she said.

Reiterating her comment last week in the UK House of Parliament that religious extremism was “among the greatest threats to democracy in the Maldives”, Dr Faizal suggested that the rise of extremism in the Maldives was attributable to people being allowed to vocalise their views more in the new liberal democracy, “whereas in the previous autocratic regime – who were by no means radical, they were quite liberal actually – they were simply locked up.”

Garvey raised the issue of the flogging of a young girl for adultery in the Maldives in 2009 and asked whether this was still occurring in the Maldives.

“No not really,” Dr Faisal said. “The penal code hasnt changed for decades, and a new penal code is in the process of being revised. The judges applied the old penal code that does include some sharia punishments.”

“What was more horrifying was that although the girl got flogged, the man got away ‘scott free’. If there are penalties against people for this sort of thing then they must be treated equally and there is no excuse when we now have DNA testing. After I raised this issue in the Maldives they (the radicals) called for my head.”

The Maldives, Dr Faizal said, had historically been “a very forward-looking Muslim country: we’ve had queens and female football commentators, I don’t think even Premier League can beat that.”

Dr Faizal noted that former Attorney General Husnu Suood had expressed concern that radicals had been calling for female genital mutilation in the Maldives, and telling people to avoid vaccinations as they contained alcohol. “Although this a small minority it is growing and we have to tackle this now.”

Garvey also interviewed Batten, former schoolfriend of President Mohamed Nasheed and Sports Coordinator for UK-based NGO Friends of Maldives, who explained that she had been inspired to bring rowing back to the Maldives after seeing a picture of a Maldivian boy rowing a home-made raft.

“Rowing is a very popular sport for girls around the world especially in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Rowing was [historically] used in the Maldives as a method of transport,” she explained.

Dr Faizal noted that rowing competitions used to be held in the Maldives, and that the challenge was being taken up by the local community and not imposed upon them.

The Rowing Association of Maldives, based in Addu Atoll, this week became the 131st member of the International Rowing Federation (FISA).

Batten and Dr Faizal spoke to BBC Radio 4’s Women’s Hour program November 9 2010. Listen to the podcast.

Correction: An earlier version of this report quoted Dr Faizal as saying the Maldives had a new penal code. She actually stated that the new code was being revised.

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Quran teacher arrested inside room with 13 year old girl

A Quran teacher on Filladhoo in Haa Alifu Atoll has been arrested after he was discovered inside a room with a 13 year old girl.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed that the teacher was arrested on Monday night and was in police custody.

A Filladhoo islander told Minivan News that the teacher was a temporary Islam and Quran teacher who had been working at Filladhoo school for two months.

‘’He is 19 years old and the 13 year-old girl was his girlfriend,’’ the islander alleged. “They were inside a room in the girl’s grandmother’s house when the police arrested him.’’

The islander claimed the girl’s parents were aware of their relationship and noted that such things were “quite common on the island.’’

The teacher had been reported to police by some boys on the island who had a grudge against him, the islander claimed.

A total of 198 arrests were made for child abuse cases from the beginning of the year to the end of September 2010.

The crime of child abuse is most common in Male’. More than 16 percent of girls in Male’ under the age of fifteen are sexually abused, four percent higher than the national average.

The national average stands at 12 percent – of every 100 Maldivian girls under the age of fifteen, twelve are sexually abused. Most perpetrators of the crime, according to a 2007 Gender Ministry report on women’s health and well-being, are male family members of the children.

The second most common perpetrators are male acquaintances of the family, neighbours, teachers or religious leaders.

Three men from Filladhoo were arrested recently for allegedly using spy cameras to filming videos young girls showering.

According to the islander, the three men admitted they committed the crime but have since been released by the court.

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Thai hotel group to take over Herathera

Thai hotel group ONYX Hospitality have been appointed managers of the Herathera Island Resort by the Maldives Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC).

ONYX will take over operation of the 273 villa resort property in Addu Atoll from December 2010.

In February 2010 the MTDC paid US$3.5 million to end a long-running court dispute with former management of Herathera, Yacht Tours, after the company stopped paying rent and claimed the MTDC had failed to fulfil a contractual obligation to build a channel between the resort and the adjoining island of Hulhudhoo.

The MTDC said at the time it was searching for an “experienced and capable party”, with a minimum of five years experience running a luxury hotel of over 300 beds.

It also said the successful bidder would be required to pay a US$7-10 million non-refundable deposit “to ensure the company is capable of managing the resort.”

Facilities at Herathera Island Resort include three swimming pools, a range of restaurants and bars, a spa and dive centre. The resort will undergo significant upgrades in 2011, ONYX said, including enhancements to the beach and villas as well as the addition of numerous sports and children’s facilities.

“We are thrilled that our first international management agreement is in such a renowned tourist destination as the Maldives,” said Peter Henley, CEO of ONYX Hospitality Group, adding, “we look forward to working closely with MTDC on a range of exciting improvements so that this wonderful resort will be able to showcase its full potential.”

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