Expatriate hospitalised after mugging

An Indian national was stabbed in the back and robbed of Rf10,000 (US$778) in cash by two men on a motorcycle at around 11:00am this morning near the Artificial Beach in Male’.

Local media reports that the Indian man, Augustin Raj Elias, was attacked in Henveiru Roashanee Magu while he was on his way back to the Plaza Textile shop where he is an employee.

An employee at the shop explained to newspaper Haveeru that the victim was returning from the bank after changing Rf500 notes, adding that the perpetrators must have tailed him from the bank.

The employee said that Raj had been taken to the operation theatre in the afternoon and his condition was improving.

Eyewitnesses meanwhile told local media that a security camera at the nearby PC World shop must have caught the incident.

While the number plates had been removed from the Yamaha motorcycle, eyewitnesses said, the two men had not covered their faces for the daylight robbery.

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Public Accounts Committee “destroying” economy: DRP MP

An amendment proposed by minority opposition People’s Alliance (PA) MP Ahmed Nazim to the Pension Act of 2009 allowing MPs to opt out of the retirement pension scheme is intended to “destroy the economy”, opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Abdullah Abdul Raheem claimed at parliament yesterday.

“At a juncture when the country is facing an economic tsunami and we’re trying to save ourselves [from it] this amendment has been proposed here today, by those in the Public Accounts Committee who know very well what the economy is, with the intention of destroying the economy,” said Abdul Raheem (pg 83).

Raheem added that MPs’ participation was needed to ensure the success of the fledgling pension system.

Deputy Speaker Nazim’s amendment, backed by most MPs of the ruling and opposition parties, would also allow the President, Vice-President and Justices of the Supreme Court to opt out of the retirement pension scheme.

Concluding the debate, Nazim, who also chairs the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), revealed that 34,000 government employees had already joined the pension scheme while an additional 25,000 private sector employees had submitted applications.

Nazim argued that exempting 86 persons would not affect the success of the scheme. The amendment will be put to a vote at the next sitting on Monday.

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Q&A: CEO of Bank of Maldives, Peter Horton

The Bank of Maldives (BML) has appointed British national Peter Horton to the position of CEO, replacing Ganesan Subramanyam who left the country in May 2010 amidst an internal investigation concerning allegations of sexual assault. Minivan News spoke to Horton about the challenges facing the bank, its strengths and opportunities such as developing the Maldives as an offshore banking destination for nearby emerging economies such as India.

JJ Robinson: What was it about your professional background that makes you suitable for the role?

Peter Horton: The very long story is that I’ve been in banking since 1984, spending the first 15 years in the UK with Barclays (one of the UK’s four major banks). I then moved out to Africa with Barclays operating initially as a risk director for the business, at the time the most profitable part of their business. That was in Botswana.

From there I ran Barclay’s corporate turnaround teams for the whole of Africa, so I have huge experience dealing with distressed portfolios and problem lending. I lived in Nairobi (in Kenya) for three and a half years.

Afterwards I spent time building my own company in South Africa, before going back into banking in the Bahamas with a subsidiary of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, where I was in charge of corporate banking. If there is any theme in my career it is one of building strong teams and re-engineering teams and businesses internally and externally. In many ways I’m probably more equipped for this role with BML than I first realised.

JJ: What were your reasons for accepting the BML role, how did it come about, and why did you decide to come to the Maldives?

PH: At this particular stage of my career I was looking for the right step in terms of progression and development. This is my first CEO role, although not my first leadership role.

It really fulfilled a number of my requirements. Here is a business with challenges facing it, and a CEO role with some degree of autonomy, and just happens to be in the Maldives. I was happy to come here – although I have limited experience of Asia, my wife is from Indonesia.

I am very hungry to develop myself and I wanted a challenge. I also know that at my age it’s important to advance your career properly, and I never hide from challenges or taking responsibility for my actions.

The bank was looking through many channels to recruit and the role came to me through an HR consultant I was working with in the UK. He recommended it and the rest is history.

JJ: Did you hear anything about the fate of your predecessor?

PH: It’s fair to say is that Google is a very powerrful tool and I’ve seen a lot of things, some of which might be true and some might not. Obviously on arriving here it was very important to understand the history of the business. Certainly I’ve taken time to understand some of the challenges the business has had to face in the last few years.

My predecessor did go some way towards making changes in the business, and I needed to understand where it was going to. I’ve spent the first two months learning the recent and distant past.

JJ: What do you see as the key challenges BML is facing?

PH: I think many [challenges] will dovetail ino each other. We have a very public and a very high non-performing loan problem. Whereever you are in the world, that is an impediment to any bank’s performance, and it has a carrying cost. It also creates a certain mood around the business internally and externally.

The economy we are operating in creates a challenge. We like any bank in the Maldives are restricted by the size of our balance sheet and in respect of having a single borrower limit, and also crediential industry limits. Knowing that the bulk of the industry here is tourism, but also having a limit up to which we are not able to lend any more to tourism, becomes a constraint and a challenge.

I think the other challenge we face is around service. I think this business grew very rapidly, not just the loan base but in terms of customers, especially if you look at what BML was 10 years ago.

That goes some way to explaining why we have such big queues in the banking hall. When I came out for my interview I took the time to walk around Male’ several times – and go in very incognito to see the BML branch. I have to experience what the customer experiences , and I don’t think that experience is what any of us want.

So for me a challenge is to create a great customer experience. That is a challenge: serving the segments we have chosen to serve, but acknowledging some aspects in which we have to do better. Some of that is service, some of that is embracing new technology, other looking is at our processes. The customer base often grows faster than processes.

Those are the key challenges: a challenging and relatively flat economy – we haven’t even touched on the dollar shortage – a high level of non-performing loans, concentration of activity in the economy which is at odds with what any bank has to have for a balanced portfolio, and personal service issues.

JJ: What are some of the ways you are planning to address these challenges?

PH: Without sidestepping the question, I am at the point where I am formulating a bigger strategy for the bank and it is only correct that I speak to the board and engage them first.

What I can say is that every single one of those issues we can address, and we can deal with. None of the challenges I’ve outlined daunt me. What I do not want to do is to rush into inappropriate quick fixes. I want this business to be successful in a very sustainable way.

We can talk about the challenges, but also focus on the upsides of the business and start to capitalise on them better than we have been.

JJ: What are some of key areas of potential for BML?

PH: Some of this is again part of the strategy. But as to the strengths: we already have some great innovation within BML. We issue credit cards, debit cards, and have invested substantially to be a card acquirer serving domestic and resort communities. We have unparalleled reach in this country. We are in every atoll and do our best to reach clients even if we don’t have a branch near them. It might not be the best in some respects, but we are trying.

We bank more parts of the sector in this country than any other bank, and we have some outstanding talent within our business.

JJ: One of the perceptions here is that despite the resorts being a major part of the economy and certainly moving a lot of money around, they tend bank outside the country – either because of concerns relating to the stability of the Maldivian economy, dollar issues, or because they already have a head office based overseas somewhere like Singapore or Thailand. Is there an issue attracting these businesses to bank locally?

PH: Every international business is going to to an international treasury function. I’ve seen it in Africa and the Caribbean. They will move funds around as it suits them best, and it isn’t necessarily negative towards the Maldives. [A company] in Sydney might have an offshore unit in Singapore for tax reasons because that suits them better.

If we were able to provide an offshore banking alternative, it is not inconceivable that the Maldives would attract some of that global flow of cash by having a favourable tax jurisdiction here. It is certainly a big plus.

I think that’s always what you are up against in terms of flow of cash. Ways we can attract more dollar flow to stay here is  probably by lending more dollars to make it stay here. If I am lending in dollars I am making a dollar profit – that dollar profit stays here because we don’t have dividends going outside the country. If we’re able to address the balance sheet and dollar contraints we have, that to me would be a way to increase the level of dollars that stay in the country.

Merchant services is one aspect – whilst the dollars might flow out of the country, we do make a profit on it – a profit I can lend, because my profits stay here. Beyond that it is very difficult to dictate to people where their cash should and shouldn’t be, and the decsions are largely dictated by people outside the country anyway, at least for the international groups.

JJ: What were some aspects of the Bahamas’ approach in making itself a favourable tax environment for attracting offshore banking, and are they things that can be applied in the Maldives?

BH: Some of it is historic [in the Bahamas], and that can be an advantage and a disadvantage. It is a disadvantage because you get very staid in your ways and you don’t move as quickly as you should. But the advantage is that you build up in your economy local and imported people who are experts in these areas. The legal and accountancy professions are very experienced in the industry and there are lots of local staff who are qualified trust professionals.

But some of the things that are a real advantage – a colossal advantage – is the Bahamas’ geographic proximity to the US mainland. But if you look at the world’s emerging economies, which are moving West to East, our proximity to India and to a lesser extent Sri Lanka, and with direct flights to most South-East Asian cities, should be a huge advantage for us.

The majority of offshore banking centres do rely on imported people and instiutions. They are truly migratory these days. We are in a global economy now where things move overnight, so if you were able to do the things to attract people, it is very, very doable.

The other thing is having sufficient protection around the business – having a strong regulator, a strong legal system, and probably some degree of monetary protection. If a private bank is bringing dollars into the country, there needs to be some degree of certainty that the dollars can sit in the country quite safely. A lot of the things are already here, and not many things need to be done. There is certainly quite a lot of sophistication in the Monetary Authority, certainly the Maldives’ geographic location is a huge plus, and you already have a tax regime which is friendly to anybody, more or less.

It is doable, but it shouldn’t be considered easy. You also have to decide on a specialisation – if you look at the Carribbean, jurisdictions tend to specialise in one area so you have to pick what horse you’re going to ride as well.

JJ: The ongoing dollar shortage is now among the top issues everyday people in the Maldives are facing. What is your impression of the origins of the dollar shortage, how it can be addressed, and do you agree with the government that it is an internal problem, or is else a product of outside factors?

PH: I’ve only been here for seven weeks so it is difficult to say. A reality of the economy is that we are importing so very much, and we have so few dollar generating industries. In very simple terms, any downturn in the economy incur losses in the economy when turnover drops below break-even level. That is where we are as an economy – our revenue in dollar terms, in terms of the imports we require, is lagging.

We need to look at ways of keeping dollars in the country as much as possible. You touched on the fact that a number of entitites are taking money out of the country – and are free to do so without exchange control. I think we also need to look at other ways of enhancing dollar revenues through fresh or new industries – and I would include financial services among those industries.

It is also an impact of the global [economic recession], and there are only so many things the Maldives’ economy can do. I know too little of the history of the dollar shortage to know the precise causes of it, but I agree that it is a real challenge facing the whole country right now.

JJ: One of the perennial issues is that most of the banks impose a quota on the amount of dollars they exchange for rufiya every day. Obtaining those dollars seems to be an issue of personal connections at whatever bank you happen to bank at – an issue of who you know. Do you forsee a situation where there will be a free-flow of dollars in the near future? Or do you think it will get worse before it gets better?

PH: I can’t really say if it will get worse before it gets better. I don’t see it [improving] in the short-term without some form of intervention, and correction of what is a difficult day-to-day problem for us. I think it may be as good as it gets right now, and it will be something more than today’s economy that will be required to correct the issue. It is hard to say – it is not going to get much better.

JJ: How does the dollar shortage affect the banks? The government is struggling with the problem and people are quick to blame “greedy banks hoarding dollars”.

PH: As all banks do we have an assets and liabilities committee and that is a sign of a bank very actively managing its balance sheet and its liquidity. As with every bank right now, you have a number of calls on your dollars. You have dollar committments yourself – you may have intermediary credit lines, commitments on credit card settlements you have to meet. If you are issuing credit cards to people using them overseas, that is a cash cost to me. We also have committments to try and help our customers as best we can.

However the inflows of dollars we have are really only in two areas – one is acquiring credit cards, so all the dollars from tourists using credit cards come through our accounts and might not stay with us, but we do make some fee income on those [transactions], and the second area is our lending. Hopefully what we earn on our loan is more than we lend once we settle our funding cost. It is a daily job managing that liquidity. We don’t have the luxury of not being able to monitor it closely.

[The dollar shortage] is very challenging for us because we see customer needs we are unable to fulfill, whether it be the guy trying to get money for medical treatment or the trader trying to buy goods from overseas, and we just can’t provide it because we haven’t enough money. We are credentially holding sufficient dollars to cover our short, medium and long-term commitments – which we have to, and which will be our first priority always. However after fulfilling that requirement we not hoarding any dollars – we are doing our best to satisty as many people as fairly as possible.

The challenge for us is that as a bank for the masses that is a very broad spectrum of people – we try to devise systems that are even-handed and fair, but it is difficult to satisfy everybody.

JJ: What kind of impact does it have on foreign investment when you go to a bank and find a withdrawal limit on your account, or a set exchange you can do in a day?

PH: A lot of the foreign investors will almost see their investment as being in a different country [to the Maldives], because you have a domestic economy and an international economy here. The resort business, which is substantially where the international investors are coming from, has clear dollar flows, and no restrictions on funds being repatriated.

Those companies can only speak from their own personal experience, and their own personal experience is probably that they’ve never had a problem getting money out of the country when they’ve needed to, after they’ve fulfulled their obligations.

I think for those without dollar inflows, it is a challenge. Anybody doing due diligence in the country is probably going to look at that as an issue. It is less of an issue if you are in a dollar-dominated business – I’ve spoken to resort owners who have a problem paying their workers because they are trying to get cash from the bank. You could argue that’s a separate matter, but for the bulk of international investors it’s probably not an issue.

If I was coming in to invest in something that wasn’t exclusively earning dollars, then I would have a problem because any investment you make is on the basis of a dividend coming to you. If you can’t repatriate money – through a dividend or a head-office charge – then the uncertainly would make it a consideration for you. Whether it’s a deterrent depends on the potential profit and competitive advantage, and that might be big enough to mitigate those issues. But it is undoubtedly an issue for incoming investors.

JJ: The MMA has been quietly replicating a successful mobile banking system popularised in Kenya by Safaricom’s M-Pesa. What is the status of mobile banking here and what kind of impact do you think it could have?

PH: The first thing about M-Pesa is that it is a cellphone company initiative – Safaricom – as opposed to what MMA is looking at here, which is a bank-led initiative.

JJ: Didn’t Safaricom effectively become a bank?

PH: Yes, but interestingly – and I havent reasearched it enough – they are taking deposits, but are not registered as a bank. The way they get around it is by converting deposits to ‘mobile currency’ which has a 1:1 value with the local currency. They buy and sell that currency at time of deposit and withdrawal – a highly successful model.

Yes the MMA have been engaging with BML, I have reviewed some of the material, but I’ve asked MMA to share more information with me. We already have a mobile banking option as part of a suite of electronic banking options that we offer to our clients. I think the sentiments and objectives of the MMA are first-class, which is to reach the unbanked, or partially banked. We have been doing that as BML – we have branches in the atolls, and we have a dhoni going around the islands – I suppose having a floating bank really is mobile banking!

I think the whole area of using techonlogy to break down barriers is exciting and appropriate, however within that there are solutions that are not appropriate and there solutions that are appropritate.

What we have to do is be careful and not rush in because something looks wonderful but is not right. At this stage we have to tread carefully to make sure it is right for customers primarily, and commercially right for the bank. We cannot enter into things that are substantially loss-making to us, or substantially wrong for us in terms of the risks it exposes us to. Equally we wish to the serve the customers, that is something we can achieve.

I’m very mindful of the difficulties some people have banking with us right now – or in having access to banking at all. I do want to bridge that, and that is a mandate that is implicitly BML’s. Once you are a bank to the masses you are a bank to the masses for life; you can’t go backwards from that.

We are genuinely proud of that, but it is important to look at how we can do it efficiently, with good serivce, and as a cost to business. It should always be profitable – we are not here to be a charity.

JJ: How much autonomy does BML and the CEO’s position have? How far are you able to operate independently of the MMA or the government?

PH: We have a very active board, and it is a board with plenty of experience in many different directions. The relationship between the board and its sub-committees are excellent, and I don’t want autonomy that doesn’t have that. We have a very strong corporate goverance structure and I think that comes out of the previous areas of criticism of the bank, which have since been corrected. They are robust and they work.

We work with the regulator, and I haven’t seen anything that would stop us working as a commercial entitity. We are commercially focused and operate as a commercial entity. I have not sensed any politics in my time so far, in terms of the business.

We know we’re regulated and have a generally good relationship with the regulator. I’ve met with officials and they are doing their job properly and professionally. I don’t feel constrained, but neither do I feel I can run off and do crazy bad things. Which is how it should be – we are properly regulated and governed.

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Under-aged girl arrested over alleged involvement in Basheer murder

An under-aged girl is being held in custody over suspicion of involvement in the murder earlier this month of Ahusan Basheer, police have said.

No further details were given regarding the female suspect other than that she is being held in custody over an alleged connection to the murder of Ahusan Basheer, 21, who was stabbed to death in the early hours of March 17 near Alikileygefaanu Magu, one of the main streets of the capital Male’.

Following a week-long manhunt, police arrested Ibrahim Shahum, 20, as the main suspect in the murder.  Shahum had recently been released by the Criminal Court after being kept in detention for six months on suspicion of stabbing a 17 year-old to death on July 30, 2010.

Head of the Maldive police Service’s Serious and Organized Crime Department (SOC) Abdul Nawaz confirmed that Ahusan’s murder case was still unresolved.

‘’We have only one under-aged person in connection to this case and the person is a female,’’ Nawaz said. ‘’We can’t provide further details of the case as it may compromise the investigation.’’

Special operations

Crime-Prevention Committee MeetingNawaz additionally claimed that special operations being conducted by police to curb gang violence in Male’ was working successfully.  He added that the intiative had led to the arrest of 155 people, the transfer of a further 21 suspects to house arrest and another 101 people being searched.  Additionally, 53 houses were checked and five vehicles were impounded.

Despite praising the initiatives, Nawaz appealed to the public to be more careful while carrying cash around the country, requesting those who need to transfer large amounts of money from one place to another to seek police assistance beforehand.

Meanwhile, the recently-formed National Crime Prevention Committee met members of the parliamentary security services committee yesterday to discuss immediate measures that could be taken to combat the rise in organised crime and gang-related violence.

As the required legislation would take longer to complete, the committee has reportedly decided to formulate regulations in collaboration with parliament to empower police to hold suspects in custody for longer periods.

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Inviligilator assisted students with Cambridge Maths Exam answer, alleges Police

The head of the police’s Property Crime Unit, Chief Inspector Mohamed Jamsheed, has claimed that an investigation into the conduct of a Cambridge Mathematics examination taken last year at a Shaviyani Atoll school concluded that an invigilator had assisted students with their papers.

The examination process at Milandhoo school was subjected to a police investigation after the University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) awarding body annulled the grades of mathematics students in the island.

”Most of the students have confessed that they copied with the help of this invigilator, who told them the answer for the last question in the paper,” said Jamsheed.

The answer given to the question by all students in the Milandhoo School Hall was consistent but wrong, which made the  CIE markers raise concern.

One person from the island whose name cannot be yet disclosed was arrested and is still in pre-trial detention, said Jamsheed adding that some of the students in the island had denied the allegations of copying.

Three exam monitors at Milandhoo School were suspended after the issue was handed over to police.

A student who sat for the examinations told local newspaper Haveeru that the students “were tricked as someone changed the contents of the papers [after completion].”

Milandhoo school was ranked second in the Maldives last year in terms of the strength of its O’Level exam results.

Deputy Education Minister Dr Abdulla Nazeer said earlier this week that the affected students were expected to be able to resit “the next available exam”.  “I don’t think there are any restrictions,” he said.

Nazeer added that the Education Ministry had pledged to investigate the matter “as thoroughly as possible”, and take action if malpractice was identified.

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Maldives invites royal wedding couple to honeymoon in the sun

Tourism authorities in the Maldives have sent an official invitation to Britain’s Prince William and his future wife Kate Middleton to travel to the Maldives for their honeymoon following the royal wedding, scheduled for April 29.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Naseem confirmed a formal invitation had been sent to British authorities, and that the Ministry was awaiting a response to the offer.

State Tourism Minister Thoyyib Waheed told Minivan News that the invite was sent through diplomatic channels in the hopes that the high-profile royal couple would opt to honeymoon in the country,  an offer he claimed  would be “a great honour for the Maldives” and its international reputation if accepted.

“It is a dream for any destination to be considered as a venue [for the royal honeymoon],” he said.  “With this invite, we hope there is a possibility it may happen.”

Bookkeepers in the UK are offering odds of 14:1 that the couple will choose the Maldives as their honeymoon destination, with other contenders including Sicily, The Seychelles, Kenya, Bermuda, and even Australia.

The wedding of Prince William, who is second in line to the British throne, has drawn massive levels of press coverage since the forthcoming nuptials of the country’s potential future king and his girlfriend were announced in November 2010.

Since that announcement, a wealth of companies, organisations and media outlets have moved to associate themselves with the huge international interest in what may become one of the year’s most viewed events.  From speculation over final designs for the wedding cake and bridal dress to the quality of commemorative crockery, all have become major headlines in the run up to event in the UK press.

The ceremony itself will take place at London’s Westminster Abbey on April 29. The UK government has declared the day a public holiday in honour of the royal couple.

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Violent extremism “urgent challenge” in South Asia, says US Admiral Willard

Violent extremism is among the most pervasive and urgent challenges in South Asia, US Pacific Command Commander (USPACOM) Admiral Robert Willard has told the US Congress’s Armed Forces Committee.

“Violent extremism is associated with a wide-range of activities, which include supporting insurgencies that seek political autonomy and fomenting conflict between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan as a means of spreading radical Islamic ideology,” Zeenews reported Admiral Willard as saying.

The US was endeavouring to work with Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives and India to particularly contain Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani-based extremist organisation responsible for the attacks on Mumbai.

“LeT involvement in the November 2008 attacks on Mumbai, India, validates India’s concerns regarding terrorist threats originating from outside India. Significantly, LeT deliberately targets westerners and specifically engages coalition forces in Afghanistan,” Willard said.

“Consequently, USPACOM continues to expand its relationships with host-nation militaries and CT agencies to increase regional capacities to counter this threat,” Willard said.

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Political parties to decide amendments to Privileges Bill

Political parties represented in parliament will discuss amendments to the controversial MPs’ Privileges Bill vetoed by President Mohamed Nasheed in January, MP Riyaz Rasheed told press yesterday.

Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) MP Riyaz, chair of the committee reviewing the vetoed legislation, explained that representatives from the main parties would meet to discuss the 14 points noted by the President before agreeing upon possible amendments.

At yesterday’s press conference at parliament, Maamigili MP Gasim Ibrahim, a member of the committee, insisted that none of the contested provisions in the bill were unconstitutional.

Gasim said that the legislation was framed after considering privileges afforded to MPs in other counties of the International Parliamentary Union (IPU).

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“Very bad” time for Maldivian youth: Parties talk crime, activism and opportunity

Ahead of an election contesting the first presidency for the Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) youth arm later this month, standing candidates and opposition politicians claim the country is at a critical juncture to ensure its largest demographic is not denied a voice and role a within national development.

The MDP is trying to attract a sizable youth vote in the next election, and has mimicked the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) by establishing a Youth Wing to outline policies and opinion from the perspective of younger voters. Serving opposition party youth representatives claim that the country’s twenty-somethings are keen supporters of hard line measures to offset fears of gang culture and its perceived prominence among their peers.

Alongside the upcoming elections for MDP President scheduled for April 30, members will also be given a vote for selecting a candidate to represent young people in the party.

The candidates include Hussain Waheed, serving councilor for Medhu Henveiru Lufshan Shakeeb in Male’, and former Minivan News journalist now working in the President’s Office,  Aminath Shauna.

According to Shauna, statistics show that the largest age group in the Maldives is represented by 20 to 24 years of age, followed closely by citizens aged between 25 to 29 years. Despite this apparent numerical prominence, she believes that for over 30 years there have been a scarce number of programmes to prepare young people of working age to responsibly lead initiatives or to take part in higher education beyond a minority of people, setting back the role of young people in the Maldives democratic transition.

For MP Ahmed Malouf, who is responsible for the Youth Wing for the opposition DRP, the appointment comes at a “very bad” period of time for young Maldivians, particularly in relation to gang violence and crime.

The DRP MP told Minivan News that after having previously spent nine years in the Ministry of Youth, he believed that long-standing gang violence between young people in the country had further intensified of late, creating an environment that have made the streets of Male’ unsafe for both local people and foreigners at night.

Mahloof said that having spoken and met with a wide sway of young people from across Maldivian society, the issue of gang violence had arisen as a foremost challenge to his work as Youth Wing head for the DRP.

“We need to find a way to save young people and give them a way out of this [gang] lifestyle,” he said. “Often they become trapped and are unable to get out even if they want to.”

As part of his attempts to appeal to young voters, Mahlouf said he has pressed ahead with promoting tighter legislation. This legislation includes an amendment sent to parliament last month to alter the age by which young people were recognised by the law as an adult to 16, as opposed to the current age of 18.

The MP has claimed the amendments, which have attracted criticism from some human rights bodies, were designed to try and reduce youth crime by ensuring young people suspected of engaging in serious crimes would be treated as adults and face full responsibility for their actions.

”The purpose of changing the age is due to the significant increase in the involvement of minors in crimes sinister in nature, and they cannot be sentenced to the full extent as they are considered minors,” said Mahlouf after announcing his proposed amendments. ”Although they are considered as minors, they are sometimes very dangerous.”

In addition, Mahlouf said he has also forwarded amendments to the Act on the Prohibition of Gang Violence to the Majlis in an attempt to remove the right for suspects linked to police investigations into gang violence to remain silent and for release from custody, providing judges with the power to enforce such restrictions.

To try and finalise these aims, the DRP Youth Wing head claimed that he did not wish to politicise the need to address gang issues and was calling on Maldivians to pressurise all parliamentarians – regardless of party – to pass pending legislation relating to crime needed to curb what he believed was a worsening gang situation.

Mahlouf claimed that having consulted with young artists, including local musicians, he was aware there were also issues of a lack of alternative amenities and youth centres available for young people to engage in nationally.

“From what I have seen things are going backward here. Young people I have spoken to, including musicians in rock bands, say they are fed up,” he said. “Services aren’t being delivered and gang violence is at a very high level, we need to talk with them and find solutions.”

Although critical of the role that the Ministry of Human Resources, Youth and Sports was playing in trying to overcome these alleged concerns, Mahlouf conceded that government and parliament alone could not shoulder the responsibility to overcome gang problems, claiming parents and families also needed to take responsibility and a role.

From an MDP perspective, Shauna claimed that she believed the party, through activism and campaigning, had been a vital part of bringing young people into national politics through democratic reform over the last few years. However, she conceded that the sufficient challenges facing young people in the Maldives had meant it was now vital to address the difficulties beyond partisan political thinking.

“The time is now to act. We have to put pressure on the government. We have to put pressure on political parties, on the MDP, the National Council and everyone to help us develop a youth programme to make us better people and a part of the whole [national] development process,” she said. “We have to provide opportunities and make sure there are things besides going to work and drinking cups of coffee everyday. What I mean specifically is that we have to have entertainment opportunities as well as jobs.”

“Desperately needed”

Shauna claimed that rather than being seen as a token position within the party, the MDP Youth president was “desperately needed” to play a vital role in outlining policies for young voters that directly affect their future – something she believed was currently missing from the party.

“Over 50 percent of the MDP’s membership is under the age of 35, so we cannot move forward without their opinions, without their input and without really developing people of our age,” she said.

“The few people who make decisions are older and they are not the majority of the country. This is alright, but then again you have the middle management sector who are not very prepared to do what is needed right now,” Shauna added. “There is so much work to do in terms of nation building and state building to do. Yet the majority of the civil service are saying that they have just barely finished high school. This is the kind of environment that we are having to develop from. It is a hard thing to do and a lot of the time, younger people are only doing simple things, administrative things, like drafting letters, that is it.”

At present, Shauna claimed that even in politics, the involvement of young people was generally consigned to putting up posters and going out on the streets, while there remained an apparent lack of activism and representatives responsibly speaking out about the needs of their peers in relation to developing democracy and human rights.

“Very few young people have been trained or have been given the tools to achieve these things,” she said.”I think it’s imperative that we have a voice and a group that advocates for training, scholarships and entertainment opportunities. Unfortunately the only thing that is discussed about youth is the violence and the drugs and crime.”

Shauna’s fellow MDP Youth Wing candidates, Hussain Waheed and Lufshan Shakeeb, were contacted to outline their positions but had not responded to Minivan News at time of press.

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