Parliament called to arbitrate civil servant pay dispute

The ministry of finance has asked parliament and the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) to arbitrate a dispute between the ministry and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) over the restoration of civil servants’ salaries.

Parliament has been asked to act as a mediator as the ministry “does not believe a satisfactory solution can be found through discussions with the commission”.

Until the dispute is resolved, “employees will receive the salary that was reduced due to the economic circumstances,” the finance ministry’s statement said.

The CSC meanwhile criticised the ministry for a lack of communication and unwillingness to meet for discussions.

“They could ask us to sit down and discuss this tomorrow morning and we would be there,” said CSC member Mohamed Fahmy Hassan.

“We’ve sent many letters and made many requests for them to submit information but they have not submitted it to us,” he said.

The CSC was not opposed to the involvement of third parties such as the MMA, he said, but having another government institution like the MMA acting as a go-between “sounds a bit odd.”

“We can discuss the issue with MMA or the People’s Majlis, but there’s going to be no decision made without the involvement of the finance ministry.”

Parliament broke for recess in December and will begin its first session of the year in March.

Waiting game

On 30 December, the CSC issued a circular announcing that civil servants’ salaries and allowances had been restored to their former levels.

Since it was agreed that the pay cuts will be rescinded once government revenue exceeds Rf7 billion, the CSC argued, the salaries would have been “automatically reversed” when parliament approved this year’s budget with a revenue of over Rf7 billion.

However the finance ministry’s statement criticised the commission for the announcement as it came after the ministry had declared that the economic circumstances had not changed.

“And while it did not consult with the ministry, the fact that the Civil Service Commission did not seek the advice and counsel of the Maldives Monetary Authority, the most appropriate independent institution to approach before making such a decision, is regrettable,” it said.

No deal

The pay cuts of up to 20 per cent for civil servants were made necessary due to a fall in government income and an increase in expenditure, the ministry claimed.

In August, the government introduced a raft of austerity measures – including cutting back on travel, controlling capital items purchases, halting renovation and repairs unless necessary and pay cuts of 20 per cent for political appointees ranked higher than deputy minister to alleviate the inherited budget deficit.

Recurrent expenditure on salaries and allowances for government employees was 34 per cent of total expenditure in 2008, a 62 per cent increase from the previous year.

The International Monetary Fund [IMF] has noted that this puts the Maldives in first place among small island nations for the highest expenditure on government employees as a percentage of GDP.

Pay cuts for civil servants were enforced in October following protracted negotiations with the CSC.

The commission exercised clause 43[c] of its Act, which authorise it to alter salaries based on “special economic circumstances” subject to a review in three months.

“The measure proposed by this ministry to determine the special circumstances was the state’s income and expenditure,” the ministry’s statement read. “It was therefore agreed that the economic circumstances would be considered to have passed once the state’s annual income exceeds Rf7 billion, while it was also agreed that the state’s total income does not include foreign aid once-off revenue.”

It further added that the pay cuts were not made for a three-month period, but would be subject to a review to determine if the economic circumstances had changed.

The inclusion of foreign aid in the government’s budget is a particular point of contention, as it pushes the total revenue over Rf7 billion. Actual government revenue excluding foreign aid and once-off revenue was projected to be Rf6.8 billion in the budget.

“We understood it was the total revenue of the government. The ministry’s press release on 25 September said they were not going to exclude anything. This issue needs to be resolved,” said Fahmy.

Special circumstances would be considered to have improved when the state’s “recurring income” reaches Rf7 billion, the ministry said, and “not when it is estimated that Rf7 billion will be received in income.”

Scaring off donors

The opposition-dominated committee selected to review the budget made a recommendation to inject Rf617 million to restore civil servants’ salaries as the proposed budget had Rf7.05 billion in revenue.

While the original budget submitted to parliament had a deficit of 14.8 per cent and was acceptable to the IMF, the alternations made by parliament increased it to 18.8 per cent.

The ministry now estimates the deficit by the end of the year will exceed 18.8 per cent as the government will lose Rf150 million in revenue due to parliament’s failure to pass taxation legislation.

Increasing expenditure at the beginning of the year based on projected revenue was “not sensible at all”, the ministry insisted.

There were four ways the government could plug the deficit – printing money, financial assistance from international monetary organizations, obtaining commercial loans and devaluing the rufiyaa – all of which would have adverse effects of the economy.

Printing money would lead to inflation and a dollar shortage, taking commercial loans would make it harder for the private sector to secure loans and devaluing the currency would increase inflation and the price of imports.

Instead, the ministry reached agreements with the IMF, World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to obtain loans to plug the deficit.

However hiking salaries for government employees without increasing the revenue base was not “a sustainable fiscal or monetary policy”, and these international organisations have since informed the government that they are reconsidering the loans, the ministry’s statement said.

If the Maldives does not have an economic framework that is acceptable to the IMF, it continues, it would not be possible to obtain assistance or loans from other financial institutions.

Apart from potentially losing Rf755 million in assistance from the World Bank and ADB, the donor forum organised by the World Bank and scheduled for March could be canceled.

“Therefore, the ministry believes reducing expenditure is the wisest and most economically sensible way,” it said, adding that expenditure on wages had to be kept low until the economy rebounds.

Fahmy said the CSC was willing to negotiate and wished to meet the finance ministry “to hear their views on the economic circumstances.”

“We have always said that if there is a national crisis we will put the national interest above the interest of civil servants,” he said.

“But it is difficult to justify that to 29,000 civil servants if the government is spending on all the other items in the budget.”

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MNC gathering international lawyers to pursue Gayoom in court

The Maldives National Congress (MNC) today claimed it was gathering a group of lawyers with the intention of bringing former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom before court, over allegations of human rights abuses under his administration.

President of the MNC Mohamed Naeem claimed Gayoom had killed “many innocent people” during his 30 years as president of the Maldives.

Furthermore, Naeem alleged that when MDP candidate Mohamed Nasheed became president, “there was nothing left of the government’s money.”

“Otherwise, today Maldivians would be living very happily,” Naeem said.

The MNC’s legal team would include lawyers brought from abroad, he added.

Gayoom’s spokesman Mohamed Hussain ‘Mundhu’ Shareef replied that “even if the MNC brings in lawyers from space, they cannot charge Maumoon for something he did not commit.”

Mundhu further added that Gayoom intended to file a lawsuit against Naeem for spreading “untrue stories” about the former president.

“We don’t consider the MNC a political party,” Mundhu said. “They have no supporters. I can say this because I have never met a member of that party from any part of the Maldives.”

The MNC also demanded that Gayoom “must not receive a single penny from the Maldivian government.”

Opposition party DRP spokesperson Ibrahim Shareef responded that if President Nasheed was receiving his monthly salary, Gayoom should receive his allowance for being former president of the Maldives.

Shareef added the MNC “did not know what were speaking about” and that they “had gone crazy.”

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Lack of local cardiologists forces NGO to fly in doctors

Maldivian infants with suspected congenital heart defects (CHD) are being flown to India for corrective surgery because of the lack of a pediatric cardiologist at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).

In one Indian hospital alone, over a two year period 40 Maldivian babies have undergone surgery for CHD claimed Maldives NGO ‘Tiny Hearts Maldives’, which is advocating early screening within the country.

Heart defects are a leading cause of infant mortality, obstructing or constricting blood flow in the heart and blood vessels or affecting the heart’s rhythm.

Early detection is possible through an echocardiogram however while IGMH owns an echocardiogram machine, the lack of a trained cardiologist has left it unused.

In response, THM is bringing two cardiologists to the Maldives from India who will be running a three day screening camp for pregnant women from 9-11 February.

While the camp is being held to screen unborn babies for congenital heart defects, particularly women who are between 18-24 weeks pregnant, “there is also the possibility for adults with heart conditions to come along and have a check up,” said Fathmath Hishmath Faiz, one of THM’s founding members.

On the first two days of the camp the doctors will be screening around 15 women a day each. The final day involves an awareness program on CHD.

THM have held a previous screening camp on 12 September 2009.

Hishmath said “We screened 12 babies during our first camp, but it was not as many as we would have liked because they were the only the cases we already knew about.

“The main focus of this camp is to find more cases of CHD,” she said, but added that it was also important “to create more awareness about this condition.”

Tiny Hearts

THM was officially launched on 23 September 2009, as an NGO to promote awareness about CHD.

According to www.congenitalheartdefects.com, CHD is one of the most common forms of birth defects and is responsible for more deaths in the first year of life than any other birth defects.

THM has a 24-hour hotline (7745173) for any inquiries regarding CHD.

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Democracy House NGO inaugrated

A  non-partisan organisation called ‘Democracy House’ was inaugurated last night at the social centre, with the objective of “working to ensure that all Maldivian citizens enjoy the rights provided to them in the Maldivian constitution”.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, chief guest Mohamed Waheed-Deen claimed bringing democracy to a country “is nothing difficult.”

“Finally democracy has come to the Maldives. But to keep it going this way will be the real challenge,” he said.

Many people did “not understand” democracy and making them more aware was the “most important thing”, he added.

“We see one political party fighting with the other and saying: ‘this is democracy’. We want to make people aware of real democracy,” he said.

Waheed said many of people in the Maldives have had their rights abused, “and the pain of it will remain for a long period of time.”

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Fight between coworkers ends with man hit by log

A man was hit with a log during a fight between a group of expatriate workers on the island of Kela in Haa Dhaalu atoll early this morning.

Police said a squad was sent to investigate a disturbance caused by four Bangladeshi men, who were working together.

Three of the men were arrested, while the injured man was taken to the local health centre for medical treatment.

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President to address World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi

President Mohamed Nasheed will shortly visit Abu Dhabi to address the World Future Energy Summit, a gathering of industry leaders, investors, scientists, specialists, policymakers and researchers.

The summit delegates will discuss the challenges of rising energy demand and possible actions to achieve a cleaner and more sustainable future for the world.

During his visit to Abu Dhabi, Nasheed will also meet the President of Greece, the Malaysian Prime Minister and the President of the United Arab Emirates.

After the event he will visit Mumbai to speak at the Global Economic Summit on Trade and Investment, and Chennai where he will chair an investment event focused on the Maldives.

The president will also visit Bahrain to meet with senior government officials and businesses.

At a press conference before his departure, Nasheed said he hoped the visits would open more opportunities for investment and assistance for the Maldives.

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Crane collapses on house

A crane working on the construction of Machangoalhi Cocoage in Male collapsed yesterday evening.

The accident happened yesterday evening around 5:08 pm, when the crane fell onto neighbouring the neighbouring building, Machangoalhi Faransaage.

With the assistance of two more cranes, the collapsed crane was lifted at around 12:28 am. MNDF fire and rescue worked with the police and several construction companies to carry out the salvage operation.

Faransaage sustained some damage and the residents have now been moved into a guesthouse.

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Anchor pierces man

A man has been seriously injured while attempting to moore and anchor a fishing vessel.

Haaroon Ibrahim of Faafu Dharaboodhoo, Banafsaage was injured while he was trying to anchor the vessel ‘Rahmathulla’ in the Baa Goidhoo lagoon around 6:00 pm last night.

According to police the 55 year-old became tangled in the rope of the vessel’s second anchor and which pierced him in the left side of his body.

Police have not yet released any more information on his condition.

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Fuel sellers cheating customers, says Fuel Association

“Almost every” fuel seller in the Maldives is taking advantage of lax certification to cheat their customers by using inaccurate meters, the President of the Fuel Association of the Maldives has claimed.

Mohamed Rasheed accused the trade ministry of failing to certify petrol station meters and allowing the industry to take advantage of consumers for more than 30 years.

The trade ministry retaliated by saying it was impossible for them to check every fuel meter in the Maldives, and blamed the fuel suppliers for failing to inform the trade ministry the meters were uncertified.

Rasheed criticised the trade ministry for being “irresponsible”, claiming that the problem was a big drain on money for both consumers and the Maldivian government.

Chairman of Fisherman Union Ibrahim Umar said the organisations had received many complaint from fishermen that the fuel sellers are “cheating” them by showing them inaccurate measurements from uncertified meters.

Umar claimed that sometimes the fuel sellers “take half a barrel by showing the consumers the wrong meter.”

At a press confernce today, Rasheed called on the trade ministry to approve a law that every fuel station in the Maldives must be certified by the ministry.

Director of the Trade Ministry Solih Hussein said “if the fuel sellers inform us today [they have an uncertified meter] we will put on the seal by tomorrow morning.”

Furthermore, Solih accused the Fuel Association Of Maldives of contradicting its own rules and regulations by exposing its own members to accusations of impropriety by their consumers.

“The Fishermens’ Union can now file a lawsuit against the Fuel Association of Maldives, as they have been selling fuel without certifying their meters, while many of consumers remain unaware of this certification,’ Solih said.

He calls on every consumer in the Maldives not to buy anything measured using a uncertified meter “whether it’s fuel, rice or vegetables.”

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