Tag: maldives news

ACC approaches Finance Committee over Nexbis system

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has told Parliament’s Finance Committee that the deal with Malaysian mobile security provider Nexbis will cost the Maldives MVR 2.5 billion (US$162 million) in potential lost revenue over the lifetime of the contract.

The border control system is now up and running at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA), after a Supreme Court ruling in early September favouring Nexbis ended almost two years of efforts by the ACC to block the project.

Under the ‘build operate and transfer’ (BOT) agreement with Nexbis, the government is obliged to pay Nexbis US$2 for every foreign passenger processed and US$15 for every work permit for the 20 year lifespan of the contract. Nexbis remains responsible for the upgrading, servicing and administration of the system.

Former Immigration Controller Abdulla Shahid has expressed concern over both the cost and necessity of the project, calculating that with continued growth in tourist numbers Nexbis would be earning US$200 million in revenue over the 20 year lifespan of the agreement.

At five percent, royalties to the government would come to US$10 million, Shahid said, when there was little reason for the government not be earning the revenue itself by operating a system given by a donor country.

“The option was there to establish the system for free,” stated ACC President Hassan Luthfee, revealing that the US government had offered a free system in 2009.

“Even the Indian government had offered to do it for free. On the other hand this could have been done for MVR2.3-2.5 million. So we can’t believe that this should be done at such a high cost,” Luthfee told the committee.

Other contentions raised by the ACC included a “questionable” project evaluation, which the commission alleged violated protocols of the National Planning Council.

“The National Planning Council’s protocols say that anything passed by the council cannot be changed by any other relevant institution unless it is sanctioned by the Council itself or the ministerial cabinet. But without following the said two protocols, Immigration made major changes to the proposal,” ACC’s investigation officer Mohamed Sodig was reported as saying in local media.

Evaluations and bid criteria had been unclear, the ACC alleged, further claiming that the validity of the Nexbis bid had been 90 days which had expired at the time the price bids were opened.

“We tried to determine whether the validity of the proposal or bid of Nexbis had been extended. However, we failed to find a single document that had done so, and marks had been given for Nexbis’ price bid,” Sodig was reported as stating.

The commission also claimed that minutes for one government meeting to discuss the project had taken place during prayer time on Friday October 15, 2010, which the commission claimed was “highly suspicious in a 100 percent Muslim country”.

The ACC also contended that the charging of a fee for passengers and foreign workers constituted a tax and was in violation of Article 97 of the constitution, requiring parliamentary approval for new or altered taxation. In an apparent precedent, a similar ruling from the Civil Court in late 2011 overruled airport developer GMR’s ability to levy an Airport Development Charge (ADC), despite this being stipulated in the developer’s concession agreement with the government.

The Supreme Court has meanwhile cleared the way for the border control project, invalidating an earlier injunction from the High Court.

The move prompted complaints from the ACC, which expressed concern and frustration over the decision stating that it has put the commission in a state of limbo and deprived it of purpose.

“If this institution is simply an investigative body, then there is no purpose for our presence,” he said. “Even the police investigate cases, don’t they? So it is more cost effective for this state to have only the police to investigate cases instead of the ACC,” Luthfee said at the time.

Outside the dispute over its legality, with the project now running the collection of biometric data by immigration allows the government to identify people without paper documents – useful in a country where a third the population are imported workers, and where the confiscation of passports by employers is common practice.

The reaction from tourists to the new system has however been mixed.

“The immigration process now takes a lot of time to complete because they must now take fingerprints and pictures of people entering the country,” observed a German visitor.

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Waheed’s lack of solid policies led to increase in state expenditure: MP Jabir

Amid rising concerns about state expenditure, debt and the economic stability of the country, some political actors who are part of the unity government coalition have started expressing concern about the government’s actions publicly.

The government-aligned Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) earlier this month expressed concern over Waheed’s handling of the coalition’s dispute with the GMR contract to develop the airport, while one of the party’s MPs called for his resignation should he be unable to settle the matter.

More recently, Jumhoree Party Deputy Leader and MP Abdulla Jabir on Sunday criticised President Waheed’s commitment to bring down state expenditure.

“Spending money he does not have”

MP Jabir said Sunday that President Waheed was acting with no consideration for the extremely high levels of state expenditure.

Jabir claimed that while the norm elsewhere in similar circumstances was that the president would work to cut down on spending, Waheed was continuing to appoint people to new political posts and campaign with “money he does not have”.

“He picks people off the streets and gives them posts,” Jabir said. “Why hold on to such a pointless formula?”

Jabir asked Minister of Finance and Treasury Abdulla Jihad if Waheed had discussed his pledges with him prior to making them public, speaking at the Public Accounts Committee meeting on Sunday. Jihad responded that he had no documents detailing Waheed’s presidential pledges and only become aware of them as they were reported in local media.

Jihad also stated that Waheed mostly consulted the leaders of the coalition parties when appointing people to head the state companies, although he said he had been consulted about a few appointments.

The Finance Minister on Monday revealed that the country’s budget deficit for 2012 was set to reach MVR 6 billion, (US$390 million), MVR 3 billion (US$195 million) over estimates.

In addition to Jabir, DRP MP Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed also expressed his disapprovement of government actions.

“The government does not seem to be serious in its efforts to bring down expenditure,” Maseeh said. “Some ministers just make bold statements without even considering the budget. These statements lead to fancy headlines. This needs to be stopped.”

Interference in parliamentary duties

Meanwhile President’s Office Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza, himself a member of Jumhoree Party, denied the allegations. He is reported in local media as saying Jabir was disappointed regarding ongoing issues with the government concerning the lease of his personal restaurant business, West Park. Riza claimed this is the reason why Jabir was critical of the government.

“We are seeing members of the government coalition criticising the government because some personal interests cannot be gained. This itself shows that the government will not be involved in any unconstitutional actions,” Riza has been quoted as saying.

“Jabir has expressed disappointment over the West Park issue many times, but this government will not make any decisions which are not aligned with the values of equality and justice,” he said.

In response to the government’s statement, Jabir spoke to Minivan News today.

“Of course I am disappointed over the West Park issue. It is part of my personal business. But I am questioning the state and its ministers in my capacity as a member of parliament, in the best interests of the country. My personal disappointment does not cloud my seeing Waheed constantly making trips to islands and making pledges. Even the Finance Minister has said he has seen these on media,” he said.

“I am saddened that such an incompetent man is using the resources of the President’s Office to make such unfounded claims,” Jabir said. “I am not sure that man was in his right senses when he said that.”

Jabir stated that according to the regulations of the parliament, no one could raise questions or take action against statements made by a member through the work of the legislative as long as it conformed to constitutional and islamic principles.

“The three powers of the state are separated. The president’s spokesperson seems unaware of even this. By making such a statement, he is interfering with another branch of the state, and is breaching democratic norms,” he further said.

Jabir said that it was his duty as a member of parliament to make the government and the president accountable. He pledged to continue with the work and condemned what he said was the government’s attempts to inhibit it.

However, Jumhooree Party’s Chief Spokesperson Moosa Rameez told Minivan News today that the party did not share Jabir’s opinion of the government.

“This party is part of Waheed’s government. We have not noticed any instance where Waheed has spent money he does not have for campaigning,” Rameez said.

“We are very concerned about Jabir having made such a statement. He did not discuss this in the party’s council. Our concern is that this might create problems within the unity government.”

President’s Office Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza was not responding to calls at the time of press.

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Posted to Paradise: RAF Veterans remember Gan, part two

Part one of this series of recollections of RAF veterans stationed on Gan can be read here.

As I sit with a gin and tonic overlooking the blue lagoon at Equator Village, I try to imagine what Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II must have been thinking when in 1972 she visited what was then one of the most glamorous Royal Air Force base locations in the world – RAF Gan.

Back in the seventies well before the advent of resorts the Maldives was the scene for the ‘real jet set’ – the RAF Far East Air Force pilots who used the former RAF base as a layover location long before the advent of tourism to the region.

Enviably located south of the equator RAF Gan in Addu, was a staging post during the Second World War and continued to be a base for thousands of air force personnel through the cold war. It was handed back to the Maldivian government on March 29, 1976.

During its operational days, famous visitors landed at RAF Gan including the Queen, Prince Charles and Princess Anne. As well as attending to business, they were drawn to the perfect islands fringed by glorious azure blue lagoons and white sands.

They would stay at the Blue Lagoon Transit hotel on the base, and VIP/Officers’ accommodation known as Dhoogas, which has now the opened as a resort in its own right called Gan Island Club, located next door to the Equator Village resort (the former Sergeant’s mess).

Like many of the tourists today who visit the Equator Village resort, even the Queen must have been mesmerised by the perfect islands with lush tropical vegetation fringed with pure white beaches and an infinity view of an azure blue lagoon that is home to beautiful coral gardens teeming with tropical fish and baby reef sharks.

Terry Joint, an officer stationed at the airbase, recalls meeting Princess Anne who was “quite a beauty”. The pair chatted about spearfishing and he described her as charming and friendly: “Princess Anne said would have liked to have come out on a spearfishing trip with us but unfortunately she had to catch a plane back,” he reminisced.

Nowadays the island of Gan is home to two resort developments, the quintessentially English Equator Village resort and the Gan Island club (the officer’s mess).

Equator Village has resisted the urge to conform to the sleek lines of most resort chains, remaining a historic landmark.

Those in search of historical references can still find them among the station grounds. These remain almost unchanged, save a lick of paint from its service days. From the wicker furniture to the uniform blue doors, this three star resort has all the markings of the RAF Marham officers’ mess, with a better view and weather. I should know because I have also stayed there too.

An RAF legacy remains in former buildings and relics, bringing back military tourists – veterans who served here to visit the RAF memorial and reminisce about days gone by. There is a former NAAFI (commissary) and the Astra Cinema. The former RAF vehicle maintenance workshop is now maintained by the State Trading Organisation (STO) for its fleet of trucks.
The resort located near Gan airport, the former airfield, now used for VIP flight, Island Aviation transfers to the resort and international flights from Hong Kong and Gatwick.

In its service days there was a church on the base, which is now of course a mosque as Islam is the only religion allowed to be practiced in the Maldives by law.

Adduan’s grew up around the service personnel and some even became servicemen themselves. One Adduan recalls visiting the base as an 11-year old boy: “I used to visit the church to have tea and coffee with a relative who worked there. That was very unusual because as Muslims we were told we shouldn’t even look what’s was inside!” he recalled. “Upon visiting the resort recently, I was most surprised to see that the place is a mosque. I didn’t know it was facing Mecca.”

Back in the seventies the RAF provided a rich source for jobs in the area and at one time locals and airmen used to live side by side, employed as room boys, chefs, maintenance, and some were even trained to learn a trade. As such Adduans are broadly thankful to the RAF.

Hassan Najmy trained in the photographic department of the RAF and like many Adduans who worked closely with the Royal Air Force and quickly picked up the English language and qualifications.

“We will always be grateful to the RAF who gave us jobs and treated us like their own brothers,” said Hassan. “I spent many happy years with them and learned all I know today.”

Hassan joined the photographic section, not long after the Queen’s visit to the Maldives and RAF Gan in 1972.

“I joined photographic section when I was 18 and learned the trade, I really enjoyed the dark room training and studied for my Cambridge CSE certificate at the RAF Education Centre in Gan,” he said.

“I still remember buying my first Pentax SLR camera from the NAAFI store, a discounted store where you could get anything.”

Hassan was eyewitness to many historic events which make up the Maldives’ military history. As the president of the time’s official photographer, he captured the images of royal visitors to the base and impressed the president so much that he became the presidential palace’s official photographer.

According to the military personnel who served here, the island remains much the same as today as it did back then. Unlike their cousins in the north, Adduans are proud of the British influences.

At Equator Village hens run freely between the tropical foliage and rose gardens and the beach. There is also traditional afternoon tea and scones at 4:00pm, another relic from its service days as the sergeant’s mess. Equator Village feels like a home away from home.

Many industrious Adduans in fact helped to found the tourism industry in the capital of Male region following the RAFs departure. In 1972 the first resort in the Maldives, Kurumba, was founded by Mohamed Umar Maniku, and still runs today under Universal Enterprises.

Some Adduans say that some of the original furniture from the RAF was taken to Kurumba and remains in the resort’s presidential suite. Some original furniture still remaining includes the billiard table and darts board at the Equator resort for guests to enjoy.

Original framed photographs from the time, including of the Queen’s visit, are on display at the next door Gan Island Club, formerly the Dhoogas guest house, and the Blue Lagoon where Prince Charles frequented.

The RAF’s main mission was to install radio transmitters on the island of Hithadhoo to listen in and intercept intelligence from the East during the cold war.

Hithadhoo was first discovered by the Royal Navy and the fleet air arm in the 1940s. In those days supplies were ferried between the islands and nearby Sri Lanka (Ceylon as it was known then) by boat.

When it was handed it over to the RAF in the fifties, they established their base on the island of Gan and built a causeway linking all six islands, establishing a precedent in this geographically challenged country consisting of 99 per cent ocean – bases which became known as RAF Gan and RAF Hithadhoo respectively.

The RAF’s presence came to an end as the Cold War ended. In fact some say that RAF Gan’s cards were marked as soon as the “Royal Far East Air Force” (RFEAF) was disbanded in 1971.

The British decamped further south to Diego Garcia and then leased the land to the US, who still have a base there today. RAF Gan was handed back to the Maldivian government on March 29, 1976.

Hassan recalls it was a very sad day when the RAF left Maldives. Many “wept” as they saw off the servicemen who become friends as well as colleagues over the years. That bond remains today through social media pages on Facebook remembering life at Gan.

Hassan has recorded many historic events which make up the Maldives’ military history during his service, including profiling historical figures and royal visitors to the base. Some of his work can be viewed on a page maintained by veterans who served at Gan and Hithadhoo: RAF Gan Remembered.

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MDP MP facing charges of terrorism over February 8 retaliatory protests

The Criminal Court has given Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mohamed Rasheed ‘Matrix Mode’ the opportunity to appoint an attorney to defend himself from charges of terrorism.

The MP for mid-Hithadhoo constituency, along with 43 other protesters including a city councillor from Addu City, are facing terrorism charges for their involvement in the events that took place on February 8, a day after controversial transfer of power in the Maldives.

Following the controversial transfer of power on February 7, thousands of MDP supporters, led by ousted president Mohamed Nasheed, took to the streets opposing the newly installed regime, claiming that it was an illegitimate government installed during a police and military mutiny.

The protesters were met with a violent police crackdown that saw numerous protesters injured and detained, including ousted President Nasheed himself.

Retaliatory protests spread across the country including the southern MDP stronghold of Addu, where Mayor Abdulla Sodig was beaten by protesters and taken to the Addu regional hospital. Several government buildings including police stations and courts were set ablaze during the chaos.

Out of the 43 people now facing criminal charges, hearings for 36 protesters have been previously carried out. None have yet been sentenced.

During Sunday’s hearing, Rasheed and another participant of the events of February 8 were given three days to appoint an attorney to represent them in court.

The state attorney did not read the charges in the hearing, but the Prosecutor General (PG) earlier told local media that Rasheed was charged for allegedly threatening police on the Seenu Gan course way.

He is also charged with inciting violence and calling upon protesters to attack Seenu Gan Police Station and the officers there, and calling for people to attack the Feydhoo Magistrate Court and Hithadhoo Police Station, the PG said.

The PG also said that the MDP MP was charged under article 2(f) and 2(g) of the Anti-terrorism Act, and also article 6 of the same act.

If Rasheed is found guilty of the charges, he will face a sentence of 10 to 15 years imprisonment or banishment, which will cost him his seat in the parliament.

After the hearing, in a brief statement given to media, Rasheed rebutted the charges stating that he “was not someone who would attack on public property”.

“I am one of those people who worked very hard to bring developments to Addu City during the tenure of [former] President Mohamed Nasheed. Why would I call upon the people to do something to destroy that? I do not believe this,” he said.

He further stated that the supporters of the current government and the media outlets that are politically aligned to government had continuously accused him of being a terrorist, but said the case itself revealed that he was not a terrorist.

“It is only today I have come to know of the charges. Government aligned newspapers, police and senior officials of this government including ministers and the Presidents’ office spokesperson are accusing me of setting ablaze public property and carrying out terrorist attacks,” he said.

“But according to the charges levied up against me, it is not true. The criminal charges do not mention that I did such things, instead the case is built on what I said,” he added.

Last August the PG pressed terrorism charges against more than 40 individuals accused of setting the Seenu Gan police station on fire on February 8, including many MDP activists and elected officials.

The former ruling MDP condemned the “false charges” pressed against “elected representatives of the people of Addu City” and a number of citizens as “politically motivated”.

In a statement, the party said that it believed the charges represented “a deliberate attempt by the regime to destabilise the country”.

“Aside from politically motivated legal action, senior members of Dr Waheed’s regime, including Home Minister Mohamed Jameel, have publicly stated that the regime will arrest President Nasheed and ensure he spends the rest of his life in jail. These statements have been made despite the fact that a trial has not taken place, and while the Minister himself has stated that the ‘judiciary seems to be operating wantonly… and needs to increase public confidence,’” the statement read.

The government of President Mohamed Waheed Hassan has promised that action would be taken against the “terrorist acts” of the protesters and will be brought to justice.

No action has been taken against the police accused of brutality in the February 8 crackdown, however one officer indicted by the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) has since received two promotions.

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Parliament Watch aims to increase citizen involvement in the legislative process: MDN

Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN) has beta-launched its ‘Majlis Watch’ website, although the site remained password protected at time of press.

MDN Executive Director Fathimath Ibrahim Didi told Minivan News today that the project and its website are meant to provide a platform allowing citizens to more conveniently get involved in the legislative process. The website will also provide updates about the events at parliament on a more timely manner than the annual reports currently being released by the NGO.

“Through the website, you can access draft bills which the parliament is working on. This will give citizens a chance to submit comments and concerns. In future, we will highlight bills we are working on each week, so as to increase efficiency,” Didi said.

MDN has also released its Parliament Watch report, an analysis of the work of the parliament for the year from March 2011.

Representation and attendance

The political parties holding seats in the parliament in this period were Maldives Democratic Party (MDP), Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), Jumhooree Party (JP), People’s Alliance (PA), Qaumee Party (QP) and Adhaalath Party (AP). DRP had split up into two factions, one of which was later registered as the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM). However, although the party held a number of seats, PPM was not officially recognised in the parliament.

According the report, by 31 December 2011, MDP had 34 representatives in the parliament, while DRP and PPM each had 15 members, JP and PA had 2 members, QP and AP had 1 member each, and there were 7 independent members.

In 2011, the 17th People’s Majlis held a total of 91 meetings. While the report states that 67 members showed at least 81 percent attendance, it further points out that only four members of parliament attended all meetings. They were MDP MPs Imthiyaz Fahmy, Mohamed Rasheed, Ibrahim Rasheed and Abdul Ghafoor Moosa.

Independent MP Ismail Abdul Hameed attended 55 out of the 91 meetings. He had a corruption case against him in the courts, and his right to attend the meetings were a contentious issue during that year’s parliamentary meetings.

The least number of meetings were attended by DRP MP Mohamed Ramiz, who attended 47 out of the 91 meetings, and Independent MP Ahmed Shiyam who was present at only 45 meetings.

The report further speaks of the number of times parliamentary meetings were disrupted for various reasons. It states that there are 193 instances where meetings were stopped due to lack of quorum and 26 instances where meetings were adjourned until the members named by the speaker were escorted out of the parliament hall. A total of 13 members had been asked to leave the parliament meeting hall, the most common being PPM MP Ahmed Mahloof.

Parliament remains suspended by Speaker Abdulla Shahid due to his concerns over political turmoil several months ago, however committees are meeting.

Legislative work

A total of 17 bills were passed in 2011, half the amount of bills passed in 2010.

Similar to the previous two years, the maximum number of bills that were passed in 2011 were in the area of Constitutional and Administration. The two other areas that were given priority are Religious and Social bills and Economic and Financial bills.

What needs to change?

MDN calls on members to not discriminate between members of their own party and those of the opposition when working with the constituents they represent.

It further notes that many MPs have expressed concerns that they are expected to spend on constituents from their own salaries. MDN states that this practice would prove detrimental to democratic norms. The NGO calls upon MPs to refrain from giving out hand-outs, and to instead work on strengthening the necessary social security frameworks.

MDN also calls on the parliament to increase accessibility to meetings, bills, motions, etc to the general public. It also notes the importance of members considering national interest ahead of political gains.

The electorate itself is asked to ensure that they cast an informed vote when electing members to represent them in parliament.

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Finance minister anticipates wage payment problems without Indian financing

Minister of Finance and Treasury Abdulla Jihad has told local media that the country may struggle to cover state wages and bills unless US$25 million in proposed financing from India is secured by next month.

Jihad reportedly told Parliament’s Finance Committee that balancing the national budget for the next two months would be “extremely difficult” without the US$25 million to support a US$17 Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan taken as budget support for the current month, according to the Sun Online news agency.

The Indian government had announced that it would be granting the Maldives an additional US$25 million as part of the US$100 million standby credit facility agreed last year under the previous government.

Jihad also told the committee that state reliance on Treasury Bills (T-bills) presently amounted to MVR5.3 billion, an additional deficit he said would need to be covered unless the short-term financing mechanism can be prolonged.

T-bills are sold by governments all over the world, serving as a short-term debt obligation backed by sovereign states. In the Maldives, T-bills are said by financial experts to have a maximum maturity of six months, in which time they must be repaid.

Sun quoted Jihad as saying that MVR300 million in T-bills had been received by the Madlvies Monetary Authority (MMA), though these were presently being held by the Finance Ministry owing to a “lack of sufficient cash flow”.

Jihad told Minivan News last week that the Maldives would need to brace for long-term austerity measures in order to address the country’s fiscal deficit – with further budget cuts anticipated in all government departments over the next 12 months.

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Raimmandhoo and Alifushi by-elections won by MDP, PPM candidates

A by-election for the vacant seat of Raa Atoll council seat for Alifushi over the weekend was won by Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) candidate Ibrahim Maheesh with 883 votes, narrowly defeating opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) candidate Moomina Easafulhu with 827 votes, according to initial results.

Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) candidate Abdullah Shinan received 274 votes, while Jumhoree Party (JP) candidate Nasif Abdullah received five.

A by-election held for the island council seat of Raimmandhoo in Meemu Atoll was meanwhile won by MDP candidate Mohammed Ramiz, with 75 votes against DRP candidate Fathimath Liusha with 64 votes.

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“No risk of Al-Qaeda attack”: Home Minister

The Maldives is at no risk of an Al-Qaeda attack, Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed told local media following claims in the UK press by former President Mohamed Nasheed that the Maldives faced rising Islamic extremism.

“There is no basis to Nasheed’s claims. The Maldivian Security Forces are working round the clock with international agencies. The Police receive up to date intelligence information from those agencies. There is no information thus far of any danger to the Maldives from an Al-Qaeda attack,” Jameel was reported as saying.

“Nasheed is just trying to hog the headlines by referring to Islam as he has no more pitches to make in the political arena. Because if he claims that there are religious extremists in the Maldives, it would make it easier for him to attract the attention of the international community.”

“They are talking about alcohol-free resorts, about getting non-drinking tourists to come in from Iran. I can easily imagine holidaymakers being prosecuted for kissing in public, as in some Muslim countries,” Nasheed told the UK’s Telegraph newspaper.  The former president also noted recent calls from the country’s Ministry of Islamic Affairs to ban mixed-gender dancing, and dancing by adolescent girls.

“If the country is being radicalised every day, then the staff in the resorts, and their families, are being radicalised also. That must have some impact on the resorts in the medium and long term,” Nasheed warned.

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Maldives no longer “tolerable” for foreign doctors, expatriate medical officer claims

Expatriate medical professionals working in the Maldives regularly face intimidation, fraud and “substandard” treatment from patients, health authorities, local staff and the country’s courts, a foreign medical officer working in the country has revealed.

The expatriate medical professional, who has worked in several posts across the country since 2009, revealed that along with widespread reneging on contracts and failing to deal with intimidation of expatriate medical staff, health officials had, in certain cases, not even checked whether foreign doctors were registered to practice medicine.

“Earlier there was a system of asking doctors for the registration of their basic medical degree (graduation degree) in their own country so as to register them in Maldives,” he told Minivan News. “This law was so compromised over the last two years that in one atoll alone, four unregistered doctors are to my knowledge still practising their absent skills here. Frankly speaking, they can kill anybody just by their lack of knowledge, but some get caught on occasion.”

Medical authorities have claimed they were aware of a number of concerns regarding doctor registration, a situation currently being reviewed in conjunction with the Maldives Medical Council. However, the Ministry of Health and Family denied that a fall in the number of doctors coming from India to practice in the Maldives was related to alleged treatment by authorities and patients on islands – instead noting improved pay rates currently offered in their home country.

However, raising concerns over a “deterioration” in the quality of healthcare being provided in some atolls during the last two years, the expatriate medical officer – who asked not to be identified – also detailed a number of issues over the treatment of foreign workers in the country.

According to the whistle-blower, there were growing concerns among skilled expatriates working in medicine and education in the Maldives that was losing the country its reputation as a “tolerable working place”.

Fewer doctors from India were coming to the Maldives year-on-year, the source observed, in part to what he called “public intolerance” of an imported non-Muslim work force.

“The overall behaviour of the Maldives Ministry of Health and Family and government has been negative. [There is also] an lack of availability of US dollars and the Bank of Maldives (BML) has banned issuing international ATM cards to expatriates,” he said. “Meanwhile, there has been an increase in the exchange rate of the US dollar, but no increase in the salary structure in Maldivian rufiya (MVR), meaning salaries are less than before. There are also instances in which the lawlessness of this country has led to the lack of punishment of Maldivian nationals even for heinous crimes like rape if the victim is an expatriate.”

“Violence”

Taking the example of Gaafu Alif (GA) Atoll, where the medical professional has had experience of working, he alleged “constant fear” and intimidation were regularly experienced by foreign healthcare professionals.

“Increasing instances of violence against expatriates is being reported from everywhere in Maldives,” he said.

On the island of GA Villingili, the medical professional claimed that one paediatrician from Pakistan working on the island was physically assaulted after failing to provide a referral letter demanded by some of his patients.

“I myself was on duty, so we had to make the legal documents for him. Afterwards nothing happened and [the doctor] left after just two days without the intention of continuing their contract. [The doctor] is still working in the Maldives, but somewhere else now,” he said.

“[Another doctor] from Uzebikstan also left GA Atoll because some local teenagers beat her two children. The matter became worse when she and her husband reacted with anger towards these boys. People were singing ‘We will kill you…’ on the roads whenever they came out. Ultimately [the doctor] requested for a transfer and is now working in Faafu Nilandhoo Atoll.”

The medical officer added that from his own experiences, skilled expatriate workers across the Maldives faced intimidation and sexual harassment on the islands, with cases such as expatriate teachers having to defend themselves in their own homes.

“I myself have heard some patients calling me or my colleagues their servants and threatening to do what he/she tells to, or else,” he said. “Interestingly, local staff never help in these situation a because they think we they will not be affected much because we don’t know Dhivehi. The situation becomes much more painful as many of us understand the language quite well. These are just glimpses only. And only of [GA] Atoll. Imagine what will happen if we collect together all the things which have gone wrong across the Maldives.”

The medical professional claimed there were also concerns about how authorities were treating doctors in the country, particularly in regards to contractual obligations such as agreements on wages and accommodation.

According to the source, a number of doctors had shared concerns about amendments made to their contractual agreements without their consent or knowledge once they arrive in the country – both in terms of salary and housing.

“When a doctor lands in Male’, only then [do authorities] reveal to him or her that actually this offer letter is an old one and now the salary structure is a little different. It is always like that. So many times they have done it that now people know about it unofficially and openly and make fun of it,” he claimed.

“Authorities write in their offer letter about free residence while working here. It is mentioned in this form of providing free residence or as much rufiya through a housing allowance, plus their people will help you find a place. They don’t, of course,” he said.

The medical officer claimed that he was personally provided with a housing allowance of MVR 3,000 ruifiya (US$195), assistance in finding accommodation had not been given.

However even upon finding accommodation, a former expatriate paediatrician from South Asia, who was living and working in GA atoll, was alleged to have been evicted from a property on one island by its owners with less than 24 hours notice after they found a tenant willing to pay better rent for the accommodation. The doctor left the island he was assigned after a month and a half due to being unable to find accommodation.

The medical officer added that authorities were ultimately failing to support skilled expatriate workers in favour of local staff who often had no medical or management training.

“It is an everyday story in this hospital and everywhere else in Maldives. Even at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hosptial (IGMH) [in Male’],” he claimed. “Far lower qualified local staff are working with a salary on par with far better qualified expatriate staff, and doing nothing on duty. It frustrates expatriates every single minute. It is not justifiable but local administration support it.”

The expatriate healthcare worker pointed to his own experiences in an atoll hospital, where he claimed trained nurses were having to clean the nappies of elderly patients due to the refusal of local sanitation staff – known as sweepers – to do so.

“This work is for local sweepers, but they often refuse to do it, forcing the staff nurses through equally arrogant management to perform the actions,” he claimed. “They don’t understand that a staff nurse, who has to administer injections and medicines to patients, will get their dress soiled by the excrement if they clean the stool of these patients, and in turn some patient only is going to receive it in returb as a hospital born infection.”

Healthcare provision

Beyond the treatment of expatriate health professionals, the medical officer highlighted a number of concerns about the operations of the nation’s hospitals, such as the impact of the launch earlier this year of the Aasandha universal health scheme.

The medical officer claimed that Aasandha had in fact led to a growing trend of pharmacies bringing in low cost “garbage” medicine to the country, on the grounds that the Aasandha budget was insufficient to acquire medicines from what the medical officer called “standard companies”.

“This in turn is is playing with the health of people by bringing introducing antibiotic resistance or uncompensated chronic diseases due to irregular and uncontrolled dosing of drugs,” he said.

“With the pricing of drugs, we write the number of tablets to be 12. The pharmacy gives seven or eight. Patients don’t know about these things. And as a result they come back to us with partial recovery and antibiotic resistance.”

The medical officer said that in order to try and overcome the limitation, doctors were having to recommend larger prescriptions to ensure a sufficient number of tablets were provided by the pharmacy, before asking patients to return to them to amend the amount they should be taking.

“This way the patient gets the needed amount of medicine, the dosing of which I correct myself after calling him/her back to me with the medicines. This practice is risky but at least I succeeded in managing my patients successfully,” he said.

According to the medical officer another key problem with Aasandha was the lack of public understanding concerning the scheme and entitlements of the public.

“They become very angry when we tell them that this or that medical condition is not covered by Aasandha. A lot of times they force the management to force us to fabricate a medical condition just to get Aasandha approval,” he revealed.

Soon after the scheme had been launched in January this year, Health Minister Dr Ahmed Jamsheed – then Chief Operating Officer at Male’s ADK hospital – said limited information on Aasandha’s financial structure had led the public to exaggerate their medical needs. He urged for a greater sense of public responsibility to prevent overwhelming the country’s health service.

However, calls to limit Aassandha have so far proved divisive in parliament and the present coalition government. Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, head of the government-aligned Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), has previously been an outspoken critic of limiting the provision of universal healthcare at private premises.

The medical officer added that national healthcare provision had also been affected by the launch during the previous government of seven provincial health corporations designed to try and decentralise health care and budgets.

According to the expatriate medical officer, the establishment of the corporations was seen as an attempt by the former government to ensure the work of the Health Ministry was being controlled by government rather than opposition supporters already working within healthcare.

“Splitting the [work] of the Health Ministry into corporations was not a bad idea although it was more motivated by ability to acquire financial control rather than anything else,” he claimed. “The local governance had one thing positive; we could at least address our problems with our employers easily. They were accessible. Although they seldom made any difference, at least there was no frustration that I could not even talk to the authorities. Nowadays, no one can talk to the Mnistry of Health people as most of the time either they simply don’t pick the phone or you cannot connect to them.”

The medical officer said a growing sense of frustration and the shared of experiences of expatriates and healthcare professionals from across the South Asia region had seen the Maldives’ reputation as place to practice medicine tarnished in recent years.

“All these stories do reach [places like] India and I don’t feel that people will tolerate this much more. That’s why there is a constant decline in the number of people coming from somewhere like India to work here in whatever form,” he observed.

Indian High Commission concerned

Earlier this year, Indian High Commissioner Dynaneshwar Mulay raised concerns over the treatment of expatriates from across the South Asia region – particularly by the country’s police and judiciary.

Mulay claimed that alongside concerns about the treatment of some Indian expatriates in relation to the law, there were significant issues relating to “basic human rights” that needed to be addressed concerning immigrant workers from countries including Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Addressing the claims, Zaufishaan Abdulla Kamaludeen, Director of Human Resources for the Health Services Corporations, which is currently run under the Ministry of Health, said that while expatriate doctors had traditionally been sourced from India, it had become increasingly difficult to bring them to the Maldives.

Kamaludeen stressed that this change appeared mainly to be a result of more competitive rates of pay for medical staff in India compared to the Maldives

“There have been spikes in the salary packages being offered to doctors from India. This is maybe a reason why since about March 2012, when I joined the Health Ministry, we have been having difficulty getting Indian doctors to work here,” she claimed. “We have been getting many applications from doctors from Pakistan,” she added, stressing that medical personnel were also being sourced from countries like Myanmar to cover demand in the country.

Kamaludeen added that it was traditionally difficult to place expatriate doctors on islands in the country’s outer atolls, a situation he claimed was complicated by the tendency of healthcare professionals to network about their experiences.

However, she denied that the difficulties and complaints recevied staff were a result of intimidation or the attitudes of local staff and patients to foreign workers. Kamaludeen claimed that requests for transfers for most often related to “personal issues”.

“Mainly we get requests for transfer from islands relating to personal problems. These vary on a number of issues such as the availability of vegetarian food,” she claimed. “We also get requests from doctors wishing to work close with other doctors, so they don’t feel isolated on arrival.”

Kamaludeen added that another challenge with placing doctors had come from the set up of certain health corporations to pay skilled medical staff more than if they worked in another region.

“Doctors at times would demand to work for the corporations offering the highest pay,” she said. “Right now, a board has been established to try and harmonise salaries for staff working in different atolls.”

Addressing allegations that there had been issues with the registration of some expatriate medical staff to practice in the Maldives, Kamaludeen said that the ministry had been made aware of instances of doctors working with improper registration.

However, she said that in such cases the Maldives Medical Council had been immediately informed and a review was presently taking place on the issue.

Kamaudeen claimed the issue appeared to have arisen over a lack of awareness of the type of licensing required to practice n the Maldives.

“We have understood this to the result of a lack of information being provided from recruitment groups and agencies,” she said.

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