Tag: maldives

Maldives democracy must prove it can guarantee liberty: European Commission report

Democracy in the Maldives is in a crucial phase and needs to prove to the people that it is able to guarantee liberty, according an independent evaluation of the European Commission’s €26.3 million (US$36.6 million) assistance package to the Maldives over the last 10 years.

“The political, administrative, and judicial system needs reforming in order to implement constitutional guarantees and requirements,” the report found.

“The passing of an important number of bills has been delayed in parliament, which is composed predominately of newcomers to politics and in which the opposition coalition has the majority – resulting in the problem of consensus having to be reached between the government and its parliamentary opposition.”

As a consequence, the country was under pressure to provide a functioning political, judicial and local governance system, the EC report noted, identifying two major areas of reform: the judicial sector (including police and prisons), “and the decentralisation reform, beginning with the local [council] elections.”

The independent evaluation was commissioned by the EC to critique its funding of programs between 1999 to 2009, which have included support for the empowerment of women, over €15 million in tsunami-related assistance, technical support for the presidential and parliamentary elections, island waste management centres and more recently, pledges off €6.5 million for climate change adaption and mitigation support, as well as €1.3 million earmarked for combating drug abuse.

The report was presented at Holiday Inn yesterday to a cross section of stakeholders including government officials, civil society, international donor organisations and the press.

Overall achievement of executives was described as “mixed”. The strategic planning of many programmes was “too ambitious given the level of available funding”, the report noted, with gaps between planning and implementation.

“The environmental support program was too ambitiously planned and had to be scaled down to solid waste management only,” the report stated. “Constructed island waste management systems are, with few exceptions, not operational, and waste management centres are unequipped.”

The failings of this project were due in part to “technical” problems, including design weaknesses and missing equipment, “and insufficient involvement of communities in general, notably the Island Women Development committees.”

“Women on the islands are quite well organised and are often the main actors in terms of environmental issues and social and economic life. Many households are managed by women, as men are often working in the tourist resorts, in the fisheries industry, or abroad,” the report observed.

“However the present local governance structures generally do not sufficiently allow women to play an effective role in the local decision-making process.”

Equipment for the island waste management systems, purchased with the project’s remaining funding, remains stored in Male’, the report noted.

Economic vulnerability

The EC had identified the Maldives’ reliance on a single export commodity as a fundamental weakness in its commodity, but plans to diversify these exports “were too ambitious an objective for EC support.”

The problem was going to exacerbate when the Maldives graduates from Less Developed Country (LDC) status in January 2011, the report noted, when it will lose preferential market access and technical and financial support from multilateral and regional sources. This will have particular impact on the country’s trade with Sri Lanka and Thailand.

“Maldives exports can be built up and diversified only if action is taken to resolve serious supply-side issues in the economy, including access to investment finance, improvement of production procedures and standards, training of the workforce, development of modern marketing principles, and improvement of transport infrastructure.”

Programmes identified as successful by the EC report included that allocated to the presidential and parliamentary elections, which produced “a positive perception of the EC as a recognised political partner in the democratisation process.”

Looking ahead, the report suggested ensuring that projects had clearer objectives and were realistically planned, and preferably managed from within the country rather than outside.

It also recommended greater strategic focus on no more than two areas of priority, “such as environment/climate change and the good governance/decentralisation sector”.

Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Union Delegation to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Bernard Savage, observed that programmes run in cooperation with other donors such as the World Bank and UN Agencies had been the most successful.

“Programmes carried out under this collaboration have been reviewed as both effective and efficient in general,” he said.

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Don’t you dare touch Maumoon, Umar Naseer tells President

Deputy leader of the main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Umar Naseer has warned President Mohamed Nasheed against putting “one step outside  of the chart” in his handling of former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Naseer, who has recently faced factional difficulties within his own party after it voted to send him before the DRP disciplinary committee, threatened that Nasheed did so, “it will be the end of his regime.”

President Nasheed spoke yesterday at the launch of historian Ahmed Shafeeg’s book alleging that 111 Maldivian citizens were held in custody and tortured by the former administration.

Nasheed stressed that Gayoom alone could not be blamed for all the human rights abuses that occurred under his watch.

“It was not done by him alone. It was a whole system that did it. It was Dhivehi tradition that did it. It was Dhivehi culture that did it,” he said.

Nasheed’s use of the phrase “outside the chart” in an earlier speech has been widely interpreted by the opposition as “acting outside the Constitution”, ostensibly in his detention of the Gayoom’s brother and People’s Alliance MP Abdulla Yameen on charges of treason and bribery, after he was released by the court.

Naseer said that if Nasheed acted in such a fashion with Gayoom, “there will be consequences.”

‘’We have seen Nasheed arrest some of our leaders and MPs, out of the chart,’’ Umar said. “We waited patiently and tried to set them free smoothly, and eventually we made the President release them.’’

Gayoom was a different matter, he suggested.

‘’The next day we will file a no-confidence motion against the President and we will make it the end of his regime,’’ Umar said. “Rephrase: do not touch our beloved honorary leader out of the chart.’’

While the opposition has a parliamentary majority and has dismissed former Auditor General Ibrahim Naeem with a majority vote, it presently lacks the two-thirds majority it would require to dismiss Nasheed or Vice President Mohamed Waheed Hassan. However the government has previously accused the opposition of attempting to buy the cooperation of MDP MPs.

Speaking at a rally yesterday, Naseer also strongly criticised the president for climbing onto the roof of the president’s residence to install solar panels.

‘’I wasn’t astonished to see how fast he climbed up the roof, because he is a pro-tree climber,’’ he said.

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MNDF discovers lost canoe, but no sign of children

Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) has recovered a lost canoe, but there was no sign of the three children who may have been in it.

Three children from Hulhudhufaaru in Raa Atoll were reported lost in a canoe two days ago.

MNDF said its search team was still searching for the missing children.

The team has so far searched 2000 square nautical miles by air, 635 square nautical mile by sea and 500 square meters by diving, the MNDF said.

There was 14 year-old boy and two nine year-old boys aboard the canoe when it left the island, according to police.

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Letter on Maumoon

Dear Maldives,

“It was not done by him alone. It was a whole system that did it. It was Dhivehi tradition that did it. It was Dhivehi culture that did it…”

-President Nasheed from Minivan News article “If you want to sue Shafeeg, you’ll have to sue me,” relating to torture allegations.

Thank you Anni. This insight is a tremendous gift to your people.

I am not a Maldivian, but I have been personally hurt by and afraid of Abdulla Yameen (Gayoom’s brother) unjustly, so I have tasted this aspect of Dhivehi culture that Anni refers to. I have tasted the dehumanising crush of the fear which your nation has been shattered by, and the bitter hatred and anger which it becomes, and I don’t even have to live there.

For you guys, who have to live there and cannot escape it, I admire and revere your ability to push on with life under such heavy oppression. You guys are really my heroes just for being able to do that.

The political system of the Maldives is a vicious, self-reinforcing cycle of fear and aggression which manifests as narcisistic power hunger.

Leaders come into power with the greatest knowledge and the noblest sentiments, yet end up being made pawns of this cycle. In a desperate bid to restore order and civility in times of chaos, pressing corruption and violence, the noblest souls become tyrants even against their own will.

Small corruption is used to fight big corruption when it seems nothing else will work, but this small corruption in turn becomes big corruption when those who use it become addicted to it and enslaved by its power.

A strong hand and an extravagant display of might (the former palace of Theemuge’) is used to crush the will of potential anarchy, but it crushes the soul of the masses in the process. It too becomes addictive.

I saw Maumoon go through all this. Maumoon was a great and profound Islamic scholar and humanist who came to power with the most liberal of intentions. Transparency, democracy, he believed he could give it all. He wanted to, but the ‘system’ got the better of him.

I still have the greatest respect and admiration for Maumoon the scholar and great liberal thinker, but Maumoon the President became the face of that vicious culture Anni is referring to, even against the will of Maumoon himself.

It is obvious that even Anni has faced an inner conflict between his grand, beautiful desire to forgive and the apparent need to resort to tyrannical measures when nothing else works to control corruption and violence.

For true justice to be done for those 111 people mentioned in the cited article, it is not only the perpetrators who must face justice, but the system itself which perpetuates this injustice must be smashed to pieces through genuine acts of sincere tauba (repentance) and sincere forgiveness.

The real enemy is not Maumoon, or his cronies, or the gangsters, no, these are only pawns of the enemy, slaves of the enemy. The real enemy is fear and hatred itself and its system. Only forgiveness can bring true justice, because only forgiveness can destroy hatred and the cycle of fear and hatred it perpetuates.

The cultural cycle has to be ended by someone forgiving, and giving love in return for hatred, as hard as that is. You can’t elevate yourself above a culture run by hatred into the realm of a culture of peace and justice, unless one makes that self-sacrifice of one’s own right to take vengeance, and show mercy, even though vengeance (justice) is your right.

This is not to say that justice must not be pursued. Yet it must be pursued in a rightful manner, even if that drags out for years. The offer of forgiveness must always be extended to those who offer to repay stolen money or make amends for their wrong doings whilst justice is being pursued. Reconciliation must be pursued at the same time justice is pursued. The quick fix tyrannical solutions to eradicating injustice, though they seem like the only way forward when a whole nation is frustrated by corruption and violence, will only perpetuate the cycle of hatred and fear.

Of course, one must be prevented from perpetrating violence by force and by protecting the public from their evil through putting them somewhere (in Aarah), but even there the focus must be on rehabilitating them and helping them heal them so they can be kind, honest people. Even if they can never be released, because they can never be safe, they must be able to find human dignity through creative expression in jail (religion, art, exercise etc…) as the whole culture must change to uplift the essential dignity and sanctity of life.

Maumoon himself has been so intoxicated over the years by this vision of himself as a benevolent and compassionate leader, that he has still not been able to actually accept that he has hurt people. To do so, to accept this, Maumoon would realize that his vision of himself is a delusion, and everything he had ever lived for would seem like a failure. However, unless Maumoon does realize this, and does feel genuine sorrow for his victims, there will never be any real healing for the victims, and the hunger for vengeance which fuels Maldivian politics will burn on.

I wish I could offer this to Maumoon.

Maumoon, you are a great soul, but please realize the truth of what your position had forced you to become. Please don’t despair Maumoon, you can still be great, by asking for forgiveness from those you have hurt. If you don’t do this, you will die a failure. If you do this, you will be the great man you had been created to be as your contribution to the healing of your nation will be greater than anybody’s.

I ask everyone to contemplate these Ayat’s:

“… They should rather pardon and overlook. Would you not love Allah to forgive you? Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (Qur’an, 24: 22)

“The repayment of a bad action is one equivalent to it. But if someone pardons and puts things right, his reward is with Allah…” (Qur’an, 42:40)

“But if someone is steadfast and forgives, that is the most resolute course to follow.” (Qur’an, 42:43)

Believers are described in Qur’an as those who “control their rage and pardon other people.” (Qur’an, 3:134)

Kindest Regards,

Ben ‘Abdul-Rahman’ Plewright

All letters are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write a letter piece, please submit it to [email protected]

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Letter on wastage

Dear Sirs/Madams

We all have seen our beloved President Nasheed personally taking part in the installation of a solar panel system on the roof of the President’s official residence, Muleeaage.

I have noticed and learned from the above how concerned the President is over our fragile environment and our fragile economy. I think Mr President is giving his beloved people of his beloved country a guideline and idea on the importance of stopping or minimising ongoing waste so that we all abstain from wastage. Wasting is indeed, prohibited (haraam) in Islam.

If we look at our local market area, we see huge quantities of vegetables and fruits that are 100 percent Maldivian products, wasted daily. I think the parent of the local market (Male’ Municipality) would know and agree with this. And again we see expatriates taking over the Maldivian job market including jobs that Maldivians could do better.

I believe that these fresh vegetables and fruits are wasted because the producers are coming from different parts of the country and cannot afford to remain in Male’ until their stuff is sold, and instead they quickly make some money and leave back home. Or they lack marketing and sales ability, so that they keep the produce at the same rate even though it goes bad.

I think a country cannot afford to let it go like this because such waste directly affects our fragile economy. So, I suggest the STO conduct a business study and tries to buy this produce from the local producers, clean it and display it at STO shops in and around Male’ area.

If it requires a subsidy, I hope the President would help STO just like the government is continuously providing subsidies to the STO for similar benefits for the country and for the people.

Also a country cannot afford to watch silently without researching why the young men and women are not taking over the Maldives job market. A responsible authority shall not say or mention that it does not give jobs for Maldivians, but very unfortunately this is a very common story nowadays. I don’t believe we can continue using cheap workers from abroad and relax. We are really facing the consequences even now.

Drugs were not an issue here some 30 years back. Can we say it’s not an issue today? We have previously seen the killing of human beings only on films, but now we see it happening live in our society today. Can we say it’s not an issue today?

We cannot afford to watch and wait until a high percentage of our local products go bad and wasted. And we cannot afford to keep using cheap workers from abroad until it becomes an issue later.

Regards
Saeed

All letters are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write a letter piece, please submit it to [email protected]

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Gaamaadhoo bones identified as belonging to missing inmate, says President

Human bones discovered in the site of the former Gaamaadhoo prison on September 19, 2009 matches the age and estimated period of death of Abdulla Anees, Vaavu Keyodhoo Bashigasdhosuge, an inmate officially declared missing in the 1980s, President Mohamed Nasheed revealed this morning.

Speaking at a ceremony to unveil the first volume of elderly historian Ahmed Shafeeq’s short stories at Nasandhuraa Palace Hotel, Nasheed said he was intimately familiar with Gaamadhoo prison and had wondered if the bones could belong to Anees (“Aihbalhey”) when he first heard of the discovery.

“The investigation team said the cemetery at Himmafushi was dug up and its soil was taken to the Gaamaadhoo area and these bones must have been brought from there,” he said, dismissing speculation that the bones could have been transferred from Himmafushi, the inhabited side of the island.

“I was watching with my own eyes when sand was brought from Himmafushi. I would know that it was not from that soil.”

President Nasheed spent three years in Gaamaadhoo prison for dissident journalism in opposition to the rule of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

In September 2009, the President’s Office asked police to investigate the discovery and samples of the 14 bone fragments were sent to Thailand for DNA analysis.

Nasheed revealed today that forensic examination has identified the age of the deceased, while a former prison guard, Mohamed Naeem, of Gaaf Dhaal Hoadhendhoo Muraka, has told the police investigation that Anees died in Gaamaadhoo prison.

Police have now gathered enough evidence to send the case for prosecution, he said, pledging the cases of 111 people reported as missing by Shafeeq would be investigated.

Keyodhoo Councillor Gasim Ahmed told Minivan News today that a 90-year-old man was the only remaining relative of Anees in Keyodhoo.

“I knew Anees very well,” he said. “He was playing with us when he broke his hand and that’s how he was called ‘Aihbalhey’.”

Gasim said that Anees’ father was still alive but had moved to another island.

Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said today that the investigation was still underway and details would be disclosed at a later stage.

Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair told Minivan News at the time that the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party had voiced concern over the disappearance of inmates.

“There were allegations that some were killed in jail and buried,” said Zuhair. “There were also allegations that some people were dropped in pits where they made lime for construction.”

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Small islands reject administrative consolidation

Small island populations overwhelmingly rejected the government’s proposal for administrative consolidation and the creation of city councils at Saturday’s referendum amid a 30 percent turnout across the country.

Of 88,882 eligible voters, less than 27,000 participated in the referendum.

Provisional results show that 86 islands voted against the proposal for grouping smaller islands to form large population centres, while only 19, mostly larger islands, voted in favour.

Voting took place in 105 islands listed by the government for administrative consolidation and the creation of city councils ahead of the enactment of the landmark Decentralisation Act and upcoming council elections.

Following the evident lack of voter enthusiasm, the government has been severely criticised for inadequate efforts to raise awareness and inform voters of the benefits of the proposed administrative changes.

After a bitter year-long struggle between the government and opposition parties in parliament over the draft legislation for local governance, the Act was passed in a partisan vote in April after MPs of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) walked out in protest.

The dispute centred round the government’s stated policy of grouping two or more atolls to form seven provinces, which the opposition argued was unconstitutional and could marginalise less populous atolls with disproportionate representation.

While the opposition insisted that the existing division of 20 administrative atolls and the capital Male’ must be maintained, the government argued that consolidation was necessary to achieve economies of scale or cost advantages in the long run.

Saturday’s referendum was necessitated by article 136 of the Decentralisation Act, which states that islands could be grouped to form constituencies if the respective populations make an appeal to the president.

Following discussions between the two main parties before listing administrative constituencies for the council elections as stipulated by the Act, the parties agreed that a public referendum would have to decide the disputed issue of consolidation.

After the plan for combining islands was announced, opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali criticised it as “senseless”, warning of “dire consequences for the people” should the proposed administrative changes fail.

The parliamentary majority leader also argued that “it would be highly irresponsible to spend taxpayer money” on the referendums in islands with traditional opposition to consolidation.

“Anyone who understands the politics of the different islands would understand that some of the groupings are just non-starters,” he said.

Meanwhile in his weekly radio address on Friday, President Mohamed Nasheed reiterated that developing a large number of small island units was not economically viable.

“Based on my education and experience, I see that a small unit could be developed to a particular extent, a particular limit,” he explained. “When that limit is reached for the small unit, there is very little that can be done.”

Referring to the islands Inguraidhoo, Kinolhas and Fainu in Raa atoll, separated by four nautical miles, Nasheed argued that the administrative consolidation would create a population centre of over 2,500 people.

“When the government as well as aid agencies and well wishers look to help, it is likely that more attention will be given to an island where 2,500 people live than an island with a very small number of people,” he said.

A larger budget could therefore be earmarked for the new constituency, he added, allowing for large scale operations to provide utility services, such as one powerhouse for three islands.

Of the 105 islands where voting took place, the proposal was endorsed by Alif Alif Mathiveri, Alif Dhaal Maamingili, Thaa Omadu, Baa Dharavandhu and Goidhu, Haa Alif atoll Baarah and Thakandhu, Haa Dhaal Finey, Noonu Kendhikulhudhoo, Raa Inguraidhoo and Rasgethymu, Shaviyani Fonadhoo and Milandhoo.

The Elections Commission (EC) is expected to announce the official results tonight.

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Father blames medical negligence after fever treatment leaves daughter deaf

The father of seven year-old Aishath Iyan claims his daughter lost her hearing after she was prescribed an overdose of antibiotics for a fever at Thinadhoo Regional Hospital in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll.

Ahmed Ihsan is demanding law makers institute laws governing medical negligence, currently lacking in the Maldives, after remedial treatment for his daughter “cost me my business and life savings.”

“On July 14 in 2007 I went to Thinadhoo Regional Hospital to get treatment for my three year-old daughter, on advice from my island’s health centre. She was in the centre for three days with a fever and the doctors observed that her left hand was swelling, and recommended Thinadhoo Hospital,” said Ihsan.

“As soon as we reached the hospital, the doctor said I had to admit my daughter immediately.”

The doctor first administered an injection medicine to try and reduce the swelling, however it did not work. The doctor then said Aishath would have to undergo a hand operation.

“The same day the doctor prescribed two dose of 80 milligrams of Gentamicin (an antibiotic used to treat many types of bacterial infections) and the same evening another two 80 milligram doses of Gentamicin, and a fifth 80 milligram dose the next day,” Ihsan said. “The hospital operated on her three times, and discovered no internal infection.”

Gentamicin is a vestibulotoxin, and can cause permanent loss of equilibrioception, caused by damage to the vestibular apparatus of the inner ear, usually if taken at high doses or for prolonged periods of time.

Ihsan said he had no clue that his then-three year-old daughter was counting her last days that she would ever hear her father’s voice in her life.

“It was July 19 2007, and she asked me what was plugged into her ears. She said she could not hear anything,” Ihsan said. “So the doctor cleaned her ear, but unfortunately it did not do her ears any good, and the condition was same.”

Ihsan said he then took his daughter to Male’ to visit an ear, nose and throat specialist to try and determine the cause of her deafness.

“He advised me to go abroad as soon as possible, so I went to India. The doctors there said her hearing was lost permanently and recommended the only treatment which was ‘Choclear Implantation’,” he said. “I came back to Maldives and asked the ENT specialist to examine the case and to determine the cause.”

The specialist then examined the case very thoroughly and said the cause of her deafness was an overdose of Genamicin, Ihsan said.

“The doctor said Gentamicin should be given only after measuing the weight of the person, and the doctor at Thinadhoo hospital did not check my daughter’s weight or height,” he claimed.

He said he had spent Rf 7,119,100 (US$554,000) on his daughter’s treatment so far.

“I lost my business and all the money I saved,” he said.

“I have been struggling to recover the amount of money I spent for the treatment of my daughter. It was a medical fault – she was taken to hospital to treat a normal fever,” Ihsan explained. “The Civil Court ruled that there was no capacity to it to rule that the lost money should be paid by the state.”

“People should really be aware of faults in the medical system. There should be a way that people can make the doctors stand trial and get their money back,” Ihsan said, adding that he was by no means an isolated case.

Ihsan explained that many of the people have suffered in similar situations like him and said there was no way to get their return.

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Two passengers injured in ferry accident

A 4 year-old girl and her mother were injured in a ferry accident this morning, reports police.

Police reported that the ferry collided with a cargo dhoni that was entering Male’ harbor.

The girl and her mother wre taken to Indira Gandi Memorial Hospital for treatment and now have been discharged, according to police.

Police reported that the two boats were also damaged during the incident.

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