Voice of Maldives Islands

A friend of mine told me nowadays the fisherman does not bring the whole catch at once to the fish market- to control the price of fish and by the end of the day sometimes he has to throw the excess into the sea! That’s from the primary level.  When you look at the tertiary level the topic that appears in most headlines is ' shortage ' of dollars and the resulting black market. (A little bit of research here and there (wiki, tourism ministry, stats) gave some figures. Basically, on average a tourist stays for 8 days and spends about 755 dollars (or foreign currencies). From July- September 2009 tourist arrival is 44332, 52388, 50396 respectively.  A rough calculation on how much dollars (or foreign currencies) should be entering into the country from July- September gave a staggering 1.2 billion; 1.2 billion in foreign currencies should be circulating for various transactions within the tourism industry alone in the Maldives!) You might say we are corrupt fro...

It pays to be united. Who would miss the opportunity to be in the top of the lists of any feasibility study on investments, projects, plans, schemes?    For an answer check the results of last referendum on administrative islands. Anyhow, now on, Addu will be referred as the largest island in the Maldives in terms of size and most probably with regard to trade, commerce and industrialization as well -in the near future. Congratulations! Atoll Facts: before and after Presidential Decree (2010/15) on inhabited islands of the Maldives Atoll Total inhabited islands before decree Total inhabited islands after decree Atoll population (census) 2006 Largest natural island/district(s) in the atoll (area in hectares) Male 1 1 46,647 Male'  197 Ha 16 14 19500 Baarah 248.8 Hdh 16 13 22,186 Hanimaadhoo  259.5 Sh 16 14 ...

These days, the talks of creating other cities like Male’ is the buzz word. Nobody knows how the Majlis will decide on the issue of granting, another island(s), except Male’, city status by law. The purpose of this post is not to marvel, at the sincerity and commitment of those Mps (especially from the atolls) to meaningful regional development. The million dollar question is do we really want to repeat the Male’ experience?  Male’ is the health capital, educational capital, infrastructure capital, industry and commerce capital, political capital ...etc of the Maldives. The residents and non-residents alike are paying the price of someone putting all eggs in one basket by squeezing everything under the sun in this tiny place.   There seems to be no end to the rat race for using each and every square meter of land in Male’ for housing shops, offices, Godowns, workshops.....The trees, sun and fresh air have no place here and the ‘ sunny side of life ’ belongs to ...

It’s strange! It is not this governments’ idea that Maldives should be divided into regions and developed by creating 4 or 5 urban areas where quality services are available. The creator of the policy and ‘champions of decentralization’ (aka previous government on the advise of countless local  and international experts) disowning their own creation is a bit of a mystery. Look into each and every plan developed by previous government and you will find the same thing emphasized, magnified again and again in bold letters.  Everybody hates bed tax! That’s why honourable mps in the majlis got rid of it from the  balance sheet of their companies by law! Who would entertain the idea of indefinitely paying 80 percent of their income as  'bed tax' to live like refugees in a match box size flat with no air or natural light just to get  a decent education, health services and jobs?  So have a heart! We too want live in our own home  and where decent...

So far the noise regarding the referendum on islands proposed as one administrative unit is rather minimal with comments like there should be a law on referendum, and some groupings do not make sense etc.  Lack of proper laws is one aspect that stands between us and economic progress; but who is interested in passing such laws. Sometimes it seems that the problem with us is we have too many lawyers and criminals and ‘capitalism without ethics loving politicians’ rather than economists, engineers, doctors, entrepreneurs etc. (I know it’s a contradictory statement-we need honest lawyers and politicians. Don’t laugh.) Living in a tiny island with a population barely reaching 500 is expensive and risky. You may have to hire a boat for couple of thousand Rufiyaa, even to buy a Panadol or staple food items like rice, floor.., If you can’t wait for a day or two, to get it.  Cost to maintain such an island to government is quadruple or even more because the basic services have...

Province/Atoll   %  Budget  1 Upper North      22            511,934,507 1.1 Upper North Province Office Budget          2              12,497,325 1.2 Ha      30            155,088,010 1.3 Hdh      45            229,990,985 1.4 Sh      22            114,358,187 2 North      21            487,733,638 2.1 North        2           ...

L argest Islands in the Maldives s Area 1_/ Population  ( in hectares ) (census 2006) HA Filladhoo 225.6 936 HA Baarah 248.8 1,684 HDh Hanimaadhoo (Airport) 259.5 1,354 HDh Nolhivaramu 221.1 2,045 N Kedhikolhudhoo 218.7 1,507 K Kaashidhoo 276.5 1,946 L Isdhoo 293.7 2,069 L Gan 516.6 2,537 Gn Fuvahmulah * 420.0 10,193 S Hithadhoo * 467.3 13,769 Most populated Islands in the Maldives Area 1_/ Population  ( in hectares ) (census 2006) HA Dhidhdhoo * 50.6 3,496 HDh Kulhudhuffushi * 172.2 7,777 R Kadholhudhoo 11.2 3,679 Lh Hinnavaru 12.6 4,367 Lh Naifaru * 14.3 4,512 Ga Viligili * 55.0 2963 Gdh Thinadhoo * 104.4 6376 Gn Fuvahmulah * 420.0 10193 S Hithadhoo * 467.3 13769 S Meedhoo  166.0 4631 Source DPND