The whole thing might backfire!

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 to be provided in spite of it being available from a nearby island within a 10 minute boat ride. We have solved none of these extraordinary problems requiring ordinary solutions. The end result of this neglect is few people being transferred to the first world while half of the majority is in the third world and the other half is in the prehistoric era.

Nevertheless, the government is not doing enough to educate the people on resulting benefits or loses of the move. Some talk on the ‘ if and possibilities’ is not enough. The people have the right to know the Hows and the Whats! Perhaps the government itself is not clear at the moment about what hardships will be eased up; except that, all will be able to reap the benefits of economics of scale and low transaction costs. In theory, to ensure success of any major change, it’s a must to provide some benefits (cheap ferry services within the administrative unit?) at the initial stage. Otherwise the whole thing might backfire!

Related link: Islands proposed as one administrative Unit (island) for the upcoming referendum: Population before and after merger

For more go to Resource Page

Comments

Can we, women of this country, have some space to grow food and offer food security to our family?

Illustration by Aishath Rishtha Translation: “When the Last Tree Is Cut Down, the Last Fish Eaten, and the Last Stream Poisoned, You Will Realize That You Cannot Eat Money” 2014: Think about it? In 2014, I started writing a book using census and all available economic data on every atoll including data on how many uninhabited islands each atoll has. I thought that showing demographic, geographic and economic data will make people realize we need to do something about abandoning such rich resources for a congested living in Male’…. I shared the first draft with friends and mother thinking everyone will be very pleased. They weren’t happy. Major problem seemed to be - “just throwing data on people is not enough… we need to talk about some solutions. Take food security for one…..” 2016: Write about it? The book (Falhu Aliran Muy)- now twice bulky, with economic history (on the suggestion of Late Ali Hussain of Novelty Printers) and 11 interventions on future of ato...

The Dark Side of Life; Maldivians marginalized in the Maldives

The article published in Tourism Watch . To read the full article click link at end In the Maldives, the tourism industry is touted as the goose that lays golden eggs. According to the World Bank, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita ballooned from 600 USD in 1985 to over 9,000 USD by 2017. The nation graduated from one of the 20 poorest countries in the world in 1980 to a middle income country by 2017. A quarter of the overall GDP comes from tourism. While the country got rich, the majority of the population got poor in comparison. Centralization policies and the excessive tourism development on uninhabited islands benefit only a chosen few. Centralization on Male’ The Maldives consists of more than 1200 islands - 188 of them are inhabited – stretching over more than 750 kilometers. Fifty years ago, inhabitants of the islands in the north and south were living a prosperous life based on agriculture and fishing. Raw materials for agricultural products we...

Everybody hates 'bed tax'!

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...

Voice of Maldives Islands

Search This Blog