Voice of Maldives Islands

ISSUE Both Majilses are busy proposing independant commissions that they think will benefit democracy and protecting rights of the people. There is one area they have ignored or have forgotten; Safeguarding the assets of the people owned by state enterprises Protecting state enterprises from bad management and politics. CORE PROBLEM State owned companies are often used as a political tool to reward people who show certain affiliations or punish people who refuse to show loyalty towards the establishment. Hence top management team and the Board are often cluttered with people who would not know how to read a financial statement even if it hit them on the head. When it comes to appointment of people to the top jobs in these companies, competencies required to take state enterprises, to a competitive level locally and internationally, often takes a back seat. The consequence is- At one time or another most of state enterprises have gone bankrupt or have faced serious financ...

THE SITUATION "Emerging trend shows that the Northern atolls are becoming poorer compared to the southern atolls." 7th National Development Plan. A survey on Vulnerability and poverty was conducted in 1998 and 2004. According to 2004 survey report, 'Households living in the South had the best chance of escaping poverty and the lowest probability of falling back. Households in the North region faced the highest probability of remaining in, or falling into, poverty'. For Development purposes the country is divided into five regions; North, North Central, Central, South Central and South. Thus developmental projects are aimed at covering major regions rather than a single atoll. The above report also states that“Income poverty is evidently greatest in the North (Ha, Hdh. Sh) and Central North, and apart from Male’, it is lowest in South and Central South” WHY There is no single reason for poverty. However one very important rea...

 Maldivian work force has two main concerns. That is:- -They have to leave their family and come to Male’ in search of jobs, thereby creating lot of social and other problems -Tourism industry benefits a few people and not the majority of the population. In order to address the above problems, islands were leased to build resorts in number of atolls and MTDC was formed to provide an opportunity for majority of the population, a way to take ownership of resorts and provide a direct income source. The question is, is MTDC the right formula to address the above complaints? People started to have doubts after firing of two experienced staff from Herethere Resort. Imagine a different scenario. What if some of the islands to build resorts (or even other investments like fisheries and agriculture) were given to the atoll itself? (It is a known fact that many people from Addu work in tourism industry at various levels. Consequently, Addu atoll has a pool of experienced and s...