What should we do with Dhoonidhoo and Aarah?

Dhoonidhoo Island was used by former presidents (Nasir and Gayyoom) as torture chambers for Maldivians. At the dawn of this new era of democratic governance, it will be most appropriate to close the jail at Dhoonidhoo and convert the island as a resort for Maldivians. The island could then be renamed as “Dhoonidhoo Dhivehi Fushi”!

At a press conference after being elected as President, Mohamed Nasheed said that he hasn’t yet decided what the new government’s policy would be regarding the existing presidential retreat (Aarah). I wonder if his answer would have been the same if he were questioned about Aarah during the election campaign! If he were asked about Aarah during the campaign, I’m sure he would not have hesitated for even one second before saying that he would not use Aarah as a presidential retreat and that his government would find a better use for the island. Now President Nasheed is saying that he needs more time to decide what he would do with Aarah.

In an earlier post on this blog I suggested that Aarah could be changed as a holiday resort for Maldivians. But now I suggest that Dhoonidhoo-Jail-Island would be a better choice for conversion as a holiday resort for Maldivians. Aarah could be put up for international bid and leased as a luxury resort for mega-rich billionaires such as Abrahamovich, Prince Al Walid and other billionaires from China, India, United States, United Kingdom, Middle East, etc. The Luxury yacht that Gayyoom used could also be leased along with Aarah. This will bring huge revenue for our tourism industry and provide a new form of tourism as well.

Aarah could be put up for international bid and leased as a luxury resort for mega-rich billionaires

In an earlier post on this blog I suggested that Aarah could be changed as a holiday resort for Maldivians. But now I suggest that Dhoonidhoo-Jail-Island would be a better choice for conversion as a holiday resort for Maldivians. Aarah could be put up for international bid and leased as a luxury resort for mega-rich billionaires such as Abrahamovich, Prince Al Walid and other billionaires from Russia, Middle East, China, India, United States, United Kingdom, etc. The Luxury yacht that Gayyoom used could also be leased along with Aarah.

Private body guards and security services could be provided at this luxury retreat and the government could facilitate the provision of MNDF or police personnel for security purposes in this retreat (after charging a fee). Converting Aarah as a luxury retreat for the mega rich could bring huge revenue for our tourism industry and provide a new form of tourism as well.

Thanks to President Nasheed for listening to my idea of a “Maldives Trust Fund”!

While reading through the Haveeru Daily of 10th November, I came across a story in which President Mohamed Nasheed told the UK newspaper (Guardian) that his government will form a Maldives Trust Fund which will basically be a savings account to buy (or reclaim) land that will be used to relocate all Maldivians in case the doomsday scenario of the sea level rise becomes a reality.

I thank President Nasheed for listening to ordinary Maldivians such as myself. This was basically the same idea that I put forward in this blog some time ago.
(Please refer to the blog-post http://clubescapemaldives.blogspot.com/2008/11/establishing-maldives-trust-fund-to.html)

This is an excellent policy statement from President Nasheed. He also listened to my proposal of not staying in the presidential palace (Theemuge). In doing so, Nasheed has shown that he will be a president who will listen to the people. Already we are seeing signs that this will be a government elected by the people, for the people.

The announcement that they will, from 01st January 2009, start giving RF 2,000 to every elderly person above 65 years of age, shows that Nasheed’s government will be a caring government. This is a sign that we may see many such positive and caring gestures from the new government. How about cancelling all the petty little fees that the government charges from ordinary people? After introducing a good tax system, the new government will cancel import duty and we may see a cancellation of petty fees.

We may also see virtually free medical services and free education in all public schools up to grade 12. The new government has made five major promises to the Maldivians, i.e. proper inter-island transport network, low cost of living, affordable hosing for all, affordable (or free) basic health care for all and control the evils of narcotic drugs in the society. The people await signs form the new government that these promises and all other related promises will come to fruition within the next one or two years at most.

We all welcome this new government of President Nasheed with open arms and an open heart. We welcome this new dawn with great expectations and boundless hope. The whole world can be our playing field and we should not be intimidated by anyone or any country despite our smallness or shortage of natural resources. Let’s stop talking about our failure to follow Singapore’s example and start achieving that dream of becoming the “Singapore of South Asia”!

Welcome President Mohamed Nasheed and Vice President Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik and the members of their Cabinet. Despite our differences of opinion regarding the formation of the new Cabinet we should all stand behind the President and his Cabinet in taking us to the Aneh Dhivehi Raajje!

Not the best Cabinet and three posts should be vetoed by the Parliament and reviewed by the new government!

The cabinet for the president-elect Mohamed Nasheed was announced this afternoon. Following are some of the observations regarding the proposed cabinet. This isn’t the best Cabinet but 11 of the 14 appointments should be given some time to prove their critics wrong while the other three posts should be reviewed by the Parliament and the new government!

1. Whereas Gayyoom’s Cabinet had more than 20 ministries, Nasheed is proposing only 14. This is a positive change which will reduce bureaucracy and reduce government expenditure as well. Hence this change should be welcomed.

2. As far as the allocation of posts to various parties in the coalition is concerned, it is noted that MDP got five posts, and Gasim’s Jumhooree Gulhun got four posts while Dr. Hassan Saeed’s New Maldives Movement got two posts and Dr. Waheed’s Gaumee Iththihaadh got two posts. Finally Ibra’s Liberal party got one post. Considering the fact that Dr. Hassan Saeed got more votes in the first round than the whole of the Jumhooree Gulhun, it seems unfair that his movement got two seats while Gasim’s party got four seats. It could also be argued that Dr. Waheed’s Gaumee Iththihaadh in effect got three seats because Dr. Waheed himself will sit in the Cabinet – as Vice President.

3. To address this imbalance I would humbly suggest that Dr. Hassan Saeed be made a Special Advisor to the President.

4. Overall it’s not the most competent Cabinet that could be selected from the current crop of young and qualified Maldivians. A much better cabinet could have been selected. This selection smells of political string-pulling! Not every minister has to be educated and qualified in the field of his ministry but at least every minister has to be familiar with his portfolio. In this respect, to put it mildly, the appointment of Dr. Ibrahim Didi isn’t the most intelligent appointment as Fisheries Minister. The same could be said about Jameel’s appointment as Civil Aviations Minister. Dr. Didi is a dentist by profession, and one wonders how Dentist-Didi could address the serious demands in the Fisheries industry. A friend of mine jokingly suggested that Dr. Didi could perhaps setup a good dental service for the arcnut-chewing Maldivian fishermen. For grounds of incompetency I believe that the Parliament would veto this appointment.

5. The same could be said about Ahmed Ali Sawad. A graduate in Sharia and Law, one wonders how Sawad could be a good Tourism Minister. He was also the running mate for Gasim Ibrahim when Gasim ran for president in the first round of the election. Gasim is one of the biggest resort operators in the country and many say that Sawad could be Gasim’s proxy in the Tourism Ministry. This wouldn’t be good news for other major resort operators such as Champa, Universal, Sun land, etc. They may not want their direct competitor to be their boss at the Tourism Ministry! For both these reasons I would think that the Parliament would find enough conflict of interest to veto this appointment.

6. I do not believe that Dr. Musthafa Luthfee would be up to the task of managing the Education Ministry. Though he has a doctorate in the field of education, Dr. Musthafa is a slow and very bureaucratic person.

7. The appointment of Dhiyana Saeed as the Attorney General also is a bad choice given the fact that there are some high-profile issues pending at the Attorney General’s Office regarding her husband Abdullah Jabir. One such issue is the case of Vilivaru and Biyaadhoo resort. This leaves a lot of conflict of interest in this appointment. I would think that the Parliament would find enough conflict of interest to veto this appointment.

8. As I said before, it’s not the most competent Cabinet that could be selected from the current crop of young and qualified Maldivians. A much better cabinet could have been selected. I have reservations about some other appointments too but overall those appointments should be given time to prove their critics wrong. But I would suggest that the Parliament should veto the appointment of Dentist-Didi as Fisheries Minster and the appointment of Sawad as the Tourism Minister and the appointment of Dhiyana Saeed as the Attorney General. These there posts should be reviewed both by the Parliament and the new government! This isn’t the best Cabinet but 11 of the 14 appointments should be given some time to prove their critics wrong while the other three posts should be reviewed by the Parliament and the new government!

Establishing a “Maldives Trust Fund” to build a giant “safe Island” for the future!

The main focus of our foreign policies should be to attract investment from abroad and also establish a "Maldives Trust Fund" for the future. A certain percentage of our revenue should be saved in this fund. Foreign donors should be invited to donate to this fund. The purpose of the fund should be to build a huge “Safe Island” - hopefully by reclaiming the whole of the Vaavu Atoll - at a height of at least twenty to thirty feet above sea level.

This landmass will be able to accommodate at least three to four hundred thousand people and have a huge transshipment harbour and almost unlimited land for factories and other industrial projects and work.

At a time when climate change and sea level rise is a major danger looming in our future, as a small island nation we stand in the high risk category of nations that could be wiped out from the face of the earth if we do not act promptly. If this scenario becomes reality, some say that we could become refugees in the back yard of some country such as Australia. But that should not be a scenario that we should entertain. WE can plan and meet destiny in readiness if we act now.
So why not establish this “Maldives Trust Fund” and start saving for a “rainy day” that could very well see us standing in salty rain!

Are We Economic Slaves of Sri Lanka?

Think about this! Sri Lankan investors (either directly or indirectly) control about 11 (eleven) percent of our tourist beds. Sri Lankan airlines has for decades controlled the major earning of the air-travel business in our tourism industry. Most of the accountants in many major Maldivian companies are Sri Lankans. They know the inside-out of our corporate strengths and weaknesses.
Sri Lankans are not only investing in resorts, but also in small travel agencies, restaurants and coffee shops as well. Most of these agencies are run in some Maldivians’ names and the Sri Lankans remain behind the curtain!
Where r all the talented Maldivian workers and investors? Our investors find it difficult to get investment capital due to a shortage of investment banks here in the Maldives. We also have a problem in motivating a relatively lethargic workforce. We also need to motivate the small to medium level investors to invest in restaurants, cafeterias, marts, etc.

Those Maldivians who want to invest in resort-operations and travel agencies also face major problems. For example, many resorts run by Sri Lankan and other foreign companies refuse to give rates for Maldivian travel agencies. Some people describe Maldives as an economic slave of Sri lanka. If we are blind to this we will soon wake up to a day when Sri Lankan investors control most of our tourist beds and hence control our travel agencies and the related industries in the tourism sector. By that time we would have ;lost control of most of our small businesses such as restaurants, coffee shops, marts, etc. as well.

President-elect Mohamed Nasheed's close allies and political-friends such as Sikka, Kerafa Naseem, Mausoom, GoGo Latheef, etc. are lovers of Sri Lanka and they may be inclined to maintain the status-quo. Nasheed should be brave enough to address this issue without being influenced by these allies.

We hope that our newly elected president Hon. Mr. Nasheed will be able to digest this message and address this pressing issue and also the many underlying issues here. The government should find ways to facilitate finance to local travel agents, tour operators and investors in all areas of business. A good example of the lethargic attitude that needs to be replaced by vigour is the fact that MATATO (Maldivian Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators) is also an unknown and an unheard of thing for many Maldivians.
Appointing Sawad as the Tourism Minister would only increase the influence of few resorts operators such as Jabir, Gasim, Nashid, etc. who will have less incentive to spread the wealth than to increase their coffers.

This isn’t my own idea but I hear many Maldivians complaining that the Sri Lankans are slowly but steadily taking control of our tourism industry through their investment wings such as Aitkin Spense and John Keels. They build close relations with influential figures in the Tourism Ministry and the government and increase the number of resorts and hotels that they run, either directly or indirectly.
The problem in many such Sri Lankan-controlled resorts isn’t the fact that they aren’t Maldivian but it is the fact that those Maldivians who work in such resorts say that they feel like second-class citizens in such resorts. Most of the senior jobs in such resorts are given to Sri Lankans and they treat Maldivian Staff in the Sri Lankan managed resorts unfairly.

With the dawn of a new government and the possibility of “real change” in the air, it is time that we reevaluate our tourism industry and see if we need to revise certain regulations as to foreign investment and foreign ownership of resorts.
We should be careful that Sri Lankans may copy our “unique” tourism concepts, learn the construction and operations of such resorts, and then implement those concepts in other countries. Our unique tourism product needs to be preserved so that we are able to carry it on for many more years without losing control of it.
Investment banks need to be setup in the Maldives so that local investors don’t lose out to foreign investors such as Aitkin Spence when it comes to developing and managing resorts.

We don’t want the smooth-talking Sri Lankan investors to charm us and "pickpocket" our tourism industry with help from few, corrupt, Maldivian officials.
So we call upon the new government to look into this matter seriously before it’s too late!

President-elect Mohamed Nasheed's close allies and political-friends such as Sikka, Kerafa Naseem, Mausoom, GoGo Latheef, etc. are lovers of Sri Lanka and they may be inclined to maintain the status-quo. Nasheed should be brave enough to address this issue without being influenced by these allies.

Don’t forget to elect a star cabinet and not a “Lava Party”.

While we congratulate Nasheed, we have to appreciate that now he has a tougher job than winning the election. In fact, forming and running a government could be much harder and trickier than winning the election itself. Nasheed has to realize that we did not sacrifice our lives and our time and our livelihood to make way for some corrupt hoodlums to become ministers and what not.
I understand that president-elect Nasheed is facing immense pressure from the coalition (Iththihaadh) members to appoint their cronies as Ministers. Gasim is holding on to his share and so are Dr. Hassan and Dr. Waheed and Adhaalth and Ibra.

1. Gasim as Home Minister?!@%*

The cabinet list has not been announced yet, but according to some unconfirmed sources, Gasim Ibrahim will be Home Minister. It is assumed that the Atolls Ministry would be incorporated into the Home Ministry. This would give Gasim immense power over the atolls and the capital island (Male’) and also power over the police force. If this is true, then the appointment of Gasim as Home Minister would create fear among many big businesses who are his direct competitors. This would be a destabilizing appointment. Gasim should realise that he and his business came very close to being annihilated! Now that Allah has saved him, he should stop trying to bundle more power for him and his cronies. Stop the greed Gasim. Stop the greed DR. Waheed. Stop the greed Ibra. Stop the greed Dr.Hassan. If you fail this time, Gayyoom and his cronies will have a good laugh at your expense. And in the process we will risk losing this hard-earned freedom. Have some sense guys!

2. Sawadh as Tourism Minister?!@%*

My sources tell me that Jumhooree Party’s running-mate, Sawad is being proposed as the new Tourism Minister. His higher education was in the field of religion, and only God knows how he can be capable of leading our tourism industry into the 21st century. If this appointment becomes reality, it would be seen as Gasim flexing his muscles to appoint one of his proxies to the important portfolio of tourism. Imagine the amount of destabilization this would cause to the big players in the industry – i.e. Universal, Champa, Sunland, etc. It would indeed be a tragedy if Sawad is appointed as the tourism minister.

3. Dr. Musthafa Luthfee as Education Minister?!@%*

I hear that Mustafa Latheef will be appointed as the Education Minister. I humbly disagree to this appointemnt. I have worked under Mustafa at the Education Ministry some years back. He is a kind and very nice person. Incidentally he is a distant relative of mine as well. More importantly he is qualified in the field of education and holds a PhD. But Dr. Mustafa Luthfee is a very slow and bureaucratic person who is not dynamic enough to lead our Education portfolio. Education will be one of the most important areas in this new government and it would be sad to see it being left to a slow bureaucrat such as Dr. Mustafa.

4. Sarangu Adam Maniku as Trade Minister?!@%*

I also hear that Sarangu Adam Maniku will be appointed as the Trade Minister. I would not comment on his reputation but I would say that he is a person who is not qualified for such a post. While we have many qualified MBA holders and economists in our country why would we want to leave someone such as Sarangu Adam Maniku at the helm of our Trade Ministry? Is iy waht the "wathan" wants? (E ee Wathan Edhey Goi Tha?) It baffles me. It would indeed be a tragic and very destabilizing appointment.

4. (Folhi) Siththi as Gender Minister?!@%*

It would be sad if Nasheed has to distribute cabinet posts like “Aneemaa Mudhaa” (spoils of war). Nasheed has a very difficult balancing act between choosing people in the Alliance (many loaded with greed) whom he has to please vs being seen as a non-corrupt person. I would urge Nasheed to show leadership here. This is the ultimate opportunity for him to show leadership as a people’s person. He does not have to respect the choice of the Iththihaadh if it’s a bad choice. What if Dr. Waheed suddenly has a change of mind and ask Nasheed to appoint (Folhi) Siththi as the Gender Minister. Will Nasheed agree to that?

So I call upon Nasheed to show leadership and avoid becoming the laughing stock of this country. There are many capable and dynamic people to lead this country in the new team – people such as Dr. Shiham, Sheikh Faarooq, Dr. Abdul Sataar Yusuf, Hamza, Ahmed Mujuthaba, Arif Hilmy, and many, many more. So please don’t give Tourism to Sawad and Trade to this Sranagu guy and Education To Dr. Mustafa. It will be a start on the wrong foot. Show leadership and say “No” to Gasim or Dr. Waheed or Dr. Hassan when you have to say “no” – after all it’s you that we elected as president, not some fictional person called “Iththihaadh”!

Nasheed, please be wise and take the risk. This is the time to bring down the axe to clean up MDP and the Iththihaadh. If you are wise you would rely more on MDP then the presidency. A man's got to do what a man's got to do. So don’t forget to elect a star cabinet and not a “Lava Party”.