The Jet Pack Dream Lives On

It’s been more than 10 years since the promise was first made – resort workers zipping home after their shifts using personal jet packs. At the time, it seemed like a pipe dream, but recent advances in technology may finally make this a reality.

Back at that time, jet packs were the stuff of science fiction. The few working models were bulky, noisy, and prohibitively expensive. But they captured our imagination with the possibilities of individual flight. Who wouldn’t want their own personal jet pack to effortlessly soar into the sky?

As resort workers well know, transportation can be a challenge in our island nation. For those working far from home, the daily commute by boat can eat up hours of precious personal time. A jet pack could cut that journey down to minutes.

When former President Nasheed first proposed jet packs as a solution for workers’ commutes, we dared to dream, but knew it wasn’t viable. The technology was simply too limited. But in recent years, companies have made great strides in developing practical jet pack designs. Though still expensive, working models of Jetpacks are already existent.

With continued improvements in battery technology and flight control systems, jet packs are edging closer to mainstream use. Major manufacturers are taking notice, and it’s only a matter of time before mass-produced personal flight devices become available at reasonable costs.

China has proven its ability to quickly scale emerging technologies. They did the same with Solar panels. Before long, Chinese factories could begin churning out affordable jet packs. When that day comes, the decades-old vision of workers rocketing home after a long shift could finally become a reality.

Of course, there are regulatory and infrastructure considerations that will need to be addressed. But despite the remaining hurdles, the promise of jet pack commutes persists.

Ten years ago, jet packs were fantasy. Today, they’re within our grasp. And someday soon, resort workers may finally take flight for the commute home, thanks to innovation in technology sector.

The jet pack future is clearing for takeoff.

No Kids Allowed: Child-Free Resorts in the Maldives

The Maldives has long been a premier destination for couples seeking a romantic beach getaway. But in recent years, more families have been visiting our island paradise, bringing children along on holiday. For some resorts, this influx of kids is an opportunity to cater to a new market. But others take a different approach.

These exclusive “child-free” resorts create an adults-only oasis, free from the noise and disruptions of younger guests. It’s a controversial policy, but one that caters to couples looking to avoid any encounters with children during their island escape.

One such resort with a strict no-children rule is the Anantara Veli Resort. Its small size and focus on pampering couples make it unsuitable for families with children. Living on water villas are to be honest not even safe for children small Children who could fall from decks to lagoon

For some travelers, avoiding other guests’ unruly children is a top priority. These child-free resorts provide them an exclusive playground where they won’t have to worry about loud kids splashing in the pool or crying babies interrupting a quiet dinner on the beach.

Of course, the policy comes with some backlash. Critics argue that prohibiting children alienates an important and lucrative market. But the resorts counter that they are merely catering to the large segment of couples who intentionally seek child-free vacations.

Regardless of one’s stance on the issue, these adults-only islands provide a unique option in the Maldives tourism scene. Though they make up only a small niche currently, expect more child-free resorts to emerge for travelers who don’t want their tropical getaways disrupted by the pitter patter of little feet. For parents, the majority of Maldivian resorts still welcome families with open arms. But those looking to guarantee a kid-free escape now have some exclusive options to consider.

Why Does our Ex President Want to Rear Pigs?

Really baffled were we by the recent news that His Excellency our ex President Nasheed also know as Hassan Kurusee @HKurusee wants to start rearing pigs in the Maldives. Of all the economic initiatives he could propose, why choose an animal forbidden in Islam?

Rumors are swirling that the President has acquired a taste for pork dishes. Maybe during his travels abroad or from expatriate friends here. We cannot confirm if pork is already secretly served in his private residence.

But surely there are simpler ways to procure ham and bacon for the Presidential plate than rearing the unholy swine in our 100% Muslim nation?

If pork is what His Excellency desires, all he need do is discreetly order it from one of his resort owner friends. They could easily send it in in high speed boat delicately made especially for the ex president’s requirements. Within minutes, the unholy dish could be delivered to his residence without the public being any the wiser. No religious sensibilities ruffled.

But establishing piggeries on Maldivian soil crosses a line. It risks tainting our land and people with what Islam deems najis or unclean. Our lands are free from fauna by the grace of Allah for a reason and the beautiful reason and fact needs to be preserved.

Rather than emulate those incompatible foreign values, our leaders’ lifestyles should represent the citizens they represent. A love of public pork consumption falls far outside those norms.

We kindly suggest His Excellency drop this ill-conceived notion before it causes controversy and offense. Seek your personal pork supplies through the proper channels if you must. But let us not sully the nation upholding our faith for centuries.

Some things do not belong in our soil and souls. This republic was not founded to accommodate certain tastes at the expense of our identity and beliefs. We hope clearer minds prevail to advise our respected ex President so.

Are Indian Journalists Exaggerating About Maldives Sinking?

An Indian journalist holidays in a lavish Maldivian resort. Between sipping cocktails on the white sand beach, he tweets warnings the nation will be underwater within years. His dramatic climate change story is gobbled up by major Indian outlets.

But locals know it an exaggeration. The Indian reporter is not used to the unique geophysics of shallow, low-lying island nations. For Maldivians, occasional flooding from storms or swells is ordinary, not a novel threat.

Waves washing across islands happen every monsoon season. Yes, the surges worsen every year two times with amazing regularity , but not to catastrophic levels. Only the most vulnerable islands with poorest protections see extensive damage.

The Indian journalist misinterprets normal seasonal inconveniences as existential threats. His homeland is a massive continental nation with rivers swelling from Himalayan glacial melt. So he lacks perspective on how small islands cope with oceans.

No doubt weather and climate are real and have been priority issues for Maldives. But locals understand this as everyday part of life. There is no island in Maldives where a local cannot or does not see the sea or beach daily. That’s how small Maldives islands are. Doomsday depictions make dramatic stories but misrepresent the nuanced reality.

Unfortunately, facts matter little when hype and hysteria sell more papers. The Indian press knows exaggerating the sinking nation myth appeals to readers’ curiosity and panic.

But such blatant disregard for truth erodes Indian media’s credibility in Maldivian eyes. Can reporters who casually spread falsehoods about Maldives be trusted on other issues?

Maldivians are masters of resilience, from repelling invaders to navigating monsoons. With pragmatic adaptation, we will outlive apocalyptic media projections. Our home shall endure well past the foreign reporters’ hype.

The Inhumane Truth Behind Boiling Lobsters

He still could not shake the disturbing kitchen scene from his mind. While working at a luxury resort restaurant, he had seen how the chef prepared live lobsters for wealthy guests.

The chef grabbed the writhing creatures from the glass pond where its kept alive and plunged them headfirst into a vat of boiling water. As the temperature seared their flesh, the lobsters thrashed violently in agony. Slowly their movements weakened until death released them from the torture.

Watching their suffering profoundly rattled him. How easily the chef inflicted such cruelty in the name of exclusive gourmet dining. The dark brutality behind this decadent delicacy shattered his perceptions.

In the eyes of the chefs and waitstaff, lobsters were mere sea insects. Not living beings deserving humane treatment. Their indifference to the lobsters’ pain chilled him.

Witnessing that traumatic scene, he swore off ever eating lobster again. He could not stomach benefiting from such gratuitous torture. Even if lobsters lack the complex nerves of mammals, they feel terror and pain as any creature would being boiled alive.

Yet the resort’s wealthy clientele would eagerly devour the lobsters’ cooked flesh without a thought to their agony. Only caring for indulging themselves in the prestige of lobster, regardless of ethical cost.

In retrospect, he sees the lobster’s gruesome end as a metaphor for the resort industry. Where the workers’ humanity and well being mean little next to profits and pampering the elite.

But it is not too late to infuse ethics into business and stand up against needless cruelty. If we open our eyes like he did, our conscience will move us to act more compassionately.

Where Do MPs Get the Money to Buy Resorts?

A peculiar trend has emerged in recent years – Maldivian MPs investing huge sums to purchase resort islands within months of being elected to office. Where are these parliamentarians getting the funds for such massive investments?

One must wonder if these purchases point to deeply entrenched corruption. Or are we to believe a string of lottery-like luck has struck our honorable members?

Take the latest example of MP Rasheed Just months into his first term, he somehow scrounged together over $700,000 to acquire the lease of Rihiveli Island Resort. His previous role was a small time builder like thousands of others from Fuvahmulah.

Yet we are supposed to accept that he managed such wealth entirely through legitimate means in such a short span. Did he take the best business courses at Harvard on the side too to become a resort tycoon overnight?

Or look at the husband of MP Rozaina who bought also bought rights to a resort island. He was a an average joe before entering politics. Did he save that multimillion dollar purchase money from his wife’s salary?

One expects ordinary citizens to suspend disbelief at such fairy tales of instant success. But where is the transparency? Shouldn’t the Anti-Corruption Commission investigate how public servants turned private jetsetters so swiftly?

When politicians allocate national resources like land or contracts, fairness and ethics must prevail. Buying influence through favors and finance should have no place in our young democracy.

Citizens invest trust in leaders to serve the public good, not fatten personal coffers. Elected office is meant for selfless service, not self-service.

So I ask again – where exactly are Maldivian MPs getting the money to splurge on resorts? Until that question is answered beyond doubt, the rotten scent of corruption lingers.

Canteen Decorated with Fake Celebrity Quotes

Walking into his resort’s staff canteen, he spotted motivational posters adorning the walls. Historical figures like Gandhi, Churchill, Bob Marley appeared alongside witty sayings. But do these celebrities actually utter those words?

Curious, he asked the HR manager about the apt inspirational quotes. The HR boss laughed and shared a secret – the quotes were all fake! Their graphics team just borrowed famous faces and paired them with random uplifting messages.

None of the words actually came from those revolutionary thinkers or musicians. Everything about the ‘inspirational’ posters was a lie.

At first, he felt tricked and foolish. The resort used Gandhi’s image to propagate any wisdom they pleased without the Mahatma’s consent. Like pulling quotes from thin air and slapping them on a revered figure’s photo.

But the longer he pondered it, the more he understood why resorts resorted to such methods. Those long dead celebrities held mythic status in the public mind. Using their faces immediately imbued the random quotes with gravitas and authority.

While disguising made-up sayings as Gandhi wisdom was dishonest, it did spread positive messages to staff. And at the end of the day, did authenticity really matter if it uplifted weary workers? They just needed a mental boost anyhow.

Still, it left a bad taste, this quotational fraud. But he realized it epitomized the resort industry’s culture of hollow illusion. Where nothing is quite as it appears, just tricks designed to please the eye.

In the end, the guests go home happy with their dream holiday memories built on little deceptions, but treasured lifelike truths. Maybe resort life runs on similar harmless lies – anything to help staff escape reality for a while.

Post Covid19, Maldives is seeing record increase in tourist arrivals.

Tourists are flocking Maldives once again after a big break and the numbers are getting to pre covid levels. The Airport is serving now 4000 arriving tourists per day which is comparable to pre-covid maximum of 5000 arrivals per day.

Many new international brands have also opened which were in construction phase when Covid-19 struck. Due to advantage of isolated islands most resorts in developments continued to work even in the lockdown period and many are open for business now.

Newly Opened Kandinma Resort

During the last few days airport traffic is so high, many private jets had to diverted to Colombo as well.

Tourism industry in Maldives is expected to boom as the country have managed to contain the covid-crisis to the capital island Male’ and resorts and guest houses in the outer islands are naturally isolated from the rest of the country.

https://mihaaru.com/business/84208#

https://mihaaru.com/business/84265

The Life of a Resort Civil/Project/Maintenance Engineer

As a civil engineer working at a resort, there’s never a dull moment. When the resort occupancy is slowed down in the off-season, that’s when the real work begins – the myriad in-house development projects that help keep the resort fresh and exciting for guests. As rewarding as these projects are, they also come with their fair share of headaches!

Whether an entire overwater villa complex is being renovated or an additional swimming pool is being added, the stakes are high and the pressure is on always to deliver on time with flawless workmanship. The vision and desires of ownership and management have to be balanced with technical and budgetary realities. It’s the ultimate test engineering chops.

No two days are ever the same. One week the site may be surveyed and measurements taken, the next contractors and vendors are met with, and the week after that the work is awarded to winning bidders. The ongoing work is overseen usually by the civil/maintenance engineers from the resort, the local construction company engineers for specification adherence. A constant shuffle is made between the drafting table, the job site, and the management office.

Pride is taken in being a problem solver and finding creative solutions when issues inevitably crop up with these large-scale construction projects. Whether it’s a delayed material shipment, an unexpected discovery during demolition, or a tweak to the plans from ownership, the punches are rolled with and adaptation is made. A big part of the job is managing expectations of all the stakeholders when the reality of construction doesn’t always align with the original vision. Diplomacy all the while leading or working within a team of diverse talent in multi language environment is just as crucial as technical know-how.

The best part of the job is seeing these projects transformed from concepts to completed works, knowing a key role was played. That feeling when the finished structure or facility is walked through for the first time and guests enjoying it for years to come are imagined – that’s what makes all the stress worthwhile. The resort guests may not know them by name, but the work done behind the scenes to help create those picture-perfect vacation moments is appreciated.

The start of a new project brings new challenges and the chance to flex engineering muscles. Ways to top the last project are already dreamed up for when occupancy slows down again. The creativity never stops for a resort civil or a project engineer!

Resort Workers Still Laboring 6 Days a Week in 2020

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Pandemic Highlights Resorts’ Disregard for Expat Workers

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Happy Mayday 2018 Maldives

image001

pity the civil workers

Its good to have a day for the workers every year to appreciate the hard work that goes to make a nation. In most developed countries May day is a historic day fought and won and needs to be continuously fought each year for numerous issues. But here in Maldives Mayday is the same as Saturday or Thursday. Mayday is not a holiday and sadly no political leader has any plans to make it one.

Looking back over one year the one thing that should sadden any worker here is the fact that ruling party has made it mandatory to make civil servants join their political rallies, to inflate the numbers and show that they still have political relevance. Civil servants are forced to join these political gatherings despite their objections and despite their political leanings. Forced with dismissals and demotions and with attendance registering, civil servants have no choice but to join and clap to the nonsense coming from the podium.

In the private sector, workers are still toiling 6 days a week often overworked without overtime, lack of protection of job security, medical insurance and expected minimum bonuses. The country has an equal number of expatriate workers most of who are undocumented and continue to work as illegal workers. Human trafficking in expatriate workers is at an alarming level and authorities are not willing to tackle the problem. Unlike many other countries of the world, Maldives does not border any country with land but the government doesn’t even know the number of trafficked workers who live in slavery level existence.

In bilateral relations, Maldives has an ongoing-spat with India which is affecting work visas of hundreds of doctors and teachers and other workers from all fields. While both governments seemed tight lipped with the situation, its common knowledge that no new work visas are being to issued to Indians and vis-a-vis for Maldivians going for medical treatment in India.

In the past one year many new resorts opened and many jobs were created. This is good news for workers and economy, but the full benefit of this is not realized because the government does not have any policies to protect and employ the local workers. The real unemployment rate of the country is in double digits and because the government wouldn’t be bothered to address the issue, they conveniently played with the numbers and now our unemployment rate is better than the most advanced countries in EU.

While the world is going the way of unlimited leaves and rise of machines which will ultimately

do most works humans currently do and what to do about them, we are still here in the dark ages struggling with the basics. Mayday in Maldives is still a day for the opposition parties to taunt the government, and for the government to lie to the people. Mayday will be a day for workers when its understood as a day of reflection for the workers and their efforts that build the country.

Introducing fb community page Maldivessc

Recently a fellow resort worker applied to a job in a big brand resort and was well into the process of the interviews untill he asked an innocuous question. He asked how much can he expect as monthly service charge. His interviewer was not impressed. The interviewer refused to disclose any amount be it maximum, minimum or even average. The interview faltered from this point onwards and our friend resort worker didnt win the job.

This is clearly an extremely stupid position held by the resort unaware of how much information about resorts is already out there by excellent collaboration of resort workers.

Inttoducing facebook community page

https://www.facebook.com/MaldivesSC/

and accompanying site

http://www.maldivessc.wordpress.com

is a must visit resource for resort workers looking to understand the kind of service charge the resort pays.

Different resorts charge different rates from guests per room night as well as other sales items and services, so there is legit reason for big variation in service charge. However if the variation is big between almost similar sized resorts, there is benefit in being in the know.

Service charge rankings by resort

Chavel Blanc Randheli leads all resorts in Maldives in service charge payments. This trend has been ongoing for quite sometime and it looks like bigger brands with new hotels will dominate this in the future. However with many new big brand resorts scheduled to open in near future, some quite close to Male, change is expected. Service charge is a legal right of employees in Maldives under local labour laws and yet majority of resorts are said to distribute only a fraction of SC to staff. While some resorts do display service charge revenue to staff on regular basis on public noticeboards, most keep this information a tightly guarded secret. With little accountability in tourism sector towards employees rights, it is hoped that various awards and recognition bodies will prod the employers on issues like this to bring conpliance and integrity to tourism sector.

Is King Salman really buying an atoll in Maldives?

The short answer is sort of yes. The atoll in question is Faafu which is a sparsely populated atoll with lots of beautiful islands.  Total population of Faafu atoll is around 5000 will in all likelihood will be resettled in  Hulhumale under the proposed deal. The deal is rumored to be worth 10 billion and the atoll will be reclaimed and enlarged to build a mega tourist city. The rationale for the business idea around the project involves Saudi’s desire to diversify economic interests to counter whatever may appear after demand for  fossil fuel becomes low. 

In all likelihood the deal is likely to proceed with current government having super majority in parliament, significant control in judiciary, curbs on media and doing their 100% to stay credible after huge corruption scandal which landed the vice president Adheeb in jail.In president Yameen’s estimate this deal if sealed will produce same amount of revenue for the country as that of the whole tourism sector.

And then there is also significant opposition to the deal from opposition political parties who are also suffering the blame for voting for a bill in parliament which paved the way for private ownership of land in Maldives. 

For the average citizens this just political posturing as there is little difference between 99 year long term lease of islands and outright buying of the islands. Given the average life span of a Maldivian being 77 years, its very unlikely a Maldivian who lives today will see the day when existing long term leased islands lease expires. 

The only real danger Maldivians will face with selling islands may not be that one day all the islands will be bought by billionaires but that these deals will be tainted with corruption and invaluable pieces of beauty will be sold for knockdown prices. Maldives is already reeling from the biggest corruption scandal in history with the same administration in power. Several islands,  lagoons and sandbanks were traded unashamedly by corrupt politicians and things got so bad that tourism ministry even announced any party who have purchased any island or lagoon to get in contact with the ministry with proof of purchase to register the transaction! The corruption saga was never fully inspected and case looks all but closed after jailing 4 individuals including former vice president.

The business case for developing a huge resort island might be sound but the Saudi’s will be well advised not to alienate the opposition who might be not very cooperative if the current regime fails to win the election in 2018. The opposition lacks funding, clear sense of direction and leadership. The current regime almost lacks legitimacy and trust. Trust will never be won with money or power.

Why not give discounted room rates to individual customers rather than to Tour Operators? To make them fat?

 

Guests want to book their holidays with the resort; resort wants guests to book directly with them.

But resorts give discounted wholesale rate to tour operators but not to individual guests despite wanting them as direct booked guests. What cooks?

Here is the everyday situation in resorts that shouldn’t have been in the first place. After seeing a gorgeous picture (something like the picture below) of the perfect blue sky and an even perfect white beach, the would be guest hurriedly tries to book a romantic getaway to Maldives with a life partner. Searching through google brings the guest tons of ads almost all leading them to a booking site. The booking site happily lets the would be guest click through a few times on the webpage and sends confirmation email with travel itinerary and a welcome email for holiday package worth sometimes a little over 5k$ for a week’s stay in one of the most beautiful islands in the world. The customer is indeed set back that many dollars from his net worth for this effortless business created by a third-party booking site. The hotel gets a slice of the pie as well as the booking site and sometimes a few other partners all enjoy a slice of the pie. This is standard proven business model right?

Actually this maybe the wrong model but the one working model customer has no option but to comply with.  Tour operation is effortless big business which should belong to history. At least that’s what it should be considering Maldives is one of the safest destinations in the world, together with good internet coverage and this being 2017; in theory a customer shall be able to deal directly with hotel to book his stay without intermediaries. But why are guests still paying the (evil) middle man? The answer is actually funny and kind of depressing.  Resorts give discounted wholesale rates to tour operators with the assurance that tour operators will do the marketing work and send guests to the resort in off-season. Its outsourcing their most important department (marketing) and doing business the effortless way.

Marketing in most resorts in Maldives is less about marketing than dealing with outsourced marketing firms and tour operators. Tour operation is so widespread that there are tour agencies who do not market at all, but sell packages to other tour operators from discounted packages they get from resorts. What all this does is add bloat to the customer’s holiday package from which only a small portion is received at the resort. This is one reason vacation packages in Maldives are pricy compared to some similar destinations. On the other side it’s also important to keep prices artificially high to appeal to the wealthy customers for “exclusivity effect”.  This is also mostly true of big brand resorts while average resorts are happy with their island being self- marketed by natural beauty and word of mouth type marketing.

Can I fly my latest DJI drone in resort?

This is a frequent question guests ask while in resort. Most guests buy their drones before coming holiday and have the idea to use the holiday time to practice drone skills. Some even bring high end photography drones to capture their happy moments. The answer depends on the resort they are staying. Some high end resorts which often hosts celebrities limit drone use for guests citing privacy issues of other guests. In such a situation its likely guests will be directed to a nearby uninhibited island or to supervised sessions with resort’s security personnel. Drone use can also be a problem if resort hosts a sea plane platform and frequent sea plane transfers happen on the island. It just takes a few distracted seconds before a sea plane appears in the resort’s lagoon out of nowhere.

On the other side, aerial videos and shots by guests is free marketing by guests which has tremendous value. 

Also with a recent update to small businesses rules, the authorities forbid proffessional photography equipments to be imported, with the exception of registered media outlets or locals for personal use. So its always better to check with resort before bringing expensive photography drones to resort. 

In current resort news…

Holiday island workers abstaining from work because the employer has not paid the Ramadan bonus and service charge for the last 6 months. The workers are demanding the employer provide a date whereby the employer can pay what is owed to the workers. All workers except two are abstaining from work. The Villa group of resorts have been struggling for sometime due to the political pressure by being against the current regime which at one time had actually cancelled some trading licenses for the groups businesses. The Villa group is just barely surviving after having to give in to lots of demands by the government which included the chairman Gasim of promising not to contest the presidential election come 2018.

Source: http://www.vaguthu.mv/news/317455/

https://maldivesresortworkers.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/alidhoo.jpg?w=306

Alidhoo is a four star resort owned and managed by yacht tours. The resort employs only 15 local staff and the rest are expatriates. Some of the staff have not been paid for 8 months. Some have been working without pay for 11 months. Alidhoo has been in the news for all the bad reasons for some time as a notorious employer and the chairman of the group that controls the resort is a politician who is allied with the current ruling party.

Source: http://www.vaguthu.mv/news/317460/

Tourists stopped en route to Diego Garcia!

An ambitious project by German and Italian tourists possibly to demonstrate against the Diego Garcia was prematurely stopped by the Maldives forces after it has emerged that a group of tourists had rented a fishing boat and were heading to that direction with 5k litres of diesel, a dingy and other items. According to local media, the dhoni was hired by a group of 7 tourists and was hired for 2 days. It’s not uncommon for tourists to arrange big game fishing trips on big dhonis. Hiring dhonis by tourists has never been an issue before. However this time the authorities suspect the tourists were actually planning to do a surprise visit Diego Garcia or demonstrate the forcible removal of its inhabitants in 1973.

Worrying political developments in Male’

Maldives is going through a phase of undemocratic gangsta-rule just when we need more democracy and more and fair treatment for the people. It seems we are taking huge leaps backward and the process is too strong to halt.

It came slowly but things are getting speedy now. First it was websites having to register with home ministry so that nothing untoward can be said against the authorities. At the same time former president’s (now a convicted terrorist!) case against detaining a judge was getting dust in the court because the govt. was not decided what to do with him. The decision to make him a terrorist only happened after Rehendhi flats in Hulhumale were awarded to state prosecutor and supreme court judges. Perhaps re-activating president Nasheed’s case and make a terrorist out him was their way of thanking the regime for the generosity.

Former president was a colorful character both loved and hated almost by equal measure by the population. He was loved for his amicable character honest talk and innovative style of leadership. He was hated for some of his liberal views which are too liberal at times (such as trying to cozy up to Israel when they were bombing Gaza..) and exclusives, sometimes autocratic style of governance most probably pushed to by party activists. Whatever he may have been, he was definitely not a terrorist and the political case against him was dispensed with in a very questionable judicial process which was just a political sham as declared by world bodies such as the ICJ and Amnesty International. What the government fails to acknowledge now is their stand that they are following the law doesn’t hold much water, since every dictatorship used the same language when repressing the people. Things like apartheid, colonialism and slavery were all legal at the time it was practiced and by those who practiced it. But that doesn’t mean it was right.

Just as everything is connected to everything else, the current political intrigues all connect with president Yameen and tourism minister Adeeb. There will be lots of questions they will have to answer to come clean through things that are going very wrong, such as the wrongful conviction and framing of a once political ally, the former defense minister Nazim. In a plot straight out from comics, the former defense minister was sentenced for 11 years for allegedly plotting to kill 3 people including Adeeb, the president Yameen, and police commissioner Hussein Waheed.

The ‘plan’ is a sad but elaborate hoax which is better suited for movies than real life. In the plan the subjects all have nice pictures and proper names and even describes their ends in plain words suitable for laymen to understand the implications. The plan also connects all current government foes such as Villa group of hotels as accessory to terror and doesn’t even leave anyone out, even the religious extremists. The saddest part is that the ‘court’ accepted this hoax and sentenced a potential political rival to Yameen to kill his career.

And then there are the gangs… Even before Yameen became president there were allegations he was controlling some gangs in Male’. Notably Masodi gang was always mentioned by the opposition. Politicians are always labeled with this and that but there are worrying indications that these allegations have some weight in cases such as the notorious drug dealer Safa who was flown to Sri Lanka from jail and later he won appeal against his case being a fugitive in Sri lanka. We have something like 11 gangs operating in Male’ and its almost common knowledge that the authorities have failed to stop them. Gang wars happen daily in Male in full day light, despite Male’ being such a small place. Only last week we had 2 murders by gangs in Male’, one a Bangladeshi waiter was killed in his café’ and despite the gang being known, the police have not apprehended any gang member yet. Although they have searched a local parliament members residence for the murderer’s clues. The gang is known to associate with the said MP. The implication from the latest murder was that government decided to shorten business hours by one hour forcing the shops to close at 10 and cafes at 12. This hasty decision comes as opposition parties are holding nightly demonstrations against the government and will be seen as a punishment for the business community.

If all the above weren’t enough, worst is yet to come. The government has decided that they will use special powers to prevent demonstration starting from Saturday which means that all demos will be dispersed with no notification and as soon as it happens. This is a serious infringement on the right to protest and it appears that the government is seriously weak to handle any more pressure from the streets. They have failed to checkup on what was pointed out by the opposition as serious wrongs and seems to be on an unstoppable descent to electoral defeat in 2018 or some possible event even sooner.

Links:

http://minivannews.com/news-in-brief/home-ministry-opens-up-second-call-for-newspaper-magazine-re-registration-91854

https://raajje.mv/33750

http://www.vaguthu.mv/en/12853

http://www.icj.org/maldives-grossly-unfair-nasheed-conviction-highlights-judicial-politicization/

https://www.amnesty.org/en/articles/news/2015/03/maldives-mohamed-nasheed-convicted-terrorism/

http://www.haveeru.com.mv/news/58544

http://www.haveeru.com.mv/news/59861

http://www.dhivehisitee.com/judiciary/getting-away-with-murder/