Let’s make Saturday and Sunday as the weekend and Make Friday a working day

Just like the Maldives, Malaysia is also a Muslim country. But is Friday a holiday there? Does Islam ask us not to work on Fridays? No! It only asks us not to work during Jumma Prayer time. It also asks us to start work and seek Allah’s blessings after the Friday (Jumma) Prayer.

Even though Friday has been a holiday in the Maldives ever since the country embraced Islam many centuries ago, we are now seeing many young people do not seem to have any inner respect for the holy day or for even Islam. They see it as a day to sleep till late and to wash their motorcycles and idle.

Coming back to the example of Malaysia, I have seen Malaysian Muslims in Malaysia and I have also seen Malaysian Muslim students in England while I was studying there. Our university had given a mosque for Muslim students there but Maldivian students were only rarely seen in the Mosque whereas Malaysian students were seen there in large numbers. One cannot become a good Muslim by force. It has to come within.

Here I would like to suggest that for worldly economic reasons we can follow the example of Malaysian Muslims and make Saturday and Sunday as the weekend and Make Friday and a working day. We can give the lunch and prayer break for everyone to go for Friday prayers.

It will be nice to see people flocking out of the work places and going to the mosques. After Friday we will then have a long weekend to look forward to (Saturday and Sunday).

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a devout Muslim and I would like this generation to evolve in to a generation who loves and respects and practices Islam in its true sense – not just on the superficial level. Think about this deeply without rejecting the idea without a thought. We don’t become good Muslims just because Friday is a holiday. It has to come within and it is time that we open our minds and our souls to new ideas that will broaden our horizons both in this world and in the hereafter. Again, think about this deeply without rejecting the idea without a thought. Let’s make Saturday and Sunday as the weekend and Make Friday a working day.

Gayyoom and family leaving Maldives for good and migrating to Egypt

A confidential source tells me that former president Maumoon A. Gayyoom and his family has completed all arrangements to migrate to Egypt. According to my source, Gayyoom and family have bought a mansion there and have shipped all their good to Egypt and made their flight reservations for 31st January.
My source tells me that Gayyoom was planning to live in the Maldives but he changed his mind after threats from parliament member (Reeko) Moosa Manik who said that he will take Gayyoom to court for human rights violations.
My source tells me that Gayyoom may change his travelling date but he and his family will travel to Egypt shortly. Gayyoom plans to live in Egypt and visit Maldives depending on the future of DRP and depending on his political future.

How the state could get at least RF one billion if everyone paid Mudhalu Zakath

I have a friend who owns a grocery shop. Every year he pays Mudhalu Zakath. He has to take stock of his grocery shop and the goods in his go-down. Last year the value of the goods came to about Rf 1500,000 (one and half million Rufiyaa). Now he has to sum the total of the cash in his bank accounts. Last year it was Rf two and half million. This meant that his total valuation for the year was Rf 1.5 Million plus Rf 2.5 Million (total of Rf 4 Million).

One has to pay Mudhalu Zakath once a year. The amount is 2.5% (two and half percent) of one’s total valuation. On that basis my friend had to pay 2.5% of Rf 4 Million – which came to a figure of Rf 100,000 (One lak Rufiyaa).

My friend is a small businessman. Imagine the amount of money that the treasury would get if all of us paid Mudhalu Zakath. Take an average resort operator who has about one resort and some other side businesses. On average a Maldivian resort would generate a clean profit of at least one million us dollars per year. Add this to the value of the goods in the resort that are to be sold. The value of the stock would be about usd three million. Now add the savings that this person would have in his bank accounts – perhaps about usd two million. This would come to a total of usd six million. Now Mudhalu Zakath for this person would be 2.5% of usd six million – which would come to about Two million Rufiyaa. This means that a small resort operator would have to pay about Rf 2 Million per year as Mudhalu Zakath.

This figure would be much higher for resort operators such as Villa and Universal. If the government – and in particular if the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and the Finance Ministry could come up with a system to collect Mudhalu Zakath from everyone, I estimate that the treasury would get at least Rf one billion per year just from Mudhalu Zakath.

Collecting Mudhalu Zakath is something that is binding on any Islamic government. It is the duty of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs that the leaders in the government and the general public are made aware of the importance of Mudhalu Zakath and how the proper collection of Mudhalu Zakath would help solve many of our economic ills.

Building the ultimate mega island for the Maldivians!

Vaavu Atoll is the smallest administrative atoll in the Maldives. There are about 19 islands in the atoll but only five of those islands are populated; and the whole atoll has a population of only about two thousand. But the government has to bear the overheads of an Atoll Office and many Island Offices and Schools and Power Houses and other infrastructure to support only 2000 people scattered across the seas of Vaavu Atoll. This is bad economies of scale. This is also against the spirit of decentralization.

Here I would like to put forward a predictably controversial proposal. I propose to relocate the 2000 people of Vaavu Atoll to a bigger atoll, provide housing for the residents and compensate them adequately. After this relocation, I propose to reclaim the whole atoll by doing deep-sea dredging. The reclaiming should be done to a height of at least ten feet above sea level. This landmass would be big enough to accommodate at least a population of three hundred thousand.

This would be a huge landmass (one island) - the ultimate safe-island which could accommodate almost 300,000 people. We could open for international bid and get a foreign party to reclaim and then build the infrastructure in this island.
This huge island could have mega facilities such as a huge transshipment harbour; huge international airport, large international university, many international schools, world renowned marine and environmental research centre, and industrial facilities and factories of all sorts. It could also have all the top-brands of hotels such as Hilton, Intercontinental, Sheraton, etc. The large island could also have factories to build cars and motorcycles and boat-building yards as well. Adjacent to the transshipment harbour, it could have dry dock facilities and farms too.
Like in Dubai we could sell land and housing plots and apartments and office space to international individuals and international organizations from there. This would be a multi-billion dollar project that could bring incredible revenue to us.

Government from 8am to 4pm and shops from 8am to 6pm?

It was a bold and meaningful change. Changing the working hours of the civil service is something that was needed. The current working hours of 7.30 to 2.30 is outdated and unproductive and impractical. The new working hours of 8am to 4pm is more in line with the working hours of other countries.

When the change comes into force on 01st February, the salaries and allowances of civil servants would be increased too. The government seems to be streamlining the civil service to make it smaller and more efficient. It is better to have ten efficient staff rather than have one thousand inefficient staff. This sort of streamlining can make our civil service smaller and more efficient and we would be able to pay much better salaries to the staff too.

It was reassuring to hear president Nasheed speak about his government’s economic plans. It was indeed refreshing to have a leader who understands what economics is all about. We have had enough of a half-cooked sheikh who pretended to know economics but was really clueless.

As we implement the new working hours for the civil service (8am to 4pm) it would be nice to change the regulation on service hours for shops as well. How about 8am to 6pm for the shops? Eight to twelve and then 1.00pm to 6pm. That would be nine hours. The current hours of 9am to m11pm also come to a total of about ten hours if we deduct the lunch and prayer breaks. So how about 8 to 6 for the shops?

(Kutti) Nasheed could join Dr. Hassan Saeed’s Gaumee Party after the Majlis Election!

The upcoming Majlis elections will be a turning point for our newly emerging political landscape. I believe that many new alliances will be formed depending on how the results of the Majlis elections turn out. Following are few of the predictions:

1. DRP and People’s Party would not get as many seats as they think they would get. Thasmeen, Yamin and (Jangiya) Nazim have lost their credibility.

2. IDP and SDP and SLP will not win any seats.

3. MDP will win about 29 seats.

4. (Dr. Hassan Saeed’s) Gaumee Party would win about 18 seats.

5. Jumhooree Party would win about 7 seats.

6. Adhaalath Party would win about 4 seats.

7. (Kutti) Nasheed would join Gaumee Party.

8. Dr. Munavvar would join Gaumee Party.

9. Jumhooree Party and Adhaalth Party could join a coalition with Hassan Saeed’s Gaumee Party making that alliance the biggest “party” (coalition) in the parliament (Majlis).

10. President Nasheed and the Vice President Dr. Waheed will call a mid-term election in 2011.

Relocate all cemeteries in Male

Despite the fact that land in Male is limited, it has five major cemeteries. These five plots of land could be used for much better purpose if we could relocate the cemeteries to Thilafushi or Hulhumale. Under advice and guidance from the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, we could devise a project to meticulously relocate all remains of the deceased from these five cemeteries. These five plots of land could then be used for housing and various other economic and social projects.

We can plan and develop one cemetery in Hulhumale or Thilafushi that would be able to cater for the greater area of Male (including Male, Villingilli, Hulhumale, etc.) for the next 22 years (until 2030).

Regulating all shops to close at 9.00 pm

As per government regulations, the shops in Male are to close at 11.00pm. Over the past years there has been a debate as to the pros and cons of this regulation. Some argue that the shops should close earlier (perhaps at 9.00pm, so that staff could spend some time with their families. Many staff who work at shops start their work at about 9.00 in the morning and goes on until 11.00 at night. They only get few minutes off during prayer time (just enough to pray or have lunch). This restricts the amount of quality time that they could get with their families. It would help boost family relations and improve the social fabric of the nation if we regulate the shops to be closed at latest 9.00pm.

I too operate a shop in Male and would love to close the shop at 9.00pm, but if I do it unilaterally then I stand to lose business. If it is regulated and if all shops close at 9.00pm then I would be very willing and happy to do that. This may appear to be a relatively small matter to the politicians but it can have a big social impact.

For those businessmen who are worried that this could reduce their sales, I would like to say that when all shops close at that time then we would all be in the same boat and the customers would change their shopping habits accordingly.

Would the real “opposition” party please stand up!

Without much ado let’s get to the point! What the country desperately needs right now is a responsible and credible opposition party. DRP is a whining coward that is hiding behind the giant frame of a toothless tiger called Umar Naseer (IDP). They are backed by a corrupt and laughable group that doesn’t even deserve to be called a political party (Social Democratic Party).

Who in their right mind would get behind a so-called opposition of this nature. DRP and IDP and SDP are apparently backed by Yamin’s People’s Party as well. But Yamin too has lost his credibility despite his self-righteous speeches in the Majlis.

So even if someone is unhappy with the current government there is no credible political alternative party to join. DRP is a spent force. IDP and SDP are toothless tigers that more not survive the political scrutiny of the Elections Commission. People’s Party and Yamin have lost credibility.

Jumhooree Party is disintegrating in front of our eyes. Key members of the party such as Adhnaan Haleem and Sameer have left the party and joined MDP. This is an indication that many key members of the party have lost faith in the amateurish political stunts of their leader Gasim Ibrahim.

In this kind of political landscape, the only obvious political challengers for the ruling MDP seem to be Adhaalath Party and Dr. Hassan Saeed’s party (which is in the process of registration). Adhaalath is already in the ruling MDP-Iththihaadh (coalition) and they seem to be doing quite well in administering the religious issues in the government. But there are sounds coming out of Adhaalath Party that they aren’t 100 percent happy within the ruling coalition.

Adhaalth Party now has four options in front of them: that is either to continue as it is with MDP or join Dr. Hassan’s party or go forward with a disintegrating Jumhooree Party or go it alone. Most analysts believe that the best two options for Adhaalath would be the first two of the above four options. It would be interesting to see which option they take.

I believe that Adhaalth party (still relatively small and young) should not prematurely aspire to be king; but rather they could be the king-makers in the political future of this country.

Calling for a ban on smoking in public places in the Maldives

Here’s something that we, the Maldivians, can draw a great lesson from. Since smoking was banned in public places in New York, five years ago, more than quarter of a million people in the city have stopped smoking, according to recently released statistics. This has also dramatically reduced the number of people dying from smoking-related illnesses.

If we ban smoking in public places in the Maldives we could indeed dramatically reduce the number of smokers and reduce the number of people dying from smoking-related illnesses. Many European and even Asian countries have imposed this regulation of banning smoking in public places and they are drawing immense monetary and social benefits for this.

This could save us million of Rufiyaa in reduced imports of cigarettes and also save us millions of Rufiyaa in healthcare for smoking-related illnesses. The savings would be used by the state for investing in social infrastructure and the individual savings could be used by the individuals as pure savings. The improved health could mean more productivity. Hence we call upon the new government to ban smoking in public places and achieve the above-mentioned benefits for the country.

Does President Nasheed value Jabir and Dhiyana above us (the people who elected him to the Presidency)?

President Nasheed and his government seem to be hell-bent on saving Jabir’s ass in the Herethere (Handhu Fushi) fiasco. Following is a brief summary of how this fiasco is unfolding:

1. Jabir (pic) took hold of Herethere after a public bid and paid the rent (about usd 2.5 Million) for the first three months (June, July, and August 2008). He then requested Gayyoom’s government to defer the rent of the following three months for a future date). This request of Jabir wasn’t approved by the MTDC Board, so he paid the rent for the following three months (Sept, Oct, and Nov 2008).

2. Now the rent for the next three months (December 2008 and Jan, Feb 2009) is due and Jabir hasn’t paid this rent. Instead of paying this rent, Jabir has made an audacious and staggering request to the new government of President Nasheed. In a letter to the new government, Jabir has made three requests that could only be described as selfish, irresponsible and stupid!

3. The three requests Jabir has made to the new government and the MTDC Board are as follows:
(a) To forfeit (or make free) the rent of Herethere for one whole year. In monetary terms this means that Jabir is asking the MTDC Board to give him about usd 10 million for free!
(b) The second request from Jabir was to return the usd 10 million bank guarantee from Habib Bank which Jabir has deposited at the MTDC Board as a guarantee for one year’s rent of Herethere. The purpose of this bank guarantee was to ensure that the rights of the share holders of MTDC were upheld even if Jabir fails to pay the rent for one year. Now Jabir wants the government to return this bank guarantee, throwing the rights of the share holders into the garbage bin!
(c ) The third request was to reduce the rent of Herethere.

4. The man won Herethere in a public bid. No one imposed this on him. Ananthara (an American owned company) had also bid for Herethere. But because Ananthara’s bid had a slightly lower Net Present Value (NPV) than Jabir’s bid, Jabir won the bid. The resort at present has occupancy of over 200 guests and is doing good business. Why should the government give one year’s rent free for Jabir? Why should the government return his bank guarantee? Why should the rent be lowered?

5. The total monetary value of Jabir’s three requests would be an estimated usd 30 million. The man has the audacity to ask the board of a public company and ask the government to grant him this kind of favour while overlooking the rights of hundreds of public shareholders!

6. But the most staggering thing is not Jabir’s mindboggling request but the fact that President Nasheed and his Tourism Minister (Sawaadh) seems to be willing to grant these three requests of Jabir. Following Jabir’s requests the Tourism Minister Sawad has tried to pressurize the CEO of MTDC and the MTDC Board to grant Jabir’s wishes but the Board has stood firm to protect the rights of the share holders. The obstacle that prevented Sawaadh from agreeing to Jabir’s requests was the Board of MTDC. The Board has given 30 days notice to Jabir to pay the outstanding rent for December 2008. Jan, Feb 2009. The deadline given for payment of the rent expires on 13th January. If Jabir doesn’t pay the rent by this date (within the next three days) the MTDC Board could revoke his bank guarantee of 10 million dollars and even nullify the contract.

7. In an apparent move to prevent such a scenario, the government and the Tourism Ministry has dismissed the four government-directors assigned to MTDC Board and assigned four new directors.

8. While all this is happening there are staffs at Herethere whose salaries haven’t been paid for the past 2 or 3 months and the rent for Herethere is also due (usd 2.5 Million).

Indeed, President Nasheed and his government seem to be hell-bent on saving Jabir’s ass in the Herethere (Handhu Fushi) fiasco. In an apparent move to please Attorney General Dhiyana (Jabir’s wife) and also to please Jabir (who is a parliament member), President Nasheed seems to be cuddling up to Jabir while disregarding the rights of the public share holders of MTDC.

The newly appointed directors to the Board could meet tomorrow (11th January) to try and grant Jabir’s wishes before the deadline of 13th January arrives. My advise to President Nasheed and the newly appointed Board of MTDC is that the rights of the Maldivian people should be held above the selfish desires of any misguided businessmen.

MTDC and Herethere and the people of Addu and the Maldivian people would be perhaps better off if Jabir’s contract for Herethere is nullified and a new party takes over its management. Not only does Jabir owe millions of dollars to MTDC and millions of Rufiya of salaries to his staff, he also owes nearly two and half million Rufiya to Island Aviation for services to Jabir's company (Yach Tours). We did not elect a new government to undertake questionable decisions to help shady business characters at a cost of million of dollars to the treasury. Listen to us Nasheed! Do you think that Jabir and Dhiyana are more important than we – the people who elected you?