2014
For Dhivehi version of this report Click Here
Table of Contents
- Background
- Does Regional Development constitute developing only "Greater Male'?
- Issues
- Recommendations
- Exhibits
Exhibit 2: Work hard. Pay Rent. Die
Exhibit 3: Maldives Housing Assessment of the Maldives, HRCM Report
Exhibit 4: Gulhi Falhu project
Exhibit 5: Loan schemes targeted to Male’ 1
Exhibit 6: Land Reclamation to create Hulhumale Youth City
Exhibit 7: Govt. getting ready to submit a Law Relocation of islanders
Exhibit 8: Expert opinion on Decentralized governance and future development challenges for the Maldives
Exhibit 9: Island Sizes in Hectors
Exhibit 10: Projects for Hulhumale costing-
Exhibit 11: Water Shortage
Exhibit 12: Investing in Human Development of Islanders
Exhibit 13: Government proposes leasing islands for 99 years
Exhibit 14: Special economic Zones: End of local governance?
Exhibit 15: Raajjethere Meehaa (Islanders) Movement
“For much of the last three decades, Maldives has been a development success story. The Maldives consists of 1,192 small tropical islands that cross strategic shipping routes, and it has a richly diverse marine environment. With more territorial sea than land, marine resources have played a vital role in shaping the contours of economic development, with nature-based tourism and fishing being the main drivers of economic growth. In the early 1980s, it was one of the world's 20 poorest countries, with a population of 156,000. Today, with a population of more than 300,000, it is a middle-income country with a per capita income of over $6,300.” World Bank
“In terms of Millennium Development Goals, the Maldives is one of the most advanced countries in Asia and certainly the most advanced in South Asia. Nevertheless, a large part of the population is living in poverty mainly as a result of regional disparities in living conditions due to the remoteness of the islands and the lack of infrastructure and social services in the atolls” European Community,
“Rapid urbanization and in-migration to Male’ has resulted in severe congestion and pressure on housing and land, More than 103,000 people live in an area of barely 2 square kilometers in the capital city of Male'. The last two decades had seen rapid growth in economic and social opportunities in the capital, and consequently, the population of Male rose sharply, while the living land area remains limited. Roughly three people share each sleeping room. Because people with different backgrounds, incomes, and education levels have to cohabit in a small area, social problems such as drug addiction VAW, divorce and adolescent high –risk sexual activities are on the rise. Rapid urbanization when combined with rising unemployment exacerbates these problems immensely. An immediate priority is to decentralize regional development, especially in the North and South Atolls to relieve some of the pressures on Male”. United Nations System in the Maldives
"Since only 192 of more
than 1,000 islands are inhabited today, the issue of scarcity of land is not
related to land per se, but to developed or urbanized land, i.e., land serviced
by basic infrastructure (such as harbours and energy supply) and social services
(such as schools and medical facilities)." Special Rapporteur on adequate housing Raquel Rolnik
1.Background
Article 17 on Non-discrimination (Constitution of the Maldives Chapter II; Fundamental Rights and Freedom) states:-
Everyone is entitled to the rights and freedoms included in this Chapter without discrimination of any kind, including race, national origin, colour, sex, age, mental or physical disability, political or other opinion, property, birth or other status, or native island.
The "Islanders of Maldives" - (or "Raajjethere Meehun" - a group of youth from different parts of the country who are emerging as a grassroots movement) accuses the Maldivian Government and other State Institutions of systematic discrimination towards the Rajjetherey Meehaa (a person born in any island of the Maldives other than the capital city Male' - singular = Raajjethere Meehaa; plural = Rajjethere Meehun) in contradiction to Article 17, 21, 22 (Exhibit1) of the Constitution. Noteworthy to mention here is that the words "Rajjethere and Rajjethere Meehun" is culturally used to denote a person/people of lower status/intelligence whose birthplace is any island other than the capital city Male' and this term is officially recognized by the Maldivian Government in laws, regulations and policies and used extensively by the media in Male'.
The
Rajjethere Meehun holds that they are discriminated in the provision of basic
rights, especially social and economic rights, mentioned in Article 23.
(Exhibit 3) This deprivation forces islanders to leave their native islands; it
forces the Rajjethere Meehun to abandon their homes where housing is free and
migrate in the search of jobs and to avail of services, to the Capital City
Male’ where residents are subjected
to spend an exorbitant 85% of their income on rent as per the Housing
Assessment of the Human Rights Commission of The Maldives, 2008 (Exhibit 4).
The majority of these rentpayers are the Rajjetherey Meehun.
2. Does Regional Development constitute developing only "Greater Male'?
Successive governments have allocated a large portion of the budget and availed of loans/grants from donors and banks in the name of "decongesting Male'" and "Regional Development" but without meaningful and holistic implementation. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Government embarked on Regional Development Programs in the North and the South but acted contrary to achieving the objectives of the said programs when it started building the artificial island of HulhuMale' near the capital city and providing services therein. Instead of allocating funds to realize regional development through the creation of jobs and betterment of services in the north and south regions, the Government again diverted finance and efforts to Male' and HulhuMale' resulting in further in-migration from the atolls. In 2011 the Government again embarked on a $600m project that included reclaiming land from the lagoon of Gulhi near the capital city (Exhibit 3). The present Government has now embarked on reclamation in HulhuMale' to the tune of $59m.
Successive governments have established special housing loan schemes only for Male' residents whereby the affluent Male' resident can build his house and rent it out to the Rajjethere Meehun while the Government and Parliament did nothing to stop the rent-seeking behavior / price hike of rent in Male' (Exhibit 5)
Recently, the Maldivian Government has openly declared that they will:-
- Build a mega city in Hulhumale’, an artificial island adjacent to Capital City (where reclamation alone cost US$59m) for Youth of the small islands to migrate from – The city is branded as #YouthCity or sometimes as #Hulhumale' Youth City, in line with the Government's vision to create "Greater Male' " (Exhibit 6)
- Submit a law to parliament in the name of population consolidation which will legalize government evictions of islanders from any island in the Maldives to any place they see fit. (Exhibit 7)
- Amend the Law on Decentralization to centralize functions mandated to the Local Councils - i.e. those that have to do with the provision of local services and reinforce Governments stranglehold over land and land-related functions.
- Build a bridge connecting to connect Male' Hulhumale' VilliMale
- Build a $40m stadium on HulhuMale'
- Deploy consultants from Singapore to rebuild/re-plan Male' / Greater Male'
- Seek $600m to develop international airport for Male Region in Hulhule island while ignoring development of international airports in North and South of Maldives.
The above policies to reinvigorate centralize development and the shift towards re-centralizing governance contradicts almost every expert opinion and recommendation by local (Exhibit 8 reports by Government and UN) and international agencies regarding the future of regional, equitable development in the Maldives.
3. Issues
- In all most all past relocations population from small islands were transferred to bigger islands within the atoll. Currently the Government's main aim is to relocate to the Capital City, which will force the islanders not only to abandon their island but atoll as well.
- Previously the Government implemented relocation projects at the request of small island communities to bigger islands within the atoll in the absence of any laws. This process was carried out through a consultative process with island communities. The announcement by the current Government to submit a law on relocation coinciding with the announcement of Greater Male' or Hulhumale' reclamation and development projects therein, such as a $40million stadium in HulhuMale', has led to new found worries and concerns from islanders of the Maldives.
- Government spending millions of dollars on reclamation of 200 hectares of land to create an artificial island near the Capital City, when such lands are available in naturally inhabited islands in the North and South of Maldives that are bigger than any planned reclamation could provide is questionable (Exhibit 9).
- Government planning to spend more than 200miilion dollars on projects for the Capital City instead of giving equitable basic service to islands is unjustified (Exhibit 10). Many islanders call for spending even a lessor amount to give adequate services so that it could benefit Maldives as a whole.
- State institutions have yet to fully abide by clauses in the Maldivian Constitution that requisites basic services without discriminating the native island of birth. A case in point is the water shortage issue in the Maldives faced by islanders every year. Only the capital City Male’ and nearby Hulhumale’ and VilliMale’ have safe drinking water provided all through the year via desalination plants. Almost 97% of the other islands face water crisis during hot seasons. Experts claim that it will cost only about 56 million dollars to settle the water issue for Maldives once and for all. (Exhibit 11). In the islands proper health care, sanitation, water, sewerage and a nationwide transport system is also lacking. The second most populated Addu City still has no functioning sewerage / waste management system in place.
- Maldives at its current status as a small island nation with a dispersed population has achieved almost all of the MDGs and there is no reason it could go to the next level of development, without losing their identities as Maldivians living in an island nation.
- Maldives Census 2006, analytical report on human development states: “Very little attention is given to increasing human development on professions especially in health targeted for atolls. The overall educational status of the population is not high. By March 2006, about 15 percent and 02 percent of the population have completed O’ Level and A’ Level, respectively in the country. In addition, only about 12 percent have reached secondary level (grade 8-10) education and only 01 percent has attained university level education. In terms of the highest educational attainment, the best educated population is found in the age group 25-29 years. In this age group, 4.7 percent have attained a diploma, two percent have a bachelor’s degree, and 0.6 percent have a masters and above. The data shows that educational attainment in Male’ is comparatively more in higher secondary and tertiary level (Diploma, Bachelors degree, Masters Degree and above) education than in the Atolls. There is a significant proportion of people in the No Standard Passed in the atolls which is of a concern”. (Exhibit 12)
- On the other hand Maldives is ranked 12th in the world in terms of military expenditure, next to Burundi and Mauritania, with 5.5% of GDP being spent on military expenditure in 2005 (CIA World Fact book). The lack of adequate investments in professions, such as doctors, engineers, teachers, agriculturists, craftsmen etc.; especially targeted to atolls has helped to force barely educated youth to migrate to Male’ in search of administrative jobs. It has also worsened the situation of the atolls in providing services to citizens with regard to basic needs such as health. While Maldives ranks 12th in the world in terms of budget allocation for the military, the islanders wait for a day the state would show similar commitment in funding human development.
- At the extreme end, a Facebook page and twitter account (Rajjethere Meehunge Party) which claims to defend the rights of islanders, raise concerns on why there is a push towards the Capital City Male' or Greater Male’, sacrificing development of other regions in the Maldives (Exhibit 15).
“The islanders in Maldives are purposely deprived of basic necessities to, force them to migrate to the Male' region. The indigenous populations living in the islands are to be sacrificed to pave way for commercial use of our islands"
b)
Submit bill to parliament to Introduce Special Economic zones (SEZ)
that threatens local governance and also allow corporate ownership and rule of
Maldivian islands, atolls ( in SEZ) (Exhibit 14)*.
c) Allowing private investors to own 50%
of land reclaimed to the
person/company who reclaims land in the Maldives
“The
push towards Male' and Greater Male' (Maldives capital) is at the cost of our
identities as a nation of dispersed islands” (Exhibit 13)
*Local advocacy
group called Maldivian Economist alleged that the objective of SEZ bill seemed
to be providing a legal framework for tax evasion to existing oligarchs who
control the tourism industry in Maldives
4. Recommendations
- Call to hold a Nationwide Dialogue on relocation and land reclamation
-
Call to guarantee basic necessities such as safe water, electricity, sewerage transport, without discrimination to all citizens as per the Constitution of Maldives without spending further on land reclamation in HulhuMale' / GulhiFalhu or development of football stadiums, bridge and other infrastructure in the artificial islands constituting Greater Male'. This should be guaranteed through the development of regional cities with interconnected transport mechanisms within the region.
- Call to provide services (as in the capital City Male’) in naturally available selected mega islands in North and South to develop cities and connect these cities with smaller islands within the region by a transport network to relieve the burden on Male’ (Capitals city) as recommended by EU, UN and islanders of Maldives (Raajjethere Meehun)
- National Inquiry by the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives with regard to economic development of atolls and islands and discrimination thereof, including potential impact on Maldivians, their lifestyle, their culture and environment due to forced migration as a result of deprivation of services and inequitable development laws/policies.
- All state bodies must fully abide by and implement the Decentralization Law (Laamarukazy kurumaa behey qaanoon). The parliament and government should devise appropriate fiscal decentralization measures at least to the atoll level, so that communities can attend more efficiently to municipal services delivery and overall community development.
- In recent years, the longterm vision for development of the country has been made public by political parties. The Maldivian Democratic Party had stated their vision was to develop Maldives as 7regions with regional centers. Jumhooree Party had stated that their vision was to create 5 regional centers. Both were based on the philosophy of regional development. It is therefore imperative for the Raajjethere Meehun to know what the vision and the strategy of the Progressive People's Party of Maldives (the current ruling party) - is for the development of the rest of the Maldives i.e. besides development of the Male' area.
..........................................................
5. Exhibits
Exhibit 1: Constitution Clauses on Fundamental Rights
From the Constitution of the Maldives
Equality
20. Every individual is equal before and under the law, and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law.
Right to life
21. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person, and the right not be deprived thereof to any extent except pursuant to a law made in accordance with Article 16 of this Constitution.
Protection of the environment
22. The State has a fundamental duty to protect and preserve the natural environment, biodiversity, resources and beauty of the country for the benefit of present and future generations. The State shall undertake and promote desirable economic and social goals through ecologically balanced sustainable development and shall take measures necessary to foster conservation, prevent pollution, the extinction of any species and ecological degradation from any such goals.
Economic and social rights
23. Every citizen the following rights pursuant to this Constitution, and the State undertakes to achieve the progressive realization of these rights by reasonable measures within its ability and resources:
(a) adequate and nutritious food and clean water;
(b) clothing and housing;
(c) good standards of health care, physical and mental;
(d) a healthy and ecologically balanced environment;
(e) equal access to means of communication, the State media, transportation facilities, and the natural resources of the country;
(f) the establishment of a sewage system of a reasonably adequate standard on every inhabited island;
(g) the establishment of an electricity system of a reasonably adequate standard on every inhabited island that is commensurate to that island.
Exhibit 2: Work Hard. Pay Rent. Die
“Work hard, pay rent, die” –Rajjetherey Meehunge Party calls for an end to modern slavery
Excerpts
from the above article:
“Forced migration has led to ghost
villages in the atolls, Yasir says. Every second house is abandoned
and falling apart in his home island of Gaaf Alif Atoll Kolamafushi.
“The government may say look, we are
consolidating populations here, in Hulhumalé, in Gulhi Falhu, but without
developing other regions, it is not consolidating, that is congestion.
“This is not living. This just exists
because you are not dead. This is not life. All the money you earn, you give to
someone else. The rest for something else. Inflation keeps rising,” she
continues.
The RMP believes congestion is at the
root of most social ills in the Maldives, from high rates of divorce to an
increase in gang crimes. It is also driving more and more women to
prostitution, …
Instead of addressing the root
cause, the government tends to advocate stop-gap measures such as religious
education and increasing security, he continues.
“What the heck? Religious education is
not going to solve it. Without
an environment in which people can live in contentment, those issues cannot be
solved.
Developing
urban centers on already existing large landmasses throughout the Maldives and
consolidating populations to these regions is the only way to relieve
congestion in Malé, he argues.
Exhibit 3: Maldives Housing Assessment of the Maldives, HRCM Report
Housing Assessment report, 2009 by Human Rights Commission of the Maldives
Exhibit 4: Gulhi Falhu project
Gulhi Falhu project to cost US$600 million: President,
The Gulhi Falhu development project aimed at decongesting capital Male is expected to cost a minimum amount of US$600 million, Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed revealed yesterday
Exhibit 5: Loan schemes targeted to Male’
Exhibit 6: Land Reclamation to create Hulhumale Youth City
Hulhumale’ Phase I is the first fully reclaimed, pre-planned city of the country located within 3 kilometers from Male’, the capital city. Hulhumale’ Phase I is connected to the International Airport by road and provides for a wide range of land uses from residential, mixed residential, industrial, institutional, commercial, sports and recreation and Government properties; and currently houses a population of over 30,000 with a projected 60,000 at its completion.Hulhumale’ is expected to be connected by a bridge to Male’ via the airport within the next couple of years. Hulhumale’ Phase II involves the reclamation of the adjoining shallow lagoon to the north of Phase I, approximating an area of close to 240 hectares.
2. Government to tender Malé-Hulhulé bridge project next month, 2014,
“Speaking at a groundbreaking ceremony in Hulhumalé, President Yameen said that the vision of his administration was to develop the artificial island as a “youth village” with a population of 50,000 people.’
3. Government exploring options for Hulhumalé reclamation project,
“Youth village” Developing a “youth village” in Hulhumalé with a population of 50,000 was a key campaign pledge of President Abdulla Yameen. Speaking at an inauguration ceremony for the land reclamation project in Thulusdhoo earlier this week, President Yameen said the government’s objective was to relocate people from small islands in the atolls to Hulhumalé. Economic opportunities in small islands were limited due to their size and isolation, he added. The government hoped youth from smaller islands would migrate to Hulhumalé as well as other islands selected for land reclamation, Yameen said.
Exhibit 7: Govt. getting ready to submit a Law Relocation of islanders
- އާބާދީ އެއްފަސް ކުރުމުގެ ޕްރޮގްރާމް ގެންދާނީ ގާނޫނެއްގެ ތެރެއިން: މިނިސްޓަރު (Translation: Programs on population consolidation will be implemented by a law: Minister),
- Number of inhabited islands needs to be halved: Minister,
- Inhabited islands need to be halved: Housing Minister, Haveeru today reported that Haa Alif Molhadhoo Island Council had accused the government of informing the council that its population of 400 would be relocated to nearby Dhihdhoo island without prior consultation.
- Faridhoo residents sign petition requesting to relocate to Hanimaadhoo ,
Exhibit 8: Expert opinion on Decentralized governance and future development challenges for the Maldives
- Strengthening decentralized governance in the Maldives: Draft Report , Joint Government and UNDP mission, October 2005 ,
- Strengthening Local Governance in Maldives, A background paper prepared by the President’s Office & Ministry of Home Affairs for the Maldives Partnership Forum (MPF) 23 ‐ 24 March 2009,
- Situation analysis of emerging development challenges and opportunities in the Maldives, 2010, United Nations systems in the Maldives,
- The Maldives - European Community, Country Strategy Paper 2007-2013, European Community
- Report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context, Raquel Rolnik 11 January 2010 , UN Human Rights Council, Thirteenth session
Exhibit 9: Island Sizes in Hectares
Source: Department of Planning and National Development
Exhibit 10: Projects for Hulhumale costing-
- Government exploring options for Hulhumale reclamation project , The government estimates the second phase of Hulhumale to cost $59 million. For reclamation
- Maldives Govt. to seek USD150 million loan for Hulhule-Male bridge
- Government plans US$40 million stadium for Hulhumalé,
- Government seeks US$600 million from China and Japan for airport development
Exhibit 11: Water Shortage
- 55 islands in Maldives hit with water shortage,
- Eight islands hit with water shortage,
- Ihavandhoo islanders to pray for rain after twelve month drought
Exhibit 12: Investing in Human Development of Islanders
Census 2006: Analytical report, Education Sector“Accessibility in lower secondary schools in the islands have made the rates equivalent to that of Male’. But the rate decreases for the atolls for the higher education levels. This is to be expected since in the atolls there are very limited opportunities to pursue education after secondary schooling is completed. Hence, the rate is much lower when it comes for the tertiary levels, where the percentage attending is less than one percent in the atolls”
Exhibit 13: Government proposes leasing islands for 99 years
- 99-year lease necessary to attract investors: Adeeb (Tourism Minister), The only way to build up investor confidence is by leasing islands to investors for at least 99 years, tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb has said.
- އަމިއްލައަށް މޫދުން ބިން ހިއްކާ ފަރާތަކަށް އެބިމުގެ %50 އަމިއްލަކުރުމުގެ އިޚްތިޔާރު ލިބިދޭ އިސްލާޙު ތަޅުމަށް (Translation: Amendment to Land Act to allow private investors to own 50% of land reclaimed by them; submitted to majlis (Maldives Parliament))
- Report of Parliament committee on Development regarding Proposed Amendment to Law number 1/2002 to allow private investors to own 50% of land reclaimed by them. (Document in Dhivehi Language)
Exhibit 14: Special economic Zones: End of local governance?
Exhibit 15: Raajjethere Meehaa (Islanders) Movement
https://www.facebook.com/RajjetheryMeehungeParty
https://twitter.com/Rajjethere
