






Link to report:‎

Happy Mayday 2018 Maldives

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.

It’s a political State of emergency… Not a real one!


bomb disposal unit  checking on a reported IED
bomb disposal unit checking on a reported IED


mdp demo
Opposition MDP rally against the governement



The unforgivable metal birdie

bird statue in Addu
the unwanted birdie ..

the statues of birds and beasts which has been erected in Addu for the SAARC summit are a first for the country and are already causing much controversy. Prior to this, Maldives has been free of statues like this in accordance with the conservative religious norms of the country.

It maybe a creative idea gone wrong on the part of SAARC organizers to come up with the idea of statues which is scorned by everyone across the board. But like everything else it has a money trail in the millions which probably is the reason why they are hastily fixed there without any public consultation or regard to peoples sensibilities . Street news have it that the bird statue in Feydhoo alone cost more than a million ruffiyaas to create it although news sources set the figure at 600000 rufiyaas. Whatever the amount is, the cost of producing the scorned objects in the first place, maintaining 24 hour military security around the statues is clearly ludicrous as our country is still barely making ends meet and there are recommendations, advice and even threats by leading world bodies like IMF and worldbank to trim the already wasteful state expenditure or else!

The statues are even politically not tenable because it has infuriated a sizable percentage population which surely will cost the ruling MDP much votes and possibly the executive office if a strong contender emerges for the president.

Statues, fine arts, exotic drinks are fine for developed countries which has money to spare after doing everything they can think of doing but here in Maldives where we are on par with Ethiopia in corruption scale and where we fare even less than sub saharan african countries in terms of higher education enrollment, this is an unforgivable mistake.

Our 9/11 tragedy unfolds… in Maldives

Although we do not have tall sky scrappers like the US, today 9th September 2011 is one of the saddest days in our nations history.  Just like as the USA lost 3000 souls in their 9/11 tragedy, today we lost 5 people which is exactly the same percentage when US and our country’s population are compared. However our tragedy is not related to any war or global conflicts.

On behalf of all fellow resort workers we send our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and we wish them courage in this hard time. May Allah bless them and their loved ones, and make them rest in peace.

The specifics:


the spot where the tragedy happened
It happened in a most happy carefree setting which is repeated numerous times throughout the year in various parts of the country. Two Classes of Hiriya School (2nd girl’s school in Male’) went on a Fisheries science project to the island of BoduHuraa (near Four Seasons Kuda Hura) with some of their teachers and their late principal Mr. Ali Nazim. He is a strong swimmer and a swimming instructor as well. Over the course of the project, a group of about 8 girls somehow went in to a deeper part of the lagoon (8 feet depth) and shouted seeking help. Nazim managed to free some of the drowning girls and it appears that the remaining panic stricken teens somehow overpowered him reflexively and that appears to have been how the tragedy happend. The total body count of the tragedy is five including Nazim.

people throng the gates of IGMH to pay condolences of the Hiriy school victims

The tragedy has taken the whole country by surprise and the whole country is in mourning. Three official days of national mourning has been announced by the president and Health and Education ministry are conducting reviews of the whole situation to prevent repeats in the future.

the children in happier times
the children in happier times

Lets meet the people’s representatives

people's majlis
Apparently there is an issue about our parliament members requesting privacy of their phone numbers, which is despite the fact that most members pledged to be in contact and forever approachable by the people in their election campaigning. Most parliament members promptly went back on their pledge the moment their election victory was announced. However an effort led by a facebook group Majliswatch calling for reform of majlis member’s pay structure have put up a posters in Male’ with our majlis members photos and their contact details asking the people to send views direct to the members on this and other similar reform issues.

We believe this is a very good initiative and everyone shall engage in calling for reform of relevant issues through majlis. Majlis members as they are people’s representatives shall respect the peoples right to be heard and shall maintain open lines of communications with the people. As long as they are in the service of the people, the people will have every right to demand and to know how much their representatives are being paid, offered, by whom and what-for etc.. This is basically accountability to the people.

Listed below here are some details of our parliamentarians and their contact numbers. We urge all fellow resort workers to respect their position and address issues in respectable terms when texting your views.


moosa manik 7771907 mdp hulhu henveiru dhaaira
eva abdulla 7782847 mdp galolhu uthuru dhaaira
muhammadh rasheed 7764243 mdp machangolhi dhekunu dhaaira
ibrahim rasheed 7785618 mdp maafannu dhekunu dhaaira
muhammad shifaaz 9699626 mdp baarashu dhaaira
ahmed sameer 7772046 mdp dhidhoo dhaaira
ali arif 7917489 drp vaikaradhoo dhaaira
ali riza 7783081 7781429 mdp milandhoo dhaaira
ali saleem 9911132 drp funadhoo dhaaira
muhammadhu thaariq 7788510 mdp manadhoo dhaaira
dr. afraasheem ali 7775327 drp ungoofaaru dhaaira
ali azim 7771918 drp mehu henveiru dhaaira
ahmed mahloof 7774567 drp galolhu dhekunu dhaaira
imthiyaz fahmee 7777852 mdp maafannu uthuru dhaaira
ahmed nihaan hussein manik 7774330 drp vilimaafannu dhaaira
Dr. abdulla mausoom 7791001 drp vilimaafannu dhaaira
muhammadhu mujuthaz 7777948 drp hanimaadhoo dhaaira
muhummad nasheed 7902266 kulhudhuffushi dhaaira
hussein waheed 7771166 mdp komandoo dhaaira
ali muhammad 7772076 drp velidhoo dhaaira
muhammad naashiz 7772370 drp alifushi dhaaira
visaama ali 7774256 drp maduvvari dhaaira
haamidh abdul ghafoor 7778245 mdp henveiru dhekunu
mariyaa didi 7771769 mdp machangolhi uthuru dhaaira
abdulla abdul raheem 7993113 mdp maafannu hulhangu
ahmed rasheed 7774650 mdp hoarafushi dhaaira
ahmed abdulla 7775645 mdp ihavandhoo dhaaira
muhammad nasheed 9992013 mdp nolhivaram dhaaira
abdul ghafoor moosa 7772656 mdp kulhudhuffushi uthuru dhaaira
muhammad hussein 7775555 drp kanditheem dhaaira
ahmed easa 7773764 mdp kendhikulhudhoo dhaaira
hamdhoon abdulla hameed 7772333 drp inguraidhoo dhaaira
muhammad zubair 7900166 duvaafaru dhaaira
thasmeen ali 7772547 drp kendhoo dhaaira
ahmed moosa 7772339 kurendhoo dhaaira
ismail abdul hameed 7777137 kaashidhoo dhaaira
hussein muhammad 7784383 drp mathiveri dhaaira
gasim ibrahim 7771111 jp maamigili dhaaira
ahmed nazim 7786789 pa dhiggaru dhaaira
ahmed aamir 7782131 kudahuvadhoo dhaaira
riyaz rasheed 7771331 (GP) vilufushi dhaaira
abdul aziz jamal abubakr 7785619 pa maavashu dhaaira
muhummad ramiz 7771724 drp vilingili dhaaira
muhummad nazim 7774548 mdp madaveli dhaaira
zahir adam 7783433 mdp gadhoo dhaaira
abdulla maseeh muhammad 7772233 drp foamulaku dhekunu dhaaira
hassan latheef 7902231 drp hithadhoo dhekunu dhaaira
alhaan fahmee 7900324 mdp feydhoo dhaaira
ahmed saleem 7773508 lp aedhafushi dhaaira
ahmed muhammad 7774618 drp naifaru dhaaira
rozaina adam 7778061 drp thulusdhoo dhaaira
ali waheed 7925554 mdp thoddoo dhaaira
yusuf naeem 7772506 drp felidhoo dhaaira
abdul muhsin hameed 7775763 drp nilandhoo dhaaira
ahmed siyam muhammad 7771020 meedhu dhaaira
muhammad musthafa 7778844 mdp thimarafushi dhaaira
abdul raheem abdulla 7795834 pa fonadhoo dhaaira
muhammad riyaz 9991298 mdp dhaandhoo dhaaira
ibrahim muthalib 7775087 jp fares maathodaa
muhammad rafeeg hassan 7778455 drp foamulaku uthuru dhaaira
muhammad aslam 7772966 mdp hithadhoo uthuru dhaaira
ilyas labeeb 7774670 mdp hulhumeedhoo dhaaira
nazim rashaad 7781182 mdp thulhaadhoo dhaaira
ibrahim muhammad solih 9998171 mdp hinnavaru dhaaira
ibrahim riza 7772823 guraidhoo dhaaira
rugiyya muhummad 7907984 mdp mahibadhoo dhaaira
abdulla yameen abdul gayoom 7785665 pa mulaku dhaaira
ahmed hamza 7771328 mdp bileydhoo dhaaira
moosa zameer 7771727 pa kinbidhoo dhaaira
ahmed rasheed ibrahim 7874050 9996027 pa isdhoo dhaaira
yusuf abdul ghafoor 7786517 7936517 pa gamu dhaaira
ilham ahmed 7777197 drp gemanafushi dhaaira
muhammad gasam 7777322 mdp thinadhoo dhaaira
shifaq mufeed 7772271 mdp foamulaku medhu dhaaira
muhammad rasheed 7781360 mdp hithadhoo medhu dhaaira
hassan aadil 7785050 mdp maradhoo dhaaira

Absurd descisions..

the island of Foamulah
Officially this is Not one, but three islands!

Geographically Maldives consists only of atolls and islands. While the majority of the islands fit in the coral reef ring that makes the atoll, some islands stand by themselves in the Indian ocean. Foa Mulah, Kaashidhoo, Thoddoo, Alifushi are lone islands like this. On the other hand we have perfect geographical atolls like the normally acknowledged atolls and Rasdhoo, Makunudhoo, Gaafaru, Fulhadhoo and Goidhoo.

However for administrative reasons successive governments have named, renamed and titled islands and atolls at will for quite some time. These naming and renaming does not follow geography and only follows what is practicable and sometimes what is convenient in politics. For example the big atoll Huvadhoo was made two atolls for administrative purposes back in the 80s because the communication equipment at the time did not have full coverage of the atoll from end to end. Ari atoll was cut in half in the 90s for purely political reasons. Similarly absurd titles were given after 2000 to Male atoll Villingili and the newly developed island at Hulhule as wards of Male’ despite the islands being separated by sea from Male’. However these naming and renaming serve the political purpose as no strong objections has been raised against such measures.

The latest absurd naming of the island happened quite recently at FoaMulah which is now officially 3 islands two of which are supposed to be uninhibited although in reality the island is still one indivisible island which couldn’t even add more territory to it by dredging because the island lacks the protective lagoons and beaches most islands have. FoaMulah has been an island by itself for centuries despite being quite close to Addu atoll. Although there were attempts to associate FoaMulah as an island belonging to Addu, it does not appear to have found any wider acceptance. The recently found two islands (imaginary ones!) is an honest attempt by current government to host two city hotels which could do for a resort possibly to provide more jobs and income to economy. Whatever the reasons, its unlikely to go unchallenged by political rivals as the plan is an obvious half thought idea! With many resort islands opening in Huvahdoo atoll and two in Addu, any hotelier who would open camp in these two islands would find it a stretch to compete for customers to their city hotel (in an imaginary island!). The idea that FoaMulah could be helped to develop by two city hotels and a domestic airport does not seem viable as Addu has had facilities for years and yet is lacking in so many ways.

Giving titles to islands and atolls maybe a tame political pastime but the implications of such changes cost the economy as each titled island is in effect a small administration with its requirements such as offices and officers who will manage the newly created narrative. If however the prevailing idea is to help an island by raising its title, what could be feasible for that island needs to be introduced. Everything does not have to be of or related to tourism. Diversifying industries which can help the economy would be better in the long run than to keep all the eggs in the same basket.

cash-strapped employers!

Its weird but true. Some resorts juts really can’t afford to pay the staff at the end of the month! Recently a fellow resort worker informed us about his experience in such a resort where he applied for a job. The HR person was all truthful and told the situation without sugar-coating the facts. The resort still has two months back-pay owed to staff and is not sure when they can pay the staff either!

But the question is how a functioning resort which has all paying clients can go so low as to hold on to staff’s wages and yet put a straight face on.. Could the situation be so bad that they would in a few months not even be able to pay for the groceries bill? How long can this farce go on?

The answers to these problems will be given when there is enough political will to confront big bussineses to respect the rule of law. As long as employers can get away with gross violations of labour laws there is little hope things will turn out better for the workers.

Alidhoo Staff fired asking for salary!

SAARC secretary General Dhiyana and JResorts owner Abdulla Jabir
Chairman of Yacht Tours Jabir with his wife Dhiyana SAARC Secretary General




The owner:

The resorts:

Tourism Ministry reprieving dodgers

Alidhoo Cinnamon Island JResorts Maldives
Alidhoo (Cinnamon Island)

The decision to reprieve resorts who are dodging payment of  rent and accrued fines is a dangerous precedent created by the tourism ministry. This is actually a very serious  issue as all of the owners of these defaulting resorts are senior members of the ruling MDP party. Tourism industry is the one sector of our economy that works well relatively compared to other sectors so its an alarming situation. The ministry and administration has to make a point of being seen as not playing favourites to the party members.

Tourism ministry may have considered the effect of revoking operation license of these resorts and the ensuing economic factors which might negatively effect the upcoming national elections in their decision. However these figures owed by the resorts in question are not of the magnitude that would have been impossible for resorts to come up with if the resorts are in business. Our resorts are well known for their over pricedness where even a bottle of water is sold for guests to the equivalent of a bottled water case! Also a quarter of million dollars is average monthly value of payroll in a mid sized resort. So its bewildering how the ministry has to bend its uprightness just to appease party benefactors.

Below is a list of resorts and the amounts owed by these resorts as rent and fines.

Alidhoo (Cinnamon Island) (JResorts) $792,042.12
Kuda Rah (JResorts) $759,363.38
Funamaudda (JResorts) $1,241,226.20
Filitheyo Island $2,563,509.01
Medhufushi $3,431,328.44
Kudafunaafaru (Zitahli Resorts) $669,604.72
Hadha (Park Hyatt) $200,833.33
Giraavaru $2,519,276.98
Kihaadhuffaru (Zitahli) $1,471,221.90
Laamu Olhuveli (Six Senses) $4,751,511.11
Nasandhura Palace $265,054.93
Total $18,664,972.12


Better living conditions at work site by law

typical resort workers accomodation  would look like this.
typical resort workers accomodation



accomodation for resort construction workers
typical construction workers accomodation

The numbers behind the illegal immigration problem

Briefly the various numbers associated with the illegal immigrants are as follows

  • 1 office serves visas. 1 entry point for immigration.
  • Recruitments agencies are charged 1500rf per worker as deposit.




Finding a job for everyone..




Tourism industry:

Construction industry:

Fishing industry:

Agriculture industry:



Minimum wage debate restarted..




Dropping out of the new 7 wonders scam!

Its wonderful news that the Tourism Ministry wakes up to reality and is dropping out of the fake marketing scam thats called new 7 wonders of whatever it is! Maldives is beautiful as it is. The country has a booming tourism industry and can do very well without fake marketing by fine-tuning the tourism industry; bringing progressive changes, innovating good practices, caring for the industry workers etc etc. The primary purpose of these ‘precious’ marketing schemes is to generate cash for themselves and is bewildering how mature brains can fall for frauds like this. The energy that went to get the country ‘voted’ to poll position clearly shows the enthusiasm that went to believe in the hoax in the first place. Departing guests were made to vote on-line at the airport in support raising of our ranking in the scheme. School students, civil service workers, common folks all voted like mad to give the country a poll position in the new7wonders all the while not knowing the fraudulent nature of the marketing scheme! Now that the hoax is out with the realization that its not the beauty of the country that counts but rather the amount of money we can produce to get the rankings, its time to quit and focus our energies on where it matters. At the industry, the visitors, the islands and the people that makes the it tick! (the workers– like us).

Follow the story in Haveeru
The story in Minivan

The long overdue recognition of Worker’s Day

The government has added May 1 to the list of official public holidays after a cabinet meeting yesterday. Its an improvement from over the years where a day for workers rights was unheard of. Workers rights in the Maldives has largely been championed by the tourism sector workers who have put a lot of effort to raise the issues of workers and has suffered the most. The last workers rally conducted by the TEAM was attended by a few dedicated resort workers and was a novelty kind of approach to voice workers issues. The few attendees held placards displaying various issues faced by the workers. The issues included calls to implement the provisions of labour law as well as demands to review the labour laws! The situation is worse this year as recent patches to labour law crafted by MATI (resort owner’s cartel) has been added in to labour laws, which almost effectually bans workers protests in resorts.

The employers appears still firmly locked in medieval mindset when it comes to playing fair with the workers. What has to dawn on employers is the fact that a happy, loyal, motivated workforce will be more productive and more beneficial for the business they are employed in. It doesn’t make anybody a genius to know that and to apply these. It would also be universally acknowledged that employers in this day and time couldn’t be that daft not to know such a basic truth. However it should be beneficial to be reminded that we are dealing with the same employers who raised fears that resorts would have to hire double the amount of staff they were currently employing just to comply with the 8 hour work rule when the labour law was enacted. Its a sign of how low the employer class been and how much catching up there is.

A whole island for 1500 dollars!

kudafinolhu island


Related story: Kandholhu Island

Dollar exchange rate revised

The long expected devaluation of local currency Rufiya has happened with an official range of 10.28rf to 15.42rf per 1$ announced yesterday. The immediate implications of this exchange hike would be a jump in consumer goods prices so one Rufiya would have less buying power than it had one day ago. This measure was enacted by president Anni with consultations of financial experts to curb a thriving black market for dollars at higher than official figures for exchange rate. The official storyline is that although there will be a lift in consumer goods prices in the short term, the crisis will pass and that dollar to Rufiya rate will fluctuate on a daily basis and everyone will live happily ever after. However with the current political realities its difficult to believe this measure will go unchallenged by the opposition.

The implications of this dollar exchange rate will be negatively felt by resort workers in resorts where the staff are paid their salaries in Rufiyas. Although there is no real reason for resorts to pay salaries in Rufiyas, several resort do exactly that. This is despite the fact that all the revenues generated in the resorts are foreign currency.

The construction industry will also be affected by this exchange rate measures, which hopefully will consider offering more work opportunities for local workers. The current model for construction industry is to employ illegal immigrant workers at near extortion rates for back breaking work and to employ only illegal immigrant workers (because they will be unlikely to pursue their rights in official channels) to do the job all the while saying local talent is unavailable. Nothing can be further from truth. Locals are as or more willing to work for a reasonable pay which the ‘construction industry’ does not seem inclined to give.

Ultimately, the solution to dollar shortage in the country is to adopt more financial reform measures which will be fought with on every step of the way by our opposition political parties which has only mission in office; to oppose the government weather its right or wrong!

Job stats revealed by ’employment ministry’

employment minister

Armed with partial statistics on jobs in the Maldives, the employment minister it appears have rightly waded in ‘hot water’ territory deriding fellow countrymen for not seeking work. According to the ministry’s latest job survey there appears to be 1639 vacant jobs in various businesses at the moment (in Male’ area) while only 300 applicants seemed to have applied for jobs via their obscure job matching system, hosted in the ministry’s site. The survey seems to indicate that of the total 22642 workers currently working in 24094 businesses, only 12432 workers are local. The minister appears to observe that lack of qualification might be the prime reason why workers remain unemployed despite many vacant positions.
Responding to the minister’s argument in a Haveeru thread, most readers of  observes that the youth minister Hassan Latheef is not fully aware of the scope and magnitude of the problem. While its common knowledge that the ‘best’ jobs will be acquired by the most qualified workers, there are so many other problems which checks the workers from applying for jobs. The survey conducted by the ministry does not seem to include anything else except vacant jobs in business properties. It could well include elements to determine the problems why seemingly large numbers of eligible workers refrain from entering the market. In short the many problems why people do not enthusiastically take up vacant jobs could be:

  • low paid jobs: this is a problem that have not kept up pace with the inflation of the economy and unrealistic expectations of employers.
  • wage benefits: to a large extent if local and expatriate workers are compared in similar positions in Male’, the local will be at a disadvantage by benefits such as housing and food allowances which mostly does not apply for locals. This is despite the fact that the a large number of locals who work in Male’ are from local islands and pay for their own accommodation in Male’ as well.
  • inconsistent job specs and unrealistically high qualifications: this defies explanation. Some employers simply ask for bachelors degree qualification even for such mundane jobs as store keepers! In return they are willing to pay only the lowest wages in the market.

Despite the half hearted surveys, its a good sign that the ministry is at least concerned about these issues and hopefully better mechanisms to get people to work will be implemented in the future. This measure is on the heals of another important problem the government is seemingly at work on which is the dollar shortage problem. According to official figures there is a 2m$ outflow of dollars from Male’ as remittances by expatriate workers which is one of the many factors aiding pressure on the pegged dollar exchange rate.

Strike at Hilton Rangali and Baros robbery

Two important and interesting stories in the tourism sector at the moment. The first is about the strike at Rangali (which has ended now) which is one of the better resorts in the country and another is an attempted robbery at Baros which left one attacker dead.. the investigation continues. Links to both stories are here….

first story
at Haveeru
at Minivan
second story
at Minivan
at Haveeru

On the first issue, the protesting staff alleges discrimination of pay which is very common practice in resorts and elsewhere. Generally if two workers are employed in the same position and one being an expatriate and another local, the chances are that the local will get less. Its quite common and has been an issue protested over many times in different resorts and other businesses in the past as well. Another issue the protesters claim is that the employer holding back service charge which the resort denies. Although the strike is called off now we understand that the resort agreed to raise the service charge to levels in other similar level resorts which means agreement that service charge has been manipulated.
Under the labour law employers are required to pay all but 1% of service charges taken from guests to staff and yet most resorts withhold part of this income. But for a Hilton branded resort to go to this low to profiteer at the expense legitimate incomes of the staff is unbelievable!

On the issue of the attempted robbery at Baros , one attacker is known to have died and its not clear the circumstance of the death. However it is known that there are head injuries and that the attacker was pulled out from lagoon while trying to make escape after a scuffle with the staff. Its the second time this year that the robbers have attacked resorts and this time they were just not lucky enough. Resorts have to come up with better policies to protect the island and be more vigilant as the robbers are getting more daring and dangerous with each attack. Ideally the solution to these problems could be through policing and judicial system. However with the government and opposition parties firmly locked at horns, any useful measures to overhaul the judicial, and penitentiary system could not be expected. Its also understood that most of the violent and dangerous crimes that happen in the country are committed by hardened criminals who are released to the community in the midst of their prison term for various flimsy reasons.