| |
Home page |
Financial Mayhem and Madness at MIFCO by Jamal Abdul Nasir [a pseudonym] from Sandhaanu 15 October 2001 translated by Maldives Culture editors
On days when the catch is large, fishermen must throw it back into the sea. Though they have no answers for this situation, the government will not give permission to a private company to help purchase the fish. If this isn't letting the people starve, what is? Recently fishing zones were delineated and one of the areas was offered for tender. A company jointly owned by Gasim and Maizan Umar made a bid.
As usual, the regime is feeding baby-food to adults to keep them quiet. It is playing games with the blood of its citizens. By destroying Gasim's business aren't they also causing devastation to the whole of Maldives? No one else had the courage to attempt this undertaking… When Gasim discovered that there were no other bidders he was confident his company would receive permission to buy fresh fish, so he bought five refrigeration vessels from overseas into the country. These ships that cost him US$ millions are sitting uselessly in the harbour now that his bid has been cancelled…
What we need in Maldives is to invest in and expand the fishing industry on a large scale. Fishing is traditional to Maldives, tourism is a foreign thing and should not be seen as a permanent industry. The world is always headed for a war, and when that a war starts, there will be no tourism. So why is the government refusing to allow a private company into the fishing industry? If there is indeed a legitimate government then why does it endlessly mislead its people?… The man who became the Minister for Justice, Ahmed Zahir, admitted to all his magistrates at a meeting that he knew nothing about law and justice. He told them he was just a political person. So he acknowledged that he only knows how to play the political tricks the Dictator commands from him. This minister is a hypocrite who was known by the nickname of Citizen Ahmed [from his newspaper column] before he joined the executive. In the past he has said that the people's representatives in the Majlis should not hold high-level government positions. People showed others the newspaper copies of his writings about this matter, and they ended up in prison. One cannot help being shocked and horrified by this standard of behaviour… Please forgive me, I don't enjoy saying or writing that people are thieves or hypocrites. But these issues directly affect the nation. If it was just a matter of private behaviour, I wouldn't bother… Read on: The editors of Sandhaanu don't support an individual. We want to establish peace and justice in the country. We don't want praise from anyone. This is far too heavy and dangerous work for such a miniscule return. We are well aware that if the regime identified us, then not even a fragment of our bones would be allowed to remain. We do all this for love of our homeland, for the sake of the religion of Allah that is the fruit of our souls. May Allah reward us for this work, and the justice of our cause. Amen. Therefore we reject the Dictator's 7th September attack on us when he said we represent a bad cause. It gives us joy when people value our work and send us messages of thanks… |
Maldives Culture is an independent internet magazine of Maldivian cultural issues.
Editors and translators: Michael O'Shea and friends, Australia
We invite contributions from Maldivians and others interested in Maldives.
Contributions and comments - mc_editors@hotmail.com
