Maldives Dictator waste millions by throwing away thousands of school books each year :: Maldives News :: Dhivehi Observer

Special Report
Maldives Dictator waste millions by throwing away thousands of school books each year

11 December 2006

It was a disturbing scene. Last Saturday, an DO reporter spotted an unusual activity in T-Jetty of the Male' South Harbour. Thousands of books were being loaded on to boat packed in cardboard boxes. It was loaded in manner that gave suspicion to the reporter who inquired why the books were being thrown about and the boxes burst open. The men there informed us that these books were being taken to the Thilafushi dump yard. They also told us that this was the fifth load they are taking within the last couple of weeks. Each load is 3 Lorries full, they explained, which totals thousands of books. They also confirmed, every year, around this time, they get these jobs to to discard thousands of books.

When we went through the books, it was a mixture of Dhivehi, English and Science books, commonly used in the Maldives. In addition to that, the packs also included plain exercise or monitor books, some of which were even taken by the crew and passing by people as well.

According to a publisher and distributor in the Maldives, these quantities of books will run into millions and in such a small place like the Maldives, over production must never occur as we always have the correct figures for each year.

According to a political analyst, this was just another scheme with which Gayyoom's cronies can make millions out of. They can print a fresh batch each year, and from each contract they can make their millions, he explained. "What they do is, every year they print millions of Rufiyaa worth of books. They sell a book that cost 5 mrf for 25 mrf. The balance stock is not kept for the next year but they throw it away and place a new order. From each of these orders, Golhaabo's cronies take millions in commission, this stealing, this is squeezing people by their necks," he explained in detail.

Any and all who we showed these pictures were absolutely shocked and baffled by the extent of Maldives Dictator's total disregard for the plight of the people. More than 40% of the population are classed officially as living under poverty, making less than a dollar a day. Each academic year, thousands of parents go around the country begging people for money to buy school books for their kids, and those are the lucky ones who have a school to send their kids to.

Each year, Gayyoom allocates millions of dollars for his own expenses in the national budget. His kids, and those of his cronies, all study abroad, in places like Singapore and UK. And, if they get sick, they fly to Singapore even for minor dental treatment.

This kind of wastage in Maldives is common. The international community, especially the donor countries and organizations must investigate these reports and hold the regime accountable for these crimes. The country, which has less than a billion dollar in GDP, has almost 500 million dollars debt today. For generations to come, we might be paying off the debts accumulated by this ruthless dictator, so that he could live like and Arab oil rich billionaire king. Shame on you, Golhaabo!

What an absolute waste?

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