fishermantobeinvestigated
Fish dumpers to be investigated
Moonisa Easa, Political Analyst
Male', Maldives 15th February 2006 (www.olhuala.com) – Sources at the Attorney Generals Office inform olhuala.com that the fishermen who vandalised the Island Office and the Atoll Office in Haa Alif Dhidhdhoo on the 12th of this month are to be investigated for ‘vandalism of public property’.
The fishermen emptied their catch into the government offices to protest the fact that they had to travel for some one and a half hours in order to sell their catch as neither the main bulk buyer in the atoll, Island Enterprises Pte Ltd nor the government owned Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (Mifco) had collecting vessels in the immediate vicinity of the island.
Dhidhdhoo has not been a fishing island for many years now; up until last year, the island had only two fishing dhonis. Islands such as Ihavandhoo and Hoarafushi in the Atoll have 40-50 dhonis each and hence fish collecting companies and their vessels operating in the fishing zone give priority in catering for these latter two islands.
The alleged perpetrators will be asked to report to the police in Male’ and they will be interviewed before any decision regarding prosecution is taken. The declaration by the Island Development Committee that the fishermen will be paid for the value of the day’s catch, estimated to be over Mrf. 120,000, will also be reviewed. There is a public outcry both in Dhidhdhoo and in the whole country for the perpetrators to be brought to book.
The Dhidhdhoo islanders in general are distancing themselves from the fishing dhoni owners who carried out the vandalism. One islander, Ahmed Hashim, said: “People here don’t want anything to do with the perpetrators. No one even went to look at the damage caused. The perpetrators were the crew of the vessels and about six MDP members who are very active here.” The six MDP people were the only people on Dhidhdhoo who joined the failed January 24th demonstration organized by their ailing party.
“In my view this shameful act was carried out as fisherman in Addu did something similar earlier, and it is generally believed that the government has been giving them priority since then” added Hashim.
There are major differences between the two cases: in Addu, MIFCO had failed to keep public promises made to fishermen, no such formal guarantees about purchasing had been made to Dhidhdhoo fishermen; in Addu, public property was not damaged.
The leaders of the Dhidhdhoo vandalism have been identified as Ibrahim Rasheed and ‘Bodu’ Shafeeu. Shafeeu was convicted of the theft of the safe in the island office a few years ago and several of the others are known to harbour grudges against the Island Office due to reprimands for misdemeanors.
Clarifying the matter to reporters Omar Maniku a director at Island Enterprises said “This is indeed very sad. It was not our intention to offend any of the local fishermen on Dhidhdhoo Island. But what people should understand is that this is a business. We can only berth our collecting vessels near islands that are our main suppliers. If we berthed at Dhidhdhoo, we will be doing a disservice to many times more fishermen in other islands.
Our chairman [finance minister Gasim Ibrahim, who also owns Villa Fishing Company Pvt Ltd] is very concerned about the needs of the common fisherman. He wants to make it easy for the fisherman to sell his catch. I am sure that these problems will be addressed soon.”
The Island Office has cleaned out the premises by contracting the task out to a local Dhidhdhoo firm for Mrf. 32,000. However, even as of yesterday, the building was unusable and office work was done in the courtyard. The raw fish and fish blood has caused irreparable damage to the flooring, furniture, fittings and office equipment. The damage is thought to run into hundreds of thousands of Rufiya.
Dhidhdhoo has in fact been accorded very high priority by the government over the years and traditionally returns a heavy majority for President Gayoom in elections. Hashim added: “The island community always communicates our needs to the authorities in a civil manner and these have always been addressed. For example, what had been highest on our wish list was a radiography unit for our health centre. This has recently been established by the Health Ministry.
“Our biggest concern now is proper sewerage services for the island and the authorities know that is our most urgent concern and I am sure things are progressing. The Finance Ministry just invited estimates for the harbour project. We have already received a desalination plant.
“Elements within our society are working to subvert decent people into committing illegal acts. The fishermen should understand the economics of the industry; they did not have to go to such extreme measures to get their way. Now it is they who will lose and the whole island’s name will be sullied.”
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Moonisa Easa, Political Analyst
Male', Maldives 15th February 2006 (www.olhuala.com) – Sources at the Attorney Generals Office inform olhuala.com that the fishermen who vandalised the Island Office and the Atoll Office in Haa Alif Dhidhdhoo on the 12th of this month are to be investigated for ‘vandalism of public property’.The fishermen emptied their catch into the government offices to protest the fact that they had to travel for some one and a half hours in order to sell their catch as neither the main bulk buyer in the atoll, Island Enterprises Pte Ltd nor the government owned Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (Mifco) had collecting vessels in the immediate vicinity of the island.
Dhidhdhoo has not been a fishing island for many years now; up until last year, the island had only two fishing dhonis. Islands such as Ihavandhoo and Hoarafushi in the Atoll have 40-50 dhonis each and hence fish collecting companies and their vessels operating in the fishing zone give priority in catering for these latter two islands.
The alleged perpetrators will be asked to report to the police in Male’ and they will be interviewed before any decision regarding prosecution is taken. The declaration by the Island Development Committee that the fishermen will be paid for the value of the day’s catch, estimated to be over Mrf. 120,000, will also be reviewed. There is a public outcry both in Dhidhdhoo and in the whole country for the perpetrators to be brought to book.
The Dhidhdhoo islanders in general are distancing themselves from the fishing dhoni owners who carried out the vandalism. One islander, Ahmed Hashim, said: “People here don’t want anything to do with the perpetrators. No one even went to look at the damage caused. The perpetrators were the crew of the vessels and about six MDP members who are very active here.” The six MDP people were the only people on Dhidhdhoo who joined the failed January 24th demonstration organized by their ailing party.
“In my view this shameful act was carried out as fisherman in Addu did something similar earlier, and it is generally believed that the government has been giving them priority since then” added Hashim.
There are major differences between the two cases: in Addu, MIFCO had failed to keep public promises made to fishermen, no such formal guarantees about purchasing had been made to Dhidhdhoo fishermen; in Addu, public property was not damaged.
The leaders of the Dhidhdhoo vandalism have been identified as Ibrahim Rasheed and ‘Bodu’ Shafeeu. Shafeeu was convicted of the theft of the safe in the island office a few years ago and several of the others are known to harbour grudges against the Island Office due to reprimands for misdemeanors.
Clarifying the matter to reporters Omar Maniku a director at Island Enterprises said “This is indeed very sad. It was not our intention to offend any of the local fishermen on Dhidhdhoo Island. But what people should understand is that this is a business. We can only berth our collecting vessels near islands that are our main suppliers. If we berthed at Dhidhdhoo, we will be doing a disservice to many times more fishermen in other islands.
Our chairman [finance minister Gasim Ibrahim, who also owns Villa Fishing Company Pvt Ltd] is very concerned about the needs of the common fisherman. He wants to make it easy for the fisherman to sell his catch. I am sure that these problems will be addressed soon.”
The Island Office has cleaned out the premises by contracting the task out to a local Dhidhdhoo firm for Mrf. 32,000. However, even as of yesterday, the building was unusable and office work was done in the courtyard. The raw fish and fish blood has caused irreparable damage to the flooring, furniture, fittings and office equipment. The damage is thought to run into hundreds of thousands of Rufiya.
Dhidhdhoo has in fact been accorded very high priority by the government over the years and traditionally returns a heavy majority for President Gayoom in elections. Hashim added: “The island community always communicates our needs to the authorities in a civil manner and these have always been addressed. For example, what had been highest on our wish list was a radiography unit for our health centre. This has recently been established by the Health Ministry.
“Our biggest concern now is proper sewerage services for the island and the authorities know that is our most urgent concern and I am sure things are progressing. The Finance Ministry just invited estimates for the harbour project. We have already received a desalination plant.
“Elements within our society are working to subvert decent people into committing illegal acts. The fishermen should understand the economics of the industry; they did not have to go to such extreme measures to get their way. Now it is they who will lose and the whole island’s name will be sullied.”
Click to read full story