Tsunami Aid marred in corruption - Dictator Gayyoom abuses the good will of the international community :: Maldives News :: Dhivehi Observer

Special Report

Tsunami Aid marred in corruption - Dictator Gayyoom abuses the good will of the international community

DO Editorial Team, 16 February 2006

The global community has never shown their generosity towards any disaster that can parallel the outpouring support for the victims of the Asian Tsunami that devastated the lives of millions of people in December 2004. Most analysts agree that the advancements in information technology and communication mean that the sufferings of the people in remote countries of the world were seen live across the world and everyone was affected by it and wanted to help in any way they can. Billions of dollars were pledged and aid organizations around the world participated in the relief and recovery operations. As for reconstruction of the devastated cities, towns and islands, aid organization around the world are coordinating to ensure that it is done efficiently and most importantly without corruption because most of the governments that were affected by the tsunami are rated quite high in the world corruption list, highest of them all being our very own Maldives, which has been running like a family business headed by a ruthless dictator for the past 27 years.

Despite the small number of deaths reported in Maldives, no region of Maldives was spared by the devastating tsunami. The causality figures reported are 82 deaths and 26 as missing with nearly 4000 buildings being destroyed. The economic impact on Maldives and the damage to country as a whole is the worst of all countries hit by the tsunami according to experts.

According to official estimates, more than 15,000 people were made homeless in the Maldives and whole islands have been evacuated such as Raa Atoll Kandholhudhoo, home to over 3700 people. Raa Atoll is in fact the worst affected as has the highest number of displaced people.

The international community has come together to help the victims of the tsunami in the Maldives for which we are of course very grateful. However, many have expressed concern over the ability of the corrupt regime of Gayyoom to ensure that relief, recovery and reconstruction will be free of corruption and the influence of his family and top cronies.

It has now been more than a year since tsunami hit Asia and millions, estimated to be over 30 millions, have been affected by it. In Maldives those affected were very few in comparison to figures from other nations but in terms of the population of some 300,000 people, the number is quite significant. As a year passes, thousands are waiting to get back to a normal life, to get a new house and start living as normal people. Yet Gayyoom and his administration have failed to provide any substantial solution to the victims of the tsunami and most projects that are in fact funded by the international community are being used as a mean to make a quick buck here and there.

Such a case has recently surfaced in Maldives. The project to reconstruct 600 houses in Raa Atoll Dhuvaafaru Island was tendered and the bid was awarded to a joint venture company (Amin Constructin / Liang Bang Co. - Singapore) for 18.2 million dollars. The project which is financed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has however not begun due to corruption scandals and court cases. Following five joint venture companies participated in the tender which was announced by the Finance Ministry of the Maldives.

Island Trader / Wu Huan Construction (Taiwan) – US$ 16.1 million
Moreway Construction / Arun Excello - US$ 17.4 million
Amin Construction / Liang Bang Co. (Singapore) - US$ 18.2 million
Alia Construction (India) / MM Exports - Unknown
Siarikat / Haleys / Agas - Unknown

The Tender Evaluation Board at the Finance Ministry has decided to award the project of to the joint venture company made by Amin Construction and Singapore's Liang Bang despite it being the highest. Now the other bidders are taking legal action and for a reason. Since it is aid money, the ICRC must look to save as much as they can. The differences between the top 3 bidders are not just a few thousand dollars but it is in millions. Most experts in the industry in Maldives believe that Amin Construction and partner was awarded the bid purely because of their connection to Gayyoom's regime.

Second party, Moreway Construction / Arun Excello was apparently disqualified from the tender for submitting forged documents this time. However, they were awarded a project to build 400 houses in Laamu Gan sometime back based on the same documents. The company Moreway/Arun JV has now submitted a case to the courts to try and win the bid because they claim that they had proposed a lower value 174 million instead of 18.2 million proposed by Amin/Liang JV. Furthermore, they also want to clear their name after the allegation that they submitted false documentation and will hence be barred from taking part in any tender for a year.

In a similar move, Island Trader / Wun Huan Construction (Taiwan) joint venture company is also taking up the case with relevant parties such as the ICRC and is considering legal action as well based on the fact that their value proposed was 16.1 million whilst the bid was awarded to a higher value 18.2. ICRC could save over 2 million by awarding the project to them and they are confident that their case is strong.

"We urge the Finance Ministry to undertake an aggressive investigation and hope this is merely a misunderstanding. Once the a credible investigation exonerates the name of the Tender Evaluation Board, the ICRC and the international donors will be reassured that their good will had not been abused." said an official from Island Trader/Wun Huan company. "This project is only for house construction , it is not a difficult project, especially we have more than 20 years experience on civil engineering. Undoubtedly, we are well qualified and full of confidence to help your people rebuild their sweet homes. And our partner Island Trader from Kandholhudhoo, are fully aware of the needs and hardships of their families and sufferings they are going through. For this bid the most important thing is the value of the project and in terms of experience, we are well qualified. Hence the bid should have been awarded fairly and we had a great chance to succeed," the official added.

According to official from Island Trader/ Wun Huan Company they proposed 6 models of houses for the project, costing a total of US$ 16,140,885 (RF 205,796,295).

What is really sad is that the Finance Ministry has now been told by the courts to postpone the project pending the outcome of the court case and that could take some months, whilst those destitute homeless Maldivians will suffer in silence and the international community will be left unaware that these corrupt governments are in the way of their generous aid programs.

"Across the world, corruption is a daunting obstacle to sustainable development. In Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index 2004, sixty countries scored less than 3 out of 10, indicating rampant corruption. These countries need help to emerge from the corruption-poverty spiral. If a country is believed to be corrupt, but is willing to reform, this should serve as a signal to donors that investment is needed in systemic approaches to fight corruption. Long-term systemic reform is indispensable, as reforms can take time to turn the tide against corruption." Transparency International