Everyone is entitled to a good standard of living

Maldives has come a long way from being a number of sleepy islands depending of subsistence fishing for their livelihood. Thanks to foreign tourism, Maldives is today ranked the highest in per capita income in the region.

But the higher standard of living enjoyed by the elites in Male' is drawing sharp contrast to the majority of the population who struggle at the bottom of the economic ladder.

This year, we are facing the first multi-party contest for the nation's presidency and there is no shortage of criticism on the Government and its failed policies that has led to such lop sided development for the people in the islands while the elites in the capital Male' flourish with increasing opportunities.

A glaring example of wasteful expenditure is the over 100 million Rufiyaa allegedly spent on STELCO building in Male'. Is it really necessary to provide one of the most expensive public buildings in Male' to house the staff of the government utility company whose job is to provide electricity to the public at the lowest rates? These incidents should be raised in public debates with presidential contenders to seek their views on how they would spend government revenue raised through tourism taxes ,various duties, etc. Will they concentrate only on developing Male' or do they have the political will to impose income tax and corporate tax and reduce the growing income gap between the rich and poor?

Election campaigns are the only time that presidential contenders will have to to run after the public promising everything in order to get their votes.

While there are no quick fixes that can solve our problems, providing meaningful and easily accessible information to the public can help to create solutions to improve the quality of public service. Hence we must urge the presidential contenders and policymakers for greater transparency and timely information. A free press can play an important role to educate the public who can ultimately hold the government accountable.


"Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction. "- Erich Fromm

"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." Thomas Jefferson