Amir: Recordings of deceased resort worker’s suffering sent to manager, but was ignored

Kudahuvadhoo MP Ahmed Amir accused the management of Kandima Maldives of gross negligence on Tuesday, stating that the resort’s employees sent audio recordings of the suffering of their colleague Adam Naseer to a manager prior to his death, but it was ignored.

Adam Naseer, 60, Dh. Maaenboodhoo, died on October 30. His family alleges his death resulted due to negligence from the management of Kandima, a resort island in Dh. Atoll.

Adam Naseer was one of Amir’s constituents. And he was submitted an emergency motion to the Parliament over the case, urging state institutions to provide justice.

Speaking during the debate on the motion on Tuesday, Amir said that Kandima’s employees made multiple attempts to bring Adam Naseer’s deteriorating health condition to the attention of the management.

Amir said the evidence available to him proves Kandima was negligent.

 “We have received information that they ignored it, even after his roommates, because of the pain he was in, because they realized the gravity of the situation, recorded the sound and sent it to their manager. We have those audio recordings,” he said.

Amir said the case was initially ignored even after Adam Naseer’s eldest child lodged a complaint with the police in Dh. Atoll.

“They left Adam Naseer’s eldest hopeless when he reported the case to the Dh. Atoll police. They responded that he couldn’t file such a case. They cut the phone, and then texted back later that one of their superiors said that the case can be filed, and that they will take a statement. They have not taken a statement to date,” he said.

“We have therefore been informed that he was mistreated and neglected.”

Amir said that it Ahmed Naseer’s family’s deep hope that a solution can be found at a state institutional level to such cases, so that it never happens to anyone else again.

“The family knows Adam Naseer cannot be brought back to life. But because this happened due to negligence, because it’s the family’s greatest appeal that this be looked into fairly, and because they made that appeal to me, I bring this to the attention of the Parliament,” he said.

Health Protection Agency (HPA) has submitted the findings made during its investigation into the case to Maldives Police Service for a criminal investigation. While the police conduct its investigation, Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) has also initiated a parallel investigation into the case.

Adam Naseer was taken to the regional hospital in Dh. Kudahuvadhoo on October 30, two weeks after he fell severely ill. He died four hours later, and tests conducted on his came back positive for COVID-19.

His death marked Maldives’ 38th COVID-19 related death, and led to the discovery of a cluster in Kandima. At least 60 people have tested positive from the resort.

Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) spokesperson Dr. Nazla Rafeeq has told the press that Kandima made contradicting statements to authorities regarding the case, and that the management had not reported an illness in the resort prior to the fatality.

Tourism Ministry has suspended the operating license issued to the resort.