Our failure to take care of our own!

It was 9:20 am on the 26th of 2004 when the huge waves of Tsunami hit the Maldives and nearly drowned these islands into the depths of the Indian Ocean. The day passed, and we have been taken seven years past that sad day. 82 Maldivians died in this rare natural disaster, while 26 people went missing and are now assumed dead. The calamity cost our economy much, and never shall the country forget that day. That is why we have decided to mark 26th of December as the Day of National Unity.

Now, therefore, 26th December is the Day of Maldivian National Unity. But what does it mean to voice out slogans, if 1600 of the Maldivians who lost their homes because of the Tsunami still live as internally displaced persons (IDPs) in temporary residences, and are homeless? Since four years ago, the Government has, every year, announced the same number of IDPs and it has never decreased. What does it show? National unity, or a cruel disregard for 1600 of our own people who had lost everything?

A senior official at the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) spoke, yet again, of hope and good things to happen in the future. “Although the number of IDPs have not dropped for four years, the coming 2012 would be a year of change, and during the early months we shall provide all of them with permanent homes”, was his promise. Promises are often delusional, like leprechaun gold, in this country.

They always have excuses. “In M. Kolhufushi, the work of building permanent homes began 5 years after the incident, and we have since faced many problems. First, contractors were kicked out of the island, and the raw materials of the first party were destroyed, and many other hindrances”, said the official from the NDMC. It was with situation like this that the temporary residential structures in Kolhufushi caught fire and were completely wiped out. The people suffered, and the officials keep on making promises, taking their salaries in full, and living in apparent oblivion as to the pains of those who suffer.

The government seems to think that the major reason why IDPs from Tsunami have not been provided with permanent homes is the differences of opinion among the homeless people themselves. It has been often said that leaders among the IDP communities have been too stubborn to support realistic efforts by the government to find a solution to their problems. A degree of support for this claim has been seen in some chaos that arose among the IDPs with regards to the permanent houses built by the government. However, it is very difficult to believe that this is a full and accurate portrayal of the picture.

Has the government failed to secure homes for 1600 Maldivians whose homes were destroyed by the Tsunami because they have not cooperated with the government? If someone thinks so, I would say that it is a lame excuse. We should expect those people to be upset and disappointed, after years of being neglected and forsaken. Can we really blame them for our failure to take good care of them?

We have seen many times that the government’s failure to complete home-building projects for the IDPs because of disputes between the government and contractors assigned for the projects. Think about only money and fight over it for eternity, and let 1600 Maldivians live in misery, and then sing and dance when the Day of National Unity comes along once every year. Some scene, right?

The NDMC acknowledges that it has taken too long a time to provide homes to the people who are faced with all kinds of difficulties and are exposed to serious health threats due to being homeless. “After 7 long years, the progress has not been satisfactory at all. We announced when this government came to power in 2008 that within a year new homes would be complete at least for people from Kolhufushi. But the target was not achieved”, said the official who spoke from the NMDC. However, then he goes on to blame the people again. “There are reasons for the failure, one of them being the community of IDPs failing to come to a consensus among themselves about the new homes, especially in case of people from Kolhufushi.”

Under much heavier criticism and disagreement and political pressure, the government has spent millions during the last two or three years on projects such as Gulhi Falhu, Fuvah Mulah Airport, Addu Convention Centre. Are these luxuries more important to us than the 1600 brothers and sisters who have lived for 7 miserable years without homes?

NDMC official boasted that all the IDPs have been provided with electricity, clean drinking water, human aid and emergency aid, and assured that these services would be continued as long as they remain without homes. He said emphatically that “the international community is pressuring us not to provide these services to the IDPs now, as it is against international standards to do so after such a long time. However, the IDPs are in a bad condition, and we do not want to terminate the services we are providing for them. What is important is not the period that has passed, but the condition in which they are in”.

The NDMC obviously thinks that continuing provision of electricity, drinking water and other essential supplies for the IDPs is indeed much, something like charity, something to be really proud of. I, for one, do not think so.

Under new arrangements, the NDMC is no longer in charge of building permanent homes for the IDPs. The Ministry of Housing has taken over the responsibility, and the Ministry has assured NDMC that 178 homes to be built in Kolhufushi, one of the most severely damaged islands during the Tsunami, would be complete and ready for living by the first quarter of 2012. Better late than never! And do not forget that NDMC is actually the same as the Ministry of Home Affairs, and also that it is again just a promise made by the Maldivian government.