:: Dhivehi Observer :: Peoples Press ::

Of Gilded Cages and Island Prisons

By Mariyam Mohamed - Tuesday, 17 August 2004

Tourists who arrive in the Maldives are actually hoodwinked into thinking that they are indeed beginning a luxury holiday. Little do they know that in actual fact they are being incarcerated in the island of their choice, like birds in gilded cages.

Consider this scenario. Tourist John Smith arrives at Male' Airport. He is taken charge of by the Warden, (named a Public Relations Officer or Resort PRO, just so as not to let on what is going on). He is then taken to the Prison Island (Resort) where he reckons this is the beginning of his luxury holiday. Should he ever want to travel somewhere else, let's say, the next resort or a nearby inhabited island, the charges (boat fees and so on) would be so exorbitant that he would rather not go. Even if he so decides to pay the exceedingly high boat charges and insists he wants to go, he would then face a lot of red tape and the requirement to obtain permits and so on that by the end of his seven week incarceration (holiday) he would still be in limbo. There are no public ferries or transport systems in the Maldives.

This practice is maintained to ostensibly to sustain the so called high-end tourism where clients are charged exorbitant room rents and boat charges from which only the Jailer (Resort Owner) benefits. Another reason is that such Jailers are President Gayyoom's relatives or friends. Apologists for this status quo say that these practices are necessary to protect their high investments to build these Gilded Cages, Island Prisons (Resorts)

What is the upshot. The tourist, without him even being wise to it, is held prisoner in the so called Island Paradise. Meanwhile what of eco-tourism where the inhabitants of a host country should benefit? They don't. There are many diving centres in the capital Male' and the only business they get are from the locals. Why? Because the tourists in the resorts just cant avail themselves of these services due being incarcerated in their Island Prisons.

In the Maldives there's no such thing as starting small and attaining success in stages. For example a resort worker cannot build a couple of rooms in his own island or any one of the hundreds of islands around the archipelago and go from strength to strength because the regulations in force to protect the Presidents cronies who own the Island Prisons. He will have to have big bucks to participate in the so called bidding process and begin with a finished resort which the bid requires completion in a year, Jacuzzis and all.

And Westerners as well as wealthy Japanese, Taiwanese and others (tourists) willingly submit to this peculiar system of spending their holidays. In Gilded Cages.