Up To US$400,000 Tsunami Aid Handed Out On Election Eve

Residents of one island in Maldives received more than US$10,000 per household in tsunami relief only one day before the country’s first multiparty elections last Wednesday.

An investigation by Minivan News shows that up 40 households in Shaviyani Atoll Maroshi were given Rf 128,500 (US $ 10,039) in cash last Tuesday by the island office.

An anonymous source within the island office confirmed the handouts but said the payments were distributed on 7 October because that was when the office received the money from the the national disaster management centre.

The households have now been paid a total of Rf 771,000 (US $ 60,234) in three installments, almost four years after the December 2004 tsunami devastated much of the island.

Documents obtained which detail names, ID numbers and fingerprints show 23 households were paid, but locals say the number is as high as 40. This would mean the government distributed as much as US$400,000 to one island in a single day.

Minivan News was unable to reach Ali Moosa, the island chief, or personnel from the National Disaster Management Centre.

"They told some of us in writing that the cash handouts in January were final," one resident, Ibrahim Mohamed, said.

"Then they just suddenly told us that day to come to the island office to get the money. Our problem is the day they chose to distribute it," he added.

Resident Ahmed Ibrahim, who said he had been campaigning for opposition Republican Party candidate Gasim Ibrahim, said his family also received the funds.

"Why are they distributing the money now? People think it is from Maumoon [incumbent president]. It is obviously an attempt to influence the polls," he said.

"Most of the elderly think it is directly from Maumoon. We thought Gayoom would only get 2 or 3 votes, it is because of this cash he got as high as 40," he added.

Election results show Republican Party's Gasim Ibrahim came first in the island with 98 votes, with independent candidate Hassan Saeed in second with 64 votes and President Gayoom third with 40 votes.

Maroshi is listed under United Nations Development Program's Adopt an Island project, a program to provide shelter for the 22 worst affected islands in the country following the tsunami.

According to UNDP figures, 228 people out of the island population of 834 were displaced, 76 homes were damaged and 8 were completely destroyed.

Ibrahim says the majority of the houses are not finished even four years after the catastrophe. "The cost of cement and construction materials are rising every day. That's why most of the houses are still incomplete," he says.

It is the latest reported incident of bribery since elections on 8 October, where President Gayoom won 40 per cent.

On Seenu Atoll Hulhudhoo, Rf 100 (US $7) was handed out to the elderly by government's Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) officials, while RF 500 (US $ 20) notes were handed out to participants on a campaign truck ride.

A resident in Noonu Atoll Mihladhoo told Minivan News said she was given Rf500 to vote for a particular candidate.

Her husband says he has now sent for a machine to check for counterfeit money after she reported that the local shop had refused to accept the notes.

Local opposition newspaper Jazeera Daily reports that counterfeit money has been discovered in three shops in Gaaf Dhaal Atoll Gadhoo. The money was allegedly paid for the rent of chairs for a Dhivehi Raiyyithunge Party (DRP) function.

Key opposition leaders have previously said vote buying was endemic, but say they were reluctant to point fingers at a particular group due to a lack of concrete evidence.

The elections were the first democratic polls held in the country after a new constitution brought in a multiparty system in August.

Previously, Gayoom claims to have won more than 90 per cent of the vote amid widespread allegations of vote-rigging and intimidation.

Gayoom now faces a second round against runner-up opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) candidate Mohamed Nasheed (Anni) on 28 October.

*Names of residents have been changed to protect their identity