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Introduction

I present a peaceful country, Maldives, situated a few hundred kilometers southwest of Sri Lanka. Maldives, an archipelago, extends to about 870 km in length and is formed by 1190 islands, large and small, of which about 201 are inhabited. The archipelago is comprised of atolls and coral reefs and has a temperate climate, with an average temperature from 25 to 30 degrees Celsius. It is humid and has an annual rainfall of 2100 mm (84.0 ins), which enables the inhabitants to cultivate their local crops.

Corruption is one of the major problems faced by many countries in the world. This is a threat faced by different countries in varying degrees. As such, it is a difficult task to control and is quite impossible to completely wipe out this problem. In a forum, such as this where delegates from different countries are present, ready and willing to exchange ideas regarding threats of corruption, I take this opportunity to present to you a picture of the situation in Maldives elaborating on what is being done by the government to deal with the problem.

Corruption in the history of Maldives

The Maldives, being a small island nation with a small population, comparative to the rest of the world does not have considerable corruption related problems. The country till recently has no reported cases of corruption. Corruption awareness and education among the people has surfaced the extent and dept of corruption related problem in the country.

However, as time changed, with the changes that took place in the life style of people, attitude of people has changed to a considerable degree. Increased economic development and availability of resources paved the way for certain people to misuse their power and the threat of corruption has surfaced to a noticeable extent in the present.

Problems of corruption in Maldives

Maldives, like the rest of the world is facing the threats of corruption. In the private sector as well as the government. In her Neighboring countries and particularly the south Asian countries the problem of corruption appears to be more pronounced. These problems are surfacing mostly due to certain people misusing their positions and power for personal gains. In doing so its effect is cumulative and impacts on other people who are in no position to oppose them. Therefore it is important to realise that the benefits of the community is more
important than personal gains.

It is for this very reason that the government has made the relevant laws, rules and regulations to eliminate the problems of corruption. In addition, awareness programmes are being carried out by the government, targeted to deal with and eliminate the threat of corruption for the well-being and the safety of the community.

Steps taken in the Maldives against corruption

It is indeed a laborious task to eliminate the threats caused by corruption. It is not a task, which can be completed in a day or two. It is certainly not a problem, which could be eliminated completely as is believed by most of people. However, various steps are taken to prevent and reduce it. They include: -

1- Establishment of the Anti- Corruption Board on the 21 April 1999 by the government of Maldives to deal with corruption issues.

The Board has the necessary credit and the trust of the people, as it has been created as a separate body independent from other governmental bodies, under an Act of parliament.

The Board has taken steps to minimize corruption by creating awareness among the governmental agencies on issues such as financial matters and the laws and regulations governing such matters.

The Board has also taken task to co-ordinate with Department of Audit, to formulate policies on auditing and financial transaction, on every three years. In addition the board, has taken measures to be informed prior to the initiation of any foreign funded project in the country. The board would also monitor financial transaction under these projects.

To further strengthen the capacity and ability of the board, it has taken measures to train its staffs to combat the evolving issues and cases of corruption in the country.

2- The passing of the Prohibition and Elimination of corruption Act by the People’s Majlis, legislature of the Maldives on 02 August in the year 2000 after the consideration of the present day corruption problems in the Maldives which was given assent by the president and gazetted in 2001.

This enabled the law implementing authorities to take necessary action agains cases of corruption. The introduction of firm legal action against corruption created a noticeable impact and has led to its reduction in the Maldives. Improvement of people’s living standards and other activities: -
To improve the living standards of government employees and people working in the private sector in order to provide them adequate salaries, different steps are taken by the authorities. In this respect, employees are provided with medical allowance and other benefits. These steps facilitate to control corruption and bring about equality among citizens.

The spread of corruption is mainly due to a number the people who go against the laws, rules and regulations. But the legal system has made a vast difference in controlling such cases. The media plays an important role in creating awareness against corruption. Corruption control programmes through awareness courses are conducted for personnel working in offices and companies. In addition, since the Maldives is an Islamic country following the Islamic law – it also acts as a deterrent since it strongly opposes such acts and these programmes try to make people more aware on the issue.

Technology has also played its role in controlling corruption. For instance, the using of computer networks has further strengthened the administrative sector. This has enabled to invigilate the daily activities and the work being done in the offices.

It has also been observed that through the Internet, daily Working schedules, the progress, efficiency and loopholes in the working environment can easily be observed by the concerned authorities. This has been due to the increased importance, which has been given to the development of a computer network with the respective offices and companies.

This helps to prevent people from misusing power and resources for personal gains and also maintains solidarity in the working sector.

Steps taken to prevent Corruption

Different countries take varying degrees of preventive measures against corruption. Maldives too must take necessary action to enhance the work being done in the elimination of corruption.

Those who try to spread corruption should be prevented from furthering it. People who encourage corruption engage in activities, where they make use of their positions and try to misuse it for personal gains. Famous and Wealthy people use their influence and increase the threat of corruption. Hence, it is important to prevent the spread of corruption in government Sector and the private sector.

The steps taken and that needs to be taken to liberate the country from this very real threat are very important.

1- Improving the living standard of employees

Employees should be able to enjoy a remuneration, which should enable to liberate them from poor standards. They should be able to fulfill the demands of a moderately well lifestyle so that they would not have to resort to meeting their demands by engaging in acts of corruption.

They should be paid a good salary befitting the work they do and their demands and their work performance should be valued so as to facilitate better work output. This would encourage the employees to work sincerely and they would get job satisfaction. Hence there will be lesser conflicts between employers and employees and this will enable the smooth running of the country.

2- Creating the suitable working environment

This is another way to prevent corruption. In a good working environment where people interact with each other, regard for personal gains are reduced. For eg:- In the legal system if the magistrates conclude certain legal matters according to his own way, it would pave the way for corruption. However if a panel conducts such cases, it would be more favourable. These steps if taken in various fields of work and in companies in private sector, a working environment is created whereby work progresses methodically, leaving no room for incidents of corruption.

3- The Maldives is an island nation where one island is separated from the otherby the sea.

Therefore it would be an immensely difficult task to spread out a network in order to prevent corruption. It is necessary to have anti-corruption branches in each and every atoll in the Maldives. It would be a major step to achieve this and to provide information on the working conditions in all the atolls and report the same to a main center. This would enable the implementation for anti-corruption activities.

4- It is important to create awareness in the general public and the community and it is extremely necessary to work together to eliminate corruption from the society in order to prevent the disruption in the community.

Sometimes it so happens that the common man does not even realise that unknowingly he has a hand in some cases of corruption. Therefore through the media and in other ways or by conducting workshops and by various methods, it is important to create awareness against corruption and control it.

5- By obtaining funds and foreign aid and by learning from experience and methods undertaken by other developed countries to control corruption, it would assist us in implementing mechanisms to deal with this problem in the Maldives. The Maldives does not have many natural resources, which it can exploit to generate income. As such, due to limited resources, it needs foreign aid and assistance to conduct the said programmes.

Conclusion

As mentioned before, by bringing to notice the problems and by investigating them, it has come to our notice that this is a very real problem, which is faced, by almost all the countries worldwide.

To prevent and control corruption, major activities are carried out worldwide and at a time such as this, the Republic of Maldives is also working to participate in these activities.

Even though it is a difficult task to accomplish, corruption is a very real threat,which needs to be dealt with and eliminated. It is extremely important for the betterment of the people, community and the country, as it is not possible for a country to develop with prevalent problems of corruption.