For 25-year-old Pachayammal, freedom tastes like biryani. That’s the dish she first ate after being rescued from six years of bonded labour in Tamil Nadu. “We were finally able to eat a meal in peace,” she said.
Now a feisty activist, Pachayammal, along with her husband Arul, has rescued over 100 people from slavery, advocated for homes and work for them, and has rehabilitated them.
Pachayammal’s story is one of ten first-time women voters featured as a part of The Quint’s “Me, the Change” campaign. The campaign, presented by Facebook, sought to put focus on a demographic usually ignored by mainstream media — the first-time woman voter. Launched in October 2018, the campaign highlighted the issues and aspirations of the first-time woman voter in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Pachayammal married Arul when she was barely sixteen years old. She married willingly, for love. But little did she know that she married into slavery. The days would be hard and long, breaking and carrying rock from 4.30 am to 9.00 pm. There would be only one meal a day, of watery rice gruel.
Speaking of her ordeal, Pachayammal says, “My husband’s parents had a debt, which he had to repay. The ‘owner’ decided to get me married to him so that we form a ‘pair’(easy to manage, won’t run off, lower pay). We didn’t know this. I too really liked my husband, so I married him.” They faced physical, verbal and sexual abuse daily. Paid 200 rupees(US$2.79) a week, Pachayammal slaved for the quarry owner with more than 25 bonded labourers for six years.
“At 4 am every day, the owner would call us to break rock. Some days, the men would have to work till midnight”, Pachayammal says.
Until, she was rescued.
According to The Quint, over 1 million people were bonded labourers in Tamil Nadu, India in 2018. After Pachayammal was rescued at the age of 23, she turned to activism. She draws from an unending well of self-confidence, to seek out from the government basic rights (homes, electricity, work) for rescued bonded labourers.
And she rescues those still under the throes of slavery. She stakes out quarries, brick kilns, carpentry units for months on end. She goes in to work in those units, to get close to the bonded labourers to ascertain the truth, ropes in government officials and organises a raid.
Pachayammal is now part of the SRLM (State Rural Livelihoods Mission) and gets a steady monthly income. Occasionally, she does daily wage work. Her husband, Arul, earns a living by driving an auto-rickshaw he received from a corporation as part of their CSR. Both of them are doing very well today.
This story by Vikram Venkateswaran was originally published by the Quint on Nov 30, 2018.
BEHIND THE STORY
To find Pachayamal’s story, a team of three reporters at The Quint reached out to International Justice Mission, a global NGO, from where many case studies were sourced before zeroing in on her. Before The Quint’s video, Pachayammal, was a true inspiration, but her story wasn;t covered in mainstream media. The sight of a camera, or a journalist pushed her and the entire colony into what can only be described as the ‘camera effect’. All the responses were rehearsed and interactions were formal. Pachayammal, and the rest of the colony were expecting to be fed the words, which they would then rattle off. This had been their experience of journalists and the media and what had always happened. To tackle this, The Quint’s reporter Vikram Venkateswaran made several trips to Pachayammal’s village with a cameraperson; but without any equipment. The team got to know them, and spent time with Pachayammal, her husband and the children of the colony. It was only on the fourth visit that the reporter took a camera along. On the sixth visit to Ullavur village, which is a three-hour drive from Chennai, the camera was finally rolled. Over a kerosene stove, as Pachayammal prepared a ‘sambar’ (a local dish) for her husband and herself, the reporter started a conversation with her about food — what she liked to eat, and what she got to eat while a slave. And so, began a genuine retelling of Pachayammal’s inspirational story, which the team managed to capture on camera, minus the inhibition.
As he usually does in the morning, Madu greets his listeners. Madu runs his broadcast from a community radio station, Benor FM Radio, located in a remote area in Bukit Suban Village.
The village is located in the Air Hitam District of Sarulangun Regency in theJambi Province.
Benor Radio was initiated by an NGO called the Indonesian Conservation Community Warsi.
Benor Radio, that started its broadcast since 2013, priorities its radio program forthe Anak Dalam, who are also known as the Orang Rimba ethnic group.
The group is scattered amongst the Bukit Dua Belas National Park area.
The Orang Rimba is a native Jambi community who live nomaidcally in the forest as a group.
Madu is a native broadcaster from the Orang Rimba ethnic group. Beside Madu, there are five other native jungle people who are active as broadcasters.
For the children of the Suku Anak Dalam, it is not easy to learn to be an announcer. However, their willing attitudes have now made them broadcasters whose voices are eagerly awaited by The Orang Rimba in the forest and local residents.
“Well, the first difficulty was learning to operate a laptop. When I first broadcasted, I spoke stiffly, but after two weeks it went smoothly,” said Madu.
By broadcasting the radio show to cover an area of 30 kilometres, Benor Radio program can be listened to by 80 percent of the entire 2,546 jungle people in the national park area.
In addition to fighting inequality and enabling equal access to media and information, Benor Radio was established to deliver information to people who live in the forest and who are difficult to reach physically.
“To get information, Orang Rimba access is very limited. By the radio, it can provide information to the jungle people and the radio can be a learning medium for them,” said Jauharul Maknun, responsible person for Benor FM Radio.
“Benor is also expected to become a media platform that bridges the gap between the jungle people and the surrounding community, reducing the negative stigma of outside communities towards the jungle people. we can provide understanding to the outside community about the jungle people,” He added.
For The Orang Rimba, radio is the only medium they are able to get information from.
The Orang Rimba live in simple wooden shelters. They live nomadically in the forest depends on the availability of food. Source: ANTARA Indonesia News Agency
“I got the information about earthquakes, floods, and also elections (through the radio). So we got the information about who wins and loses in the election,” said Perabung, as member of Suku Anak Dalam.
Moreover, Benor Radio provides information about the arrival of health workers to the national park area.
This is important to the Orang Rimba whos secluded and nomadic livs in the forest often rob them of health facilities.
This story by Perwiranta, Syahrudin, Amir Musa and Sandy Arizona was originally published on ANTARA Indonesia News Agency in May 2019.
BEHIND THE STORY
Suara Dari Rimba is a documentary video made by the ANTARA TV team in May 2019. The documentary video is about the lives of the Anak Dalam tribe, or who are also known as the Orang Rimba, whose live nomadically inside the forest area. The current presence of Radio Benor is their only source of information. The Anak Dalam tribe community has been limited to receiving information and in voicing their anxiety. Their forest home is still being destroyed. The Orang Rimba have been pushed from their homes in Bukit Duabelas National Park because of deforestation. The team took a six hour road trip to where they stayed. It was challenging for the team due to the rocky and unpredictable roads. There was also a lack of facilities as the park was situated in a very remote area. The place and the people were isolated from any mode of transportation and cut off from any communication with the outside world. Thus, those who lived there spoke in a different dialect as they only used their native language. We therefore required a translator. They used firewood to cook simple food from the jungle, such as cassava, and drank water from streams. Living in such a closed and secluded area, they were quite protective and wary when our team arrived for the documentary video.
Local agents have been smuggling victims across Benapole’s border by showing forged documents of family relations at immigration checkpoints. Sometimes the gang members marry the victims only to sell them into prostitution later.
The Daily Star learned about this after talking to six victims and law enforcers in bordering areas recently.
In most cases, the victims from different parts of the country are gathered at small huts built by the traffickers near Benapole border. At that point, they are treated nicely and given the impression that they would actually go to India for a better future.
When it is time, their counterparts in India would notify their accomplices, and the victims are taken to the other side of the border.
For commuting, the traffickers always use motorbikes just as locals in border areas do, and carry sweetmeat, fish or gift packets to avoid drawing suspicion.
TRAFFICKING ROUTES
According to victims and local law enforcers, the traffickers use Putkhali, Sadipur, Boroachra, and Gathipara points of Jashore to traffic the victims into India without passports.
The victims are first taken to Jashore and then to the border points by motorbike before they are kept in the small huts.
Rights activists said the gang sells a woman or girl to Indian brothels for Tk 2.5 to 3 million.
Take the case of victim Bonya (not her real name).
The 17-year-old girl used to live with her parents in the capital’s Mirpur and was looking for a job after completing higher secondary education. She left home after a woman, her neighbour, promised her a better job in India.
On Jan 28, 2017, she went to Jashore by bus with the woman’s boyfriend. From Jashore town, they went to Benapole by motorbike.
“For the next five days, the man kept me in a small hut with a TV, almirah (a cupboard) and small bed,” Bonya said, talking to The Daily Star in Jashore town after her rescue.
“The man asked me to stay inside the hut and went away. I was not allowed to go outside for security reason, and a woman gave me food timely.”
Bonya come back home in March last year with the support of Rights Jessore, a human rights organisation.
“On Feb 5, the man came back early in the morning and took me near Putkhali where a boat was waiting for me,” she said.
“After crossing the river, I found a man with a motorbike. He drove me into a dense forest. One hour later, I saw a locality.”
In the area, Bonya was kept in a house and forced to sleep with some men, she said. “After a few days, I was being taken to a brothel area. On the way, I ran from them and went to the local police.”
Police then sent Bonya to a shelter home in West Bengal, and she finally made contact with Rights Jessore from there.
This reporter recently visited Putkhali in Benapole, and met a person called Sagar with the help of a local man while posing as a client.
During the conversation about how to cross the border without a passport, Sagar said he could make the arrangement, but it would cost Tk 5,000 (US$59.13) because “border security has been heightened recently.”
When asked if there were two persons including a woman, Sagar grinned and said he could arrange that too, but the cost would go up to Tk 16,000. “We charge extra for women because it is risky, and it takes time.”
After the correspondent agreed, Sagar said, “You need to stay near the border for one day or two. We will first clear the border for you and then help you cross it.”
Sagar demanded an additional Tk 300 for every overnight stay and Tk 200 for food at the hut. He also advised the correspondent to carry some additional cash to buy sweetmeat or fruit on the way.
CONTROLLING BORDER POINTS
Locals and law enforcers said each of the border points is run by local ruling party men. They pay hefty amounts to law enforcers to run the trafficking activities smoothly.
Executive Director of Rights Jessore Binoy Krishna Mallick said, “We have learnt from rescued victims and our local network that some people are leading the nexus at border points using political identity.”
At present, one Ghana Biswas oversees the Putkhali point, Ashok Sen the Boroachra point, and Jahidul Islam the Sadipur point of Benapole, The Daily Star learned after talking to some accomplices of the gangs and sources of law enforcement agencies.
All of them are supporters of the Awami League and have been involved in human trafficking for years, but were never arrested, the sources said. Locally, they are known as farmers despite owning luxurious multi-storey homes in nearby Sharshaupazila, they added.
“In the same way, the traffickers get passports for underage girls. They identify them as children or siblings while making fake passports and documents,”
The Daily Star tried to communicate with them but their phones were switched off.
Rights activists said the gang sells a woman or girl to Indian brothels for Tk 2.5 to 3 million.
Asked about the alleged complicity of the ruling party men, Awami League’s Benapole unit President Enamul Hoque Mukul said some may get involved, but they are doing it in secret.
“We take strict action against whoever is found guilty.”
He said the law enforcers have tightened security, and the situation is improving now.
Asked about AL men’s involvement, lieutenant-colonel Selim Reza, commander of Border Guard Bangladesh-49 (BGB), refused to give a direct reply.
He, however, said they take action against those found involved in the crime. “The situation has got better now, and the number of trafficking incidents has come down to almost zero for our increased vigilance and action.”
Salauddin Sikder, additional police superintendent of Jessore, said trafficking through the border declined in recent years although there were still some reports of trafficking.
He said he had no specific information about law enforcers’ involvement in the crime but warned of action if any member of the force was found guilty.
NEW TECHNIQUES
In recent times, the traffickers have changed techniques. Now they get their prey across the border using the “legal” channel.
“For a woman, the traffickers make fake documents like a marriage certificate and a passport. Then they cross the border like a couple going on a trip to India,” Masud Karim, officer-in-charge of Benapole Police Station, told The Daily Star.
“In the same way, the traffickers get passports for underage girls. They identify them as children or siblings while making fake passports and documents,” said the OC, who claimed to have got the information after interrogating victims.
Now few victims cross the border illegally, he said. “Some are still doing it without passports, but most of them have relatives in India, or they are sick and poor.”
“We charge extra for women because it is risky, and it takes time.”
Asked about raiding the border huts, the OC said they often conduct drives and take action against the criminals. Sometimes, they also rescue victims from the huts.
FAKE RELATIONS
There are some cases in which traffickers marry a girl before selling her to a brothel in India.
On January 18 last year, a Jashore court sentenced one Shohag Hossain of Narail for life and fined him Tk 50,000 for selling his wife to a brothel in Mumbai.
Shohag married the girl of Jashore Sadarupazila on July 7, 2007. Later, he told his in-laws that he would take his wife to India for a better job. The girl’s family refused but he kept insisting, the victim’s family told The Daily Star in May last year.
Finally, Shohag went to India with his wife on April 15, 2009, without letting anyone know. When her family found him missing, they filed a complaint with police and went to Rights Jessore. A few days later, Shohag came back home alone, and said his wife went missing in India.
Rights Jessore rescued the girl from a Mumbai brothel on May 7, 2010, using its network.
This story by Mohammad Jamil Khan was originally published by The Daily Star on Jul 22.
BEHIND THE STORY
The reporter had to act as a local to get in touch with gang members who ran the trafficking trade, in order to acquire information pertaining to the story. Social workers and law enforcement sources, who worked with the trafficked victims, helped clue him in on the gang members tasks and whereabouts. However, he did not get much data or support from the local law enforcers. While working in the field, he convinced locals to help him cross Benapole’s borders without a passport by paying them sums of money. The NGOs who used to work to rescue traffic victims also assisted him in getting some ideas and provided him a database of contacts. As local political leaders were benefiting from the trafficking trade, the reporter was forced to hide his identity while staying in the bordering village. The social workers, who helped him throughout his investigation, alerted him to a possible threat from a political muscleman. After the story published, the reporter received dozens of phone calls congratulating him on the findings. To his knowledge, although illegal human trafficking is still underway through bordering points, the number of trafficking cases has reduced significantly.
The farm sector has been a driving engine behind Thailand’s economic growth, but at the same time, debt among farmers has been rising.
The main product of farming is rice.
Last year, the value of rice traded was 174.5 billion baht (US$5.7 billion), entailing 12.89% of all farming products.
Logically, rice farmers should be enjoying wealthy profits.
But the uncertainties of farming – unmerciful weather, droughts and floods, fluctuating prices and rising costs – enslave rice farmers to debts.
“Thai farmers are getting into more and more debt because they can draw on all kinds of financial sources. All governments have a raft of policies to help farmers get finance at low interest rates. But farming is a high risk career with variable returns,”
The government has offered help, but to no avail.
Farming debt, often incurred by rice farmers, rose from 2.4 trillion baht in 2016 to 2.8 trillion baht as of last year, according to the National Statistical Office (NOS).
Among 3.8 million debtors with state-funded loans, 1.1 million of them are farmers, according to the NOS.
In August 2017, hundreds of rice farmers gathering in front of commercial banks and the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) demanded help.
The government granted them debt relief, with interest cuts.
However the larger question still remains: how can Thailand tackle farmers debt so it disappears for good?
CAUSE OF DEBT
Samree Treesawat, a 54 year-old farmer from Ayutthaya province, was among the farmers who joined the protest at the BAAC.
“I can see no future. The price of rice has gone down every year since the coup. I make no profit from rice plantations. I have been a farmer since I was young. I can’t change to a new job,” Mr Samree told the Bangkok Post.
10 years ago, Seree borrowed one million baht from the BAAC to develop his home and launch a grocery business as a second job apart from growing rice.
During the early years, he was able to make debt repayments, but stopped them over the past four years.
Total interest payments have reached 300,000 baht.
A farmer in Bangkok’s Nong Chok district drives a harvester to collect his crop. Variables such as unmerciful weather, fluctuating prices and rising costs enslave rice farmers to their debts. Source: Patipat Janthong
Mr Samree said he does not own his own land, so the costs are higher, and production costs in general have increased. Like many other rice farmers, Mr Samree rents land to plant rice.
Although, the harvest gave him plenty of rice to sell, he was still unable to make enough money to repay his debt.
First, Mr Samree needed to earmark 150 kilograms of paddy rice per rai (1,600 square metres) to repay his landlord.
His landlord prefers rice to cash. Landlords make easy money selling rice when the price in the world market jumps.
If not, they can still make money from a government subsidy under the rice mortgage scheme.
If droughts hit or the weather is otherwise cruel, Mr Samree could end up owing rent.
Even if he had not harvested enough rice to pay rent to his landlord, he still needed to pay for production costs such as oil for tractors, chemical pesticides, chemical fertilisers and seeds.
TOO MUCH HELP
Based on a study by the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) in 2016, almost a quarter of all farm debts are owed to state banks.
Kamphol Pantakua, a researcher from the TDRI, said farmers have borrowed money from banks for further investment, which can return benefits of up to 77%.
That makes good sense economically, except farmers do not borrow for farming only.
Around 34% of them borrow for developing or buying a house or residential plot, 15% for education, 14% for improving the farming business, 14% for doing business, 10% on general consumption and 13% for other purposes.
The problem is therefore not about lacking loans or financial help.
“Thai farmers are getting into more and more debt because they can draw on all kinds of financial sources. All governments have a raft of policies to help farmers get finance at low interest rates. But farming is a high risk career with variable returns,” said Kamphol.
He explained that rice is a commodity that is easy to sell, but not much of a money-maker.
The price of rice fluctuates greatly based on the world market, not to mention fierce competition.
“Farmers could reap a 50% profit or suffer a loss just as big at any time,” he said.
The TDRI researcher also found that policies to help farmers are a problem in themselves.
To tackle the debt problem, many governments also implemented debt suspension schemes.
Governments also provided other non-financial sources of support, such as coupons for cheaper fuel and fertiliser.
They also offered special loans with long-term payments and low interest rates to farmers. Interest rates for farmers from state banks are the lowest in Asean – amounting to less than 2%.
Kamphol said that the government should reduce subsidies to the farming sector and cultivate self-sufficiency.
He said the government should play a new role as a “funding agency” to support farmers and raise capacity.
The government, he said, should pull in academics, local NGOS, and state officials to create a new strategy to solve farmer debt.
“But if the government still puts in large volumes of money to farmers with little efficiency, it will burden the country as money is drawn away from developing other fields,” he said.
MORE AND BETTER LOANS
The president of the BAAC, Apirom Sukprasert, said that non-performing loans at the BAAC are still at an “acceptable” level.
“Most farmers have skills in financial management. They can repay debt on time. But we still have some with problems, and we welcome them to discuss them with us,” Sukprasert said.
About 1.5 million people who are debtors of the bank have registered as poor under the government’s scheme to help those with little money and the value of their debt is about 300,000 baht per person on average.
“I can see no future. The price of rice has gone down every year since the coup. I make no profit from rice plantations. I have been a farmer since I was young. I can’t change to a new job,”
He said the bank has more flexible channels to help farmers improve their quality of life, compared with the past when loans were limited to agricultural purposes only.
“Now, our clients can get financial loans for education or real estate purchases, with different interest rates.”
However, the important thing, he added, is the bank will work with agencies to create “immunity” for those farmers.
Farmers are shown how to cultivate financial discipline and increase personal savings.
The bank has also offered measures to attract more savings from farmers.
Most popular among clients are lucky draw competitions, with winners drawn from those with deposit accounts.
Sukprasert said the BAAC is approving soft loans to 452 cooperative farmers nationwide, which will be allocated to support farmers to help cut production costs and increase income.
This is done under the government’s agricultural reform policy.
The private sector, for its part, will help farmers distribute their products to customers.
“We can no longer be focused on debt suspension or loans alone. We must focus on making farmers more disciplined and more financially independent, as that is the way to become debt free.”
This story by Penchan Charoensuthipan was first published by The Bangkok Post on October 28, 2018.
BEHIND THE STORY
In August 2017, hundreds of rice farmers converged in front of commercial banks and the BAAC to demand for help after they were unable to pay off farming loans. The significant gathering of these farmers prompted The Bangkok Post to turn its attention to farmer debt in Thailand. It also raised the question of how Thailand could better tackle it. Anucha Charoenpo, the news editor at the Bangkok Post, later discussed the idea with the writer and encouraged her to investigate a number of farmers in debt with state-funded loans, the cause of their debt and what loan assistance packages each farmer received. The story has encouraged all stakeholders involved – especially the Thai government – to pay more attention to the problems of farmer debt while rice farmers who were themselves in debt were alerted to the changes they needed to make. This included practising increasing discipline and making themselves more financially independent.
When his father needed treatment for a prostate problem in 2008, property developer Yudi Rahmat Raharja got a recommendation for an agent who could arrange for it to be done at a public hospital in Singapore.
The Jakarta-based agent organised everything, from an ambulance pick-up at Changi Airport to doctors’ appointments.
“I don’t remember being charged any agent’s fee, and generally had no issue with how much we were charged by the hospital,” Mr Yudi, 50, said.
“We understood the agent’s work was reflected in the total bill.”
Instead of Mr Yudi being charged for it, the agent’s commission was paid by the hospital.
This practice of paying foreign agents to refer patients had been going on for years in some public healthcare institutions, with agents earning potentially thousands in referral fees. But the institutions have now been told to terminate such contracts.
The Health Ministry (MOH) issued the order after the practice in hospitals including National University, Singapore General and Changi General was highlighted by The Sunday Times in September.
MOH told The Sunday Times the priority of public healthcare institutions was to serve Singaporeans’ healthcare needs.
While foreign agents were not tasked to market the hospitals’ services and served mainly to facilitate visits by foreign patients, the ministry said it wanted hospitals to cease such contracts, “to avoid potential misinterpretation and misrepresentation.”
Foreign patients did not get subsidies and could be charged a premium for procedures performed by senior doctors, so agents’ fees, as a percentage of the total bill, could be very lucrative. In one case, an Indonesian agent contracted to provide NUH “administrative services” was paid eight per cent of the hospital bill, excluding doctors’ fees, for every foreign patient accepted by NUH.
The agent would get an additional percentage if the patient bill exceeded S$500,000, and even more if it exceeded $1 million.
Among the agent’s duties was to provide information and help arrange appointments with specialists.
Jakarta-based hospital agent HCM Medika said it had helped to facilitate medical visits for 15,000 patients to Singapore and Malaysia, since it was established in 2007.
HCM Medika would recommend the hospitals and specialists, and send patients profiles of the doctors recommended.
Potential clients would be asked for their medical records.
“For Singapore public hospitals, an appointment could take one to two weeks. For private hospitals, patients can get a confirmation and meet a doctor as quickly as the next day,” Ms Lena, a relationship officer with HCM Medika, told The Sunday Times.
“No additional fees. We have agreements with the hospitals we send clients to,” she added. “We don’t charge patients. We are getting fees from the hospitals.”
She declined to disclose how much hospitals paid her company.
Other agents in Indonesia and Vietnam told The Sunday Times they too had arrangements with SGH and CGH.
Among other hospitals, Tan Tock Seng said it did not engage such agents, while other public hospitals did not reply to queries.
SingHealth, which runs SGH and CGH, and NUH told The Sunday Times they would cease the agreements by the end of October.
“NUH’s foremost priority is to provide care for Singaporeans,” an NUH spokesman added. “NUH reviews all referrals to ensure that it has the capacity, capability and resources to provide treatment that will be beneficial to the patient. Singaporeans are given priority, for appointments and hospital beds.”
SingHealth said the primary role of agents, which it termed “medical associates”, is to help overseas patients navigate the healthcare system, including advising them on the relevant health records needed, and assisting with administrative processes, paperwork and travel arrangements.
“Medical associates are non-exclusive to SingHealth and they charge an administrative fee (per patient) for their services,” said SingHealth.
Doctors interviewed by The Sunday Times expressed their concern about such fees.
“This practice of giving a ‘referral fee’ to ‘medical agents’ is unethical,” said Dr Keith Goh, consultant neurosurgeon of International Neuro Associates, bluntly. The 8 per cent commission on a hospital bill of S$500,000 would be S$40,000 – “which is more than the annual salary of a staff nurse,” he noted.
Some doctors pointed out that under the Singapore Medical Council’s (SMC) ethical code and guidelines, they are not allowed to offer a percentage of a bill as a referral fee to third parties.
Dr Tan Chi Chiu, chairman of SMC’s Medical Ethics Committee, said there is nothing wrong with public doctors treating foreigners. But foreign patients may pay more, and “doctors need to ensure that this does not set up a financial incentive” to favour such patients over subsidised ones, he said.
The concern about foreigners crowding out Singaporeans in restructured hospitals has surfaced before and was raised in Parliament in 2010.
After The Sunday Times published its report, comments flooded social media, with many people demanding to know how many overseas patients were being treated at public hospitals, and if they had contributed to the long waiting time for appointments.
As a result, two MPs raised the issue in Parliament in November.
Responding, Senior Minister of State for Health Lam Pin Min said public hospitals attended to 10,900 foreign patients in 2017. Those whose referrals were supported by contracted service providers made up about 0.4 per cent of attendances in public health institutions.
He also said the proportion of foreigners admitted as inpatients or for day surgery at public institutions was about 1.5 per cent in 2017, lower than the 2.4 per cent admitted in 2008.
Following the MOH’s instruction to end contracts, public healthcare institutions also removed or blocked webpages containing information for overseas patients.
This story is a compilation of articles by Joyce Lim and Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja from Sept 30 to Nov 21 last year.
BEHIND THE STORY
Senior Correspondent Joyce Lim first got wind of the dealings between foreign agents and public health institutions when The Sunday Times uncovered one contract signed by NUH with an Indonesian agent to provide “administrative services”. She spent a month staking out at public hospitals and eventually managed to track down some foreign agents from Vietnam and Indonesia who confirmed they had arrangements with NUH and SGH. The hospitals declined to say how long such practices have been ongoing but the agents told The Sunday Times they had been bringing in patients to the hospitals since 2009. The investigation crossed borders, with Indonesia correspondent Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja convincing Jakarta-based hospital agent HCM Medika to open up about the trade. The exposé led to a public outcry over PHIs paying incentives tagged to the size of hospital bills when PHIs should be focused on treating sick patients in Singapore. Questions on such arrangements with foreign agents were also raised in Parliament which led to the Health Ministry disclosing the percentage of foreign patients over total number of patients treated at PHIs. But the statistics did not give an accurate picture of how many foreign patients were treated at PHIs over the years.
There are almost a million unskilled and semi-skilled foreign workers in Singapore, and those from Bangladesh form a large percentage of the group. They build our homes, clean our streets and take up essential roles in our plants and factories.
Yet, other than occupying the same crowded MRT trains on Sundays or shopping in Little India, Singaporeans hardly cross paths with migrant workers who mostly live on worksites and dormitories away from residential estates.
The lack of interaction does little to help counter stereotypes of the community which tend to make the news only when laws have been broken.
But how much do we actually know about the lives and struggles of these foreign workers?
AN INSIGHT INTO MIGRANT WORKERS’ LIVES
When property developer Lendlease approached CNA Insider in April 2018 for a collaboration to highlight the lives of foreign workers during Ramadan – a time for family and reflection – the team saw an opportunity to challenge public perceptions that are often biased due to a lack of insight.
A group of four men aged between 26 and 33 was introduced to CNA Insider. They came from different parts of Bangladesh but shared a similar narrative – working in Singapore was their ticket out of a tough life back home.
At first shy and reticent, and self-conscious of their poor grasp of English, they were not the easiest subjects to work with. It took CNA Insider journalists several rounds of chat over home-cooked meals at their Mandai dormitory to get them to drop their guard and open up.
One of them clearly stood out.
Kadir Mohammad Abdul, 32. Source: Ray Yeh
Kadir Mohammad Abdul, 33, wore the taqiyah and kept a large beard. His appearance may intimidate strangers, but after getting to know him, the CNA Insider journalists were won over by his infectious smile and optimistic outlook in life.
They were also drawn to his story of perseverance. Starting out as a general worker who was berated daily by his supervisor, he climbed his way up the ladder to become a construction safety supervisor highly valued by his employer.
The first part of the Ramadan Diaries series offered a glimpse into the daily lives of Kadir and his colleagues during Ramadan – the hardships, sacrifices and the support that they received at work.
The accompanying video story received almost a million combined views on CNA Insider’s Facebook and YouTube pages, and prompted comments like this:
“Heartbreaking. Thank you CNA Insider for opening our eyes to the lives of unsung heroes who build the very homes that Singaporeans live in,” wrote Facebook user Grace Sun.
To maximise the series’ social impact, part 2 focused on what Singaporeans could do to reach out to migrant workers.
Kadir and friends sharing the iftar meal with Siti Zawiyah’s family. Source: Ruth Smalley
It featured a husband and wife pair, Fadzullah Hassan and Siti Zawiyah, who invited Kadir and friends – who had never been in a Housing & Development Board flat – to their home.
“We’ve been breaking fast at the mosque with them (foreign workers), and we’ve always wanted them at our house but we just don’t know how to approach them,” she said.
Being invited to dinner with the family was a “heart pain” experience for Kadir who, having spent six consecutive Ramadans away from his wife and three children, broke down crying.
Kadir getting emotional. He had spent six Ramadan away from his family. Source: Ruth Smalley
He later said: “My family is just the same. We would break fast like this. I am very happy.”
REAL WORLD IMPACT
The Ramadan series on Kadir and his co-workers touched the hearts of many viewers and readers, as seen from comments they left on CNA Insider’s social media pages.
To keep up the momentum, CNA Insider posed a simple question on Facebook: Would you invite migrant workers to your home for dinner?
An avalanche of responses followed. More than 50 families – both Muslims and non-Muslims – contacted the team to express interest in hosting foreign workers at their homes.
With facilitation by CNA Insider, eight families opened up their homes to migrant workers over two weekends.
The experience turned out to be more than hosts or guests had imagined – and the start of friendships for some. One family prepared a special Bengali delicacy for their Bangladeshi migrant worker guests. Another, not content with just a home-cooked meal, gave their guests Hari Raya gifts and food to take back to their dormitory.
At the home of Mohammad Hamim and Fatimah Sawifi. Source: Fatimah Sawifi
“I come this house, I feel like it’s my house,” said migrant worker Shariful Islam who was hosted by Fatimah Sawifi, a teacher, and her husband Mohammad Hamim.
Fatimah said: “It was so very enlightening, we were wondering what held us back (from talking to them) in the past.”
Nicholas Yeo, who is not Muslim, got a Muslim friend to whip up a home-cooked spread.
“We were able to relate with one another over many common experiences, despite being so seemingly different,” he said, adding that he would consider inviting the migrant workers over on other festive occasions.
Marlene Chua, 28 (extreme right) and her sister with their guests on June 17, 2018. Source: Marlene Chua
Another host, Marlene Chua, said “it is like having friends over”. “Migrant workers make up a huge part of our society and life, and yet we know so little about them,” she added.
The difficulty, Hamim said, is: “I think Singaporeans are very open, but we don’t know how to go about reaching out.”
But some viewers pointed out on CNA Insider’s Facebook page that one could easily do what one can, such as Noraini Khodri-Siebley who wrote that during Ramadan, she cooked an extra portion every weekend “for the Bangladeshi boy who cleans my block. He’s just like my son. Maybe he’s not comfortable sitting with my family … at least he would take his iftar which we prepared.”
The stories resonated for a long time, with readers sending questions and compliments for many months after publication.
“The response to this series highlighted how good journalism has the power to challenge stereotypes and be a positive force,” said Yvonne Lim, Supervising Editor of CNA Insider.
This story by Ruth Smalley and Ray Yeh was originally published by CNA on Aug 22. To read more click here.
In June 2015, journalist Jagendra Singh was set on fire by a minister’s henchmen in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh in India.
A week later, he died of his injuries.
The case never went to trial and none of the accused were punished.
Jagendra had been reporting on the corruption of several powerful ministers, including former minister Rammurti Singh Varma.
At the height of the protests following his death, Jagendra’s family met with then Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and received a monetary compensation of Rs 3 million (US$41,690) from the state government of Uttar Pradesh.
Their key demand, though – a CBI inquiry into his death – was not met by the state.
Barely six months later, the family mounted a sudden U-turn. Jagendra’s younger son, Rahul Singh, withdrew the petition that he had sent to the Supreme Court the night before it was heard, effectively ending any cases made on their behalf.
Senior journalist Mudit Mathur had impleaded himself in a Supreme Court PIL demanding a CBI probe into Jagendra’s death. Source: Sandhya Ravishankar
“He had been sending me messages that he was under immense pressure, that he was going into hiding, but I did not expect that he would suddenly withdraw at the last moment. The judge was predictably annoyed and we were left red-faced in court,” said Mudit Mathur, senior journalist with Tehelka, who impleaded himself in a similar petition before the court.
Mathur attempted to continue the second case in the Supreme Court in which he had impleaded himself. But with the family withdrawing the petition, that case too was dead, since Mathur had no locus standi.
For the first time, the facts of the case come tumbling out.
In Khutar, Rahul is pensive as he reminisces about that time.
The family, especially his mother, faced significant pressure from relatives, neighbours, friends and even some officials to move on from whatever had happened.
“They started to target mummy that whatever has happened has happened and to make a compromise. Mummy got scared that this is a small family and something might happen to her children. Due to pressure from mummy, we agreed to a compromise,” he said.
When they met Minister Rammurti Varma, the man claimed that he was framed.
Rahul said: “I told him in that case why don’t you let the enquiry take place? If you are innocent, then you will go free. But he said no, whatever has happened with your father has happened and I do not want your lives to be ruined. I will take responsibility for you. I will ensure that your sister is married well. As long as I am alive I will take good care of you.”
The minister then promised to be in their debt if the family forgave him.
When asked why Rammurti would still need to ask for forgiveness if he was innocent, Rahul laughed.
“Only he can answer this. I told him a number of times that at least the others who were involved should be caught – the ones who attacked my father, the ones who filed a false case against him. He said he would ensure a probe takes place and that he is innocent,” he said.
However, Rahul maintained that the minister was guilty “in one way or another” because the police would not have gone to his father’s house if a false case had not been made.
Before his death, Jagendra had a fake attempt to murder complaint registered against him. This would enable the police to arrest him and silence his reports on Rammurti’s corruption.
Ironically, a year after Jagendra’s death, the police acknowledged that the case filed against him was indeed false.
Instead of explaining why a false complaint had been lodged against Jagendra Singh, the minister asked the family to withdraw the First Information Report (FIR), that would have allowed the police to commence the investigation of the journalist’s death.
His brother and uncle signed some papers given to them by the minister and they left with Rs 3 million.
UNEASY CONSCIENCES
While the Singh family, on the surface, appears to have made their peace with the decision to make the compromise, all is not well.
Regret and unease is evident. Both brothers are married and the elder one is a father now.
The money from the state has been used to build a larger home and buy a small car.
“We were left with little choice. I was scared for the lives of both my grandsons. By then all our relatives and family members pushed us toward making a compromise and we were left with little choice. I want the killers of my son to get punishment.”
But the stain of guilt, of having betrayed a courageous father, is yet to be washed off.
“Sometimes I feel like we should have fought the whole fight to the end,” said Rahul Singh. “But at other times I feel whatever happened was a good thing. Because initially there were thousands of people standing with us, then slowly it became 500, then that became 150 and then 100. So in this fashion people left, they sold out, those who were with me too sold out. Those who were asking me to fight turned around and asked me to compromise with the Minister. Then finally the five to six people who were left standing beside me were putting pressure on me to compromise so I thought, what can one do when surrounded by traitors. Anything can happen to us. So when I think of that I feel what I did is right.”
Brother Rajan also feels pricked by his conscience. “Yes I do feel bad,” he said when asked about the compromise. “My Papa was a brave man and we let him down.”
Mother Suman Singh tells herself to be practical, for her children’s sake.
“The man of the house is no more, what can one do?” She asked. “I did not see any other option and I was very afraid for my children,” she said.
Sumer Singh, Jagendra’s father who passed away in January, told the collaboration in 2018 about the multiple threats issued to the family. “Even now I can’t sleep the entire night, with the fear, someone will come to take away or kill my family members. I told them, go sleep inside, let them kill me instead. They threatened us a lot, far too much. Even I was shaken,” he began to sob.
“They are kids, what all they had to undergo,” he said. “We were left with little choice. I was scared for the lives of both my grandsons. By then all our relatives and family members pushed us toward making a compromise and we were left with little choice. I want the killers of my son to get punishment. That is important,” he said.
Ajay Singh, Jagendra’s brother in law who organised the compromise with Minister Varma. Source: Sandhya Ravishankar
Jagendra’s sister’s husband Ajay Singh, who had fixed the meeting with the Minister, said that he was convinced there was no foul play in Jagendra’s death.
“The neighbours told us that the police never went inside his house,” Ajay said. “For whatever reasons or pressure, he (Jagendra) had set himself ablaze. From what information I got I felt there was no external hand in this, that it was a result of Jagendra’s anger.”
Ajay though admits that he organised a meeting with the Minister and was present at the “compromise” – although he repeatedly denied any money deal.
“No there was no talk of any money with the Minister,” he said. “But yes, I made a request to the Minister – these are very young children, you have to take care of them, you have to help them set their economic situation right and become stable,” he added.
Lovely Singh, Jagendra’s sister is convinced her brother was murdered. Source: Sandhya Ravishankar
His wife, Jagendra’s sister Lovely though is not as convinced as he is that the Minister is entirely innocent.
“The compromise was done under duress,” she said. “Now my brother is gone, we need our nephews and niece – what if they too get killed? That was my fear,” she said.
A FATHER’S DAUGHTER
“She is not like us,” said Suman, waving in the direction of 23-year-old Diksha Singh, who sat silently in the house, preoccupied with her thoughts. “She is like her father. She wants to fight. She wants justice for him.”
Diksha is shy but ask her a question about her father and the angst comes tumbling out in a flood.
Diksha Singh wants justice for her father Jagendra. Source: Sandhya Ravishankar
“I was not aware of the compromise,” said Diksha. “Nobody told me or asked me about it.”
Diksha is speaking of the first meeting in Bareilly when Rahul Singh, Rajan Singh and their uncle met with Minister Varma to chalk out the details of the compromise.
“When I heard about it, I was furious. I did not talk to anyone for a few weeks. I just cried,” she said.
The family consoled the young girl, 19 years old at the time, explaining to her that many relatives had even scared her mother saying that anything could happen to her only daughter when she went out alone.
“I don’t want it (the money),” Diksha said, “I wish that not a single penny of that amount should be used for my marriage.”
Fear festered and eventually pulled an unwilling Diksha into the tight distraught circle.
“I went to the meeting at the Shahjahanpur residence of the Minister,” said Diksha. “He kept telling me he did not do it but I did not believe him.”
At this second meeting, the entire family, except for Diksha, signed an affidavit stating that Jagendra Singh had indeed committed suicide.
Upon their return to Khutar, their uncle placed a bag near his sister in law Suman and turned to Rahul and Rajan.
“He said this is for your younger sister, for her wedding,” recollected Rahul. “He said we will conduct her wedding in a grand manner and any further help also the Minister will do.”
Rs 3 million in cash had arrived in Khutar.
Diksha is vehement in her distaste over the whole deal. “I don’t want it (the money),” she said. “I wish that not a single penny of that amount should be used for my marriage.”
Diksha still has nightmares. “I dream someone is following me, catching me and leading me to a fire. I also feel as if I am seeing ghosts and every time I only see they all are trying to cause me harm, trying to kill me. And every time it is Papa who comes to save me. Every time someone is trying to cause me harm in the dream, he is the one to save me and only says one thing – So what if there was nobody to save me, I will always be there to save Rachna,” she says as she blinks back tears.
Another recurring nightmare is based on reality. “Another dream I have often – When I had gone there (hospital), Papa had asked me to give him some water. He said aloud – Rachna give me water. So I went to get him water and over there and I met his doctor.
He dissuaded me from giving him water. He said, his burn injuries are such, water acts like poison, so don’t feed him water. Do you want to kill your own father? I said, of course not, why are you talking like this? If say you say no, I will not give him.
Then I did not give him any water. He kept asking for water. My only regret is, he asked so often for water, in his last breath and I refused to give him, because the doctors said so. This will always remain etched in my mind.
He kept asking me, saying he is extremely thirsty because he said it was burning from inside. He kept saying please give me little, just a little water. And I did not give him any water, with the wish that he will get better soon and my giving water should not deteriorate his condition.
Because once he gets better soon, he can return home and have as much water as he wants.”
UNCERTAIN FUTURE
It was only after at least two personal interactions that the Singhs opened up enough to reveal another fact.
That the Minister they loathed was still in touch with them and continued to help them.
In late March, Rahul Singh fell off his motorbike and fractured his arm. His elder brother Rajan rushed him to the doctor who was not available.
“My brother called the Minister and asked him for help in organising a doctor,” admitted Rahul. “I did not know about this until we went in to meet the doctor. The doctor asked – oh so you are the ones sent by Mantriji (Minister). I asked him later if he had called the Minister for help. He said that he did,” said Rahul.
Rajan is a little unsure as to whether to discuss this aspect of their strange relationship with the Minister. “There was a friend who had cancer and needed admission in SGPGI (hospital) so the Minister helped with that,” he said.
On being pressed as to whether he had asked for help for any member of his family, he said – “Yeah, sometimes we ask. He helps us.”
“He talks to me sometimes, asks about work and asks how we are,” said Rajan. He currently lives in his father’s Shahjahanpur house and works nights as a security guard.
Rahul, who was working in a private telecom firm, resigned in January after Jagendra’s father Sumer Singh passed away due to a heart attack. He now lives in Khutar with his wife, mother, Diksha and Rajan’s family.
With the grandfather’s pension of Rs 18,000 no longer coming in, both brothers are desperate for the once-promised government jobs.
This story by Sandhya Ravishankar was originally published by The Lede on June 21.
BEHIND THE STORY
Published on June 21, The Lede journalist Sandhya Ravishankar wrote a four-part series that uncovered the true reason why none of Jagendra Singh’s attackers were ever brought to justice. In the first part, The Lede recounted the background that led to Jagendra Singh’s death in June 2015. The second part revealed why his family chose to stay silent. As part of a collaboration in the Green Blood Project, 60 publications across the world featured the story, which took the story from a small town in India’s most populous state and highlighted the dangerous conditions that journalists work under in India.
Looking at Mr Innocent Okparah, as a smile lights up his handsome fair face, it is hard to imagine that just some months ago, he was battling to stay alive in the hospital.
But that was exactly the case. For almost two weeks, Okparah danced between earth and the great beyond.
But he is now full of life.
Okparah pulled up a chair, sat down and looked straight into the eyes of Juliana, our crime journalist. His smile slipped as recollections flashed through his mind.
Settling further into his chair, he recounted his bloody encounter with the Americans and military men, saying: “I was beaten with guns, boots and fists. It was just too much for me. I couldn’t fight back. They overpowered me.”
Okparah may have forgotten many unpleasant events, but he will never forget the day armed soldiers – allegedly working for the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) – gave him the beating of his life.
The assault intensified after Okparah attempted to use his smart phone to take snapshots of the soldiers and BEDC officials. For his temerity, he had to spend weeks in the hospital fighting to live.
Aside from Okparah, other victims have also claimed to have experienced the same encounter with soldiers and white men. BEDC officials also tried to disconnect the power supply to their homes.
Mr Innocent Okparah who was assaulted by armed soldiers allegedly working for the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC). Source: New Telegraph
Despite sounding irrational, the beatings were discovered to be over the struggle for possession and ownership of electrical wires, ladders, power disconnections and estimated billings.
Consumers wanted their electrical wires handed back to them after they were disconnected, insisting they had purchased them. However, the BEDC refused to release the items.
For many Nigerians, it was abnormal to see DISCO officials, armed soldiers and white men coming to disconnect power supplies , but residents of Benin, Edo State, alleged that it was an everyday occurrence, which they had now got used to.
The acronym DISCO refers to electricity Distribution Companies in Nigeria.
Our correspondent gathered that many electric consumers are petrified of going to the media, fearful that the soldiers might pay them an unscheduled visit.
This was even after human rights activists dented the trend after ferociously fighting against such practices.
Recalling the encounter, Okparah said: “We had been hearing about it, but that day was my first experience. The BEDC officials came with military men and white men! After disconnecting the light, we told them that we wouldn’t allow them to go with our wires.”
“Four Nigerian soldiers fought me. They tore my clothes, flogged me, used their boots on me and hit me with their guns. I resisted to an extent, but I finally succumbed because I couldn’t contend with the power of four military men, who were fully armed.”
Okparah added that the new chapter opened by BEDC was difficult and consumers couldn’t cope. He explained that BEDC was urged to return to the original operating system, but it allegedly refused.
He said: “They became mad and we joined in their madness, and then they brought soldiers. They disconnected our house, we told them no problem, but that the ladder and wires belonged to us. We bought them with our hard earned money. The only thing that belonged to them was the energy.”
Okparah disclosed that the fight with BEDC started in 2017 after a court case, where DISCO was instructed to stop disconnecting consumers until further notice. He said that BEDC failed to recognise and respect the judiciary, so consumers also decided not to obey and respect the company.
“BEDC was doing illegal billing. The court judgement was given in Lagos and we wanted them to adhere to it, but they refused. We decided to protest their billing system. We decided to pay what we feel we consumed. Most of us know our billings and nothing was removed or added in our electrical consumptions, so how come the billings increased?
“Assuming your bill before was N5,000(US$13) or N10,000 and you’re suddenly given a bill of between N30,000 and N45,000, what will you do?”
That was our case. Part of the court order was that if a bill is being contested, the consumer should be allowed to pay what he or she was being billed before.”
He claimed that some bills even surpassed the consumer’s rent.
Some apartments had bills that increased from N1,500 to N5,000 while the rent for the apartments cost N3,000.
He added: “The court asked them to return to the original billing system, but BEDC refused. While we were busy paying our normal original billing system, they were busy compiling their new system of billings for us, which we had earlier refused to pay.”
After Okparah walked out of hospital, he embarked on a quest for justice, supported by the Edo Civil Society Organisation (EDOCSO).
He reported the situation to the Nigerian Army, the Police and Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS). He demanded that the white men should be investigated for human rights violations and be repatriated.
Okparah shared that he filed a complaint against the soldiers at 4th Brigade of the Nigerian Army and also petitioned the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki.
A DISCO official trying to disconnect a consumer’s lighting. Source: New Telegraph
It was discovered that the white men were working closely with some DISCO officials in three different states. The soldiers were attached to the white men.
Okparah also learnt that the white men were in Nigeria under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), under the Power Africa Project.
“We heard that another company brought them to Nigeria and the arrangement was that each white man should be escorted by two soldiers. So, they are now using those military men to molest people. We are law-abiding citizens because we obey the court order,” Okparah said.
“When the Army called me about the matter, they asked me if I wanted the soldiers to be sacked, I responded that they were my brothers. There was no way I could watched them being laid off just because they became stupid by obeying total strangers. The truth is that I expected the soldiers to realise that as Nigerians, we are all brothers,” said Okparah.
Shaking his head in disbelief, the man said that despite everything, BEDC’s crazy billings have not stopped.
The New Telegraph learnt that because of BEDC rights violations, human rights activists in the state teamed up and embarked on a series of protests, often staged at the front of BEDC’s head office in Benin, demanding that the firm and its Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Funke Osibudu, should go.
The Coordinator General of Edo State Civil Society Organisations (EDOSCO), Leftist Omobude Agho, also had an encounter with the soldiers, white men and BEDC officials.
Agho said he received a call that power to his apartment was about to be disconnected and immediately rushed over to his community, to find out what was going on.
He was shocked to see armed soldiers, white men and BEDC officials.
Agho said he initially tried to reason with the delegation, but the situation soon snowballed when he was barked at and ordered to sit on the ground.
He was speechless with outrage. The incident occurred on Medical Road, Benin, where Agho lives.
He said: “I was in the middle of the meeting when I received a call that some white men and soldiers were at my house and wanted to disconnect my light. They said that I owed electricity bill.
“When I got there, I was annoyed. I went to meet the sales manager of BEDC, later identified as Mr. Ayiayi, who was also there. I asked what led to white men, who are foreigners, coming to our land with soldiers to harass us. He said that he was sorry; that the white men were from BEDC headquarters.”
“I was still speaking with him when one of the soldiers pointed his rifle at me and asked the sales manager if I was the one. The next thing I knew, the soldier placed the nozzle of his rifle at my chest and ordered me to sit on the ground. I didn’t know if the gun was corked or not.
The Coordinator General of Edo State Civil Society Organisations (EDOSCO), Omobude Agho, also had an encounter with the soldiers, white men and BEDC officials. Source: New Telegraph
According to Agho, when he started writing petitions against the military men and reached the DSS office, the DSS boss said his men were not attached to BEDC.
Agho said that although he had heard of such incidents, his own experience was an eye-opener. Armed with this experience and knowledge, he petitioned the Nigeria Police Force, DSS and Nigerian Immigration Service, to call for thorough investigations of the activities of the white men.
“Initially, we found such stories hard to believe until it came to our doorsteps. Nobody had been brave enough to take snapshots of them in operation. Mr. Innocent Okparah who tried it was almost killed. The soldiers and BEDC workers do not want to be captured on video or picture. Okparah spent two weeks in the hospital.”
Agho said that customers’ challenge with BEDC was not getting better, with everyone angry and the atmosphere tensed. According to him, Edo State indigenes no longer want the contract of BEDC to be renewed.
Agho, who said that the only solution to such human rights abuses was for the revocation of BEDC’s licence, added that opportunity should be given to someone, serious about providing power supply to take over.
Mr. Kelly Osunbor Omokaro also has a story to tell, but not as shocking as that of Okparah and Agho.
Omokaro explained that he was able to achieve peace, because of his vast experience in working with security agents and understanding their minds and psychological dispositions. The incident occurred at Oko GRA, Airport Road, where Omokaro lives.
He said: “The time was about 11am. I was at home when I heard my security guard knocking at my door. I opened my door and saw BEDC officials standing at the gate; I went out to meet them. I noticed that two soldiers and some policemen were with them. The policemen were not in uniform. They said we bypassed our meters.”
“On that day, they asked why my meter was bypassed. A BEDC lady led the delegation, but a soldier was the person asking questions. They were 13 people, including soldiers, policemen and BEDC officials.
“I explained about the court injunction on ground. I presented them with a copy of the court’s judgement and where BEDC was asked to revise the N13.50k, which they added on the tariff. Before increasing, BEDC was supposed to call a meeting where we discuss and negotiate the price increment. Thus they failed to do so and refused also to obey court order.
“If I was not well-grounded with the rules and regulations of the military, I would probably have started shaking and begging at the sight of the military and other uniform men.”
Omokaro said that he knew and had cordial relationship with some military commanders in the state. He said that when the soldiers noticed how he spoke, they were taken aback.
They soon relaxed their hostile stance.
The soldiers decided to return to BEDC office, insisting that Omokaro made a lot of sense with his argument.
“Four Nigerian soldiers fought me. They tore my clothes, flogged me, used their boots on me and hit me with their guns. I resisted to an extent, but I finally succumbed because I couldn’t contend with the power of four military men, who were fully armed.”
According to Omokaro, the Edo State people’s argument is that before such increase, BEDC should call a stakeholders’ meeting.
He said he went to BEDC headquarters to register his displeasure and renew argument, where some of the staff he meant on the ground told him that some of them were even suffering more than the consumers because, “their salaries had been slashed with almost 70 per cent.
They said that their welfare was now quite poor compared to the era of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA).”
Omokaro said that he made efforts to report the soldiers and also to find out about their connection to BEDC. But the Army in the state only promised to look into the matter.
He said that even BEDC’s MD, Funke Osibudu, had military details attached to her. He said that Osibudu was the owner of BEDC and actually did buy it from the government.
“She is guarded night and day by soldiers. She stays at Protea Hotel in Benin. Go there right now; you’ll find soldiers everywhere. Even if you go to BEDC headquarters, you will see soldiers there. According to our law, the only person entitled to be guarded by soldiers is the Nigerian President. Even the Edo State governor is not guarded by soldiers. He is only guarded by police and DSS operatives. But to be guarding a private citizen, even down to the hotel she stays is against the law,” Omokaro fumed.
He added: “If you are spending more days in Benin and move around, you will hear a lot of stories. The major problem is that because soldiers are involved, victims shy away from speaking out. They are all afraid.”
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of EDOCSO, Comrade Osazee Edigin, said the fight against such rights violations by BEDC had been on for years.
He remembered that on December 25, 2015, BEDC officials with soldiers went into a community at Country Home Road, off Sapele Road and attempted to disconnect the community transformer because some people owed electricity bills.
Edigin noted that the BEDC officials stormed the community in two trucks filled with soldiers. The disagreement was over estimated billing.
On August 15, The New Telegraphs’ correspondent, Julia Francis, went to the BEDC headquarters to see Osibudu, but the effort was futile. She was directed to the Assistant General Manager (AGM), Corporate Affairs Office.
At the BEDC headquarters, there were three soldiers in full uniform. One of them, patrolling the outside perimeter of the building, was armed.
The Head of Public Affairs, BEDC, Mr. Tayo Adekunle, was not around, but Mr Ibeh Odoh, his assistant, attended to the Julia.
Reacting to allegations that their company uses soldiers to harass, intimidate and brutalise energy consumers, among other atrocities, Odoh said it was a pack of lies.
He said, “ Those white men are USAID members working with BEDC. They are not our staff; they are more like technical partners, under USAID Power Africa Project.”
When asked why BEDC officials in company with the white men and soldiers struggle for possession of electrical wires with their consumers, Odoh explained: “We collect the wires to discourage customers from reconnecting illegally. Before we embark on disconnection, we usually give first, second and third warnings.”Speaking further on soldiers brutalising customers, Odoh said: “If there are victims, let them come to our office to complain and we shall carry out investigations.”
The New Telegraph’s correspondent also contacted the US Embassy, Lagos to question it about the allegations of human rights violations.
On September 5, she contacted Mr. Sani Mohammed, Senior Information Specialist, US Embassy, Public Section, Abuja.
He replied the following day, asking for further information about the journalist and the story she was working on.This information was provided and emailed to him.
However, as at the time of filing this report no response has been provided.
This story is a compilation of articles from Oct 18, 2018 to Oct 25, 2018.
BEHIND THE STORY
The story is about the energy crisis in Nigeria with special focus on victims of the Benin Electricity Company (BEDC), a firm that handles power distribution in Edo, Delta, Ondo and Ekiti states. The report detailed the pains of the consumers in the hands of BEDC using the military to intimidate and brutalise them. New Telegraph’s Crime Editor, Juliana Francis, who went to the Edo State to speak with the actors involved. The saga began after a court case in 2017, where DISCO (electricity Distribution Companies in Nigeria) was instructed to stop disconnecting consumers until further notice. The BEDC failed to recognise and respect the judiciary, so consumers also decided not to obey and respect the company. After the publication of the report, the Edo State governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, openly decried the capacity of the electricity company. Also, the Benin traditional leaders have visited President Muhammadu Buhari to make similar complaints. Already, BEDC have told electricity consumers that it is working hard in addressing the challenges. However, no punitive measures have been taken against the soldiers used to deal with the electricity consumers. The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has declared that the electricity firms lack the capacity and infrastructure to provide power supply to Nigerians. Consequently, the Federal Government has vowed to look into the entire privatisation process.
As the world awakens to the enormity of the plastic waste crisis, Malaysia’s Yeo Bee Yin has emerged as one of Southeast Asia’s most vocal champions for biodegradable plastics and a new circular economy.
Earlier this year, the Minister of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC), together with her inspection team, discovered 450 tonnes of contaminated, low-quality plastic waste that was brought into the country illegally in shipping containers.
The containers, Yeo said, had originated from Australia, the United States, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Japan, China and Bangladesh, and were en route to illegal recycling facilities in Malaysia to be processed in an environmentally unsafe manner. Yeo estimated that they would find 3,000 tonnes of plastic waste once all the containers were inspected.
“Although people have started to segregate their waste, 90 per cent of the plastic waste in the world is actually not recycled,” Yeo shared with Asian Scientist Magazine from her office in Putrajaya, the government district south of the capital city of Kuala Lumpur.
“Instead, this waste goes from developed countries to developing countries like Malaysia, and ends up being dumped in some way or recycled in illegal factories.”
REPLACE, THE FOURTH ‘R’
While plastics account for only 10 per cent of the total waste humans generate, they constitute approximately 90 per cent of all trash floating on the ocean’s surface, equivalent to 46,000 pieces of plastic floating on every square mile, says the United Nations Environment Program.
At the current rate, a 2016 report from the World Economic Forum estimated that plastics will outweigh all the fish in the ocean by 2050. And since it is impossible to rid the oceans of plastic waste and microplastics, the problem needs to be tackled at the source.
Since being sworn into office on July 2, 2018, Yeo has made plastic pollution a key policy focus. Besides plastic straws — 500 million of which are used every single day in the US alone — the problem also includes disposable plastic bottles, packaging, construction materials and other industrial uses of plastic.
“The only thing we cannot do is say, ‘there are problems to the solution, let’s go back to business as usual,’ because you already know business as usual will not be sustainable in the future for Malaysia, and for the world,” Yeo said.
Malaysia is ranked 8th in mismanaged plastic waste, behind China in first place, Indonesia in second place and the Philippines in third place, according to a study published in the journal Science in 2015. This statistic has not gone unnoticed by Yeo, who, on October 31, 2018, announced a 12-year roadmap and legal framework towards eliminating single-use plastics in Malaysia by 2030.
In phase one of the plan, single-use plastic bags will cost consumers a nominal 20 sen (US$0.047) per bag. In states such as Penang, supermarkets, department stores and pharmacies have gone a step further and stopped dispensing single-use plastic bags altogether.
The 20 sen cost is not simply punitive, Yeo said, pointing out that recycling plastic waste isn’t exactly free either.
“Hydrocarbon-based plastics have proven to be very difficult to recycle—many of them have to be recycled illegally to make it work (for the contractors financially). People need to pay not just for the cost of production, but also for the cost to recycle the plastics (in an environmentally safe manner).”
Yeo’s 12-year roadmap thus calls for research into new materials for bioplastics.
“We are seeing that with reduce, reuse, recycle, the recycle part is really not working for plastics. So perhaps we need a fourth ‘r,’ which is to replace it, and to replace it, we need a lot of science,” Yeo said.
“What sort of materials can we use to continue packaging because you still need packaging? How do we find a material that is environmentally friendly? Biodegradable bags have a lot of science (behind them). For some of them, the strength of the biodegradable bag is not good, and some of them don’t decompose.”
STEPPING UP INDUSTRY RESEARCH
Citing a 2015 World Bank report that showed Malaysia spent only 1.3 per cent of its GDP on research and development (R&D), Yeo wrote on her personal blog that “this (statistic) is even lower than the average R&D spent in low- and middle-income countries.”
“When I first came in as a minister, I found that most of our grants are given to academics. Most of our R&D (funding) was spent on academics and higher education … but it’s not solving the problem; it’s not helping our economy,” Yeo told Asian Scientist Magazine.
“Historically, only 8.6 per cent of R&D funding in Malaysia was spent on industry research. We now want 50 per cent of (grant funding) to go to research collaborations with industry, or at least market-driven research,” said Yeo, adding that the four strategic areas her ministry is focusing on are halal food science, Islamic finance, health and wellness, and Industry 4.0.
Yeo also wants to create a pipeline of researchers to industry and raise the proportion of researchers in the private sector from the current 12 per cent today.
“There used to be a huge disconnect in Malaysia between scientists and the economy. We want to completely change how this works. And we’ll start very small; we’ll start by shifting our government researchers to industry for free for this year.
NOT BUSINESS AS USUAL FOR YEO
After being elected into office, Yeo was christened as one of the “Top 10 People Who Mattered in Science in 2018” by UK-based science journal Nature. In 2019, she was appointed a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. Could Yeo use her twin platforms of rising public popularity and policy making to shape the destiny of plastic use in the region?
Indeed, Yeo has ambitious plans for Malaysia to lead a new plastics circular economy in Southeast Asia.
“For the next three years we are developing a circular economy—how do we have a circular economy, not only for plastics, but also for electronic waste, like batteries? If we start changing our lifestyle to become more electrified, batteries need to be in a circular market.”
In parting, Malaysia’s plastics reformer spoke philosophically of the challenges in front of her, which include raising Malaysia’s renewable energy target tenfold by 2025 and implementing the 12-year roadmap to banning single-use plastics.
“The only thing we cannot do is say, ‘there are problems to the solution, let’s go back to business as usual,’ because you already know business as usual will not be sustainable in the future for Malaysia, and for the world,” Yeo said.
This story by Dr. Juliana Chan was first published by Asian Scientist Magazine on July 19.
BEHIND THE STORY In a male dominated field, Yeo Bee Yin stands out as a young female minister handling five portfolios. Her background in chemical engineering is unusual, making her an example of how a scientifically trained person can have an impact on politics. With climate change high on Yeo’s agenda, these factors led the Asian Scientist team to approach the Minister to find out what difference the unconventional individual sought to make. “One of the less well-explored areas in climate change coverage is the disparity between how it will affect developed vs developing nations. Malaysia, with its recent change of government, was in a unique position to come up with a new way of addressing that challenge,” said Dr Juliana Chan, editor-in-chief of Asian Scientist Magazine. Widely read and shared online, the article raised awareness about the Yeo’s plans to address plastic pollution in Malaysia.
“You will hardly find women with wombs in these villages. These are villages of womb-less women,” says Manda Ugale, with gloom in her eyes.
Sitting in her tiny house in the Hajipur village within the drought-affected Beed district of Maharashtra’s Marath-wada region, she struggles to talk about the painful topic.
Women in Vanjarwadi say that it is the “norm” in villages to remove their uterus after having two or three children. 50 per cent have already had hysterectomies.
The majority of these women are cane cutters who migrate to the sugar belt of western Maharashtra during the cane cutting season. With the drought intensifying, the number of migrants multiplies.
“The mukadam (contractor) is keen to have women without wombs in his group of cane cutters,” says Satyabhama, another cane-cutter.
Hundreds of thousands of men and women from the region migrate to work as cane cutters between October and March.
Contractors draw up contracts with the husband and wife counted as one unit. Cane cutting is a rigorous process and if the husband or wife takes a break for a day, the couple has to pay a fine of 500 Rupees (US$6.99) per day to the contractor for every break.
‘PERIODS HINDER WORK’
Menstrual periods hinder work and attract fines. Thus, the answer, in Beed, is to go in for a hysterectomy so the women no longer have them.
“After a hysterectomy, there is no chance of menstrual periods. So, there is no question of taking a break during cane cutting. We cannot afford to lose even a rupee,” says Satya Bhama.
Contractors say that during menstrual periods, women want a break for a day or two and work is halted.
“We have a target to complete in a limited time frame and hence we don’t want women who would have periods during cane cutting,” said Dada Patil, a contractor.
The Ugale family in Beed. The family goes for cane-cutting every season as its members’ livelihood depends on it. Perennial drought and lack of work opportunities leave cane-cutters vulnerable to exploitation by cane contractors. Source: Vikas Ugale
Patil insists that he and other contractors don’t force the women to have a surgery; rather, it is a choice made by their families.
Interestingly, the women said that the contractors give them an advance for a surgery and that the money is recovered from their wages.
Achyut Borgaonkar of Tathapi, an organisation that has conducted a study on this issue, said: “In the cane cutter community, menstrual periods are considered a problem and they think surgery is the only option to get rid of it. But this has a serious impact on the health of the women as they develop a hormonal imbalance, mental health issues, gain weight etc. We observed that even young girls at the age of 25 have undergone this surgery.”
Menstrual periods hinder work and attract fines. Thus, the answer, in Beed, is to go in for a hysterectomy so the women no longer have them.
Bandu Ugale, Satyabhama’s husband and a cane cutter himself, explains the logic behind the practice.
“A couple gets about 250 Rupees after cutting a tonne of sugarcane. In a day, we cut about 3-4 tonnes of cane and in an entire season of 4-5 months a couple cuts about 300 tonnes of sugarcane. What we earn during the season is our yearly income as we don’t get
any work after we come back from cane cutting,” says Ugale.
“We can’t afford to take a break even for a day. We have to work even if we have health problems. There is no rest and women having periods is an additional problem,” he explains.
School girls in Beed. Child marriages are prevalent in drought areas. Girl children are married off even as young as age 14. By age 16 and 17 they have children, and then they undergo hysterectomy surgery so that menstrual periods don’t hinder cane-cutting work. Source: Radheshyam Jadhav
Septuagenarian Vilabai says that the life of a cane cutter woman is hellish.
She hints that there is repeated sexual exploitation of women by contractors and their men.
“Cane cutters have to live in cane fields or near sugar mills in a tent. There are no bathrooms and toilets. It becomes even more difficult for a woman if she has periods in these conditions,” says the old woman.
Many women in villages in this parched landscape said private medical practitioners prescribe a hysterectomy surgery even if they complain of normal abdominal pain or a white discharge.
This story by Radheshyam Jadhav was originally published by The Hindu Business Line on April 8.
BEHIND THE STORY
The Hindu Business Line set out to provide in-depth coverage of the drought in large parts of India, given the fact that agriculture accounts for a substantial share of the Indian economy. While reporting on the crisis in Maharashtra, in western India, Deputy Editor Radheshyam Jadhav came across heart-rending narratives about women undergoing hysterectomy surgery – to remove their uterus – under duress, for fear of losing their jobs as sugarcane-cutters. After Business Line broke the story, it was picked up by other media groups and even the international press. Administrative action too soon followed. The National Commission of Women, a statutory body established by the Indian Government, which offers policy advisories on matters relating to women, issued a notice to the Maharashtra Chief Secretary UPS Madan asking for legal action to end the practice of womb removal by women working as sugarcane cutters.
