The Charity Commission is looking into serious governance concerns at the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme (MWSRP) after a British 15-year-old girl died on one of its excursions.
Jenna Chan died on 8 November 2024 after entering the water during an excursion run by MWSRP as part of a school-organised expedition to the Maldives.
A spokesperson for the commission said it was engaging with MWSRP’s trustees “as part of an ongoing regulatory compliance case into serious concerns about the charity’s governance”.
They said that the charity had only provided a serious incident report on Chan’s death when requested by the regulator, despite its expectation that trustees report serious matters to it, in line with its guidance.
Although currently registered as a charity in the UK, MWSRP announced on its Instagram account in April this year that it would become Maldives Whale Shark Research (MWSR), a Maldivian non-governmental organisation.
The commission confirmed that MWSRP had said it plans to close the UK charity.
According to its entry on Companies House, the UK charity applied this month to be struck off the company register.
Parents file legal claim
The parents of the late Jenna Chan filed a negligence claim in Singapore on Monday against the international school that she attended, St. Joseph’s Institution International Ltd (SJII).
SJII had nominated MWSRP to be its outdoor education provider in the Maldives and Chan’s parents allege that SJII had not properly vetted the charity.
Chan’s parents contend that SJII failed to verify whether MWSRP held the necessary authorisations or qualifications to conduct excursions for schoolchildren under Maldivian regulations.
They also claim that the charity’s expedition guides failed to provide adequate supervision to the schoolchildren on the trip and that the boat crew failed to take reasonable steps to provide potentially life-saving assistance to Chan following the incident.
In a statement to Civil Society, SJII principal Michael Johnston said the school denies the allegations in the claim and had engaged legal counsel to defend the lawsuit.
Johnston said SJII had sought information from the Maldivian authorities investigating the incident but had not received any and that the school had contacted Chan’s parents on numerous occasions.
Civil Society has approached MWSRP for comment.
