Day: May 23, 2012

Political turmoil and lack of cash challenging supply of drinking water to islands

Islands are hoping for a reprieve to water shortages as the dry season ends, while political turmoil stalls drinking water supply projects.

The Maldives’ Disaster Management Centre has said long-term strategies are being developed to address ongoing drinking water shortages affecting 117 inhabited islands this year alone. The focus comes as some local authorities raise concerns over the level of financial support set aside to assist with dwindling water supplies.

Disaster Management Centre Project Officer Hisan Hassan told Minivan News that in just a “short space of time”, the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) had moved to refill public water tanks on 86 of the 117 islands that have raised concerns over water availability.

Local authorities in Addu Atoll have said that as the country’s “dry season” – resulting from the north-east monsoon – draws to an end for this year, heavier rainfall is expected to partly alleviate short-term pressures on island water supplies. However, the same authorities stressed that finance remains a key challenge to ensure water demand can be met in the future through projects like desalination plants and collection tanks.

Looking beyond the drinking water shortages that have arisen during the first four months of 2012, Hisan Hassan claimed a cabinet paper was now being prepared to outline longer-term measures for managing water supplies across the country. He said that the paper focuses on dividing the country into seven administrative regions that would take a more localised approach to shore up water supplies. An emergency operation had already been established to collect information from local islands on the current scale of water supply issues as part of this new focus, according to Hassan.

With a further 13 islands said to be facing uncertainty over their remaining reserves of drinkable water, the Disaster Management Centre said budgetary issues were a strong concern in dealing with possible demand surplus.

Hassan said that with the the country’s south-west monsoon wet season commencing this month, heavier rainfall was expected to be seen in the next few days on a number of islands dealing with low water supplies.

“Met Office predictions have suggested we will see heavy rain in the country’s north and south atolls,” he said. “We do not have confirmed information on this, so we will checking these weather patterns to see if the rain will replenish supplies.”

Minivan News reported last month that in the country’s southerly Addu Atoll, an estimated 90 percent of the local population were reliant on rainfall to bolster their drinking water supplies. Numerous islands in the atoll are said to experience severe supply issues for drinking water annually as a result.

Tsunami impact

Hisan Hassan claimed that the issue of island water supplies had been an ongoing problem for the Maldives since 2004, when a large number of islands were affected by the December 26 tsunami that devastated the wider South Asia region.

“What has happened was that after the tsunami in 2004, 80 percent of islands including the country’s resort properties were flooded with salt water,” he said. “This salt water contaminated ground water, which is the main source of drinking water for many islands.”

From a meteorological perspective, Met Office Deputy Director General Ali Shareef said that the levels of rainfall during the first four months of the current year had been below the national average for the period.

Though unwilling to speculate whether the patterns were part of a trend, Shareef claimed that similar below average rainfall had been recorded over the same period of time in both 2011 and 2010. He added that temperature – another issue likely to impact water consumption – was found to have been consistent in recent years.

The Met Office said the issue of rainfall was just one of a number of factors that had compounded water supply issues of late.

With a growing national population, Shareef said he believed that another concern was over the capacity of the nation’s water collection tanks, which he contended were increasingly struggling to meet demand.

“The water shortages are not completely based on the amount of rain. This year’s [average] rainfall is just about higher than in 2011,” he said. “We may also need to look at how consumers in the country are using their water supplies.”

Addu Atoll is one area that has experienced ongoing problems with maintaining drinking water levels. A number of islands in the atoll such as Feydhoo and Hithadhoo have requested assistance in boosting their supplies.

Addu City Mayor Abdulla Sodig said that in addressing these concerns, some local resort properties, as well as the MNDF’s southern command had been “very supportive” during the last few years in helping to maintain water supplies to the region.

“The MNDF have been very supportive since day one. We have also been getting support from certain resorts that have actually been supplying free water,” he said.

According to Sodig, with the 2012 dry season now having officially passed, an anticipated increase in rainfall was expected to alleviate present concerns about water levels.

“We’re getting enough rain now and I think the problems [with water supplies] will be solved for the moment,” he added.

Looking ahead to the next year, Sodig claimed financial support was proving to be the key challenge in ensuring sufficient supplies of drinking water to the public.

“The regional port here for example has a desalination plant that can distribute water. The MNDF also has one as well, though this is smaller in capacity,” he said. “There are enough desalination plants here to produce water, so the challenge remains a financial one. At present we are buying water from desalination plants at Rf90 per tonne (US$6).”

Sodig alleged that despite providing financial support back in 2009 and 2010 to aid water supply efforts , the Disaster Management Centre had not been providing as much economic assistance of late.

He added that last year, the government had initiated a multi-million dollar water management and sanitation project in collaboration with a foreign infrastructure specialist.

According to Sodig, the potential benefits of the project are expected to be seen in the next few months through the provision of water supplies directly to homes on the island of Hithadoo.

He raised concerns about the long-term viability of the part government-funded project, due in part to political uncertainty following the controversial transfer of power on February 7.

“Right now the project is trying to get a loan from a UK-based company,” he claimed. “However, this has been withheld due to the political situation here.  The loan will not be handed over until elections are held.”

Asked about the challenges facing the government in addressing the country’s water supply shortages, President’s Office Media Secretary Masood Imad requested Minivan News contact the local water board.

“If you were in another country, you wouldn’t contact the White House or Buckingham Palace about water shortages,” he said.

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Police confiscate six bottles of alcohol and a case of beer

Police have claimed they have confiscated six bottles of alcohol and a beer case in two raids on Tuesday.

According to police, the beer case was found inside a bag of a 17 year-old boy who was arrested near Villingili ferry terminal.

Police said a second man 18, was arrested along with the 17 year-old boy.

The six bottles of alcohol were discovered inside an apartment rented by expats, police said.

Two expats were arrested in connection with the case, police added.

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India presents Environment Minister with cheque for Coastal Zone Management Centre

India has granted $US31,526.28 for the development of the SAARC Coastal Zone Management Centre (SCZMC) in the Maldives, reports Sun Online.

The Indian High Commissioner to the Maldives Dnyaneshwar Mulay today presented the cheque to the newly appointed Minister for Environment and Energy, Dr Mariyam Shakeela.

The body seeks to promote international coastal zone management amongst South Asian nations. One of the organisation’s top priorities is to build capacity at all levels to help member nations research and monitor environmental challenges as well as building resilience to the impacts of climate change.

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National Museum vandalism case forwarded to PG

The Maldives Police Service (MPS) has forwarded a case to the Prosecutor General against four persons suspected of destroying historical artifacts in February at the Maldives National Museum.

Around 35 exhibits — mostly images and carvings of Buddha  — were destroyed when half a dozen men stormed into the museum amid the political chaos of February 7, and ransacked a collection of coral and lime figures. They included a 1.5-foot-wide representation of the Buddha’s head – one of the most historically significant pieces at the museum.

The vandals destroyed “99 percent” of the Maldives’ pre-Islamic artifacts from before the 12th century – most of them beyond repair – according to the museum director Ali Waheed.

An official at the museum told Minivan News following the incident that the group “deliberately targeted the Buddhist relics and ruins of monasteries exhibited in the pre-Islamic collection, destroying most items beyond repair.”

“This is not like a glass we use at home that can be replaced by buying a new one from a shop. These are originals from our ancestors’ time. These cannot be replaced ever again,” the official said.

The vandalism was reminiscent of the Taliban’s demolition of the great carved Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan in early 2001 and raised fears that extremists were gaining ground in the Maldives, the New York Times reported in February.

Police Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef told Minivan News that no information could be revealed at this time regarding the identity of the four suspects. A number were detained at the scene following the incident, however no formal arrests were made at the time.

Prosecutor General Ahmed Muizz said on Wednesday that a decision on the case will be made within the next 15 days.

The attack on the museum came on the same day President Mohamed Nasheed was ousted in an alleged coup d’etat following weeks of anti-government protests.

In the weeks leading up to Nasheed’s controversial resignation, religious and other opposition parties accused him of undermining Islam in the country and being influenced by Jews and Christians.

Nasheed’s government clashed regularly with religious parties now linked to the government, over issues that included not condemning United Nations Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay for her suggestion that flogging be abolished as a punishment for extra-marital sex, and any operating agreement with Israeli national carrier El Al Airlines.

AFP reported former President Mohamed Nasheed as saying that the vandals included Islamist hardliners who had attacked the museum because they believed some of the statues inside were “idolatrous”.

The monuments gifted by the South Asian countries to the Maldives ahead of the 17th summit of South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation SAARC, hosted in Addu city were also denounced as idolatrous monuments and vandalised, including the monument gifted by Pakistan.

Removal of the contentious monuments was one of the five demands of the December 23 protesters, including religious groups and opposition, who also demanded that the government prohibit Israeli airlines from operating in the Maldives.

After coming to power, the ruling coalition withdrew the demands in the Majlis.

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Heavy Load’s Thilafushi project one fifth completed in double the allotted time

Delays in the Thilafushi reclamation project have resulted in only 20 percent of the work being completed, says Managing Director of the government owned Thilafushi Corporation (TCL), Mohamed Latheef.

The Rf323 million ($US21 million) project was awarded to the Heavy Load Maldives company in September 2010, with work beginning in February 2011. The scheme was to involve the reclamation of 157 hectares of land over six months as part of the continued development of an international port for the Thilafalhu Industrial Zone (TIZ). Thilafalhu is the name of the lagoon around which Thilafushi lies.

The TIZ is intended to promote industrial growth in the greater Male’ area by providing facilities on Thilafushi that will attract medium to heavy industries. This will also include plots for large industrial facilities, warehouse facilities, and a roll-on roll-off ferry service.

As well as fostering economic growth it is hoped that this plan can reduce congestion, and thereby increase the quality of life, for the  people of Male’, where the nation’s major port is currently situated.

Male’ is one of the most densely populated cities in the world with over 100,000 people per square kilometre.

Latheef stated that only 32 hectares had been reclaimed on Thilafushi by Heavy Load.

“The project is on hold due to issues which we are working with contractors to resolve,” said Latheef. “We hope to resolve these issues in the next one two weeks.”

Latheef said that these problems were both technical and financial.

“The dredger is not currently on site. It has been taken to Sri Lanka for maintenance,” he added.

The project ran into legal difficulties within days of work having started. The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) alleged corrupt practices in the project’s tendering process. The TCL then filed a case against the ACC in the Civil Court arguing that it did not have the authority to order that the work be suspended.

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Interim Chairman Moosa ‘Reeko’ Manik, whose family runs the Heavy Load Maldives company, alleged at the time that the ACC’s charges were a “political trick”, suggesting that elements of the ACC were influenced by opposition politicians.

Representatives of Heavy Load, including Moosa himself, were unavailable for comment at the time of press.

In a similar case, the ACC has attempted, seemingly without success, to halt the work on a new border security system provided by the Malaysian company Nexbis. President of the ACC Hassan Luthfee told Minvan News last week that the ACC has appealed to the Supreme Court to “delineate” the role of the ACC.

Luthfee today said that the Civil Court case was due to be heard in the second week of June whilst the ACC’s original case alleging corrupt bidding practices remains with the Prosecutor General (PG).

Sun Online this week reported that the PG’s office had filed cases against three former TCL board members in relation to the award of the reclamation project to Heavy Load.

Sun also reported last month that the guarantee cheque from Heavy Load, worth 5 percent of the deal’s value, Rf16.1 million (US$1 million), had expired. A spokesman from the Finance Ministry said that a new cheque was required but had not at that time been received, although the company had assured it would be done.

Thilafushi has become infamous internationally in recent months as the ‘ugly face’ of the Maldives owing to the waste management services that the island provides. Both the BBC and France’s Le Monde have covered the topic in recent weeks.

Reclamation of land around the lagoon began in 1992 in order to solve the waste management problems from waste generated in Malé. Since then an increasing number  of  industrial firms have relocated to plots leased on the island.

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Police send names of 108 persons involved in Thinadhoo arson attacks to PG

Police say they have concluded investigation into the arson attacks against government offices and the police station on Thinadhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll on February 8, a day which saw protests erupt across the country after a brutal police crackdown on a Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) protest against the party’s controversial ousting from power the previous day.

According to a statement from police, the names of 108 people involved in the arson attacks were sent to the Prosecutor General’s Office, to be forwarded to the Criminal Court for prosecution.

The police station, island court and atoll council office were burnt to the ground by angry protesters in Thinadhoo. Similar scenes erupted in Addu Atoll, the second most populated area in the Maldives after the capital.

In March, spokesperson for new President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan, Abbas Adil Riza, said “the government will not negotiate in releasing those arrested and charged for terrorism, and will not let them be considered political prisoners,” in reference to MDP protesters held in custody following the riots.

In May the MDP claimed that the Prosecutor General (PG) had  filed charges against 60 MDP members for obstruction of police duty during the party’s three-month series of protests. If charges are proved, the accused may be jailed for six months or fined up to Rf 12,000 (US$800) each.

Some of the MDP supporters charged during that time have been summoned to the Criminal Court, and trials are ongoing.

Meanwhile, the MDP has been continuing its calls for the government to release  MDP supporters charged for their participation in MDP rallies.

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Civil Court postpones MDP Raalhugandu trial until further notice from High Court

The Civil Court has decided to postpone the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s suit against police until further notice from the High Court, following the dismantling of the party’s protest campsite at ‘Raalhugandu’ on March 19.

The Civil Court’s decision followed a court order from High Court to postpone the trial until the Court had concluded a case lodged by the state challenging the legitimacy of MDP former President Dr Ibrahim Didi, according to local media outlets.

The State Attorney’s issue was that Dr Didi, who signed the form to file the case in the Civil Court, was elected as the president in accordance to an amended version of the MDP Charter which was not submitted to the Elections Commission (EC). That, the state contended, made the appointment illegitimate and Dr Didi ineligible to present the case to the court on behalf of MDP. As such, the state requested the trial be discontinued.

However, the Civil Court’s presiding judge decided that the laws did not state that the amended articles of the charter would be void if not presented to the Elections Commission, and decided to continue the trial.

The Attorney General (AG)’s Office then appealed the Civil Court’s decision to continue the trial. The High Court ordered the Civil Court to postpone the trial until it reached a conclusion.

A similar issue was raised by the State Attorney at the beginning of the trial of the case in which MDP Acting Chairperson and MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik signed the form to file the case in the Civil Court. The state at the time contended that Acting Chairpersons did not have the authority to file cases in court on behalf of MDP according to the MDP charter, and requested the court discontinue the trial.

The Civil Court then threw the case out of court. Then-President Dr Didi signed the form and resubmitted it to the Civil Court.

The MDP protest campsite at the ‘Raalhugandu’ area inside the Antenna Park, was granted to MDP by Male’ City Council, which  has a substantial MDP majority. The camp was dismantled by the police and military hours after President Dr Waheed Hassan Manik delivered his presidential address to parliament on March 19.

Many MDP supporters who had come to Male’ from the islands after the controversial transfer of power on February 7 had camped in the area.

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Ratings agency warns Sri Lankan bank over exposure to Maldives lending

Financial risk evaluation agency Fitch Ratings has warned one of Sri Lanka’s largest privately-held banks that its AA rating is vulnerable due to exposure to weak lending in the Maldives.

According to the Lanka Business Online publication, Fitch warned that Hatton National Bank (HNB)’s rating was “constrained by the bank’s exposure to weak credits in Maldives, lower loan loss reserve coverage and a rising loan/deposit ratio.”

HNB’s exposure to Maldivian resort projects (23% of equity at end-2011) “mean downside risks from asset quality remain,” Lanka business reported.

Fitch is one of the world’s largest three credit ratings agencies, along with Standard & Poor (S&P) and Moody’s.

Ratings produced by these firms are used by investors, issuers, investment banks, broker-dealers, and governments to evaluate financial risk.

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Criminal Court declines to issue warrant for police to dismantle MDP campsite at ‘Usgandu’

The Criminal Court has said it cannot issue a warrant to police to dismantle the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) protest camp site at ‘Usgandu’, after deciding the matter was not within its jurisdiction.

The Criminal Court said it had studied the documents presented by the police along with the court warrant request form, and decided that the warrant was not within its capacity to grant.

Police have said they are now studying the  further to decide what action to take over the ‘Usgandu’ issue. The site, which had been granted to the MDP by Male’ City Council, was recently reclaimed by the Housing Ministry which then ordered police to evict the MDP protesters.

Meanwhile, local media has reported that Housing Minister Dr Mohamed Muiz has sent a letter to MDP Acting Chairperson and MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik asking him to come to the Housing Ministry at 5:00pm on Wednesday  to discuss the issue and find a peaceful solution.

The Housing Minister told the media that ‘Usgandu’ was now under the auspices of the Ministry and that the MDP would have to communicate with the ministry in an matter anything concerning the area.

Police applied for a court warrant on Monday after the Home Ministry police to dismantle the ‘Usgandu’ and return the land to the Housing Ministry, following a cabinet decision.

Moosa Manik subsequently claimed that if police dismantled the MDP protest camp at Usgandu, protests would erupt all across Male’.

Following the controversial transfer of power on February 7, Male’ City Council allocated the empty area near the tsunami monument to the MDP, which set up a protest camp at the site.

However on March 19, hours after President Dr Waheed Hassan Manik delivered his inaugural speech to the parliament, security forces raided the area, dismantled the camp and painted over anti-government graffiti, removing all trace of the MDP from the area.

Male’ City Council subsequently granted Usgandu to the MDP to conduct their political activities until the end of June. The MDP has meanwhile filed a case in the Civil Court contesting the dismantling of the tsunami monument, a case was today suspended on an order from the High Court.

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has recently stated that the government had “better things to do than dismantling MDP protest campsites.”

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