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Four students and principal drown on school excursion

Almost two-thirds of Male’ attended the funeral on Friday for the principal of Hiriya School and four female students, who drowned off Huraa in Kaafu Atoll during a school fisheries science trip.

The bodies of grade nine students Nash-ath Saeed, Mariyam Naza, Aishath Saniha, Mariyam Shaiha and Hiriya Principal Ali Nazim were brought to Male’ in the afternoon.

The group of students left Hiriya School at 5:45am on Friday morning for a fisheries science field trip. A component of the trip involved snorkelling in an area used regularly by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) for training exercises.

Students entered the sea around 9:30am, accompanied by the school principal.

Haveeru reported sources as saying that Nazim died trying to single-handedly rescue the students, who were allegedly unable to swim when they were caught in eight feet of water in a lagoon north-east of Huraa. The area is known for having very strong currents.

Sun Online reported that Nazim attempted to rescue eight students who found themselves in trouble, and was able to save four before he died.

Sources at the funeral told Minivan News that the panicked students grabbed the principal when he reached them and he was unable to rescue the remaining children.

Relatives who attended the funeral said that the students were not asked whether they knew how to swim, and blamed the school management. No life jackets were taken on the trip, one source claimed, although this was unverified.

Haveeru reported that eight teachers accompanied the school trip of 32 to Huraa, and staff had the necessary first aid requirements.

The bodies were brought to Male’ in a speedboat around 10:40 from nearby Four Seasons resort. Meanwhile, the rest of the students returned yesterday afternoon and parents were summoned to attend the school.

The bodies were first brought to Aasahara cemetery in Galolhu, but due to the large number of mourners attending the funeral, their bodies were moved to the Islamic Centre.

The bodies were scheduled to be laid to rest after Isha prayer at 7:30pm, but of the large numbers the faces of the deceased were only covered at 10:30pm.

Hiriya school principal Ali Nazim

News of the tragedy quickly spread around Male’ and had a profound impact on the city, with reports of many parents ringing their children and begging them not to go in the water.

President Mohamed Nasheed telephoned the families of the deceased, and later announced that the national flag would be flown at half mast for three days.

Education Minister Shifa Mohamed is returning early from her trip to Australia and is expected to arrive in Male’ tomorrow.

Police Commissioner Ahmed Faseeh said a joint investigation into the incident had been launched by the police and Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF).

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“We have not forgotten your 30 years”: MDP to Gayoom

Leaders of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) launched vitriolic attacks against former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom at a rally Tuesday night, following his departure from the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) to lead the newly-formed Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).

In a series of fiery speeches, MDP MPs and party leaders dubbed PPM “the property inheritance party” created to “set up a family dynasty” and condemned the former President’s return to active politics.

“We thought the person who ruled this country for 30 years was finished, but we’re now seeing the formation of the Private Property of Maumoon,” said MP Ali Waheed, former deputy leader of the DRP who defected to the ruling party in May. “We stayed quiet but it was Maumoon who picked off one teeth after another from DRP and now he’s saying DRP is toothless and forming PPM with people who need false teeth.”

The MP for Thohdoo added that he “came to the MDP to put a stop to this”.

“I want to call on [DRP Leader] Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and [Speaker of Parliament] Abdulla Shahid today, if you’re toothless, come to a party that has teeth and bite Maumoon,” he said.

Ali Waheed claimed that in the wake of MP Alhan Fahmy’s dismissal from DRP in late 2009, Gayoom sent a text message to DRP MP Ahmed Nihan’s phone from Singapore asking Waheed to call Fahmy “a rat.”

On Gayoom’s stated reasons for forming a new party, Ali Waheed said that the Maldivian constitution protected Islam and national sovereignty, neither of which required the the former President’s protection.

Ali Waheed accused Gayoom of undercutting young leaders of the DRP, predicting that “at the last minute” the former President would ask Umar Naseer and Abdulla Yameen – potential contenders for the PPM presidential ticket – to step aside to make way for his presidential bid.

Meanwhile after verifying the required 50 application forms, the Elections Commission (EC) approved the PPM’s request to register the new party today with Gayoom’s son Farish Maumoon as the party’s temporary liaison. Gayoom’s four children, along with half-brother MP Abdulla Yameen and nephew MP Hamdhoon Abdulla Hameed, were also members of the Z-DRP council formed after the ‘Zaeem’ faction’s split from the DRP.

“We have not forgotten”

In her remarks, outgoing MDP Chairwoman Mariya Ahmed Didi criticised Gayoom for refusing to rule out an attempt to return to power after inviting “educated youth” to join his party.

Mocking Gayoom’s request to reporters at Monday’s press conference to ask only one question at a time “because I might forget,” Mariya said that “[Gayoom] might have forgotten how [he] ruled for 30 years, the Maldivian people experienced those 30 years and remember it well.”

President Mohamed Nasheed told her that if the government arrested Gayoom or sought retribution or revenge, said Mariya, it would discourage the emergence of strong opposition parties.

Nasheed explained that “we have come out for a bigger picture and must be patient and lower our hearts,” Mariya said, expressing gratitude to MDP member for “the patience you have shown.”

“We are seeing that when the public has been very patient, some people mistakenly thought that people have forgotten the experience of 30 years,” she continued. “I want to tell President Maumoon, we do remember. We remember the brutality, we remember Evan Naseem and those who were killed with him.

“We remember what happened to our ballot boxes, how island chiefs sat on it and replaced ballot papers to get 98 percent [in previous presidential referendums] so that you could say ‘I’m the President.’ I want to tell Maumoon we have not forgotten how you destroyed our young generation with drugs so that they will not oppose you. We remember the level of corruption in this country in the past.”

“Access Denied”

AlhanMP Alhan Fahmy – who was dismissed from the DRP for voting against the party line in a no-confidence motion against Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed – meanwhile argued that the fledgling democratic system in the Maldives would not allow Gayoom to stage a come-back.

“There is only one way an autocratic ruler can come back,” he explained. “That is, the ruler can return to an autocratic government. Today our system is a democratic system. That means when Maumoon tries to enter the system, it will flash in big letters: ‘Access Denied’.”

Alhan said the “message MDP wants to send Gayoom” was that – as recent events in the Middle East have borne out – deposed autocratic regimes could not return to power.

“I have a two year-old child and whenever anyone asks him ‘what happened to Maumoon?’ he will immediately reply ‘he fell’,” Alhan continued, adding that presidents in democratic countries are not toppled from power but leave after completing their terms in office. “When you fall, you can’t climb back again. You have to stay on the spot where you fell.”

Meanwhile in his speech, President Nasheed asserted that there was no possibility of Gayoom returning to power.

“It is not something we should be concerned about in the least,” he said. “We know the history of this country and what happens to former rulers. [But] because what we want to see from this country is a different reality, we still keep saying ‘lower your hearts in victory’ and this is what we will keep doing in the future.”

Gayoom should be offered “the respect and honour due to a former President,” said Nasheed, assuring supporters at the rally that Gayoom’s political activities would not cause them “any harm whatsover.”

“That is not something that will happen in this country anymore,” he insisted. “Before concluding I do however want to tell you what happened to Ali Rasgefaan [Sultan killed in battle with an invading Portuguese garrison in 1558]. When he reached Maafanu [ward of Male’] and looked back, there were only two people behind him. He was buried there with those two. The Prime Minister of Andhiri Andhiri [Portuguese overseer] was Thufasha, who was Ali Rasgefan’s Prime Minister. Nothing new will happen in our country. This is a very ancient island. We are living with a thousand of years of history. Do not be worried at all.”

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MDP MP attacks committee allowance protesters for invading MPs privacy

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mohamed Musthafa has said that protesters against MPs committee allowance have invaded the privacy of MPs and violated MPs privileges, after the protesters put up posters of photos of MPs with their personal mobile phone numbers.

“MPs have been subjected to disturbances from citizens that hate them, and publishing the personal mobile number of MPs invades the privacy and privileges of MPs,” Musthafa said. “They have invaded our personal life by doing that.”

Musthafa said he had asked Speaker Abdulla Shahid to look into the matter, and said he was looking forward to hearing from the parliament.

“I think the parliament will issue a press release today, I am looking forward to it,” he said. “Shahid is currently abroad on an official trip so I sent him a text message to bring it to his attention.”

Musthafa said that some MPs have said they are unable to use their numbers any longer.

“One MP told me that he had been using his number for 12 years and the number was used for international relations as well, but he said now he has no other choice but to throw it away and get a new number,” he said. “How the NGOs acted on this matter is very disappointing, they could have done it a better way.”

He alleged that were “senior figures” behind the NGOs.

“MPs are members representing constituencies and become an MP with the consent of their constituency, so people should have at least some respect for them,” Musthafa said.

In the text message sent to Speaker Shahid, Musthafa said that it was very concerning that MPs personal contact numbers had been published on a poster with their photo in Majeedee Magu.

He told Shahid that the personal details of MPs could not be published without their consent, alleging that culprits had asked people to call and disturb the MPs.

“It is the legal duty of the parliament to find out the culprits, and they should be prosecuted and action should be taken,” Musthafa said.

Project Coordinator of Transparency Maldives Aiman Rasheed’s mobile phone and landline was not reachable and he was unavailable for comment.

Parliament meanwhile issued a press statement today noting that the constitution protected the privacy of individuals.

“Matters should be brought to MPs’ attention responsibly in a way that does not undermine their dignity and reputation or create difficulties in their personal lives,” it reads, adding that making MPs photos and contact information public “as a nusisance to them” was a “matter of concern.”

Noting that MPs had special privileges under the law, it continues, “any action that undermines MPs’ dignity can be seen as violating MPs’ privileges.”

The statement concludes by urging the public not to violate “social norms” in contacting MPs.

A Majlis media official confirmed to Minivan News today that only 19 of 77 MPs have written requesting that the lump sum of Rf140,000 not be desposited with their salaries. They include 16 MDP MPs, Independent MP ‘Kutti’ Mohamed Nasheed and Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and his wife MP Visam Ali.

Last Monday Aiman told Minivan News that the campaign against the committee allowance will continue and there was hope for success.

“Today we presented the Finance Ministry 1365 letters signed by concerned citizens and eight cabinet members, plus high-profile people across the country,” he said at the time.

“We have made plans to continue the letter campaign and to make the citizens aware of the impacts of this committee allowance.”

MP salaries have increased 18-fold since 2004, according to a graph released by the NGO.

The committee allowance was Rf18 million, Rasheed said. “In comparison, the budget to combat drugs is Rf 14 million, the budget subsiding the fishing industry is Rf12 million, medical services Rf18 million and the budget for small and medium businesses is Rf16 million,” he said, adding that these areas would be impacted by the increased expenditure on MPs.

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Lawyers contest legality of JSC appointment process

A group of lawyers filed a case at the Civil Court today contesting the legality of the Judicial Service Commission’s (JSC) evaluation criteria for selection of judges to superior courts, requesting a court order to halt the appointment process.

On August 29, the JSC announced that 17 shortlisted candidates have been invited for interviews on Saturday (September 10).

The group of lawyers, represented by Ali Hussein and Ismail Visham, contend that regulations drafted by the JSC containing the evaluation criteria conflicted with both the constitution and article 15 of the Judges Act. The lawyers requested that the regulations be abolished and the shortlist be cancelled.

In addition, the lawyers claimed that two shortlisted candidates had close ties – as a spouse and a business partner – with two members of the commission, suggesting a clear conflict of interest as neither had recused themselves from voting in the JSC panel.

Briefing press today, Ali Hussein argued that the evaluation criteria formulated by the JSC unfairly favoured graduates of the College of Islamic Education (Kulliya).

While article 15 of the Judges Act stipulate that candidates for superior courts must possess a first degree in “either Shariah or law,” Ali Hussein explained that under the regulations drafted by the JSC, a candidate with a masters degree and a graduate of Kulliya both receive 25 marks for educational qualification.

“We are saying this is not fair,” he said. “We especially note that the Faculty of Sharia and Law teaches shariah subjects to the same extent as Kulliya [Islamic College], but graduates of the faculty receive 20 marks while students from Kulliya receive 25 marks.”

Kulliya graduates also received higher marks than graduates of the Islamic University of Malaysia, he said.

As 25 marks are to be awarded for the interview, Hussein noted, candidates who were not shortlisted would not receive any marks: “They should also have the chance to receive those 25 marks,” he said.

Moreover, he continued, the JSC criteria also conflicted with the academic rankings of the Maldives Qualification Authority (MQA), formerly the accreditation board, which places Kulliya certificates below those of overseas institutions.

The lawyers noted that shortcomings of the judiciary and lack of public confidence were tied to the lack of qualified judges on the bench.

“One of the main points of concern is that the JSC is the independent statutory body with a legal mandate to develop and improve the judiciary,” said co-counsel Ismail Visham. “But their actions so far suggest that they are trying to service the existing judiciary instead of introducing foreign elements or trying to develop the judiciary.”

As judges are appointed for life, said Visham, “they should be screened better” to ensure necessary academic qualifications, integrity and competency.

The eight claimants against the JSC include Abdul Hameed Abdul Kareem, Hassan Fiyaz, Mohamed Fareed, Husnu Suood (former Attorney General), Anas Abdul Sattar, Mohamed Nizam, Mohamed Iyaz and Ahmed Abdulla Hameed.

In March this year, two senior judges accused the Supreme Court of violating due process and unfairly dismissing a case challenging the legitimacy of the JSC’s appointment of five judges to the High Court.

Criminal Court Judge Abdul Bari Yousuf – an applicant for the bench – filed a case at the Civil Court in January claiming procedural violations in the JSC vetting process.

The Supreme Court however transferred the case from the lower court a day later and conducted two hearings before dismissing it without issuing a verdict. The highest court of appeal had announced on January 21 that it was taking over the case as it involved “a matter of public interest”.

In a letter sent to President Mohamed Nasheed at the time, Chief Judge of the Family Court, Hassan Saaed, claimed that “the fact that the case was dismissed in violation of legal principles and procedures came as a shock to the judiciary.”

Saeed added that as a result of the incident, “the growing confidence that I and ordinary citizens had in the judiciary is lost,” urging the President to “stop this process continuing unlawfully.”

President Nasheed meanwhile appointed former MP Hussein Ibrahim as the President’s member on the JSC yesterday.

In August 2010, the JSC’s controversial reappointment of judges – the majority of whom were appointed by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who was the highest authority on justice under the old constitution – was characterised by the President’s former representative on the commission, Aishath Velezinee, as “nothing less than treason to rob the nation of an honest judiciary.”

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No sale of alcohol on Fuvamulah “where people are most religious”: Adhaalath

The Adhaalath Party’s Fuvamulah Wing has said that the government’s attempt to allow the sale of alcohol to foreigners by designating islands as uninhabited cannot go ahead on the island of Fuvamulah, ‘’which has the most number of people who can recite the Quran by heart.’’

In a press statement, the party claimed that government had “failed in its earlier attempts to legalise the trade of alcohol on inhabited islands and has now chosen another way to do it, which is by decreeing areas on inhabited islands as uninhabited.”

‘’Given that Fuvamulah has the most number of people who have learned the Quran by heart, it is like a slap on the face for the islanders of Fuvamulah,’’ the statement said. ‘’The world has seen that tourism can happen without nightclubs, casinos, alcohol and pork.’’

The party’s Fuvamulah Wing also claimed that the government was discriminating against Fuvamulah, referring to an incident when President decided to have a public referendum on whether to change the name of Thinadhoo to ‘Havru Thinadhoo’, that Fuvamulah being a large island was not considered in the list of islands to become cities.

Furthermore, the Adhaalath Party’s Fuvamulah Wing said that its members on the island will “fully corporate with the government and will work for free” to build guest villas, so long as there would be “no work inconsistent with the tenets of Islam.”

On September 2 the President’s Office said that President Mohamed Nasheed has signed two decrees, affirming the “Bilhifeyshi” area and “Thoon’du” area of Fuvammulah as two uninhabited islands under the decentralisation act.

Earlier this week at a press conference, Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed, Adhaalath Party spokesperson, said that the decrees were part of a “Satanic plot” to sidestep legal prohibitions to selling alcohol in inhabited islands.

“We are not opposed at all to building a city hotel for the development of Fuvahmulah,” he said. “But you don’t have to sell alcohol at every city hotel. The Adhaalath Party sees the declaration of uninhabited islands within Fuvahmulah as an absurd move, as an act of madness.”

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Garbage floats freely from “impatient” boats

The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has blamed a surge of garbage floating in Thilafushi lagoon on “impatient” trash boats; trash which is now flowing into the sea.

In 2009, the UK’s Guardian newspaper reported that 330 tons of waste are transported in Thilafushi island for processing. Thilafushi is commonly known as ‘garbage island’.

Head of the EPA, Ibrahim Naeem, said a “huge amount of garbage” has been collecting in the ocean, due partly to a change in tides. Speaking to Minivan News today, Naeem did not want to say whether the trash was coming from resort boats, but did say the problem “involves everyone”.

“The mechanism for waste collection and disposal needs to be improved,” he said. “The EPA has to do some work on the matter, and the people who are bringing in the garbage and contributing to its buildup also need to take responsibility.”

Naeem said the EPA had photographs and names of several boats that had been dumping garbage into the sea. The agency is now investigating 10 cases.

Naeem said legal action will be taken against boats caught dumping garbage, which would affect fishing and tourism, two of the country’s largest economic contributors.

Yet there are signs that both the garbage and a lack of regulation may already be affecting tourism. In a recent interview with Minivan News, French tourist Marie Kivers noted a lack of waste bins on Male and Guraidhoo.

“It’s funny because we who live abroad think that Male’ will be an example for the world about pollution and everything, since global warming is important here. But when you see the inhabitants in the Maldives, they put anything into the sea,” she said.

Some boat captains have claimed that boats from islands, safaris and resorts dump garbage into the lagoon instead of anchoring near Thilafushi, reports Haveeru. An earlier rule stating that garbage had to be dumped before six in the evening likely contributed to the rushed habit.

Reports indicate that the waste exceeds the capacity of Thilafushi. Naeem says some boats are getting impatient.

“The facility at Thilafushi is designed so that only two or three boats can dock and dump at a time,” said Naeem. “If the waste is not removed from the area, however, or the boats take a while, other boats won’t be able to get in and dump their waste.”

The EPA has said that arrangements are being made to ensure that waste is only dumped on the island under the supervision of a council employee – a thing earlier practiced, reports Haveeru. An official also said that boats traveling to Thilafushi will be charged according to waste weight.

Thilafushi is currently the only island designed for waste disposal in the Maldives. Naeem told Minivan News that there are plans for a new site to be developed in Raa Atoll.

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Five hundred apply to leave DRP after Gayoom announces PPM

Five hundred people have applied to leave the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) following former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s decision to create a new party, the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM).

Haveeru reported DRP spokesperson Ali Solih as confirming that 480 people had left the party out of 37,800 registered members.

“Several forms submitted to resign from the party are invalid, including the forms submitted by those actively involved in creating the new party. Their signatures are missing,” he told Haveeru.

The departures were “not a big deal”, he remarked.

The Elections Commission has meanwhile granted the PPM a license to create a party after finding that the required 50 out of 703 signatures submitted were authentic. The PPM is now required to gain 3000 signatures of members to register as a party within nine months, and hold a meeting of 300 people to outline the party’s charter and manifesto.

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Baa Atoll to host Bodu Beru tournament

Baa Atoll and Four Seasons will host a Bodu Beru tournament in honor of Baa Atoll’s recent designation as a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve.

The ‘Baa Youth Bodu Beru Challenge’ will take place on 17 and 18 November 2011 on Kamadhoo. The competition is open to Bodu Beru groups with 16 to 26 members aged 15 to 25 from the 13 islands of Baa Atoll.

Four Seasons has teamed up with Male-based cultural arts institution Varutha for the event. The institution was founded in 2007, when the ‘Meenaz’ bodu beru group noticed the need for a formal, organised means of sustaining Maldivian arts culture.

Varutha dancers will lead a 10-day workshop from September 23 to October 3. Two drummers from each competing group will have the opportunity to hone their skills and explore new bodu beru beats and methods.

Bodu beru is said to have made its first appearance in the Maldives in the 11th century AD, allegedly by sailors in the Indian Ocean. Bodu beru groups typically consist of 15 performers, including three drummers and a lead singer. Using a small bell, a set of drums known as the ‘bodu beru’, and an onugandu – a small piece of bamboo with horizontal grooves, which is scraped – performers create a lively rhythm for dancing.

Varutha’s co-founder, Sham’aa Abdullah Hameed [Anna], expressed appreciation and support for the youth arts event.

“The tournament reflects our shared mission to reconnect local youth with their rich cultural heritage by restoring, developing and incorporating tradition into the rapidly evolving Maldivian music scene. We’re looking forward to a successful workshop and an exciting two days of competition.”

Landaa Giraavaru’s General Manager and Regional Vice President, Armando Kraenzlin, said UNESCO’s recognition of the environmental value of Baa Atoll inspired the competition.

“UNESCO World Biosphere Reserves rely on optimum social, economic, and cultural conditions for environmental sustainability. We’re delighted to be working with Varutha to help strengthen the respect for cultural values amongst the Baa Atoll youth, while giving them an opportunity to contribute to their home island’s own sustainability.”

The winning team will receive Rf 100,000 (US$6485) towards a community project, and Rf 10,000 (US$650) for themselves. The team will also be invited to an awards ceremony on Landaa Giraavaru island on 28 December.

Team Application Forms and full Tournament Rules and Regulations can be downloaded at www.facebook.com/baa.boduberuchallenge.

All applications must be submitted via email by 30 September 2011 to [email protected].

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Wataniya launches Blackberry service in the Maldives, enabling secure private communications

Mobile operator Wataniya last night launched the Blackberry service in the Maldives, at a ‘black suit’ event held in the National Art Gallery.

Beyond just a range of smart-phones allowing for ‘push’ email connectivity, the Blackberry service is one of the world’s largest private networks with 67 million subscribers and 14.8 percent of the global smartphone market.

The device, produced by Canadian technology company Research in Motion (RIM), grew in popularity on the back of business and corporate users, attracted by its security features, reliability and strong encryption.

The event last night opened with a dance by a man in a glow-in-the-dark jumpsuit, and a band playing the Beatles tune ‘All you need is love’.

Vice President of the Maldives Dr Mohamed Waheed remarked that RIM’s decision to enter the market in the Maldives “is a vote of confidence in the business environment of our country, and for that we are grateful.”

Dr Waheed also noted that the introduction of consumer and business-grade secure communications in the Maldives was “an indication of how our country has matured”, and “an indication that our country is comfortable with the freedoms that we have; particularly the freedoms of expression and democracy.”

“This is an important step towards the improvement of commerce and business in the Maldives,” Dr Waheed said, adding that the country’s “dynamic, highly literate and IT savvy youth” would ensure “a bright future” for Blackberry in the Maldives.

Chief Operating Officer of Wataniya Stephen Smith said the company was proud to enter in partnership with RIM, “to provide the highly anticipated service to customers in the Maldives for the first time. Blackberry provides a meaningful and secure connection to enterprise email and other important systems, and we’re glad to be able to provide this capability to our customers.”

Canadian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Bruce Levy, meanwhile observed that without their Blackberries, the Canadian government “would shut down overnight.”

“The first thing I saw when I landed in the Maldives was a fleet of twin otter seaplanes, many of which are piloted by Canadians. The delegation tonight is staying at Four Seasons, an eminient Canadian hotel chain, and the President is off to the Toronto International Film festival this weekend,” Levy said.

“It is a great time to be Canadian in the Maldives.”

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