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Z-DRP, DQP condemn Thasmeen for meeting President Nasheed

The main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party’s (DRP) breakaway Z-faction along with coalition partner Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) has condemned DRP Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali for meeting President Mohamed Nasheed Saturday night.

Speaking at a press conference the following day, DRP Deputy Leader Ilham Ahmed claimed that “because Thasmeen has millions of rufiya worth of loans owed to Bank of Maldives as well as other pressures,” the minority leader was “making deals with the government.”

“What we were saying is now becoming very clear to the public,” he said, referring to the Z-faction’s allegations of Thasmeen and Speaker Abdulla Shahid accepting US$1 million bribes from Indian infrastructure giant GMR.

DQP Secretary General Abdulla Ameen meanwhile told local media that the opposition leader meeting President Nasheed was “unacceptable” as it could be construed as an endorsement of the proposed economic reform agenda.

Ameen argued that discussions over the proposed reforms should have taken place much earlier.

“I don’t see any need for meeting the opposition leader after the reforms were planned and finalised and a ceremony held to announce [the reforms],” Ameen told Haveeru.

Thasmeen however told press outside the President’s Office after the meeting that he met the President to voice concerns about the economic reform bills currently before parliament, including planned expenditure growth for 2013 and the personal income tax.

Following the meeting, President Nasheed signaled the government’s willingness to address DRP concerns and incorporate changes in the relevant legislation before enactment into law.

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‘Market Harbour’ project amended, bids re-open

The Economic Development Ministry has announced that the ‘Market Harbour’ project, designed to develop island harbours, has been reopened bidding, Haveeru News reports.

The project was first announced on March 24, 2011. The Ministry has since amended the proposal to suit amendments proposed by island councils.

The ‘Market Harbour’ projects intends harbours to be developed along regional, atoll and local standards. The projects will take effect in Dhaal atoll Kuda Huvadhoo, Gaaf Dhaal atoll Gahdhoo, Thinadhoo and Ihavandhoo, Haa Dhaal atoll Kulhudhufushi, Haa Alif atoll Hoarafushi, Meemu atoll Mulah and Raa Dhuvaafaru.

Haveeru News reports that project bidding is open to local and international companies. The report adds that facilities such as warehouses, banks, and guesthouses will be available.


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Bill proposed to abolish Foreign Investment Act

Preliminary debate began yesterday on a bill proposed by the government to abolish the Foreign Investment Act of 1979, as part of its economic reform package.

At yesterday’s sitting of parliament, opposition MPs severely criticised the legislation, arguing that abolishing the Act would facilitate corruption and “bankrupt” local businesses.

Presenting the bill, MP Alhan Fahmy of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said that the purpose of the bill was to open the country to unhindered investment by foreign businesses.

Kelaa MP Dr Abdulla Mausoom of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) however accused the government of trying to turn the Maldives into the “money-laundering machine of the world” by removing restrictions to foreign investments.

Mausoom said that the Foreign Investment Act had been used to protect local industries and encourage joint ventures with Maldivians in the tourism industry, adding that bringing amendments to the 1979 law would be better than abolishing it.

Other opposition MPs speculated that the bill was part of an agenda to “sell off state assets” and undermine national interests and sovereignty.

While MDP MPs did not speak in the debate in the interest of expediting the legislative process, shouting matches broke out in the chamber sporadically and disrupted the debate.

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Maldives hails “new dawn” in Libya, increases international pressure on Syria

Maldives Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem has welcomed “a new dawn in Libya” following reports yesterday that the rebel Transitional National Council (TNC) had all but taken control of Libya’s capital, Tripoli.

President Muammar Gaddafi remains nowhere to be found, but early reports yesterday – confirmed by the International Criminal Court (ICC) – suggested that the rebels had detained his son, Saif al-Islam.

Saif however appeared in front of journalists later in the day declaring that the rebels had “fallen into a trap”, and “screw the criminal court.”

The Maldives was among the first countries to formally recognise the TNC rebels as the sovereign representatives of the Libyan people, and helped organise several UN Human Rights Council resolutions increasing pressure on Gaddafi and legitimising Western military intervention.

“The Maldives took these steps because of our conviction that men such as Muammar Ghadaffi should not be allowed to check, through violence, the recent march of democracy and human rights across the Muslim world – the Muslim Awakening,” Naseem said.

“For decades, the government of Muammar Ghadaffi has ruled through a system of patronage, repression and fear. The Muslim Awakening brought hope that this system could be dismantled peacefully, through dialogue, reform and free and fair elections. However, instead Muammar Ghadaffi chose to use his security forces to attack and kill civilians.

“With the imminent fall of Ghadaffi, the Muslim Awakening lives on, and the Maldives looks forward to welcoming a new, democratic Libyan State into the international family of nations,” Naseem said.

Syria

The Maldives is taking a similar line on Syria it took with Libya earlier this year, insisting on democratic reforms and yesterday spearheading an emergency session of the UN Human Rights Council.

“The Maldives considers itself a friend of Syria and its people, and has watched with increasing alarm as the government there has responded to peaceful protests calling for democratic reform with violence and intimidation. Thousands have been arbitrarily detained and hundred of our Muslim brothers and sisters, including children, have been killed. Worse, these gross human rights violations have intensified during the Holy Month of Ramadan,” Naseem said, in another statement.

Syria, which has failed to respond to the Council or cooperate with the UN, is backed by Iran and has taken a hard line against civilian demonstrators calling for President Bashar al-Assad to step down.

Protests began in January 26 as the ‘Arab Spring’ demonstrations began to sweep through the Middle East, escalating into an uprising in which over 2200 people have reportedly been killed.

Involvement of the Maldives

At a press conference held yesterday in Male’, the Maldives Ambassador to the UN Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed said that the small size and relative isolation of the Maldives was “no impediment” the country’s pursuit of an international human rights agenda.

“I think we have shown that size is not everything in international relations,” Ghafoor said. “Even if you are a small country your commitments, your principles, and how you work with others can help you achieve many of your goals.

“Our relations with other countries and our record of promoting human rights both at home and in concert with other countries, and our cooperation with the Human Rights High Commissioner has given us respect and legitimacy in the international community, and we have been at the forefront of a number of resolutions that has been initiated on matters of grave concern,” he said.

Asked about the Maldives’ commitment to human rights locally, and whether he concurred with the Maldives’ recent delegation to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination that the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives was the “most active national institution in Asia”, Ghafoor observed that “I don’t think there’s any country that has a perfect human rights record.”

“Without exception I think all countries have human rights issues and problems, but what is more important is how do we deal with it and how do we address these issues,” he said.

“I think Maldives has shown that it is willing to address the shortcomings it has in its human rights promotion and making every effort possible within the resources we have to improve our human rights record.

We are willing to work with other countries, with the international human rights organisations, even with NGOs to make the human rights issue a non-issue hopefully some time in the future. But that maybe a bit too much to hope for. So long as there are human beings interacting with each other there’s likely to be human rights issues.”

Speaking as to the Maldives’ position on the UN report detailing war crimes in the closing days of Sri Lanka’s civil war, Ghafoor said he did not think the matter would create friction with the Maldives’ neighbour.

“I do not see the government having any issues at this stage with the Sri Lankan government,” he said.

“[Naseem] has stated that we would like to see the UN take a more comprehensive review of what has happened in Sri Lanka, rather than concentrate on the last few days. This could skew the whole issue. So we do not see our memberships of the Human Rights Council making it difficult for us to have good relations with Sri Lanka or speak on issues of sensitivity. I think as good friends Maldives can speak very frankly with Sri Lanka and I’m sure they would happy to listen to our views.”

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UNDP awards US$79,862 to local CSOs in small grants program

The United Nations Development Program has awarded US$79, 862.95 to the 13 winners of the “Support to Civil Society Development” program in the Maldives.

The winning projects, supported by the Small Grants Facility and jointly funded by the UNDP and Australia Agency for International Development (AusAID), were designed by local CSOs and selected out of 54 proposed projects.

United Nations Resident Representative, Andrew Cox, spoke at the UN building today. Cox called civil society a “pillar of democracy”, and a significant factor in democratizing the Maldives. He commented on the large scale changes the country has faced in recent years, and called the Maldives “a country which shows much scope for growth and maturity.

This is the second round of projects in the program. Monitors of the first round had determined that the program was constructive, Cox said.

“Initiatives such as the Monitoring of Political Violence in the First Local Council Elections project, The Empowerment of Women project and The Right to Empower project – among the 09 projects funded in the first round, have indicated steps taken in the right direction by the civil society,” he said.

The second round of projects were selected from 11 atolls, including Raa, Baa, Noonu, Addu City, Malé City, and others. Almost every atoll in the country is represented in the selection.

Among the areas the program intends to address are human rights, governance, gender equality, and youth development. Cox added that the tenets of democracy, such as transparency, accountability, and the voice of the people will be empowered.

Cox backed the program by invoking the Maldives government’s Strategic Action Plan, “which guarantees that space will be allowed for individual freedoms and the civil society to thrive.”

In closing, Cox reminded his audience that significant challenges to establishing a full  democracy remain in the Maldives, but that they can only be overcome by the united efforts of the people. Cox reinforced the UN’s committment to supporting the Maldivian people in their pursuit of a consolidated democratic identity.

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Mother of self-declared Addu apostate launches media appeal seeking scholars’ help

The mother of a 22 year-old girl from Addu City who publicly declared her apostasy has launched an appeal in the local Maldivian media seeking the help of religious scholars to make her daughter repent.

“She’s been a bit odd ever since she was in the seventh grade, but at the  time she did not say the things that she says now,” the 49 year-old mother told Minivan News.

“Every time I try to advise her she shouts at me and asks me what I was trying to make her believe, and says that she cannot believe the existence of Allah,” the mother said.

The mother said her daughter was currently being held under house arrest while being investigated for allegedly giving birth to a child out of wedlock.

“She has misbehaved since she was young, and is saying things that should not be said in front of the children. She has even been calling me balhu (dog).”

The mother said that whenever she tried to inform her daughter about death, the afterlife and the punishments for apostasy, her daughter would reply that it was “not a problem for her, and not to worry.”

“I admit that it was our negligence as well that allowed her to come this far. We knew about this a while ago and we could have been more careful then,’’ the mother said. “I have been asking around my neighbors and everyone about what to do, but all I can do is remain in this grief thinking about her.”

The mother said she “had no solution” to her grief.

“There’s still some good inside her. I know that because she has been advising her younger sisters not to be like her,’’ she said. ‘’It’s because she can believe that she is not going the right way.’’

The mother said there “was a reason why this had happened to [her daughter],” but said it was “a long story”.

President of Islamic Foundation of the Maldives, Ibrahim Fauzee said the organisation had heard of the appeal and that its local branch was looking into the matter.

“For sure, we will provide her assistance,’’ Fauzee said.

The Islamic Ministry said it had not received official notice of the matter.

The Maldivian Constitution states that the Maldives is a “100 percent” Sunni Muslim country, and the country maintains a reservation to article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on freedom of religion.

The last Maldivian to publicly declare apostasy, Mohamed Nazim, did so in front of an 11,000-strong audience attending a lecture in May 2010 by well-known Islamic speaker Dr Zakir Naik.

Nazim was escorted from the venue by police for his own protection after members of the audience attempted to attack him, and was held in police custody. The Islamic Foundation of the Maldives subsequently issued a statement calling for Nazim to be stripped of his citizenship and sentenced to death if he failed to repent and return to Islam.

After two days of religious counseling in police custody, Nazim declared that his misconceptions had been clarified and gave Shahada – the Muslim testimony of belief – on national television during a press conference held at the Islamic Ministry.

In a later interview with Minivan News, Nazim said that he did not regret his actions.

“Somebody had to do it, it needed to be spoken about. The repression of thought, the lack of debate and a lack of a proper public sphere in which such discussion can take place, is dangerous,” he said.

The reaction, he said, was mixed – angry and supportive, superficial and profound. He lost 65 friends on Facebook, the social networking site to which almost every computer literate Maldivian subscribes. He did, however, gain 246 new ‘friends’.

His own friends and colleagues, he said, were uneasy talking about it, and very few actually discussed it with him. However, he told Minivan News he could feel the presence of the issue, “unspoken yet potent”, in every social interaction he had with another person.

In July 2010, 25 year-old air traffic controller Ismail Mohamed Didi hanged himself from the control tower of Male’ International Airport after seeking asylum in the UK for fear of persecution over his lack of religious belief.

Over two emails sent to an international humanitarian organisation on June 23 and 25, obtained by Minivan News, Ismail confessed he was an atheist and requested assistance for his asylum application, after claiming to have received several anonymous threats on June  22.

In the emails, he said he “foolishly admitted my stance on religion” to work colleagues, word of which had “spread like wildfire.”

“Maldivians are proud of their religious homogeneity and I am learning the hard way that there is no place for non-Muslim Maldivians in this society,” Ismail said, in one of his letters.

“I cannot bring myself to pretend to be something I am not, as I am a staunch believer in human rights. I am afraid for my life here and know no one inside the country who can help me.”

A colleague of Ismail’s told Minivan News that it appeared the 25 year-old had sought the early 3:00am shift and “came to work fully prepared to die.”

“His mother said she called him in the morning at 5:30am to tell him to pray, but there was no answer. They found his cigarette lighter on the balcony.”

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“Maldives needs postmortem facilities”: Independent MP Nasheed

A mechanism to conduct autopsies or postmortem examinations should be established in the Maldives to avoid unexplained deaths of tourists becoming “issues of national importance”, Independent MP Mohamed Nasheed advocated at parliament today.

Speaking during debate on a motion without notice prompted by the disappearance of two Japanese tourists last week, Nasheed argued that “the problem among us is not just the incidents [of tourist deaths] themselves” but the absence of a mechanism to investigate “sudden, unexpected, unexplained or suspicious deaths.”

“Incidents will occur and people will die but what we should know for certain is how it happened,” he said. “If that mechanism is established among us, every time a person disappears or is found dead, we would not have to debate it in parliament as a worrying matter of national importance.”

A coroner’s or medical examiners office could be set up to assist police, Prosecutor General’s Office and the courts, he added.

Presenting the motion, MP Ali Arif of the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party’s breakaway Z-faction said that two incidents in the space of 30 days was “proportionately high for the Maldives,” as the tourism industry was “the goose that lays golden eggs.”

Earlier this month, two British tourists died in a quad-bike accident on Kuredhu Island Resort.

Arif said that Tourism Minister Dr Mariyam Zulfa had recently expressed concern in the media over security measures, noting that resorts had not complied with notices to establish safety mechanisms to monitor tourists out at sea.

“We’ve notified the resorts three times to build watchtowers, but they keep insisting on how they can build such a huge structure. Even though it’s called a tower it does not necessarily have to be a huge structure. All we’re saying is that a system or mechanism should be established to monitor tourists out in the sea to ensure their safety. But that’s not being done either,” Haveeru reported Dr Zulfa as saying.

If the resorts were refusing to comply with notices from the Tourism Ministry, said Arif, “they should be closed immediately and put back on the market only after they are reformed.”

Arif added that a solution was urgently needed “even if it is brought through such harsh measures.”

The DRP MP for Vaikaradhoo speculated that “maybe the letters [from the Tourism Ministry] are lost at middle management.”

MP ‘Colonel’ Mohamed Nasheed of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) however urged MPs to be “a bit more mature” as debating every incident in parliament “leads to unwanted negative coverage in the foreign media”.

Several other MPs concurred that motions without notice – which opens the floor for a one-hour impromptu debate but does not lead to any concrete action – should not be proposed in response to every single incident involving an explained death or disappearance of tourists.

Unwarranted speculation by MPs would harm the tourism industry more than the incidents of tourist deaths, Colonel insisted, “because tomorrow the newspapers of their countries will cover it as major news since they believe the issue could only reach parliament if it was very serious,” he said.

Independent MP Ahmed ‘Sun Travel’ Shiyam, owner of Sun Hotels, meanwhile called on MPs to stop “pointing accusatory fingers” at the tourism industry.

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Market to decide cost of private clinics, cabinet rules

The Maldivian government has dropped price controls of private health clinics months after clinics raised them illegally, according to President Mohamed Nasheed’s Press Secretary, Mohamed Zuhair.

The decision, recommended by the Cabinet, was a reaction to the rising costs of medical materials and consumables.

Earlier, the Health Ministry had approved a general consultation fee of Rf 75-100 (US$5-6), with Rf 300 (US$20) as the highest fee chargeable for a specialist consultation. So-called ‘super-specialists’  could charge more than Rf 300.

On May 12, 2011, Minivan News reported that private health clinics had raised consultation charges without government permission. The cost change was allegedly an effort to balance the devaluation of the dollar exchange rate following the government’s decision in May to implement a managed float of the rufiya.

“The private sector complained that the government had too much control over their services, and after the costs rose they weren’t able to fully operate,” Zuhair told Minivan News.

Zuhair said the government expects private clinic rates to remain moderate, and said most services will be eligible under the government’s Madhana health insurance program. The government also requires changes in medical service charges to be presented to the Ministry of Health one month before taking effect.

“The Minister of Health already has a wonderful system of monitoring in place, and whenever necessary the Ministry will propose a policy change,” said Zuhair. He added that the situation was not expected to be problematic. “The quality of treatment is equal at private clinics and public hospitals,” he claimed. “Now, people don’t have much to complain about.”

A senior informed source in the Maldives health sector told Minivan News that on average, private clinics were a Maldivian’s first choice for treatment. Although the medical treatment might be the same, the atmosphere and degree of personal supervision was often better at a clinic than at a hospital, the source said.

“Cost recovery is not the objective at most hospitals, which are subsidised,” the source explained, revealing that many patient bills at state-run hospitals only cover 25-35 percent of the total service.

“When people go to a hospital to get treated, they are not usually aware of what the hospital is able to provide,” said the source. “The treatment is fine, but hospitals need to increase the quality of care because people expect it, in spite of the low fees.”

The source said he believed that the competition between private clinics would keep costs affordable: “I think it’s good for the markets to determine the rate,” he said.

The source added that large clinics were likely to keep costs within the scope of the Madhana program, in order to maintain their clientele.

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Thaa Atoll Hospital’s doctors on strike

Foreign doctors and nurses working at Thaa Atoll Hospital on Veymandoo in Thaa Atoll have declared themselves on strike over visa issues they say are preventing them from leaving the country.

Head of Thaa Atoll Hospital, Midhath Nasir, told Minivan News that expat doctors and nurses have complained that their visas have not been renewed accordingly and that they have had difficulties in leaving the country in emergency situations.

“All the expat doctors and nurses have stopped work and all the patients that came today had to go home without receiving any services,” Nasir said, but added that there were no patients currently admitted to the hospital in a critical condition.

A technician working in the laboratory of the hospital recently needed to urgently return to his home country, Nasir said, but was unable to do so because of the visa renewal issue.

“His visa was not renewed and because he had an expired visa, he could not make there on time,” Nasir said.

Nasir said that he had requested the doctors and nurses make a list of issues and hand it over to him so that he could forward it to the Health Corporation.

“I do not know what other issues they have, after I get the list I will know,” he said. “All the nurses and doctors currently working in the hospital are expats.”

Minivan News requested a contact number for one of the striking staff, but Nasir said he did not have the contact number of any doctor or nurse working at the hospital.

Meanwhile local newspaper Haveeru reported that more than 25 expats working at the hospital had met with the atoll council and complained about their issues.

The paper reported that head of the Atoll Council, Abdulla Shareef, had told the paper that the Health Corporation was counting staff vacation days in contradiction to how their contracts required the days to be counted, as the days staff had spend in the Maldives waiting for their visas to be renewed were being deducted from their vacation allowance.

Doctors and nurses told the council that in some cases their vacation days were all but over by the time they reached their home country.

Shareef also told the paper that the hospital was using expired medicines imported during 2004 tsunami, and that doctors were being blamed for not having enough medicine in the hospital.

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