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‘Strikes lawful but we won’t support them’, says CSC

President of Civil Service Commission (CSC) Mohamed Latheef has said that the commission does not support strikes on principle “as civil servants are working for the benefit of the people, and [striking] is harmful for the people.”

However he said that those civil servants who were striking over the salary issue were using a right accorded them under the law.

He also said civil servants had a right to their full salary this month, and that it was “unfair” of the government to restore only some salaries (at the independent commissions).

Latheef said that all government employees, including independent commissions, “must face the difficulties due to the country’s economic condition.”

“The CSC believes that this is a national issue and it can be solved by speaking. Going to the court is not our first option, we wish this to be solved by talks,” he said.

Press secretary for the president’s office Mohamed Zuhair said it was not the government who decided the salaries of independent commissions, and that “rather it was decided by the parliament and the government does not have any power over it.”

Civil servants salaries accounted for 70 per cent of government’s expenditure, he said, while the independent commissions accounted for only five per cent.

He added that while the CSC might not believe that legal action could be taken against the striking civil servants, “that is not how the government feels about this.”

He said the government would restore the salaries of civil servants when its income reaches Rf7 billion, and the fact that parliament approved a budget of Rf7 billion “does not mean that we have it on our hands now,” he explained.

Spokesman for the Finance Ministry Ismail Shafeeq said that the government would provide civil servants “what we can.”

“Everyone knows the country’s economic condition,” he said.

Shafeeq said that he believes everyone, including civil servants and independent commissions, “must endure the special economic conditions of the country.”

“The finance ministry will be deciding whether or not to change their decision,” he added.

MDP MP Ahmed Easa said he believed civil servants and the independent commissions should both be receiving the lowered salary.

“When salaries are increased the country’s inflation rate gets high,” he said, “and when the inflation rate rises prices rise as well.’

Easa said “the best solution” was for the government to keep the 15 per cent salary money “and cut the import duty for food.”

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Diva resort voted third ‘most romantic’ hotel in Asia

Diva resort in the Maldives has been voted the third most romantic hotel in Asia by TripAdvisor, reportedly the world’s largest travel website.

The luxury Maldivian resort was placed behind of Cape Sienna Hotel & Villas in
Kamala, Thailand, and Samaya Bali in Seminyak, Indonesia.

The 2010 Travellers Choice award recipients were decided by tabulating the opinions of millions of real travellers from all over the world.

Travellers praised the South Ari atoll resort as “breathtaking”, “a heavenly paradise”, and “beyond comprehension.”

General manager of Diva John Mathis told Miadhu that the award was “good news” that will “further boost our position as a prime destination for romance and honeymoons”.

Despite only being open for two years the resort has already been named the ‘Best hotel in the Indian Ocean’ in Conde Nast Traveller’s Hot List 2009 and ‘Hideaway of the Year’ 2008 in German magazine Hideaway.

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Police investigating the ‘leaked’ police document

Police has begun investigating the ‘leaked police document’ which Haveeru claimed was evidence that state minister Adil was drunk on Wednesday night when police came to check his residence.

Haveeru reported that the leaked document said that when police checked Marble guest house, state minister for economic Adil was found drunk with two girls, and that they were not arrested on the order of deputy commissioner of police Ahmed Muneer.

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TVA and Maumoon foundation registered

Non government organisations the Torture Victims Association (TVA) and the Maumoon Foundation have been registered atthe home ministry, reports Haveeru.

The Maumoon Foundation is a reportedly apolitical NGO named after Maumoon Abdul Gayoom working “for the benefit of the country”, while the TVA is an NGO working to seeking to prosecute the former president for alleged human rights abuses committed during his administration.

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Councillor of Hulhudheli sacked

The island councillor of Hulhudheli in Dhaal atoll, Mohamed Sham, has been removed from his position, reports Miadhu.

The newspaper reported that Sham does not know why he was terminated.

He said that he received a call from the president’s office which said that he had been terminated, and asked him to come and receive his leaving certificate, Miadhu reported.

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DhiTV interested in commercial arrangement with public broadcaster TVM

Privately-owned television station DhiTV is among six parties to have expressed interest in a joint venture arrangement with the ailing Maldives National Broadcasting Company (MNBC), which broadcasts rival channels including Television Maldives (TVM) and Voice of Maldives (VOM).

DhiTV CEO Yoosuf Nawaal said the station had approached MNBC and offered to buy TVM’s land for Rf100 million (US$7.78 million), “and they would pay us a monthly rent of Rf1 million (US$77,800).”

“We actually gave them quite a clean business offer; in terms of interest it was about 10 per cent,” Nawaal said, adding that DhiTV was only interested in the land not the property on it as “TVM’s equipment and staff are quite old.”

As for the broadcaster’s independence, “they would be running the show and we would not be involved.”

MNBC’s Managing Director Ibrahim Khaleel did not confirm that DhiTV was one of the interested parties but did state that one was “local” while the others were foreign interests.

“During last year six parties expressed interest, five foreign and one local company. But their interest was a commercial interest and not our interest,” Khaleel said. He added that the local company concerned was a “very established company”, and “if we do some business with them it may not be as a partner, but to share some services. That would be one way of doing it.”

He emphasised that media reports this morning suggesting that MNBC was selling its stations “are not true. We are not going to sell, and we are not looking to sell. We are looking for a partner for a joint venture [agreement].”

MNBC was currently trying to “reduce and restructure” TVM, he explained, “as at the moment it is an expensive operation.”

If the partner turned out to be another local media company, he noted, “I think we have to think about a lot of things.”

“Public service broadcasting is very important. We are trying to become a developed nation and that means developing not only buildings, but the intellectual community [as well],” he said.

“I think if someone was interested, the partner should agree that TVM and VOM would remain as public service broadcasting. We have to set standards and editorial guidelines, because it will be a problem if they are not there.”

MNBC’s other channels, including YouthTV and RaajjeFM, represented commercial opportunities for the right partner, Khaleel said.

“As well as commercialising YouthTV and RaajjeFM, they could create another channel or develop internet, mobile and cable [broadcasting],” he suggested. “If someone expresses interest we will sit down together and discuss how we can handle it.”

There were many successful models for running state media, he agreed, but Maldives was unique because of its small population.

“Everyone says the BBC model is great, but the population, technology and human resource situation is completely different here in the Maldives. We have 300,000 people, and the expenditure for a public broadcasting service is huge.”

The current program of “reducing and restructuring” would not affect the editorial quality of the state broadcaster because of the organisation’s investment in training, he insisted.

“We need to develop our staff. For 47 years of radio and broadcast there has not been a single human being with a diploma or a degree involved. We are funding 14 journalist diplomas and have sent 15 staff to study degree-level journalism abroad. Most important thing is not numbers [of staff], but quality and experience.”

President of the Maldives Journalist Association Ahmed ‘Hiriga’ Zahir said he was not in favour of foreign influence on local media, and that furthermore he felt “state TV should remain state TV, even if it was run with a much lower budget.”

“TVM’s budget is Rf100 million (US$7.78 million), they could cut that in half. I think the state would provide that,” he said.
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Religious scholars dispute government’s healthcare scheme

The vice president of religious organisation Jamiyyath-al-Salaf, Sheikh Hassan Moosa Fikry has claimed the government’s ‘Madhana’ healthcare scheme resembles an insurance program and is against the principles of Islam.

Sheikh Hassan said that the Madhana health insurance scheme “was not a balanced system” and represented
”a loss for both the people and the government.”

He also claimed that the Madhana scheme was not organised according to the Islamic banking system.

‘Madhana’ is a scheme run by the government that provides up to Rf100,000 (US$7782) of medical treatment for members, in return for an annual fee of Rf2000 (US$155).

”For example, I pay the government Rf2000 to take part in the Madhana program, and if I do not get ill that year, wouldn’t that be a loss of Rf2000 for me?” Sheikh Hassan said.

He claimed that the State Minister for Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed once wrote a religious article about insurance, which on the first paragraph stated that health insurance was not allowed for Muslims.

However President of the Adhaalath Party Sheikh Hussein Rasheed Ahmed said that all health insurance programs were allowed under Islam, with the exception of self-insurance, and that Madhana was “a help” offered by the government to its people.

”I’m not saying this in response to what Salaf has said,” he added.

Religious scholar Sheik Ilyas Hussein also claimed that only self-insurance was prohibited for Muslims.

“If the Madhana health scheme was done as business then it might be a problem,” he said. “If it is done as charity it would be allowed.”

Spokesman for the Islamic Ministry Sheikh Ahmadhulla said he could not comment on the issue at the moment “because this is a religious matter” and he did not have the right to give religious advice.

Permanent secretary for the Health Ministry Sheena Moosa said that she was also unable to comment as the issue was a religious matter, but claimed the Madhana scheme was not modelled on health insurance.

”We do it as charity for the benefit of people,” she said, adding that the government did not invest any of the money received it received through the scheme.

”We keep all the money as a separate fund,” she explained.

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Government departments strike over salaries

Staff at several government departments, including the fisheries ministry and the attorney general’s office, have gone on strike in protest at the restoration of salaries for only some areas of government.

Staff a some of the other ministries, including the tourism ministry, are rumoured to be deciding whether they should take part.

Yesterday salaries were restored for staff at the independent commissions, courts, parliament and the judicial services. The president announced over the weekend that the remaining civil servant salaries will be restored in April if the country’s economy has stabilised.

A senior staff member from the attorney general’s office told Minivan News that more than 40 people working at the office were participating the strike, and would continue to do so until their received the restored salaries.

“We will come to the office every day, but we won’t be doing any work,” he said, claiming that the strikers were just trying to get their legal rights.

A senior staff member from the fisheries ministry confirmed that most of the civil servants at the ministry were on strike, including the management.

Some of the ministry’s senior staff had threatened legal action against the strikers, he said.

”We are working legally to get our rights,” he claimed, explaining that civil servants were present at the office but were refusing to work.

A civil servant working in the tourism ministry said staff were planning to sent a letter to the Civil Service Commission (CSC) about the issue.

”We will decide to strike or not depending on the answer we get,” she said.

The economic ministry said that all of its staffs were present and all of them were working “as normal.” A staff member said that they were not planning to strike.

Spokesman for the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Ibrahim Shareef said that no legal action could be taken against the civil servants protesting.

”It is a right for the civl servants according to the law,” Shareef said, but added that the DRP had not yet decided whether to support the strike.

CSC spokesman Mohamed Fahmy Hassan said the CSC had yet to discuss the issue in detail but was currently “definitely not calling for strikes”, and was instead trying to solve the dispute through administrative and legal means.

“We have stated very openly that if we cannot solve it administratively, we will take the issue to court until we get a verdict,” he said.

Strikes would disrupt the services provided by the ministries and inconvenience the public, he added.

“I think the fact that some salaries have been restored has made it harder to persuade civil servants that the country has a financial problem. It’s very unfair what’s happened.”

State Minister for Finance Ahmed Assad said that civil servants were entitled to strike for their rights.

”We have not decided to change any of our decisions yet,” Assad said, refusing to answer more questions “as it is too early to say anything.”

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