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President commutes sentences of 24 inmates

President Abdulla Yameen has commuted the sentences of 24 inmates under the authority vested in the president by the Clemency Act of 2010.

According to a President’s Office statement, sentences were commuted based on the inmate’s age; time spent under house arrest, jail, or banishment; medical condition; and discipline. Conditions were attached to the commutation, the statement said.

The president considered the following criteria in commuting sentences:

  • Inmates must not have committed a disciplinary offense in the past two years
  • Inmates must not have received an presidential pardon or commutation of sentence, or drug rehabilitation through the Drug Court or been granted parole in the past five years
  • Inmates must not have been sentenced in 2013

Individuals who were convicted of murder, terrorism, disturbing the peace – including attacking or threatening a security officer or vandalising public property, child abuse, rape, homosexuality, drug trafficking involving an amount more than four grams, or a hadd crime were not considered, the statement said.

The president did not include anyone that could be determined as dangerous to the society. Yameen will grant clemency to an additional group of convicts on April 1, the statement said.

Article 115 of the constitution states that the president has the authority “to grant pardons or reductions of sentence as provided by law, to persons convicted of a criminal offence who have no further right of appeal.”

On January 9, police cleared the police records of 1,023 young persons who were arrested for various criminal offenses, as part of the government’s pledge to facilitate youth employment.

At the time, Commissioner of Police Hussain Waheed urged all young persons to make the best out of this “golden opportunity” and to leave the crime environment and become useful individuals to society.

In March 2012, current Vice President Mohamed Jameel Ahmed shut down former President Mohamed Nasheed’s flagship Second Chance program set up to reintegrate convicts into society.

Jameel, who was Home Minister at the time, said that Nasheed’s administration had used the program “to release unqualified criminals under political influence and without any clear procedure “.

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Car crashes into military barracks’ gate

A speeding car crashed into the gate of the military barracks near the southwest harbour of Malé last night.

According to police, the 21-year-old male driver sustained head injuries in the accident and received treatment at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital.

The car was driving along the outer ring road Boduthakurufaanu Magu, veered out of control and crashed into the gate at Kalhuthukkala Koshi.

Both the gate and the front of the car were damaged in the accident.

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Auditor General questions legitimacy of telco license fees

The Communication Authority of Maldives (CAM) did not examine annual financial statements of telecommunication companies before collecting license fees, the audit report of the former Ministry of Civil Aviation and Communication for 2009 has revealed.

The audit report (Dhivehi) made public this week noted that CAM was authorised under its agreement with telcos to check and review financial statements of the companies at any time.

However, there was no documentation showing that financial statements were scrutinised by CAM in order to calculate the license fees, the audit found.

“Therefore, we note that it cannot be verified whether the amount of money paid by telecommunication companies to the state as license fees was in truth the full amount owed by the parties,” the report stated.

Based on the findings, Auditor General Niyaz Ibrahim recommended that CAM check audited financial statements of the companies at the end of the financial year to ensure that the license fees were paid in full.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Communication was later renamed Ministry of Transport and Communication. In addition to CAM, the Department of Civil Aviation and the National Centre for Information Technology (NCIT) also operated under the ministry.

Among three other cases flagged in the audit report was the absence of overtime work sheets for employees at the NCIT.

While MVR106,702 (US$6,920) was spent in 2009 for overtime pay with written authorisation from senior officials, “we note that due to the lack of records at the office for employees’ overtime work (overtime work sheet) the actual overtime work and time spent could not be verified,” the report stated.

As a result, the report added, auditors could not guarantee the legitimacy of the overtime pay in 2009.

The auditor general recommended ensuring proper maintenance of records and taking action against responsible officials in line with public finance regulations.

The audit also discovered that the ministry attempted to pay a contractor MVR68,000 (US$4,410) to set up a biometric attendance system before the installation work was complete.

While the agreement was signed on December 31, 2009, to complete installation within 30 days, the audit report noted that the contractor billed the ministry on the same day, which then submitted an expense voucher to the Ministry of Finance and Treasury.

“However, we note that there were no documents at the ministry to guarantee that the work was complete before the contractor billed the ministry. Therefore, we believe that the ministry attempted to pay the contractor before the work was completed,” the report stated.

Moreover, there were no records at the ministry of estimates submitted by three interested parties, the report noted, and the evaluation committee chose the contractor with the lowest point score.

While minutes of the evaluation committee’s meetings showed that two proposals were disregarded due to lack of technical specifications, auditors found that the required technical specifications were included in one of the disqualified bids.

The auditor general recommended taking action against the official responsible for submitting the expense voucher to the Finance Ministry without confirming completion of the outsourced task.

Additionally, the audit office recommended an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission into the awarding of the contract by the evaluation committee.

In the third case highlighted in the report, auditors found that the ministry was not reimbursed the MVR23,927 (US$1,552) spent on a plane ticket for the minister to attend a ministerial  meeting of the Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT) in Bali, Indonesia.

As travel and other expenses for the trip were to be covered by the APT, the auditor general recommended recovering the money.

Aside from the flagged cases of ostensible violations of public finance law, the audit report concluded that financial transactions of the ministry and the institutions operating under its remit was in compliance with the Public Finance Act and regulations under the law.

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Construction of flats for teachers cost MVR62 million: Education Ministry

The Ministry of Education has revealed that MVR62 million was spent on the construction of a ten-storey apartment complex for teachers.

Speaking at a press conference held on Tuesday, Deputy Minister Ibrahim Ismail stated that MVR 36 million out of the Educational Fund of the ministry, as well as a loan of MVR26 million from the Maldives Islamic Bank has been spent on the building.

The ten-storey apartment complex consists of 18 single-room apartments and 62 two-room apartments.

Seventy-five flats are reserved for those who serve as teachers or education development officers. The other five flats are reserved to provide accommodation for visiting educational experts brought in by the Ministry of Education.

Application forms to rent the flats can be submitted from February 16 to March 13. The rent for a single-room apartment is MVR4000, and for a two-room apartment is MVR6000.

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MNDF officers to travel with hajj pilgrims for assistance

The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) and the state enterprise Hajj Corporation have signed an agreement under which officers of the MNDF will attend hajj pilgrimage to provide assistance to pilgrims.

The memorandum of understanding was signed at an event held at the Ministry of Islamic Affairs on Tuesday – signed by Chief of Defence Force Major General Ahmed Shiyam and Hajj Corporation Managing Director Yamin Idrees.

Speaking at the event, Islamic Minister Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed revealed that a similar agreement will be signed with the police force in the near future.

The minister further revealed that the Hajj Corporation would be covering all expenses of the officers who will be attending the pilgrimage. He stated that he aimed to eventually have all MNDF officials attend hajj prayers under the initiative.

The corporation is sponsoring seven MNDF officers this year.

An official of the Hajj Corporation stated that the idea behind the initiative was not to have MNDF officers conduct menial tasks for the pilgrims, but rather to facilitate a means for soldiers to engage in the prayers of Hajj.

Hajj Corporation Chairperson Dr Aishath Muneeza stated that 400 pilgrims would be taken to Mecca for the pilgrimage this year. She added that a delegation of the corporation is soon leaving for Saudi Arabia to seek ways of increasing convenience for Maldivian pilgrims, including the renting of a separate hotel solely for the use of Maldivians during the hajj season.

MNDF Spokesperson Major Hussain Ali told Minivan News that they have not decided a criteria under which officers who will get the seven pilgrimage slots this year will be selected.

“So far, we have just signed the memorandum of understanding with the Hajj corporation and announced it. We have not yet drafted a selection criteria, though it will be done under some form of selection process,” Major Ali said.

Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed stated that the ministry would not be directly involved in either the selection of officers, or in the compilation of criteria for selecting officers. He said that the target was to allow officers selected by the Hajj Corporation and the MNDF to be able to attend pilgrimage completely free of charge.

The MNDF also concluded a Quran recitation ‘Qari’ course on Monday, held in alliance with The Centre for Holy Quran. Twenty MNDF officers participated in this course.

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MP Sameer joins Jumhooree Party

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ahmed Sameer has signed up to the government aligned Jumhooree Party (JP) on Tuesday.

According to the JP, Sameer joined the party after it promised him the ticket to contest in Dhihdhoo constituency – a seat he currently occupies in parliament – in the upcoming Majlis elections.

Sameer was initially a member of the JP, but later joined the opposition MDP in 2009 to contest in that year’s parliamentary elections.

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Maldives High Commission in Sri Lanka seeks Islam, Dhivehi teachers

The Maldives High Commission in Sri Lanka has announced that it is seeking Dhivehi language, Islam, and Quran teachers to teach the Maldivian community living in neighbouring Sri Lanka.

An official of the high commission also stated that they are seeking interested parties to renovate Sosun Villa – the previous building where the High Commission was housed – for the purposes of conducting these classes.

He added that, in addition to classrooms, after renovation Sosun Villa will house a football ground, courts for indoor games, and a hall where cultural Maldivian activities can be held.

“First we are seeking teachers interested in taking these lessons. We will then see how many persons are interested in learning in these classes. For example, if we manage to get enough students to fill three classes, we will need to hire three teachers,” he told local media.

He revealed that the High Commission is aiming to start the classes at the earliest possible opportunity.

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Chinese tourist drowns in Fulhadhoo

A 30 year old Chinese tourist staying at a guesthouse with his wife in the island of Fulhadhoo in Baa Atoll drowned on Tuesday morning.

Police have stated that the man was already dead when taken to the Fulhadhoo Health Centre.

They were made aware of the drowning after his wife had sought help from the island community on Tuesday, mid-morning.

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Attorney General refuses to attend parliament committee regarding revenue bills

Attorney General Mohamed Anil has refused to attend the parliamentary committee tasked with reviewing revenue bills after being summoned to a meeting scheduled for Tuesday.

The rejection letter sent to the parliament secretariat argued that the bill of amendments to the Tourism Act and T-GST [Tourism Goods and Services Tax] bills include policies compiled by the Economic and Youth Council of the cabinet.

Anil stated that the only role played by the Attorney General’s Office had been to draft the bills as directed by the council.

“As this office has no comments to make on the content of these bills at this moment, I respectfully inform you that I excuse my office from sending staff to attend the meeting we have been invited to,” a parliament official quoted the letter as saying.

Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ahmed Hamza has suggested that the absence of the Attorney General (AG) suggests disapproval of government policies.

Upon forming a government late last year, President Abdulla Yameen divided his cabinet into two sub-divisions – a social council and an economic council.

Government aligned parties have initiated special sessions of the parliament in order to extend the duration in which bed taxes can be charged, and also to increase T-GST. The government has also proposed to take full payments as lease from resorts that have extended their contracts.

President’s Office Spokesperson Ibrahim Muaz Ali stated that, while the attorney general’s reasons for refusal are “absolutely clear”, the cabinet has thus far not decided whether it will hold discussions on the relevant policies with the parliament committee.

Ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MP Ali Arif – who sits in the committee tasked with reviewing the revenue bills – stated that he would be able to further comment on the matter after deliberations with the attorney general.

“What the AG has actually said is that he has already provided his views on the matter to the cabinet’s Economic Council, and therefore he declines from attending the committee to present the same views,” Arif stated.

Opposing view

An opposition MDP member in the same committee has interpreted the AG’s refusal to attend the committee meeting in a different light.

“Reading between the lines, MDP feels that the AG refused to attend as he does not agree with some of the things proposed by the government,” MDP MP Ahmed Hamza told Minivan News today.

“One of the things we feel he disagrees on is the government’s proposal to change the payment terms for resorts, to cancel the extentions granted to payments in breach of what the government has previously agreed with resort owners,” he continued.

“The other thing is the bed tax. The law says bed tax charges are to be ceased from December 31, 2013. The government is now proposing to continue taking it from January 1, 2014, but there is no law to support this. We feel the AG does not support taking this in retrospect after a law is formed now,” Hamza stated.

The AG, Mohamed Anil, was not responding to calls at the time of press.

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