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Police investigating theft of MVR 500,000 from immigration department

Police are investigating the theft of more than MVR 500,000 (US$32,425) from the Department of Immigration.

The money was stolen from a safe over the weekend, according to a statement from police. The money was reported missing at 9:00am on Saturday.

Police said the thieves climbed over a wall between between Atoll Canteen and the Ghazee building. No details were provided as to how the intruders gained access to the safe.

The immigration department has not officially commented on the theft.

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No new Home Minister to be appointed before election: President

President Mohamed Waheed has dismissed the possibility of appointing a minister of Home Affairs – with oversight of the police – before elections in September, reports Sun Online.

Former Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel was dismissed from the position after he sided with Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) candidate Abdulla Yameen, later defecting from his own Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) and becoming Yameen’s running mate.

Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture Ahmed Shafeeu has since served as acting minister.

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Kolamaafushi voting venue painted yellow reports Sun Online, “orange” says Island Council President

A ballot box on the island of Kolamaafushi in Gaafu Alifu Atoll is to be placed in a building that has been painted yellow, reports Sun Online.

Citing an island council source, Sun reported that the island’s number two ballot box was to be placed in the building used by the island’s women’s committee.

Yellow is the party colour of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), members of which make up four of the island’s five council members responsible for designating the voting venues.

The island’s other ballot box is to be hosted in the island’s school, however the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) has reportedly lobbied the Elections Commission requesting the box instead be placed in the campaign hall of President Mohamed Waheed’s ‘Forward with the nation’ coalition.

According to Sun, President of Kolamaafushi Council Ahmed Jameel contended that the fence of the offending building was in fact orange.

The PPM in June called for a cease-fire in the so-called ‘paint war’ between rival political supporters, with buildings, walls and even plant-life being painted in party colours.

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Gayoom to tour northern atolls for PPM

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom is campaigning in the north of the Maldives on behalf of the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM)’s presidential candidate, Abdulla Yameen.

Local media reports that Gayoom will visit Kinolhas, Alifushi and Dhuvaafaru in Raa Atoll, Funadhoo in Shaviyani Atoll, Kulhudhuffushi in Haa Dhaalu Atoll and Dhidhdhoo in Haa Alifu Atoll.

PPM Spokesperson, MP Ahmed Mahlouf, told local media that Gayoom would be accompanied by Yameen and his running mate, former Home Minister and former Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) deputy, Dr Mohamed Jameel.

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Maldives to unveil new tourism master plan with UNWTO on September 27

This story was first published on Maldives resort review site, Dhonisaurus.com.

The Maldives government has announced its intention to unveil the country’s fourth official tourism master plan on September 27 to coincide with this year’s World Tourism Day, according to local media reports.

Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb last week declared that the final draft of the master plan would be unveiled by the president of the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) during a visit next month.

Adheeb said the five year scope of the plan was expected to emphasise strengthening tourism infrastructure across the country, while also implementing zones outlining specific types of development.

Existing aims outlined under previous master plans that were yet to be fully realised would also be included in the new document, the minister told local media.

Anticipated focus

Speaking previously to Minivan News, former Deputy Tourism Minister Mohamed Maleeh Jamal has said the master plan was anticipated to include developments such as the expansion of biospheres and other “value-adding” concepts.

“We are working on the fourth tourism master plan in line with groups like the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank to focus on a destination strategy,” he said late last year.

The former deputy minister – dismissed by the government in June after deciding to back a rival candidate to President Dr Mohamed Waheed in the upcoming election – had spoken in recent months of a number of key aims to be included in the plan, including event tourism and strengthening the fledgling guest house sector.

The potential for expanding mid-market tourism in the Maldives through the “niche” guesthouse segment emerged as an early election issue this year after senior opposition and government figures clashed over how best the country’s inhabited islands might profit from visitors.

While unable to outline the exact scope of the new master plan, Maleeh also previously pointed to President Waheed’s announcement to make the Maldives the world’s largest marine reserve within the next five years as a commitment that could prove particularly beneficial to tourism.

“Since the foundation of tourism 40 years ago, the environment has always been hugely important to the Maldives. After 40 years the country is still pristine making us very popular with tourists and we welcome any actions to encourage maintaining this,” he said.

Maleeh added that the foundation of marine parks and reserves in the country at destinations like Baa Atoll was already helping create a “premium destination within a destination”, adding further value to properties located in an area of strong natural interest.

Along with the potential benefits of operating as a marine reserve, he claimed that the country’s status of being a protected marine reserve would not itself impact on the type of tourism developments being sought in the Maldives.

These plans have included ambitious proposals such as the construction of five man-made islands to support leisure developments including a 19-hole golf course in the Maldives.

Maleeh claimed that he did not think these type of projects would be threatened by the Maldives protected reserve status, with developers still being required to work within existing environmental laws that impose several restrictions on the amount of development possible on each island.

The government meanwhile announced earlier this year that it would be moving ahead with plans to transform the Maldives into a biosphere reserve through the designation of zones across the country that would earmark land use for specific purposes such as tourism development or conservation.

Despite these commitments, the country’s first Marine National Park (MNP) in Noonu Atoll is yet to receive land that successive governments have agreed would be set aside for the project back in 2011.

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President Waheed calls for public unity, solidarity in Eid ul-Fitr message

President Dr Mohamed Waheed has called for unity and solidarity among Maldivians on the occasion of Eid ul-Fitr.

In a statement issued today, President Waheed called on those campaigning ahead of next month’s election to avoid sewing “discord” among the public, requesting that all parties adhered to democratic principles in the build up to, and during, voting.

The president personally pledged his commitment to ensuring a free and fair election next month, while also speaking of various development projects presently being overseen by his government.

President Waheed also today held a reception for members and assorted dignitaries of the public at Muleeaage.

State ministers, foreign diplomats, government officials, MPs civil servant and members of the general public were among those greeted by the president this morning, according to an official press release.

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Elections Commission dismisses concerns of JP, PPM over use of Indian IT staff

The Elections Commission (EC) has dismissed fears foreign nationals will have access to the country’s voter database for upcoming polling, as it seeks assistance from Indian IT professionals to set up software to help oversee future council elections.

EC President Fuwad Thowfeek said he had met this week met with a “combined team” representing the government-aligned Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and Jumhoree Party (JP) to dismissed their fears that foreign IT workers would be given access to information related to next month’s scheduled election.

“We explained to them that the Indian team would not be working on systems being used for the upcoming presidential election. They will instead be providing assistance to help develop a program for future elections,” he said.

Local media reported today that the PPM and JP had challenged the possibility of holding free and fair elections scheduled for September 7 this year if foreigners could access the electoral database and other systems.

However the EC has moved to dismiss any fears, adding that it only local EC staff had access to sensitive information and the commission’s security systems.

Despite having initially sought local IT professionals for the project, Thowfeek said it had not been possible to find Maldivians with either the programming skills required for the project, or those willing to work within the budget assigned for the project.

“Firms presently operating in Male’ demanded much higher rates to oversee the project,” he added.

Thowfeek said he was surprised by the concerns of the government-aligned parties, given the large number of state bodies and institutions dependent on foreign expertise and assistance.

“This would not be the first time the EC or the government has accepted assistance from friendly nations. For instance the defence ministry has been getting assistance from the US, while police are given a wide variety of training from numerous international bodies,” he said.

“There is no reason why political parties should be worried [about foreign nationals being given access to EC data]. We are fully committed to free elections and remain answerable to the parliament. We will oversee this election with caution and confidence.”

The government is presently considering introducing a border control system provided free of charge by the US government, after this week terminating a contract signed in 2010 with Malaysia-based IT group Nexbis to install similar technology.

Thowfeek added that the EC had traditionally enjoyed a close relationship with its Indian counterpart, particularly for training of its staff abroad on overseeing electoral processes. He said a total of 20 Maldivian staff had received training last year relating to good practice in overseeing voting.

Both the Indian Elections Commission, as well as observers from several EU and Commonwealth nations will be coming to the Maldives to oversee next month’s vote.

“Complex” council elections

According to Thowfeek, the Indian programmers brought over to the Maldives to work with the EC had been hired specifically to develop a computerised system to help monitor future atoll and island council elections.

He said that with some 190 separate island constituencies, two city councils and 20 individual atoll councils, previous voting had presented complex challenges for the EC to overcome – despite the polls seen as credible by observers and local parties.

Based on the EC’s experience of overseeing the last council elections in February 2011, Thowfeek said it would be preferable to commence work on a computer system that could identify the exact number of ballot papers for each specific constituency around the Maldives.

“There are over 200 ballot papers required during a council election, so we are looking for a system that can send the appropriate data [to these islands],” he said.

The proposed system is expected to allow registered Maldives nationals to vote for the council of their respective home island from anywhere in the country, without the need to return to that particular constituency to vote.”

Party concerns

The EC has sought to reassure concerns from assorted political parties this week over the credibility of the upcoming polls.

On Monday (August 5), the EC rejected any possibility that the identities of deceased citizens could be used to fraudulently vote in the upcoming election, after opposition allegations that security forces were seeking to influence polling by misusing such data.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has continued to accuse both the government and senior police officials of trying to undermine free and fair elections, accusing police of actively seeking deceased lists detailing the country’s deceased in an attempts to try and rig voting.

Police later rejected the allegations, with the EC stating that it would not be possible to vote using details of the deceased.

Meanwhile late last month the EC rejected calls by the PPM to make voter registration more “lenient”, with Thowfeek claiming efforts were being stepped up to prevent voter registry fraud, while also dealing with challenges that arose during the country’s first multi-party election in 2008.

“We have worked to rectify these mistakes and in the last council elections there were hardly any complaints raised with us by political parties,” he said at the time. “More than that, we have worked hard this year to get the registry up to date.”

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UK to establish temporary mobile visa application point for Maldivian students

Maldivian students intending to study in the UK will able to apply for student visas without having to travel to Colombo in Sri Lanka, thanks to a temporary mobile enrollment system to be set up later this month.

Students will be able to lodge UK visa applications on August 28 at Nasandhura Palace Hotel, using what the High Commission described in a statement as a ‘mobile biometric clinic’.

“Those using the service will save themselves the cost and time of travelling to Colombo. The service is optional, and being run by our commercial partner, VFS Global, who have successfully managed similar services in India and elsewhere on behalf of UK Visas and Immigration,” the statement read.

Tom Greig, Regional Director South Asia for UK Visas and Immigration said the UK “is keen to attract the brightest and best talent from around the world. Our aim in
setting up a temporary enrollment location in Malé is to bring the UK visa application point closer to our Maldivian customers, and make the process of applying for a UK visa as quick and convenient as possible.”

Applicants wishing to use the service must book an appointment in advance by calling +94 114 692 604 (08:00 hrs to 15:00 hrs – Maldives Standard Time). There will be a charge of £192 (US$302) for using the service, in addition to the usual visa fee. Appointment numbers are limited.

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Gayoom’s brother-in-law Ilyas Ibrahim declares support for Jumhoree Party

The brother-in-law of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Ilyas Ibrahim, has declared his intention to back Jumhoree Party (JP) presidential candidate Gasim Ibrahim in the upcoming elections.

“Ilyas Ibrahim is one of the senior most politicians in the Maldives. He is saying that he will support Gasim Ibrahim and Hassan Saeed this time. We will even hold a ceremony in connection to this very soon,” a JP spokesperson told local newspaper Haveeru.

Ilyas, who held multiple ministerial portfolios under Gayoom’s government, quit Gayoom’s Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) in July, after publicly accusing the party of disrupting President Mohamed Waheed’s coalition.

At the time Ilyas backed Umar Naseer, the former Deputy Leader of the PPM who was expelled after accusing its presidential candidate and half-brother of Gayoom, Abulla Yameen, of rigging the party’s primaries.

Following the defeat, Naseer claimed he had to battle the “entire machine” of the party during the primary, claiming that his opponent had every advantage in the race.

“Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s children were with Yameen, the largest gangsters in the country were with Yameen, all the drug cartels in the country were with Yameen, the most corrupted people were with Yameen, the whole elections committee was with Yameen and a large chunk of PPM’s parliament members gathered around Yameen,” he told the press at the time, before declaring his support for Gasim’s campaign.

The resort tycoon’s ‘Jumhoree coalition’ also includes the religious Adhaalath Party and the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), who last month defected from President Mohamd Waheed’s own coalition.
Gasim has meanwhile positioned the coalition as defenders of Islam and nationalism. Speaking at a recent rally the resort tycoon took credit for the article in the new constitution tying Maldivian citizenship to being Sunni Muslim.

“I made the proposition to include the article demanding that every Maldivian citizen must be a Muslim. I did this by invoking the powers vested to the Speaker of the Constitutional Assembly under the previous constitution,” Gasim said.

Meanwhile as head of the Villa resort chain Gasim remains one of the country’s single largest importers of alcohol, with customs records for 2011 revealing that his hotels – including the Royal, Paradise, Sun, and Holiday Island resorts – imported approximately 121,234.51 litres of beer, 2048 litres of whiskey, 3684 litres of vodka and 219.96 kilograms of pork sausages annually, among other haram (prohibited) commodities restricted to ‘uninhabited’ islands.

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