Author: JJ Robinson

Tour giant funding project to raise resistance of coral reefs in the Maldives

Travel giant Kuoni, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and local environmental consultancy Seamarc have launched a comprehensive project to protect coral reefs and address the impact of climate change in the Maldives.

Speaking at the launch of the project this week at the Nalahiya hotel in Male’, Kuoni’s Head of Corporate Responsibility Matthias Leisinger observed that “tourism is like fire. You can cook with it, but it can also burn your house down.”

Kuoni has conducted a similar project in Egypt, targeting the Red Sea. Such projects were, Leisinger said, investment by the company in the long-term sustainability of destinations and a tool well within the company’s business model.

The 100 year-old leisure travel operator employs 10,000 people across 40 countries, and had as a result of its breadth broadened its scope from travel and tour provision to “destination management”.

“Investment in corporate social responsibility is a long-term business tool,” Leisinger said. Tackling practices such as sex tourism, for instance, was also a way of protecting the company’s brand, he explained.

Ensuring that hotels had no waste on beach, that islands had infrastructure such as sewerage plants and that staff were treated fairly increased the quality of the company’s end product, which affected its bottom line, he explained.

One aspect of the project involves establishing waste management facilities on 10 inhabited islands near Kuoni resorts. According to the project synopsis, “islanders will be taught to segregate waste at household level and bins will be provided to store the waste separately until removal from the island. A once-off large clean up may need to be organised before implementation of the system as most islands have accumulated waste over time.”

As well as improving the environment of the local island and allowing the resort to tick one of its ‘corporate social responsibility’ boxes, the facilities will “reduce the waste that washes up on the shores of the resorts themselves.”

A key focus of the project is protection and management of the resorts’ housereefs, which are currently protected by law from all fishing activities apart from bait fishing, “and as such, these areas act as marine protected areas (MPA) by default.”

However few resorts employed marine biologists to manage the housereef and limit destructive activity, and many times the boundries were ambigious “which results in unacceptable use of the reefs by outsiders leading to conflicts between the resort and local people.”

Under the project, four resorts will trial an ‘MPA management plan’ involving ecologicial surveys and the use of a warden to “drive away intruders”.

The project will also include an extensive series of training sessions and workshops for resort staff and local communities, and including on the reporting and monitoring of coral bleaching.

Senior Advisor at IUCN Dr Ameer Abdulla explained that bleaching represented the expulsion of symbiotic plants from coral due to stress factors such as pollution, sudden changes in temperature and ocean acidification, making the coral vulnerable to algae.

“Eventually the reef disintegrates, with the loss of shoreline protection and tourism benefits,” he explained.

“A bleaching event in 1998 saw close to 100 percent mortality in some areas [of the Maldives],” he said. “It was 87 percent in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, but because the area has been well managed the rate of recovery was very high.”

Tackling climate change was a broader problem requiring international effort, but local measures to reduce impacts and increase the resistance threshold of the reefs could “give the coral a fighting chance”, he explained.

Dr Abdulla noted concerns raised by dive staff at one resort that local fishermen had begun fishing for grouper on the resort’s house reef, but were unsure of their mandate and did not want to spark local conflicts.

A representative from the Ministry of Tourism, present at the launch, observed that such incidents were likely to increase “as stocks diminish elsewhere.”

The representative also noted new challenges arising with the changing market profile of tourism in the country – whereas visitors from European countries such as France and Germany responded well to requests to respect the natural environment, “the market is changing, and Chinese guests are walking on the reefs, catching and eating crabs… During a recent visit to Shanghai we tried to get the message across, but it’s a very different culture.”

A representative from the Marine Research Centre (MRC) retaliated that it was in the interests of the Tourism Ministry to legally mandate resorts “to take responsibility for the natural environment for the duration of the lease.”

Much of the country’s lucrative resort industry “remains very closed,” he observed.

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Airport architect releases further images of planned development

Airport architecture and engineering firm ADPI has unveiled new images of the design for Male’ International Airport, which is being developed by Indian infrastructure giant GMR.

The existing terminal is being upgraded before the construction of a new terminal on the opposite side of the island of Hulhule, which the developer has pledged to complete in 2014.

As well as being a visually dramatic structure on the skyline, the new airport will include various sustainability initiatives such as seawater air-conditioning.

Artist's impression of the exterior

Ultimately the development will involve 45,000 square metres of new terminal, repair and expansion of the runway, parking and taxiing space, and a turning point so more flights can be landed in the space of an hour.

The infrastructure giant’s ‘brownfields’ approach – refurbishing an active airport, as opposed to a ‘greenfields’ or ‘from scratch’ project – mirrors that of its much larger airport development in Dehli. The old terminal was upgraded prior to the opening of the new one last week, which is now expected to cater to 90 percent of the airport’s passengers, with capacity of 34 million per annum upgradable to 100 million.

At over US$400 million the project is the largest single foreign investment ever made in the Maldives and has run into political controversy, including persistent allegations from opposition parties that there was corruption in the bidding process, and several referrals to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

“There has been no formal communication [with the ACC], and we are extremely confident of standing up to any scrutiny because of the way the bid was scrutinised by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC),” CEO Andrew Harrison told Minivan News in an interview in March, setting a target for the completion of the refurbishment in October.

The refurbishment is “essentially throw-away” considering it will have  less than a three year lifespan until the new terminal is completed in 2014, Harrison told Minivan News at the time, but will include a food court and a raised ceiling in arrivals so tourists can see the sea as they emerge from the gate.

Besides ongoing upgrade work and staff training exercises, recent developments include the signing of a US$140 million contract with the State Trading Organisation (STO) to supply fuel, switching the contract over from Dubai-based Galana Petroleum.

More recently, the government announced that the airport was to be renamed after former President Ibrahim Nasir, who ordered its construction during his rule.

A map of the redevelopment, due 2014
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Marine biologists report outbreak of Portuguese Man-o-War

An outbreak of Portuguese Man-o-War jellyfish around the Maldives has sent guests at many of the country’s upmarket resorts out of the water and back to their villas.

The creatures, which can give a nasty sting, have been reported appearing in lagoons and housereefs around islands in atolls including North Male Atoll, Baa Atoll, North Ari Atoll and Gaaf Dhaal Atoll.

Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru reported a brief outbreak, while Huvafen Fushi in North Male Atoll has had the creatures washing up on the beach for eight days. Kuramathi in North Ari Atoll has also been affected.

Marine biologist Verena Wiesbauer Ali said seasonal outbreaks were not unusual. The creatures were not native to the Maldives reef ecosystem but swarms of them could become trapped by the reef and end up on the beach, she said.

“They can still sting for quite some time on the beach if the cells in the tentacles are still active, which can affect guests walking [barefoot],” noted Wiesbauer, who coauthored a first aid guide together with Dr Jens Lindner and Dr Reinhard Kilinger to the country’s toxic marine life after she was stung by a purple jellyfish while swimming, and was asked by an island doctor why she had eaten one.

Despite its appearance the Portuguese Man-o-War was not really a jellyfish, she explained, and that the usual treatment for jellyfish stings – vinegar, urine or alcohol – could discharge more of the toxic nematocysts in the sting.

Hot water was the recommended treatment for protein-based toxins, such as those from the Portugese Man-o-War or stonefish, she said.

“Clinics should have supplies of anti-histamine because the itching from a sting can be extreme. Applying ice for a few minutes can stop it from spoiling a holiday,” she added.

“Hotels have a duty to inform tourists when there is an outbreak, as someone stung may sue the hotel. It’s also important for snorkelers to understand the risk, and protect themselves with long sleeves – even thin cover is effective, although obviously this does not cover the face.”

Marine Biologist at Kuramathi Resort and Spa in Rasdhoo Atoll, Laura Riavitz, said the outbreak at the resort was worse than last year, “when there was a day when you wouldn’t even stick your toe in the water.”

“We are informing people on welcome and have put out notices at the main reception and the dive school, being careful not to panic people and asking them to wear rash vests,” she said.

Riavitz was herself stung by one last year: “It began very painfully, like a burning sensation on the skin. Sometimes you can’t see anything and don’t know what it is. The most important thing is not to scratch it, otherwise the sting can be carried to other parts of the body, such as the face,” she said.

The Portuguese Man-o-War did not move under its own power, and instead drifted with the currents using a gas bladder and with its tentacles stretching out behind it, she explained.

The creature was normally eaten by predators such as sea turtles, she noted, “although at the moment there are not enough predators to keep the numbers down.”

Any sightings of the Portuguese Man-o-War or reports on the success or failure of treatment can be reported to [email protected]

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HRCM sends report to UN Human Rights Committee

Endemic sexual violence against women and children, violent crime, abuse of migrant labourers and a persistent culture of torture in detention facilities are among a catalogue of serious issues facing the country, the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has informed the UN Human Rights Committee.

The document summarises areas relevant to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which the Maldives acceded to in 2006. It heavily references the Maldives Journalists Association (MJA) and several news sources, including Haveeru and Minivan News, with little reference to primary research conducted by HRCM itself.

Violence against women

“One in five women between the ages of 15 and 49 years reported physical or sexual violence by a partner, and one in nine reported experiencing severe violence,” HRCM noted, referencing a 2006 study by the then Ministry of Gender and Family.

“One in six women in the capital Male’ and one in eight countrywide reported experiencing childhood sexual abuse under the age of 15 years. Of those women between the ages of 15 and 49 years who had ever been pregnant, 6 percent reported having been physically or sexually abused during pregnancy,” it cited.

“The survey further reported that many respondents’ perceived women to be subordinate to men, and that men used Islam to justify restrictions and violence against women.”

Parallel to this, HRCM observed a particularly low conviction rate for rapists and sexual assault offenders.

Reasons for this, the report claimed, included “the absence of an Evidence Act, the lack of witness protections provisions and fear of reprisals by abusers, finding witnesses (two male or equivalent women), awareness on the side of the victim regarding the condition that she should be in while reporting, such as not showering before consulting medical personnel, lack of national guidelines on medico-legal documentation, failures of existing laws and procedures leading to re‐victimisation of the victim, and intimidation of being stigmatised by the community.”

Forced labour

Abuse of migrant workers in the Maldives is occurring on an industrial scale, with at least 30,000 foreign workers (8-10 percent of the total population of the country), completely undocumented. Most of these are Bangladeshi nationals, with 2200 of those 2700 migrant workers deported in 2009 by the Department of Immigration and Emigration of Bangladeshi origin, HRCM noted.

“The State needs to enforce existing regulations relating to work place standards and regularly monitor the same,” the report noted. “In addition, the state should develop a mechanism whereby the wages to the workers are duly paid and the travel documents of migrant workers are not held in hands of employers in order to eliminate the undue influence by employers on the migrant workers to work in unfavourable conditions, including forcing them to do labour against their will.”

Documents of migrant workers such as passports were routinely confiscated by employers, the report stated.

“In the Maldives, it is a practice to take hold of the passport of the migrant worker by his/her owner for the intention of safe keeping, and this applies to both government and private sector together with the individuals,” HRCM said.

HRCM observed that the maximum fine facing labour traffickers for fines under the Employment Act was Rf 5000 (US$324). It noted that the Maldives had conceded to ratify the International Convention on Protection of Rights of All Migrant Workers and Their Families (ICPRMWF).

Violent crime

HRCM noted six crime-related deaths in 2010 and eight in 2009, and stated that this was high relative to the population.

“It is to be noted that most of the people who are involved in cases of extreme violence, and murders are repeat offenders (sometimes juveniles) providing clear evidence into the failure of the criminal justice system in the country,” HRCM stated.

Factors involved, the report noted, included “inadequate legislation pertaining the criminal justice system, such as a Penal Code does not reflect the spirit of the present Constitution, inadequate legislation pertaining to evidence and witnesses, dismissal of forensic evidence by courts, absence of a witness protection program and inadequate correctional and rehabilitation system for convicted offenders.”

Detention concerns

Visits from the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) to Dhoonidhoo Police Custodial in March 2011 identified that five detainees had been kept in solitary confinement cells for periods ranging from several days to up to four months, without being let outside for exercise, HRCM stated,

HRCM also raised concerns about the standard of a “hastily built” jail in Addu Atoll in 2009, consisting of metal cages, to accommodate prisoners following a prison fire in Maafushi, and the confiscation of clothing as a disciplinary measure.

HRCM noted a general failure to keep arrested suspects separate from convicted criminals, and commented on the use of Maafushi prison as a police custodial.

The report also stated that “a high profile politician, Mr Abdulla Yameen, was held under protective police custody for a short period in 2010 in a place outside the formally established places for police custody” (Yameen, the leader of the opposition-aligned People’s Alliance and the former President’s half-brother, was detained in the Presidential Retreat at Aarah).

HRCM expressed concern that “in the case of Mr Yameen, he has not been compensated so far [for his detention on the Presidential Retreat].”

Read the full report

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DRP-PA split could see rise of new opposition majority

The decision by the People’s Alliance (PA) to split from the opposition Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) could redraw the political boundaries in parliament.

The PA decided on July 13 to break the longstanding coalition agreement, with the backing of DRP MPs loyal to former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom collectively known as the party’s Z-faction.

“I believe it is a good move. Since Ahmed Thasmeen Ali’s leadership there has been no cooperation with the PA,” said Z-DRP MP Ahmed Mahlouf. “Nothing has been done with the PA for the past two years – they were just told how to vote.”

Mahlouf told Minivan News that 11 of the party’s MPs last night met with the opposition-aligned Jumhoree Party (JP), the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) and an independent MP “to discuss how to move forward.”

Parliamentary procedure prevented the disaffected MPs from forming a new party, Mahlouf claimed, but he speculated that the MPs would potentially leave the main opposition and operate either as independents, or join one or other of the opposition aligned parties, and had discussed the appointment of a parliamentary group leader.

If that scenario were to happen, the DRP would be reduced to 13-15 MPs and Thasmeen would no longer be minority opposition leader, as the the new opposition PA-JP-DQP alliance would number 21-22 MPs.

Asked whether this move would leave Thasmeen open to cooperation with the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Mahlouf alleged that “Thasmeen and [Speaker] Abdulla Shahid have already been helping President Mohamed Nasheed for two years. The separation won’t change that.”

“I don’t think he will join them though – Thasmeen will want to run in the Presidential elections,” Mahlouf predicted.

The MPs affiliated with the Z-DRP include Ilham Ahmed, Ahmed Mahlouf, Ahmed Nihan, Ali Arif, Abdul Muhsin Hameed, Dr Afrashim Ali, Hamdhoon Hameed, Yousuf Naeem and Mohamed Rafeeq Hassan.

Mahlouf noted that joining another party would also involving discussing potential Presidential candidates once the party lines were redrawn.

Addressing concerns raised yesterday by DRP MP Abdulla Mausoom – that the representation of constituents in strong DRP areas such as Laamu Atoll who elected opposition coalition MPs would effectively become PA electorates – Mahlouf said that such islands “voted for the PA because President Gayoom asked them to do it. Even now Zaeem is with the PA, they are working together. Voters in Laamu didn’t vote for Thasmeen – they voted for Gayoom.”

The redrawing of party lines will likely affect the controversial compromise on the composition of committees, which led to fistfights in parliament last week.

Article 101(b) of the parliamentary rules of procedure states the number of MPs each party has “should be taken as the basis” for determining the composition of committees.

The DRP-PA coalition, with 39 percent of seats in parliament, were therefore entitled to four seats in each of the 11-member standing committees.

The rules also states that Independent MPs should be given equal opportunity to select a committee of their preference.

Meanwhile, a statement released by PA yesterday notes that the proposal to break the coalition agreement was put forward by members of the parliamentary group.
“Following discussion on the issue by the PA council, as the DRP leadership elected during its 2010 congress has not given priority to adhering to the coalition agreement, the council members noted three main points,” it reads.

The PA council accused the DRP leadership of not putting “a substantial effort into maintaining the DRP-PA coalition” and failing to adhere to “the spirit of the [coalition] agreement.”

Moreover, the DRP leadership did not “take initiative for the many efforts needed to hold the government accountable” while also not supporting or backing “the efforts of other opposition parties.”

It adds that DRP Leader Thasmeen did not adequately shoulder responsibility and take initiative as befits the majority leader of parliament when the opposition coalition controlled a narrow majority.

“PA council members also took note of the serious divisions within DRP and the failure to resolve the disputes as well as splits between DRP members in parliament and the failure to appropriately enforce the party’s whip line,” the party said.

The PA observed that “as a result of matters deteriorating to the point where DRP MPs cannot communicate with the leadership,” the party doubted that it could “perform the hard and noble work” of holding the government accountable.

The PA council members further noted that “senior figures of the Z-DRP faction that works closely with the PA” had urged the minority opposition to split with the DRP.

Following a compromise reached over the revised constitution of standing committees, DRP Deputy Leader Ilham Ahmed, affiliated with the Z-faction, publicly called on the PA to sever ties with the main opposition party.

DRP Leader Thasmeen acknowledged to Haveeru today that the decision would weaken the opposition, and said that “both sides failed to comply with the agreement.”

“I don’t think dissolving the agreement would make much of a difference now. As far as I’ve noticed, both sides failed to keep up with the agreement,” Haveeru reported Thasmeen as saying.

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People’s Alliance splits from DRP

The People’s Alliance (PA) party, headed by the former President’s half-brother MP Abdulla Yameen, has broken its coalition agreement with the main opposition Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP).

“PA MPs decide they were unable to continue working within the DRP coalition, as they were not receiving support from the DRP,” said the PA’s acting Secretary General Ahmed Musthafa.

“The PA’s Council and MPs felt that [DRP leader] Ahmed Thasmeen Ali’s faction was not cooperating with the PA. The Z-DRP faction also urged us to break the coalition agreement,” Musthafa said.

The Z-DRP is a faction of the DRP affiliated with former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, which split from the party following the DRP Disciplinary Committee’s decision to oust then Deputy Leader Umar Naseer.

Musthafa added that the party was not yet sure how the decision to break the coalition would affect the opposition’s narrow operating majority in parliament, “although we will still be working with opposition MPs and the Z-DRP.”

The decision would require that the committee allocation decision in parliament, which resulted in parliamentary deadlocks last week and ultimately the removal of disruptive Z-DRP MPs by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), be revisted, Musthafa said.

DRP MP Dr Abdulla Mausoom told Minivan News that the PA’s breaking of the coalition agreement would “break the hearts” of the DRP’s support base in constituencies with a PA MP.

“In the Majlis election [the PA] in Meemu and Laamu Atoll asked for DRP support. These [constituencies] have a huge DRP support base and people there will be very uncertain because of today’s decision. They are very loyal to the DRP but voted for the PA tag,” Dr Mausoom said.

He suggested that the PA’s decision “could be a way for those people with discontent about the committee allocation [in parliament] to bring the issue back to the table.”

Dr Mausoom declined to speculate on whether there was now potential for the formation of new coalition between the Z-DRP and the PA, but did make one observation: “I think this is the beginning of the road to 2013.”

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Q&A: UK Deputy High Commissioner Mark Gooding

Outgoing Deputy UK High Commissioner for the Maldives and Sri Lanka, Mark Gooding, speaks to Minivan News about three years of observing dramatic changes in the country. His successor will be Robbie Bulloch.

JJ Robinson: What are the most dramatic changes you have seen in terms of the country’s transition to democracy, and have old habits died hard?

Mark Gooding: I’ve been covering the Maldives for just over three years. My first visit was in the middle of 2008, and we were discussing with the government the passing of the new constitution and the passage to multi-party elections. There was real uncertainty then.

The Maldives passed the new constitution and held successful elections – which were considered credible, free and fair – and is now in the process of consolidating democracy. That means establishing the institutions of democracy and passing legislation necessary to implement the new constitution. Clearly the process has been smooth at times and not smooth at other times. That’s democracy.

There is important legislation that needs to be passed by the Majlis – such as the penal code, the tax reform bill, and these are issues of significant national interest. These need to be addressed by both parties.

JJ: As somebody who has observed the corridors of power in the Maldives for three years, how much political will have you seen towards consolidating democracy, and do you think that this political will is necessarily unanimous across the country’s senior leadership?

MG: Honestly I think there is a large degree of political will. All of the parties participate actively in the democratic processes that exist, and I think that is very important. All parties recognise the need for legalisation to be passed to implement the constitution and broaden existing legislation to make it reflect the challenges of the day.

I think there is cross-party support for this – for the need to enact the legislation and broad support for functioning democratic institutions – be it parliament or police. People understand these are big challenges and that it is in the national interest for them to function effectively.

There are obviously questions that arise in parliament while the details get sorted out. But by and large people agree on the overall objective which is a functioning democracy.

JJ: As an outsider with a perspective on the Maldives both now and how it was three years ago, to what extent do you think that new democratic freedoms – such as those pertaining to human rights, and freedom of expression – to what extent have these freedoms ‘trickled down’ to the average citizen, as opposed to remaining buzzwords paraded at a diplomatic level?

MG: I think to a large extent. One very obvious change is that people can go out and vote now, and there are election campaigns. There was a huge amount of voter awareness work done in 2008. People are increasingly aware of the freedoms they now have – from voting to access to different kinds of media, and an increasingly active civil society.

People’s awareness of their democratic space has increased, and it certainly has in the time I’ve been working with the Maldives.

JJ: What is the extent of the engagement the UK High Commission has had with the government here?

MG: We have very close cooperation with the Maldives government on a range of issues. Obviously the history of the Maldives’ and the UK means we have enjoyed a close relationship this government and the last government. We have a lot of cooperation on global issues such as climate, trade and combating terrorism. There a lot of political dialogue there, also on domestic development in Maldives. The UK was a strong supporter of democratisation in the Maldives.

Practical assistance over the last few years has included the funding of economic specialists to advise the government on dealing with the financial and economic challenges faced, funding of police officers and specialists to develop the police, and we have funded capacity-building of the judiciary and the UN project in that respect.

We would like to build more contact between the Majlis and our own parliament.

JJ: In terms of future involvement with the Maldives, the country has graduated from a least developed country to a middle income country, and other countries reviewing their engagement with the Maldives perhaps now regard it as better able to fend for itself as a result. Does the graduation affect the UK’s engagement with the Maldives?

MG: We don’t have a bilateral development program in Maldives, and in that respect the project work hasn’t changed. In fact we increased project funding in the Maldives, although that had nothing to do with LDC status. There is no short answer. Clearly part of our dialogue with the government is that we strongly supported and the EU co-sponsored a UN resolution on the transition for LDC countries. This was a priority for [the Maldives] government and we were very happy to support it in an international forum.

JJ: Regular comments on Minivan News suggest a great deal of interest in why countries not just in the region, such as India, but those on the other side of the world such as the UK and US, have such an interest in a small island nation of 350,000 in the Indian Ocean that has existed in relative isolation for hundreds of years. Why do you think there is such strong international interest in the Maldives?

MG: There are a number of clear answers from the UK perspective. The UK has a close historical relationship with the Maldives and we regard the Maldives as our friends, and we want to support democratisation here. It is important that succeeds.

There are also 120,000 British tourists visit each year. We look after British nationals who are in the Maldives and we want them to have a positive experience. We also have very close cooperation with the government on climate policy – a serious issue for the Maldives, as climate change clearly could have a devastating impact on the country.

JJ: Concerns are sometimes aired locally that the government’s climate leadership in the international community has not resulted in much impact or change in local communities – many beaches are still routinely used as waste disposal sites, for example. Do you think climate leadership is being passed on locally?

MG: You have to realise that international climate negotiations are incredibly complex and that every country has its own unique situation, and opportunities to introduce low carbon technology. It is not a straight-forward negotiation.

If people are feeling the effects of climate change, extreme weather and beach erosion – rather than just rubbish on the beach – I would say that is a reason to keep arguing for an ambitious global deal on climate change. It would be counter-intuitive to suggest the government should be doing less to secure a climate deal.

The Maldives is an important player both because of its political position on climate change, but also because of its vulnerability. It does have a unique geography, and the potential impact js quite extreme. The Maldives is a significant player in international climate debate.

JJ: While there is a feeling pride in the Maldives’ new democracy, people associated things like rising crime and economic instability with new the democracy and that seems to risk affecting support for democracy as a concept. What do you see as the key challenges for the country, going ahead?

MG: Of course people are absolutely aware of the challenges that exist. They include criminality, drugs and gang violence. There are issues with radicalisation, and economic challenges that the Maldives has faced, like many other countries. Those are challenges that exist already, before implementing the legislation required by the new constitution. So of course there are big challenges and there is a need for national debate.

The interest here is making institutions function effectively as per any democracy. If a country has an effective police service, then action against gang violence is possible. If institutions fail, clearly the situation becomes worse.

JJ: The executive, judiciary and parliament have been busily testing the boundaries of the new constitution. Based on three years of watching this happen, do you think they are showing signs of settling into their functions and working together?

MG: It certainly remains a challenge, and it has not always been smooth. The institutions identify how much power they have and how it is exercised. We had problems last year between the Majlis and executive, but those were overcome. The parties have shown that at times they can work together and make institutions function.

JJ: The Maldives has a traditional and persistent culture of patronage, a society structured around senior figures who provide things such as medical treatment, scholarships, education and so on, be it a katheeb or an MP. In fact MPs quite openly admit to spending their salaries on funding financial demands from their constituents. Given that the culture is so deeply rooted in patronage, do you think there is hope that principles such as equality necessary for democracy can be applied in the Maldives?

MG: In a democracy it’s up to the people how they are governed. What you’re asking really is what level of power should be appropriate at island, regional and national level. Absolutely that is a debate that happens, and that is a debate people need to have. What is true in democracy is that power structures need to be held to account in both their decision making and their expenditure. Those are important principles to emphasize.

JJ: The recently changing of party affiliations parties among MPs has seen parliament be unfavourably compared to a “football transfer market”, and the MDP in particular seems to have embraced a new pragmatism in search of a parliamentary majority. Do you think there is a risk that by importing the odd skeleton in the cupboard that the party risks disengaging from the idealistic roots that made it into a political force capable of changing an entrenched government?

MG: I think there is a reality that when you are in government you need to focus on the ability to make decisions and exercise authority in an accountable way. I think it is possible to do that in a way that upholds principles. Certainly in our meeting with the President this morning he was very clear about this. There was no doubt about those principles. Clearly people in positions of power should be subject to public scrutiny.

JJ: The Maldives has been quick to use its platform in the UN Human Rights Council to denounce war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Middle East committed by countries such as Libya, but has taken a much gentler stance with Sri Lanka despite UN allegations about such crimes committed in the closing days of the civil war. What is the UK’s view on Sri Lanka, and how can the Maldives contribute to secure and progressive Sri Lanka in the future?

MG: The UK’s position on Sri Lanka is very clear: the need of the hour is reconciliation. In Sri Lanka reconciliation requires a number of things – humanitarian relief is one, but also progress on a political settlement. We believe there are serious allegations which are contained in the UN Panel report that need to be looked into – for us this is a very common sense position.

The Sri Lankan government has set up a reconciliation commission which is looking into a variety of issues in the later years of the war. We think it is important that do that and we encourage the government to do that.

JJ: There is the possibility that an internationally-sponsored investigation would require backing from the Human Rights Council. Does this place Maldives in a difficult position if it comes to a vote?

MG: There are a number processes in train in Sri Lanka, such as the lessons learned reconciliation report due in November. I think the world is watching in terms of what these processes will produce. At that point, we able to see whether other options are necessary. We encourage the government to look at these issues.

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Mumbai bomb blasts kill 17, injure 131

Three bomb blasts in the Indian city of Mumbai have killed at least 17 people and and injured 131.

No organisation has yet claimed responsibility for the blasts, which Indian authorities said were caused by explosives planted on motorcycles and a scooter.

Reuters reported that suspicion was falling on the Indian Mujahideen (IM), “an underground terrorist group sworn to avenge the massacre of hundreds of Muslims in the neighbouring state of Gujarat.”

“The choice of neighbourhoods in south and central Mumbai suggested that, as in the past, the attempt was to terrorise the city’s businessmen, particularly from among its Gujarati community,” Reuters reported.

The first explosion occurred in rush hour at 6:54pm in the Zaveri bazaar, a well-known jewelry market. The second took place at 6:55pm at the Opera House, while the third bomb exploded at 7:05pm in the neighbourhood of Dadar.

The attack is the fourth major terrorist incident in India’s financial capital since 2003. The last attack, in November 2008, saw gunmen from Pakistani-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) rampage through the city for three days.

The LeT was also blamed for an attack in July 2006, with 180 people killed when seven explosions destroyed trains on the city’s commuter network.

Reuters reported than plans to set up 5000 surveillance cameras across the city had been gathering dust despite vast sums of money poured into counterterrorism efforts.

“We see a lack of political will to take this [protecting the city against terror attacks] on on an emergency basis,” CNN-IBN reported.

“Mumbai is a soft target, it will always remain a soft target. The only way to combat this is through good intelligence, and that’s not there.”

India and Maldives counter-terrorism cooperation

Indian interest in the Maldives is partly prompted by counter-terrorism concerns. The Indian Ocean is, President Mohamed Nasheed said in October 2010, “India’s soft-underbelly.”

“Security issues in the Indian Ocean have lately become more and more serious. We see the Mumbai attack also as an Indian ocean issue,” Nasheed said at the time.

Indian newspaper The Economic Times noted that the Maldives landed on the Indian intelligence radar after Sultan Park bomber Moosa Inas was reported to have been linked to the LeT and had travelled to Kerala before the bombings, a popular recruiting ground for the group.

Indian news portal Rediff.com has previously quoted Indian intelligence bureau sources as saying that the LeT “has nearly 1,000 operatives active in the Maldives”, and that there was no way the group’s operations “can be curbed unless there is very good intelligence sharing with the Maldives.”

The intelligence sources claimed that in the last three months “there has been an increase in LeT activites in the Maldives, and several persons from [the LeT’s] Kerala group have slipped into the country and are busy setting up operations there.”

President Mohamed Nasheed has dismissed the notion that the LeT had presence in the Maldives or was looking to establish a base – rumours that sporadically appear in the Indian media – but has acknowledged “serious” issues concerning the emergence of radical groups with some members trained in Pakistan.

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Maldives a vital force of high ambition in climate diplomacy: UK Special Representative for Climate Change

International climate change negotiations are reaching a critical “and potentially quite dangerous moment” ahead of this year’s COP17 summit in Durban, the UK Foreign Secretary’s Special Representative for Climate Change John Ashton has said during his first visit to the Maldives.

With economic meltdowns in Europe, deep internal political debates in the US and the drive in developing economies to create jobs for the increasing number of people migrating to cities, political attention was  being distracted from climate change, he observed.

“There are lots of distractions and we need to keep an eye on the ball. The Maldives can help the international community to do that,” he said. “Whenever I get a chance I draw attention to the circumstances of the Maldives, and I encourage people here to use the platform they have because their voices need to be heard more widely.

“The Maldives is extremely important. Because of its vulnerability, particularly to sea level rise, and the skills of President Mohamed Nasheed in communicating the country’s predicament globally, the Maldives has a global influence on perceptions of climate change. I’m here because we need to learn to see this problem though eyes of the Maldives. What is clearer here than in other places is the scale, urgency and existential nature of the problem. In our global response to climate change, we haven’t developed a response commiserate with that urgency.”

Underneath the ongoing climate talks, he said, “is a battle between low and high ambitions. It is partly played out as a battle between those who want to see a legally binding approach and those who want a voluntary approach – which is likely to be as effective as a voluntary approach to speed limits.”

Ashton predicted that climate negotiations in Durban and over the next few years would lead to a “decisive battle between the two models.”

As a country with intense vulnerability to climate change, the Maldives had an opportunity to use its iconic status to frame the debate.

“One goes [to the talks] and feels the tussle between the forces of low ambition and high ambition. The Maldives is very much a force of high ambition, and that is appreciated very much by all of us who identify with the need for a high ambition response, including the UK,’ Ashton said.

Minivan News understands that international delegations expressed surprise and confusion during talks held in Berlin in early July, when the Maldives’ Deputy Environment Minister Mohamed Shareef appeared to entertain support for special response measures proposed by Saudi Arabia – measures which would see the kingdom compensated for lost oil revenues.

A person familiar with the matter voiced frustration at the position and claimed it signalled the Maldives “has gone from being a world leader to a banana republic in international climate policy in the space of little more than a year.”

Speaking to Minivan News today, Dr Shareef said “I don’t believe for one minute that Saudi Arabia’s concerns are genuine, and I don’t like the idea of response measures.”

“This has been taken out of context. Our argument is that the concerns of all parties should be addressed,” he said. “Real concerns should be kept, the others thrown out. My argument is that we can’t just put difficult issues aside – there are very difficult issues in this negotiation we are not considering. Saudi Arabia and OPEC countries are blocking [the negotiations] and we are not addressing their concerns. There should be a mechanism to address the concerns of all parties.”

Ashton today observed that “there is always a danger at these meetings of over-interpreting what other people are saying. People have their antennae finely tuned, and if you are someone who doesn’t go to all of the meetings it’s quite easy to misinterpret something as the opposite of what was meant.”

“I don’t know what was said. But I have in all of my engagement with Maldives seen it as a voice of pragmatic high ambition in the global conversation, and that has been greatly reinforced by all the meetings I’ve had here. I wouldn’t read too much into indirect accounts of what one Maldivian official might have said in Berlin.”

The agreement on climate was, Ashton said, “the most complex piece of diplomacy ever devised. It’s not surprising that it has twists and turns, not the least because the problems involving not just negotiation but the underlying domestic politics of the parties involved in the negotiation. Every negotiation involves compromises, and there are people who want to go faster, and people who want to go slower.”

The Maldives’ hitherto empathetic and uncompromising position on climate change had given it an “ enormous authority as an arbiter as to how fast is fast enough,” he said.

“If I was a representative of the Maldives I would not be willing to compromise on that, because the stakes are so high.”

It was legitimate to raise the subject of response measures, Ashton said, as “this really is about a re-engineering of the global economy. Lowering carbon emissions affect how we produce electricity, use land and conduct industry. It not an environmental negotiation about air or water quality, it’s an economic negotiation. You have to accept this is going to have disruptive consequences, and where you have economic disruption you have politics. Political economy comes into play because you have a distributional problem – how opportunities are shared and how risks allocated. That’s true within economies, and to some extent internationally.”

Questions surrounding response measures and distribution were significant for the Maldives, he said, because it suffered from climate change “in an existential way. If the sea level rise, there are real questions about the viability of a state like the Maldives. In an order of priorities, problems like that should come right at the top.”

Response measures recognised that the process of reengineering the global economy was disruptive, he said, “and that there is time for economies to adapt.”

“But I don’t think it is legitimate for the whole process to be held hostage by an issue like this. Because in the end if this is the approach that everybody adopts, we will get precisely nowhere.”

The Maldives’ had an opportunity to benefit financially from becoming a carbon neutral economy, he predicted, “because all your energy comes from diesel, which you have to import, and over the next 10 years is going to become more expensive. You could probably [adapt] in a way that doesn’t impose additional burdens on the economy, and actually save money while building a more resilient and energy-secure economy.”

The world had confidence, Ashton said, that the Maldives’ ambitions to become carbon neutral by 2020 “is not just cosmetic positioning. I came here partly because I wanted to see what was happening with the carbon neutral plan. I’m hugely impressed.”

“Maldives make a huge difference. Athough people understand carbon neutral economy, a lot of people feel it thwill be a burden – a risk to the economy rather than an opportunity, and perhaps a risk to political stability. People hesitate. What the Maldives can say in pursuing its carbon neutral plan, is that ‘If we are, why can’t you?’. That’s a powerful message.”

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