Author: JJ Robinson

Lale School teacher and deputy flee Maldives

The Deputy Principal of Lale Youth International School Suleiman Atayev has fled the country, along with the computer studies teacher Yunus Yildiz.

Both staff members left seperately on flights on Sunday and Monday evening, and did not inform the school they were leaving.

Managing Director of Biz Atoll Abdulla Jameel, the Maldivian company responsible for the school which operates it under agreement with a group of Turkish businessmen after acquiring it from the former government, confirmed the unannounced departure of the two staff members.

“It is true. We have no idea why they left. We recently brought some changes to management and demoted the deputy principal [Atayev] to a teacher. I have no idea why the computer teacher left,” he said.

Minivan News understands that the pair were also implicated as suspects in the assault case facing Akar, after school staff testified against him.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said while Akar’s case was before court, there was “no specific evidence” to hold the two other staff members in the Maldives.

Akar’s passport was confiscated by police at immigration when he attempted to flee the country in May, shortly after Minivan News published an investigative report containing allegations by parents and staff members against him. He attempted to flee a second time and was detained in police custody.

An assistant principal also fled the country in January after Minivan first published allegations of child abuse raised by parents.

Atayev, who announced himself acting principal following Serkan’s detention by police, previously told Minivan News he was confident charges against the former principal would be proven false.

He was also very critical of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) investigation into the school: “They are refusing to tell us the nature of the complaints they are investigating. They are supposed be about human rights but they are not respecting ours,” he told Minivan News in May.

Shiyam said today that police were aware that the HRCM report “contains a lot of information against the school.”

“It has been a difficult investigation for us because of [a lack] of people coming forward to give evidence. We are still investigating,” he said.

Among nearly 50 recommendations, HRCM’s report recommended “that police should investigate the physical and psychological abuse going on at the school as an urgent concern,” and “separate those suspected of physical abuse from the school’s students until the police investigation is concluded.”

HRCM also recommended that the Education Ministry terminate its contract with Biz Atoll, “and hand over management as soon as possible to a qualified party.”

Deputy Education Minister Shifa Mohamed said the Education Ministry was under the impression that Suleiman Atayev was still the school’s acting principal, however Deputy Education Minister Dr Abdulla Nazeer said the Ministry was not required to be aware of the “hiring or firing of staff by school management.”

“I understand two deputy principals have been terminated – one local, the other expat,” he said.

Jameel confirmed that Turkish national Mohamed Akis Erdogan has taken over as principal of Lale, while Maldivian Moosa Rasheed has been appointed as deputy principal.

“The school is much better now,” he promised.

Dr Nazeer said he had met Erdogan on several occasions and had found him to be “educated and academic”.

“He has an undergraduate degree, a masters and a teaching diploma,” Dr Nazeer said, “the type of qualifications we require for the position of a principal.”

He said he was unable to comment on the validity of Erdogan’s qualifications, and had requested Biz Atoll validate them with the Maldives Accreditation Board (MAB).

He would not comment on whether the departure of so many senior staff members this year raised questions about Biz Atoll’s hiring practices, but noted that “when the school was given to Biz Atoll, I am not sure the previous government made the financial and other checks that needed to be done before handing over a school. Now, based on our criteria for public-private partnerships, I wouldn’t say these requirements had been checked.”

The Ministry was constrained by the “relatively simple contract, which had no minimum standards or a termination clause,” he said. “The Ministry has now amended the contract [to include these].”

The contract, together with the HRCM report, have been forward to the Attorney General’s office by the Education Ministry, which expects to receive an answer by next week as to whether the government can withdraw the school from Biz Atoll.

Minivan News investigated the school in May, after parents and staff members aired concerns that the school was a ‘cardboard’ front for an international tax and visa racket operating out of Turkey, whereby Turkish businesses would allegedly make tax-free charitable donations through the company funding the schools in tax-friendly countries, and reclaim the funds through disproportionately high wages paid to local staff ‘in’ on the scheme.

One staff member reported sighting “bundles” of Rf 500 notes being given to Turkish staff, while a parent claimed to have spoken to one of the Turkish businessmen involved with the school, who had boasted that his business donated money to the school because under Turkish taxation law he did not have to pay taxes on it.

Another teacher told Minivan News that “Turkish teachers escort Turkish businessmen around the school on a weekly basis, and regularly make trips to Turkey. We certainly couldn’t afford to go to Turkey on our salaries, and this is a school that can’t even afford clocks or light bulbs.”

“A lot of money is going somewhere,” another suggested.

The school, which was provided to Biz Atoll free by the government, reportedly receives 50 percent of its funding from a group of Turkish businessmen who pour charity funds into schools in several developing countries, including Sri Lanka, Burma, Indonesia and Cambodia. Minivan News understands the new principal has arrived from a school belonging to the group in India.

Overshadowing repeated controversies over the school’s management is the issue of capacity. The school, which Minivan News understands was built to accommodate almost 1000 grade school students, currently has an enrolment of 98, not including the preschool.

“That is a major concern for us and we have raised it three or four times,” Dr Nazeer said. The government intends to build many homes and flats in Hulhumale and if every flat has 2-3 kids, we anticipate that the population of children [on the island] will double or even triple. So we need to better utilise the schools [on Hulhumale].”

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

President reinstates cabinet, awaits parliament’s consent

President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed has reinstated his cabinet ministers in a signing ceremony before Chief Judge of the Civil Court, Ali Sameer, following their mass resignation on June 29, in protest against what they claimed were the “scorched-earth politics” of the opposition-majority parliament.

The only cabinet reshuffle concerned Mahmoud Razee, former Minister for Transport, Civil Aviation and Communications, who was moved to the post of Minister of Economic Development. His former portfolio remains open.

“Cabinet decided to stick together on the issue and resign, to show they are not hell bent on the salaries and niceties of their positions and to prove they want to do good work for the country,” Nasheed claimed.

Following the reinstatement of his ministers, President Nasheed denied the week-long resignation was a publicity stunt for political gain.

“We had to make everyone aware of the gravity of the situation,” he said. “Cabinet members have been complaining about corruption in parliament for some while, [particularly] vote buying.”

“We were last week able to investigate the matter, and I expect police to pass the findings of the investigation to the Prosecutor General’s Office within the next 10 days,” he added.

The ‘new’ cabinet now requires parliamentary consent before resuming office. The President’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair confirmed the government had been delaying the reinstatement until it received signs of cooperation from the main opposition party.

Zuhair acknowledged the strategy was “risky”, an observation confirmed by DRP Deputy Leader Umar Naseer, who claimed “there are definitely ministers that the DRP will not approve, and will have to leave the cabinet.”

Zuhair however noted that the wording of the procceedure according to the Constitution was different to the appointment of the heads of independent commissions.

“Parliament is only required to ‘consent or not to consent’ to the [whole] cabinet,” he explained. “Even if the opposition is factionalised, if we get 7-8 MPs on our side the motion will be carried.”

President Nasheed has met opposition party leaders alone in a meeting on Monday evening mediated by US Ambassador Patricia Butenis, including leader of the majority opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party, Ahmed Thasmeen Ali.

President Nasheed today said that while Thasmeen had not explicitly agreed to cooperate in the meeting, “individual DRP MPs have called me, and said they do not wish the government and parliament to remain deadlocked.”

He said the MPs had claimed they did not wish the entire institution of parliament “to be affected by the actions of individual MPs.”

Foreign embassies and international agencies have been nervously eyeing the seemingly erratic behaviour of the country’s administration, fearing a step backward following its democratic transition.

Yesterday Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa also arrived in the country, in a surprise visit on the invitation of President Nasheed to help resolve the political deadlock. He has already met with Thasmeen and former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, at his residence Maafannu Aliwaage.

Thasmeen did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

Photo: Umair Badeeu

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Sex change disguised infamous JonBenét murder suspect as transsexual Billabong teacher

A teacher who worked at Billabong High School in Male’ from Feburary until June 2009, Alexis Valoran Reich, has been revealed as the transsexual alter-ego of John Mark Karr, a man who falsely confessed to murdering JonBenét Ramsey in the United States and has been investigated for possession of child pornography.

The JonBenét case remains one of the most high-profile unsolved murder cases in the US. The six year old was discovered dead in the basement of her parent’s house in Boulder Colorado in 1996, apparently strangled with a garrote made from a length of cord and the broken handle of a paintbrush.

The case initially focused on Ramsey’s parents as the murder suspects, attracting extensive media coverage, which often remarked on her participation in child beauty pageants.

Karr, who was on the run in Thailand after being charged in the US for possession of child pornography, confessed to the killing in 2006 and was extradited to the US to await trial. He was eventually acquitted because his DNA did not match that discovered on Ramsay’s body. The five charges of possession of child pornography were also dropped after investigators reportedly lost the computer they seized from him in 2001, containing the images.

Boulder police reopened the case February 2009, although the case remains unsolved despite the unmatched DNA evidence.

Karr disappeared from the public stage and reportedly began working as a teacher in countries across Europe and Asia. He arrived in the Maldives on January 20 last year as a woman, ‘Alexis Valoran Reich’, and was employed at Billabong school as a preschool and grade one English teacher.

Karr/Reich left the school in June after “personal differences” with then-Principal Kevin Dillow, explained Billabong board member Ahmed Adhly Rasheed.

“Reich was employed through a reputable English teacher recruitment agency, which provided us a [clean] Seattle City police report in his name,” Rasheed said.

“We did several checks – the immigration check when [the staff member] enters the country, the check when the work permit issued, and we checked the referral letters from places where he had worked before. We also do our own checks, and were in the process of doing that when Alexis left. He arrived on January 20 and left four and a half months later.”

The connection between Karr and Reich only became public knowledge in March-May 2010, following news reports in the US on his sex change that led to an update of Karr’s entry on Wikipedia.

The photo of Reich in Billabong’s personnel file is unmistakably a feminine likeness of Karr, and his passport details – birthdate December 11, 1964, issued December 2008 in his hometown of Georgia – match Karr’s details exactly.

“We had the police in the school this morning asking where this person was,” Rasheed said, emphasising that Reich had left the school over a year ago, destination unknown.

During her time at the Billabong there were no allegations made against him or any evidence of impropriety, Rasheed said. Reich was by all accounts an excellent teacher – “he was in fact the most popular teacher at the school.”

“He left because of a conflict with the principal Kevin. I don’t mean to defend this guy, but he was actually very popular among the parents. When he left and parents found out it was to do with a conflict with management, some parents approached us and expressed disappointment that he was leaving, and desire that he [remain at the school].”

A Billabong teacher who worked alongside Reich concurred: “Sure he was a bit strange, but he was really good with all the kids. They all liked him – there was no seediness,” the teacher said. “I think he pulled a runner because he wasn’t enjoying the work. He used to complain, but just about normal work things. There were no issues.”

Rasheed said the school received no allegations about Reich while he was working at the school.

“Nothing of any concern happened while he was here – there were no allegations,” Rasheed said. “Our concern is the talk around town that this is somebody who is still working at the school.”

Reich’s passport identified her as male – it had been issued the month before he arrived, Rasheed explained.

“He spoke with a deep voice. I don’t know the extent of his sex change operation,” Rasheed said. “He was known as a man to co-workers, teachers and students while he was in the Maldives.”

Billabong’s unwitting employment of an infamous transsexual teacher acquitted of murdering a six year old beauty queen – a saga somewhat at odds with the conservative nature of modern Maldivian society – together with the allegations of child abuse facing the (former) Principal of the Maldives’ other private school, Lale Youth International – has raised questions among parents and the Education Ministry as to the efficacy of the country’s vetting procedures.

In a letter to Minivan News, concerned parent Muzaffar Naeem said that while he “was relieved that Mr Alexis Reich no longer works at the school”, he questioned the Education Ministry’s guidelines on the employment teachers, and whether the rules were as stringent for privately-owned schools as they were for government institutions.

Deputy Education Minister Shifa Mohamed said the same proceedures were required to be in place at private schools as those in government-owned schools.

“The Ministry expects all schools to follow the same proceedures and obtain police clearance before employing teachers,” she said. “It is also the responsibility of each school to take the initiative and check that teachers are of good quality.”

Rasheed reiterated that the identity of Alexis Reich was only revealed a month ago: “we followed our proceedures but of course in this case there was no connection between the two individuals.”

Current Principal of Billabong David Key, who took over from Dillow in November, observed that Reich’s Seattle City police record would have been clear if his history of charges was kept in another US county.

“It’s similar if you ask the London Metropolitan police for a police record check – they won’t check the rest of the country,” said Key.

“This school is putting in proceedures that are stock standard in every international school in the world – get records, references, call referees first, all these kind of things. Police records should not only come from the country where they were born, but should come country the person was last living in. This is very important – you can have a teacher who has worked for five years in Thailand but hands in a UK police report. They been in Thailand last five years, how do we not know anything [happened]?”

Most important, Key said, was the need for schools to interview teachers “face to face, person to person.”

“I think we need to actually meet people, because that gives you a better idea of nature of a person than Skype or a phone call. The teachers I would like to employ [at Billabong] are people I know would fit into this society and have an agreement with the way of life here – rather than necessarily having the best educational qualifications. Those are important, but it’s more important that the teachers we get fit into the Islamic culture here and the nature of the Maldives.”

Correction: Reich’s passport, issued December 2008, identified him as male, not female as previously stated.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Parliament is corrupt, alleges government

Former Attorney General Husnu Suood, who resigned yesterday together with the rest of President Nasheed’s cabinet in protest against the supposed “scorched earth” politics of opposition MPs, has confirmed that the government has arrested two MPs on charges of corruption relating to vote buying in parliament.

When asked if the government has solid evidence to substantiate these allegations, Suood replied that “there are reasons to believe that some corrupt activities have taken place.”

Suood said “there are statements given by certain individuals that these activities have taken place. Based on those statements, and complaints, there are reasons to believe that corrupt activities have taken place. On that basis the government is proceeding.”

Jumhooree Party (JP) leader Gasim Ibrahim, also the MP of Maamigili, and leader of the People’s Alliance (PA) Abdulla Yaameen, the MP for Mulaku, were arrested last night.

“If there is an allegation [of bribery] it could lead to loss of confidence in a state institution,” Suood said on TVM last night. “Selling votes for money is something the president has to investigate. Otherwise there will be no respect for the Majlis (parliament),” he said.

Suood said he was confident the government’s evidence would stand up to scrutiny: “I think the evidence will stand,” he said.

Gasim and Yameen appeared at the high court today following a police appeal against the conditions of the warrant issued last night by the criminal court.

Speaking at a press conference this morning at the President’s Office, Suood expressed strong concern at the amendments to the Financial Bill proposed by the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), highlighting article 7: “Any state asset should be given, sold or leased or any subsidy or aid to any person only under legislation approved by the parliament”, and article 10(a): “any aid given by the state to any persons or to a specific person should only be given under legislation approved by the parliament.”

If the Financial Bill was ratified and parliament gained the authority to dictate aid and subsidies, “it will [jeopardise] all sorts of subsidies and aid the government provides to people, except for the elderly allowance,” Suood claimed.

Former Minister for Fisheries and Agriculture Dr Ibrahim Didi said that the bill would also jeapordise subsidies for fisherman, which was ”unacceptable.”

”We do not want salaries from the people if we cannot provide the services we want to provide them.” said Dr Didi.

Suood added that the government could not resort to the Supreme Court to overturn parliamentary rulings, “because we filed two cases in the Supreme Court, and they ruled it was not the position of the government to file cases in the Supreme Court.”

”I do not believe that the Supreme Court can rule fairly.”

State institutions had failed, Suood said, senior officials of the judiciary were “irresponsible”, and the independent commissions were operating like “small governments.”

“All of this has brought the government to a standstill,” he said.

Parliament deadlocks over detained MPs

Meanwhile, parliament this morning was also brought to a standstill after DRP MPs insisted that parliament could not go ahead without the presence of the two arrested MPs, as legally mandated.

Speaker Abdullah Shahid read out a letter to parliament from Police Commissioner Ahmed Faseeh, which stated that the MPs could not be released for the sitting or to attend committee meetings as required by parliamentary rules due to “security concerns”.

DRP MP Ali Waheed said there was “no rule of law” remaining in the country after police refused to comply with the court order to bring the MPs before court.

That court order was issued after midnight after a request by former Attorney General Azima Shukoor, lawyer representing the two opposition leaders.

The Attorney General’s Office has appealed the court order at the High Court this morning.

Speaker Shahid was unable to finish reading the as the chamber erupted in acrimonious arguments between MPs of the opposing parties. He briefly appealed to Ali Waheed and DRP MP Ahmed Nihan to sit down, before calling the sitting to a halt.

The mood in parliament  today was “very nervous,” said Independent MP Mohamed Nasheed.

“I don’t think the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and DRP were even able to talk to each other. I was very frustrated that people we are normally quite jovial with – such as [MDP MPs] Mariya Didi and Eva Abdulla – are not even able to make eye contact.”

He said the letter from Commissioner Faseeh and a second from the Chief of Defense had angered the opposition MPs, who argued that the Chief of Defense “should not be dictating when parliament should be held – it is not his business and we are not under ministerial rule.”

On the subject of the vote-buying allegations against MPs Yameen and Gasim, Nasheed said he did not know “why the Attorney General is singling them out with allegations of vote buying.”

Nasheed said many parliamentarians were aware of past discussions concerning situations where “independent MPs had been approached by sources related to the government in a bid to increase their strength and try to gain a majority.”

He confirmed that parliament has a standing order preventing an MP from being arrested “while a no confidence motion is in place against the President, the Vice President, a cabinet member, head of an independent institution or the Speaker. But the arrests happened after cabinet has resigned, cancelling the no-confidence motion,” he explained.

“I think there is a political strategy behind all this – it is to direct attention away from GMR-Malaysia Airport Holdings [signing to manage] Male’ International Airport, an issue of serious national concern,” Nasheed suggested.

“I have also heard from a highly reliable source that the president has been considering a cabinet reshuffle and will use this opportunity to appoint new ministers, and remove non-MDP cabinet ministers in the new arrangement. That, and threats and intimidation.”

Nasheed said he hoped parliament would be able to resume next week when the matter of Gasim and Yameen’s detention had been resolved.

“Much will depend on whether the court rules for the detention [of Gasim and Yameen] be extended,” he said.

“I think this is a serious impasse caused by an overly dramatic and excessive reaction from the cabinet,” Nasheed said.

“It is a very sad development. If Nasheed felt so strongly about the Financial Bill, he could have returned it to parliament and his party could have prevented it from being passed. The President has the power to veto bills, and parliament could have tried to override his veto.

If that had happened, the President could have challenged it in a court of law. For cabinet to resign saying the bill is unconstitutional is unreasonable.

Coalition collapse

While Gasim and Yameen were taken before the criminal court last night, the MDP Council resolved to to terminate its coalition agreement with Gasim’s Jumhooree Party.

The MDP Council claimed that “Gasim Ibrahim, without cooperating with the government, has prioritised his personal agenda over national agenda and has collaborated with the opposition, and has appeared in the media [with the intention] of objecting to the implementation of the national agenda,” according to newspaper Miadhu.

Protests

Sporadic and small-scale protests against the detention of Gasim and Yameen broke out last night across the city, but rain, roadblocks and the World Cup kept the crowds thinned.

This morning police dispersed a group of protesters who had gathered in a secure zone outside parliament, clutching hastily-written signs with slogans such as ‘Save us from the robbers’.

This afternoon there were reports of MDP-led protests against parliament near the tourist street of Chandanee Magu, the crowd including a number of former ministers as MPs Eva Abdulla and ‘Reeko’ Moosa. The opposition is reportedly planning a protest later this evening.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Cabinet resigns in protest over opposition MPs “scorched earth” politics

The entire cabinet of the Maldives has resigned in protest against “scorched earth politics” of the opposition-majority parliament, leaving only President Mohamed Nasheed and Vice President Mohamed Waheed Hassan in charge of the country.

Cabinet members handed Nasheed their letters of resignation this afternoon at 5:00pm in front of assembled press at the President’s Office, shortly after the weekly cabinet meeting.

Unusually, the four hour meeting was adjourned at two hours and reconvened in the President’s residence, Muleeage.

“The Majlis (parliament) is preventing the cabinet ministers from performing their legal obligations. Majlis members are behaving against the spirit and the letter of the Constitution,” the President told the media after the meeting.

“So I appeal with the honorable members of the Majlis not to muddy the waters for governance in this country and to lend us their cooperation.”

Attorney General Husnu Suood said parliament was making the country “ungovernable”.

“Every passing week, there is another attempt by opposition MPs to wrestle more control from the executive,” Suood said.

“The opposition MPs are operating a ‘scorched earth’ policy, trying to stop the government from doing any work to help the people. We have told the President that we cannot continue to work like this,” said Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed, in a press statement.

Finance Minister Ali Hashim accused opposition MPs of “obstructing the business of government” by “awarding themselves powers to appoint members to independent institutions”, when this was “clearly a prerogative of the President.”

“They have declared that the government cannot raise any loans from abroad or rent any government or state asset without their say-so. And they are threatening Ministers with no confidence motions on spurious grounds,” he added.

In addition to revisions of the financial regulations, last week, parliament voted through amendments to the Civil Service Act to transfer powers of appointing members to the independent commission to a parliamentary committee.

Opposition MPs arrested

Shortly after the press conference concluded, Minivan News learned that the police and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) had arrested the leaders of several opposition parties, including Jumhooree Party (JP) leader MP Gasim Ibrahim and People’s Alliance (PA) leader MP Abdulla Yameen (DRP), who have reportedly been taken to the prison on Dhoonidhoo island.

Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said “police are not saying anything officially at the moment,” but suggested Minivan News could “probably report what people are saying.”

Police and MNDF are meanwhile on high alert, while DRP supporters gathered at the artifical beach area outside the party’s headquarters. Reports around 9:00pm suggested rocks had been thrown, while sensitive areas around the President’s residence and the Majlis were sealed off by police and army roadblocks.

Meanwhile, the MDP National Council adopt a resolution to terminate its coalition agreement with Gasim’s Republican Party and recommend the dismissal of the party’s political appointees to President Nasheed.

The President’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair told Minivan News that a police and MNDF investigation of corruption in the Majlis (parliament) would likely lead to “seven or eight parliamentary by-elections.”

“There have been allegations of corruption and attempted bribery, and allegations of certain threats against the state made by ministers,” Zuhair said.

He added that the government had “full confidence” in the state and deputy ministers, civil service and the permanent secretaries to keep the country running following the resignation of the ministers.

“Their resignation forces me to investigate using the police and the Maldives National Defence Force,” the President said, noting “I am Chief of the Armed Forces.”

Nasheed said amendments to the state finance laws passed by parliament yesterday, which requires any decisions relating to the leasing of state assets to be sent to parliament for approval, “was done in the self-interest of certain MPs. You cannot run the government like that.”

The President acknowledged that there would be “difficulties” faced by the people in the absence of cabinet ministers, “but it is the parliament who brought us to this situation.”

After the press conference, President Nasheed walked to police headquarters and requested police investigate the case.

Opposition reaction

Umar Naseer, Deputy Leader of the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) which has the most number of seats in parliament in conjunction with its coalition partner the People’s Alliance (PA), said it was “really good that the cabinet ministers finally realised they were incapable.”

”The government along with the cabinet ministers was unable to govern the country,” Umar Naseer said. ”Now it is only the president and vice president [in charge], and how can they both do something they were unable to do with ministers.”

“Tomorrow President Nasheed will resign,” Umar Naseer predicted. ”Now it is the time to hold mid-term elections.”

He said this afternoon’s decision brought the current government to the brink of becoming a dictatorship.

”The President said he would launch an investigation using Police and the MNDF. That means he will probably arrest senior opposition leaders – I am not afraid of it.”

Umar added that however much he wished otherwise, “according to the constitution the president cannot dissolve parliament.”

DRP MP Ahmed Nihan described the incident as “an international joke” that “proved the government has failed.”

”For instance: three boats are competing in a race, and one of the boat’s crew abandons their vessel leaving only the captain and his first mate,” said Nihan. ”The current government does not have the majority support of the people.”

The arrest of Yameen and Gasim was “autocratic” and “a very ugly act”, Nihan said, adding that “President Mohamed Nasheed is worse than Adolf Hitler.”

Appearing before press at an impromptu press conference this evening, DRP Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali denied that the parliament had acted unconstitutionally.

The MP for Kendhoo argued that the government could have filed cases at the Supreme Court to decide on constitutional matters submit issues of in lieu of the mass resignations.

Thasmeen said the sudden arrests of MPs was not in the public interest, adding that the resignations showed that the government had ‘failed.’

Deadlocked

Parliament voted 47-11 yesterday in favour of an amendment bill that would allow them to veto every lease or loan agreement made between the government and an overseas party, allowing them to effectively prevent the government from privatising assets such as Male’ International Airport.

On Sunday a signing agreement between the government and GMR Infrastructure-Malaysia Airport Holdings to manage Male’ International Airport was scuttled in front of the waiting media, after a reported dispute among board members of the incumbent Maldives Airport Company Limited (MACL) over who would sign the document.

That evening, four opposition parties including the DRP, PA, JP and DQP signed an agreement to oppose the airport deal on nationalistic grounds, and the following day parliament passed the amendment bill allowing the Majlis to veto any such project.

The government nonetheless reshuffled the MACL board members and proceeded with the signing ceremony on Monday evening. However today it was reported that the opposition parties had filed a civil court action seeking an injunction to block the deal going ahead.

Sources in the President’s Office suggested “this was probably the straw that broke the camel’s back” and led to this evening’s Executive outburst against the Majlis.

Other possible causes include a recent no-confidence motion levelled at Education Minister Dr Mustafa Luthfy by Independent MP Ibrahim Muttalib, after the Ministry’s steering committee proposed make the Islam and Dhivehi subjects optional at A-Level.

Former Auditor General Ibrahim Naeem, who had previously released audit reports alleging rampant corruption in the former government, was also dismissed by parliament shortly after announcing a financial audit of current and former government ministers, including former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. However the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) reported to parliament that Naeem had misused a government credit card to purchase transport and a tie, and he was removed from office.

Last year a no-confidence motion against the Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed was narrowly defeated, after the government sought to renewed diplomatic relations with Israel.

Note: Minivan News apologises for earlier disruption to the site following publication of this report. At peak demand we were receiving 200 requests a second, critically overloading the website’s database.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Government signs Male International Airport to GMR-Malaysia Airports consortium

The government today signed a 25 year lease agreement with the GMR-Malaysia Airport Holdings consortium to develop and manage Male’ International Airport, hours after parliament voted in favour of a bill requiring parliamentary approval of lease transactions with overseas parties.

Chairman of the Privatisation Committee, Mahmoud Razee, claimed parliament’s decision today would not impact the signing “as it yet to be ratified by the president.”

The signing ceremony was scheduled for yesterday but was derailed at the eleventh hour after reported disagreements between board members of the Maldives Airport Company Limited (MACL), the organisation which currently manages the airport.

Minivan News understands the four MACL board positions were reshuffled by the government last night in an effort to proceed with the signing today, although this has yet to be officially confirmed – new chairman Ibrahim Saleem, also Chairman of the Maldives Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), signed the contract today in place of former chairman Ibrahim Nooradeen.

An official of the President’s Office observed to Minivan News that as the MACL is a public company with 100 percent of its shares owned by the government, “it is the duty of the board to act in the interests of the major shareholder.”

Minivan News is currently seeking comment from the board members.

Under the new agreement, the consortium will establish a new local company to manage the airport which will be operated by Malaysia Airlines Holdings. The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) will remain in charge of security, and immigration will remain under government control. A briefing document obtained by Minivan News also indicates that the agreement comes with a clause that no staff can be made redundant for two years unless for “disciplinary or performance related reasons.”

The deal has proved controversial with four opposition parties signing a statement on Saturday evening condemning the decision on nationalistic grounds, arguing that handing management of the airport to a foreign company compromised the sovereignty of the Maldives.

Deputy Leader of the main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), Ibrahim Shareef, said last week that the DRP would not honour “shady deals of this type” if it came to power in the next election, unless they were approved by parliament, while today another of the party’s deputy leaders, Umar Naseer, said the deal was “ridiculous” and would result in the dismissal of half the airport’s 3000 staff.

Speaking briefly to the media following the signing, Managing Director of GMR Infrastructure Sri Pathi hinted acknowledgement of the controversy, stating that “airports always belong to the people – never to us.”

“Please don’t think we came here to take over the airport,” he said. “We perhaps become the trustees – but emotionally in terms of ownership it belongs to the people. We are of course here to invest our money and make a business deal on the best terms possible – but the airport still belongs to the people. We make a commitment that we will operate the airport to the best international standards that we can, and prove to you that the trust you place in us will never be betrayed.”

Managing Director of Malaysia Airports Holdings, Basheer Ahmed, noted that the majority Malaysian-government owned company managed 39 airports in Malaysia and several overseas, including airports in Hyderbad and Delhi.

“Every country needs an excellent airport because it is the visitor’s first impression,” he said.

The briefing document obtained by Minivan News contains forecasts of the government’s expected earnings (reportedly provided by GMR) from the airport over the lifespan of the contract. It reveals that a majority of the predicted revenue, a major factor in calculating the NPV (net present value) used to determine the successful bid, derives from the 27 percent fuel revenue share once the airport is completed in 2014:

  • 2015-2020: 12.8m gross + 74.25m fuel = US$87.05m per year
  • 2020-2025- 17.02m gross + 90.99m fuel = US$108.01m per year
  • 2025-2035 – 20.43 gross + 108.27m fuel = US$128.7 m per year

The document contrasted this with the dividends paid to the government by MACL over the last three years, noting that the majority of the dividends paid in 2008-2009 were achieved “by taking a loan.”

  • 2007 – 2.3 million
  • 2008 – 13.3 million
  • 2009 – 5.05 million

On the suggestion that MACL should be allowed to raise finance and invest in the upgrade itself, a predicted US$300-400 million, the document noted that MACL “already has debts of Rf 600 million (US$46.69 million)” and would be unable to obtain further leverage “without a sovereign guarantee – simply not allowed due to the IMF measures.”

airportsigning2
The airport was signed to GMR-MAH late this afternoon.

Meanwhile, daily newspaper Haveeru featured an interview with the Turkish-French consortium TAV-ADPM, who have reportedly expressed dissatisfaction of the bid evaluation process “and urged for a re-evaluation of the bids.”

“The newspapers started reporting that GMR won the bid even though we were not told the party who won the bid. We faced many problems, since the two companies in our consortium are also listed in stock exchange,” Haveerru reported head of the consortium, Gusiloo Betkin, as saying. “It cannot be said that a certain party won the bid without signing the concession agreement.”

Betkin expressed disbelief to Haveeru that the GMR-MAH bid could offer the government 27 percent of fuel trade “without facing any loss. We are a party that provides services to 170 million passengers annually in 39 airports. We also have experience in fuel trade,” Betkin told the newspaper.

TAV-ADPM had offered 16.5 percent of fuel trade to the government, he noted, the highest deemed feasible, and that at 27 percent, flight arrivals to the Maldives would be affected by rising fuel prices.

“The main thing is the fuel. If the fuel prices are high, no one will take in fuel from there – Maldives will lose that income. The airlines will also focus to other destinations,” Betkin told Haveeru.

The government’s Net Present Value calculations:

  • TAV-ADPM
    Upfront fee: US$7m
    Variable concession fees share – non fuel – 2011-2014: 31%
    Variable concession fees – fuel – 2011-2014: 16.5%
    Variable concession fees share – non fuel – 2015-2025: 29.5%
    Variable concession fees – fuel – 2015-2025: 16.5%
    NPV: 454.04
  • GMR-MAH
    Upfront fee: US$78m
    Variable concession fees share – non fuel – 2011-2014: 1%
    Variable concession fees – fuel – 2011-2014: 15%
    Variable concession fees share – non fuel – 2015-2025: 10%
    Variable concession fees – fuel – 2015-2025: 27%
    NPV: 495.18
  • Unique-GVK
    Upfront fee: US$27m
    Variable concession fees share – non fuel – 2011-2014: 27%
    Variable concession fees – fuel – 2011-2014: 9%
    Variable concession fees share – non fuel – 2015-2025: 9%
    Variable concession fees – fuel – 2015-2025: 9%
    NPV: 266.94
Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Take Lale School back from Biz Atoll: HRCM to Education Ministry

A report by the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) into Lale Youth International School on Hulhumale has recommended that the Education Ministry terminate its contract with Maldives-registered company Biz Atoll Pvt Ltd to manage Lale Youth International School, “and hand over management as soon as possible to a qualified party.

The Commission’s investigation had found that students had been “physically and psychologically abused, discriminated against and bullied,” the report stated, recommending “that police should investigate the physical and psychological abuse going on at the school as an urgent concern,” and “separate those suspected of physical abuse from the school’s students until the police investigation is concluded.”

The report also questioned the educational standards of the private school, observing that despite the “high fees” charged for students to attend, the school “has no laboratory for students preparing for the IGCSE” in 2011, the library “does not have books that students need”, and most of the Turkish teachers “do not know English and are therefore unable to teach.”

The government-run Fareediyya School was handed to Biz Atoll and a group of philanthropic Turkish businessmen in 2008, under an agreement made between Biz Atoll and the Education Ministry during the former administration.

In May this year, Minivan News reported concerns raised by parents and staff that the school was being used as ‘a front’ for other activities, highlighting anomalies such as ‘phantom’ foreign teachers who were being paid but had never reported to work, students being charged an assortment of fees arbitrarily, teachers with missing or fraudulent qualifications, and significant pay discrepancies between Turkish and other foreign staff.

Shortly after the Minivan News report was published, (now former) Principal of Lale Serkan Akar attempted to leave the country, leading to the confiscation of his passport. On a second attempt to leave he was taken into police custody and is currently in the criminal court facing assault charges for allegedly strangling and whipping a child with a belt, charges he has denied.

Since the story was published, Minivan News has learned that website has been blocked the school’s web filter.

The HRCM report also recommended that the school move to “dismiss employees with criminal records” and amend the school’s child protection policy to ensure that “inappropriate persons” did not work with students, and amend employment contracts “to allow adequate disciplinary action” against those suspected of physical abuse.

HRCM further recommended that Biz Atoll immediately submit the credentials of foreign teachers to the Maldives Qualification Authority (MQA) for approval, and stipulate that foreign teachers present certification of English qualification such as IELTS or TOEFL – and dismiss those teachers who did not meet the criteria listed in regulations governing private schools.

HRCM also suggested that the school establish a laboratory and library as required in its agreement with the Education Ministry, and hire a full-time librarian. It should also “immediately cease the practice of giving the same examination paper to students until they pass” and “stop charging additional fees other than those set by the Ministry” while ensuring that those fees “are commensurate to the quality of education offered.”

The HRCM report also raised concerns about the school’s adherence to employment practices in the Maldives, noting “allegations of discrimination and mistreatment of Asian and Maldivian staff”. It recommended the school establish both a school board, as required by law, and a mechanism for teachers to resolve employment issues.

HRCM also recommended the school formulate a pay scheme in accordance with employment laws “to eliminate discrimination and ensure fairness and transparency”, as well as “reimburse employees if a deposit has been subtracted from their salaries to allow them to keep their passports.”

Furthermore, the Education Ministry should formulate regulations governing international schools “to ensure supervision and monitoring by the ministry as a regulatory body”, and “establish guidelines to conduct follow-ups to supervision reports.”

“As the school was not handed over to the proprietor in a transparent manner and because the Education Ministry has not undertaken adequate efforts to improve matters at the school, and since corruption has been noted, these cases should be investigated,” HRCM’s report concluded.

HumanRightsCommission'sLogoForGallery
HRCM has recommended the government repossess Lale School from Biz Atoll

Response

Managing Director of Biz Atoll, Abdulla Jameel, said the company had read the report “and are reviewing the necessary actions we have to take.”

“We will bring changes to the school,” he promised, noting that a new principal would be starting “quite soon”.

The arrangement with the Turkish funders of the school would “definitely” continue, he noted.

Regarding HRCM’s recommendation that the school be repossessed from Biz Atoll and given to “a qualified party”, Jameel said the decision was “up to the government”.

“I respect the professional work of HRCM, but at the same time I’m disappointed it has mentioned nothing positive about the school,” he said, noting its reputation for “academic excellence.”

“Given the opportunity, we will continue to manage the school and try our best to make it the number one school in the Maldives.”

Jameel would not comment on the child abuse case pending against the former principal Akar.

Deputy Minister of Education Dr Abdullah Nazeer said the Education Ministry “received the report on Thursday” and was now seeking legal advice from the Attorney General’s office concerning the repossession of the school.

“We don’t agree with all the findings [in the HRCM report] – there are certain issues we need to refute from the ministry’s side, and we have communicated this in writing,” he said. “It was very unfortunate the report was not amended [before it was released].”

“The word used repeatedly to describe the Education Ministry is ‘irresponsible’,” he said, “[but] we were the ones who first contacted police, and based on that HRCM investigated the school.”

Police had yet to find evidence to support any allegations of abuse, he claimed.

The report was critical of the ministry’s decision to review the contract with Biz Atoll during the investigation, Dr Nazeer noted.

“We added amendements to the earlier contract (requesting a new principal in three months and including a termination clause),” he explained.

There were only “very general written regulations” governing the ministry’s role in supervising privately-owned and operated schools, he noted. “The regulations do not specifically say the government should intervene,” he said.

The Education Ministry was already seeking to resolve the employment issues at the school Dr Nazeer said, and had sent a letter to Biz Atoll on the subject

“We also had a complaint from a parent that the former Principal [Serkan Akar] was still accessing the school grounds,” he said. “We also wrote a letter to Biz Atoll saying it was not appropriate for a person currently involved in a court case concerning child abuse to be accessing the school.”

Dr Nazeer also noted that a delegation of officials from the Turkish government and the business community, had arrived in the Maldives and was currently meeting members of parliament to discuss the matter together with the the Turkish Consular General in Male’.

“I can’t comment on the delegation as I am yet to have a meeting with them,” Dr Nazeer said. “I don’t know what they will discuss.”

“As far as we are concerned, we are waiting for the Attorney General’s office to determine the gravity of the findings in the report, and if they agree, provide advice for terminating the contract.”

Download the full HRCM investigation report (Dhivehi)

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Protect Islam in the Maldives – don’t use it as a political tool: SAAG

The Maldivian constitution places a heavy responsibility on the present government to tread a careful path in developing democracy and at the same time ensure that there is no deviation of any citizen from his/her adherence to Islam, writes Dr S Chandrasekharan for the South Asia Analysis Group (SAAG).

It is claimed that it is possible to establish such a balance and it will be interesting to see how Maldives under the present President Nasheed who in many ways is a liberal himself is able to manage his country and keeps it safe from extremism.

In the days of Gayoom, it was easy to keep track of visitors and prevent elements holding extremist views from visiting or from preaching, but in a democracy as is being practised now, it is difficult for the present government to prevent such visitors from coming in or from such persons making rigid interpretation of Islam.

The result is that on the invitation of religious NGOs within the islands or from the Islamic ministry itself, visitors with dubious background are allowed to come preach without restraint.

Read more

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Failure to upgrade airport could lead to ICAO blacklist: aviation expert

An aviation expert unconnected with the government or bidding process, and with extensive experience of Male’ International Airport, has told Minivan News on condition of anonymity that the state of arguably the country’s most critical piece of economic infrastructure “is far worse than most people realise” and in “urgent need of major investment”.

“The runway hasn’t been resurfaced for 18 years, and it still has cracks and depressions caused by the 2004 tsunami,” he explained.

“Even now there are spots which need to be cut out and resurfaced,” he said, naming several international carriers that had privately expressed concern to the authorities about minor damage caused to their planes by the state of the runway.

Furthermore, the airport does not meet NX14 standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) because of the proximity of buildings to the runway, the source said.

“The last time ICAO did audits they were not satisfied. If the airport is not upgraded, the worse case scenario is that ICAO will blacklist the airport – and that means nobody will land here. I’m not scaremongering, but the airport needs major investment,” he said.

“I don’t think the politicians understand the situation,” he explained. “The runway needs urgent repair and maintenance, and aircraft from places like Germany – that have travelled over 10 hours with 300 passengers on board – are being held above the airport for 14-20 minutes waiting for a parking space. This is especially a problem during the European winter (peak arrivals).”

Private jets were occasionally being diverted to airports such as Trivandrum and Colombo because of a lack of parking space, denying the government a stream of income, he added – “and there’s no standard of parking, it’s like a haystack.”

The “geometry and design of the airport” were fundamental limitations of the current layout, he noted, but both the current and previous governments were financially unable to invest the significant amount of money required to repair and upgrade the facility.

“In 2006 the former government contracted UK company Scott Wilson to draw up a masterplan, with three options costing US$300 million. The government could not find the funding to go ahead with it,” he said.

“We’re at a crossroads – either it gets privatised now, or it never does. It needs urgent and necessary expansion, and the runway needs to be repaired,” the source explained.

“If people do not agree with the airport being privatised like this, they should come to the bargaining table with something better – there are many multi-millionaires in Male’ who could co-operate on this,” he said.

“It’s not about airport revenue – plenty of countries privatise their airports. But in the Maldives the whole economy is completely dependent on incoming tourists, and most of the [financial] benefits are downstream [at resorts]. At the end of the day the country benefits by having a good airport.”

Not in national interest: opposition

Yesterday evening a coalition of opposition parties, including the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party DRP), the People’s Alliance (PA), the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) and the Jumhooree Party (JP), accused the government of acting outside the national interest over the privatisation of Male’ International Airport, and signed an agreement to try and halt the process “inside or outside parliament” after the government accepted a bid from GMR-KLIA.

This afternoon a planned signing ceremony at the President’s Office in front of assembled media was first postponed and then reschedued for Wednesday, with Chairman of the Privatisation Committee Mahmood Razee claiming that the “documents were still pending.”

Daily newspaper Haveeru reported that the signing was cancelled because of disputes among board members of the incumbent airport operator, Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL), over who would sign the document.

The GMR-KLIA bid accepted by the government will involve an upfront payment of US$78 million and one percent of the airport’s profit until 2014, increasing to 10 percent from 2015 to 2035. GMR will also pay 15 percent of fuel trade revenues to the government in the first four years, and 27 percent from 2015 to 2035.

The two other bids – from Turkish TAV Airports Holdings Company/French Airports De Paris and Swiss Flughafen Zurich AG/GVK Airport Developers – involved substantially less upfront sums but 2-3 times the profit sharing over the life of the agreement.

The statement signed by the oppositition parties condemning the government’s decision to give the airport’s management in control of a foreign company, said the decision was “not made with the intention of benefiting the country’s economy” and that they would seek legal advice.

“[The airport] is one of the most valuable assets of the Maldives and it has a direct link to the independence of the state,” the statement said.

Last week DRP Deputy Leader Ibrahim Shareef accused the government of pushing the privatisation deal through without seeking approval from parliament, and said the DRP “will not honour this type of shady deal” if returned to power in 2013.

Razee meanwhile hit back at the opposition’s unspecified allegations of corruption, explaining that the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) had been involved in the privatisation process as a transaction advisor since July 2009, “and would certainly not stand by if conduct was improper.”

“We started this process in December 2008. It was not something we thought up yesterday,” Razee said.

IFC representatives said they would not comment on the matter.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)