Author: Ahmed Nazeer

Adhaalath Party protests decision to mix males and females in schools

The Adhaalath Party is to take urgent action against the government’s decision to provide secondary and primary education at the main schools in Male’.
Mixing genders and various age-groups will lead to social and disciplinary problems, Adhaalath foresees.
At an urgent meeting held last night, Adhaalath declared the Education Ministry’s decision to provide both primary and secondary education at all main schools in Male’ as “wrongful”.

According to Adhaalath, it is one of many such “wrongful decisions” that include “making Islam and Dhivehi optional subjects”, and “differential treatment against Arabiyya School”.

Changing the boys-only Majeediyya School and the girls-only Ameeniyya School to mixed-gender schools is the latest among the line of “wrongful decisions” that, Adhaalath said, involved misleading parents and working against the management of schools.

“Unisex schools and mixing different age groups could lead to potential social and discipline issues”, Adhaalath said. The party has decided to meet the government’s concerned authorities first and issue a press statement using information from surveys conducted by Americans and Western countries on co-education.

Adhaalath’s urgent action would involve bring the issue to the attention of parents and meeting political parties, NGOs and Parent Teacher Associations (PTA).

Deputy Minister of Education Dr Abdulla Nazeer said the ministry has not decided to mix female and male students in the secondary grades.

“But we have decided to establish primary grades in all the schools,’’ Nazeer said. ‘’So Majeediyya School, Dharumavantha, Ameeniyya and Hiriya will no longer be solely for Secondary education.’’

Secondary education will be provided in all the primary schools as well.

‘’It is in the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) manifesto to change every school to a place where secondary and primary grades are available and to change all schools to one session.’’

Currently only male students can join Majeediyya and Dharumavantha while only females can join Ameeniyya and Hiriya school. They teach grade eight, nine and ten, the final three years leading up to GCE O’Levels.

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DRP plans ”Crafty Government” protest

The opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) will be holding a “Crafty Government” protest at the Artificial Beach tonight, after two protests were cancelled over the weekend due to rain.

Deputy leader and spokesperson of DRP Ibrahim ‘Mavota’ Shareef said the protest will begin at 9pm.

“The objective of this gathering is to protest against the government for misleading and deceiving the people,’’ Shareef said.

The ‘Crafty Government’ protest tonight is sanctioned by the party’s council, unlike the ‘Government for Sale’ protest announced last week by Deputy Leaders Umar Naseer and Ahmed Ilham and MP Ahmed Mahrouf that last week led to speculation that the party was facing internal factional difficulties.

The issue was taken to the party’s council, which voted in favour of placing Umar Naseer before the party’s disciplinary committee. In a subsequent press conference, Naseer predicted this would lead to his dismissal from the party’s leadership.

Mahlouf and Ilham questioned at the time why they had not also been asked to appear before the disciplinary committee. Naseer’s rescheduled protest was to clash with the council-sanctioned protest on Saturday, but both were ultimately postponed because of the rain.

Shareef said today that Ilham, Naseer and Mahrouf would be allowed to join the protest.

“It is open to everyone, all our supporters can join,’’ he said.

Ilham told Minivan News today that all three would join the “Crafty Government” protest this evening.

“We fully support the event and we will be present there,’’ Ilham said. “But we might not be delivering a speech at the event as the microphones are reserved.’’

Miadhu meanwhile reported DRP leader Ahmed Thasmeen as accusing the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) of trying to split the ranks of the DRP.

“MDP is attempting to divide DRP’s leadership as the ruling party stands to benefit from a weakened opposition,” he claimed.

Umar Naseer meanwhile last week questioned Thasmeen’s “sincerity”, alleging that “some of our senior officials are known to be involved in secret deals with the government.’’

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Elderly businessman allegedly murdered in Hoarafushi

A prominent businessman and seller of oil and hardware products has been found dead inside an abandoned house on Hoarafushi in Haa Alifu Atoll.

Police believe that 70 year-old Hussain Mohamed Manik may have been murdered.

An official from the island office told Minivan News that the body was discovered by the caretaker of the building last night.

“There were no injuries on the outside his body,’’ said the island official. ‘’He is from another island but has lived in Hoarafushi for a long time.’’

He said the incident had triggered uproar among the islanders.

“I heard that some of the islanders set huts belonging to gangs on fire. They believe that gangs were involved in this,’’ he said.

Local media reported that Manik’s hands were tied behind his back with rope, and that the body was lying on the ground in a prone position when discovered.

The island official said that it had rained heavily last night, and that  “nobody goes out in the rain. The streets would probably have been empty.”

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said police had received the report this morning.

“We are currently investigating the case and it is very difficult to disclose any information,’’ Shiyam said, adding that the team dispatched to the island included Commissioner of Police Ahmed Faseeh, Deputy Commissioner Mohamed Rishwan and a team from of Serious and Organised Crime department.

President Mohamed Nasheed meanwhile expressed concern over the alleged murder. In statement from the President’s Office Nasheed sent “his deep condolences to the members of the bereaved family” and instructed the Maldives Police Service to “thoroughly investigate” the case.

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Life imprisonment and two months fasting for man who murdered brother

The Criminal Court has convicted Saeed Hussain of Neykurandhoo in Haadhaalu Atoll of murdering his own brother in October last year.

“Considering the confession of the accused, and as it is proven by the words of the doctor who declared the death of Umar Hussain [his brother], the death was the direct result of the stabbings,’’ the judge said.

The judge said that Saeed could not prove that his actions were conducted without the intention of murdering his brother, ruling him guilty of murder and sentencing him to life imprisonment.

He also ordered that Saeed fast for two months.

Saeed’s brother Umar died after he was stabbed nine times in different parts of his body. One of the attacks cut the veins in his neck.

Saeed admitted that he stabbed his brother but claimed he was drunk at the time, did not even know how many times he stabbed his brother. He claimed he attacked his brother after he reportedly saw him attacking his mother.

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Nine staff at Alila Villa resign alleging threats of dismissal over strike action

Nine staff members working for the food and beverage (F&B) department of luxury five star resort Alila Villa have resigned following a strike in protest against the termination of the F&B supervisor.

“The staff resigned after the resort’s management warned them that they would be dismissed if they continued the strike,’’ a staff member working at the hotel told Minivan News. “They were demanding the management reinstate the job of the sacked supervisor, and remained in their rooms without coming out for work.’’

The staff member alleged the supervisor was dismissed for failing to sending his staff to a training class.

“The nine staffs working under him gave in their resignation letter and left the island when they realised that continuing the strike would only get them sacked,” he said.

The staff member claimed resort management had been looking for an opportunity to dismiss the F&B manager, after an incident during final days of Ramadan when the General Manager’s room was vandalised.

“Following the incident police officers arrived at the island and arrested three suspects,” the staff member said.

He claimed the suspects were kept in custody “without any evidence or witnesses”, but were released the next day.

“The three staff [arrested] were the three suspected by management [of committing the crime], but they were unaware of the incident,’’ the staff member claimed, alleging that management subsequently began blacklisting and dismissing “anyone who raised their voice against the management over poor staff facilities.”

“We keep telling the management that this is a five star luxury hotel, and they could do much better than this,’’ he said. “But everyone who tries to raise this subject gets terminated with the slightest provocation.’’

Human Resources Manager of Alila Villa Deepa Manual said Minivan’s information was incorrect.

“Similar events took place in the hotel, but at the moment we would not like to disclose any information regarding the issue,’’ she said.

Vice President of the Tourism Employment Association of the Maldives (TEAM) Ibrahim Mauroof, said the issue of staff mistreatment at resorts was “an issue of concern”.

”Because of the influence of resort owners, staff are often unaware of the rights they have that are stated in the constitution,” said Mauroof. ”Most of the time they do not even know how to demand their rights when they are abused.”

Mauroof added the new laws being drafted governing strike action would narrow the right to strike enshrined in the constitution.

”[The regulations] says that a strike can only be conducted with the consent of management, after it has been provided in a written document,” he said. ”Furthermore, if the strike obstructs the services and affects the customers, the strike can be declared unlawful and striking staff can be arrested.”

He said the issue was “a great concern”, but that it could still be resolved if the organisations involved “came to one table to discuss the issue.”

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Man found dead in apparent suicide on Velidhoo

Police have reported death of a 24 year-old man from Velidhoo in Noonu Atoll, after he was discovered hanged from ceiling fan in his room at 12:35pm yesterday.

An official from the island office told Minivan News that the man was discovered by his father.

“He lived a very normal life and worked in his brother’s restaurant on the island,” the official said.

”According to what most of the islanders are saying, he had this problem with his girlfriend’s father; he had not been accepted by him. He lived together on the island with his girlfriend from Male’ and they were about to get married, but her Dad sent a letter to the court saying he would not give the consent for the marriage to take place.”

Deputy Minister for Health Mariya Ali said the Maldives lacked a comprehensive mental health system, and that the number of psychiatrists in the country was inadequate.

“Normally a person with a serious mental condition will be assessed and taken to ‘Guraidhoo’ (a mental health rehabilitation centre) until their psychotic episode is over,” Mariya said. “But after being discharged, the aftercare is not very strong and patients may stop taking their prescriptions. Their condition can deteriorate and they can relapse.”

Furthermore, Mariya said that it was very likely that the country’s high rate of child sex abuse was leading to a high prevalence of mental health disorders in later life, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety problems, but that there was little general awareness of mental health issues in Maldivian society.

The Maldives also lacks the equivalent of a ‘Samaritans’ helpline, common in many developed countries, offering counselling and advice for people coping with depression or suicidal thoughts.

”The former government developed a draft mental health care policy with the assistance of the World Health Organisation (WHO), but it was never implemented,” Mariya noted. “We are now revising this policy and after that we should have an idea of what a mental health response system should look like.”

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Dhivehi Qaumee Party MP Adhil signs with MDP

Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) MP Hassan Adhil has signed with the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

”I did not sign with MDP because I was influenced by anyone, I took this step because of the pulse of the people,” said Adhil.

”I believe that the government is conducting many development projects at a high speed, and I signed with MDP for the development of my area at the request of [my constituents].”

Leader of the DQP Hassan Saeed declined to comment on Adhil’s decision.

After signing Adhil, MDP’s parliamentary group now numbers 32 MPs. The opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), despite having 27 MPs, retains a parliamentary majority through its coalition agreement with the seven MPs of Abdulla Yameen’s People’s Alliance (PA), and the support of both the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) and Jumhoree Party (JP) with one MP each.

Numbers game

According to the latest statistics from the Elections Commission (EC), MDP now has a membership of 40,919 people while the DRP has 38,494 people registered.

The PA has a membership of 2932 people, while the JP, led by MP Gasim Ibrahim, has 5529 members registered. The DQP, led by former Attorney General, Dr Hassan Saeed, hsd a membership of 2929 while the Adhaalath Party, led by Sheikh Hussein Rasheed, has a membership of 6020 people but no seats in parliament.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that MP Adhil had left the Gaumee (GIP) party rather than the Qaumee (DQP) party. Minivan News apologises for the error.

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Civil Court issues injunction on land sales

The Civil Court of Maldives issued an injunction yesterday to temporarily cease the auctioning of plots in the Male’ southwest harbour, pending a ruling on the case filed by the opposition joint coalition challenging the legitimacy of the process.

‘’If the opportunity is given to continue the transactions, the court believes its potential consequences may be irreversible,’’ reads a statement from the court.

The four opposition parties in parliament, Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), People’s Alliance (PA), Jumhooree Party (JP) and Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), contested the policy in court on the grounds that the cabinet made the decision in violation of the Land Act 2002, article three of which states that the president should declare policy.

As the cabinet has not been approved by parliament, the coalition argues it did not have the authority to hand over the task to Male’ municipality.

Moreover, the coalition claims that the transactions violate article 250[a] and article six of the constitution.

On July 20, the President’s Office announced the cabinet’s decision to sell off 11 plots of 50,000 square feet of land as part of the policy to develop the southwest harbour area.

”Proceeds from the sale of this land will be used to finance the development of entire harbour area, and build multi-purpose buildings to lease,” the President’s Office revealed at the time.

Over Rf100 million has been raised so far from the sale of four plots in the first phase of the auction.

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Police destroy 720 bottles of vodka in front of media

The Maldives Police Services today destroyed 720 bottles of Smirnoff vodka in front of assembled media, after seizing it during a raid in February last year.

Such bottles are imported legally at a cost of US$8 and wholesaled to resorts at around US$12, but fetch up to Rf1200 (US$93) on the black market in Male’.

The price has inflated substantially following the cancellation and lapse of most liquor licenses issued to expatriates, giving the total bust a final street value of Rf864,000 (US$67,237).

Assistant Commissioner of Police Mohamed Sadiq said it was the first time police had “destroyed alcohol bottles with transparency.”

‘’Now the investigation of this case is concluded as well as the legal process,’’ said Sadiq. “We terminate seized drugs only after the investigation and the legal procedure is concluded, as it is a responsibility of the police to protect evidence util the court stage is over.’’

Sadiq said although many alcohol bottles had been seized during different cases, items were not destroyed because the legal procedure or the investigation was not concluded.

All the bottles were poured into a hole dug in the ground, in the presence of a special committee formed under the new Act to eliminate drugs and inspect their destruction.

The committee consists of two representatives from the Prosecutor General’s office, two representatives from the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), two representatives from NGOs and two from police.

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