Author: Ahmed Nazeer

Tourism Ministry issues circular to close spas and massage parlors

After thousands of protesters gathered last Friday and demanded the government “close the spas and massage parlors and such places where prostitution is conducted”, the Tourism Ministry has today published a circular asking all the resorts to shut down their spas and massage parlors.

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair today confirmed to Minivan News that the Tourism Ministry had issued the circular.

The circular informs that the government has decided to shut down all the spas and massage parlors in accordance with demands made by the general public during last Friday’s protest to “defend Islam.”

Speaking at a press conference held yesterday, Zuhair said the protesters did not specify where exactly the prostitution was conducted but mentioned that prostitution was conducted inside spas and massage parlors.

He said the government does not know how to differentiate between the spas and massage parlors that are complicit with prostitution and those which are not.

Therefore, Zuhair said the government has decided to shut down all such locales because Maldivians, including high-profile individuals, have been visiting tourist resorts and having spa treatments.

He said the government does not want those high-profile individuals’ good names being damaged by visiting places accused of such crimes.

Zuhair added that some of the individuals making these demands last Friday also conduct business in the tourism industry. Therefore, the government believes that, given their insider understanding of the resort and spa industry, their accusations are well-founded and there is not much to investigate.

This week, five spas run in five resorts owned by opposition Jumhoory Party (JP) Leader ‘Burma’ Gasim Ibrahim were asked by the Tourism Ministry to shut down operations over similar allegations.

The company subsequently sued the government. Meanwhile, the Civil Court issued a warrant permitting those spas to continue operations until the suit has reached a verdict.

Tourism Minister Dr Maryam Zulfa was unavailable for a comment.

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Finance Minister and State Finance Minister resign

Local media has reported that Finance Minister Ahmed Inaz submitted his resignation today following an incident in which he was caught by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) activists while he was having a meeting with opposition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MP and half-brother of former President, Abdulla Yameen.

The meeting was held inside Yameen’s car in a rarely visited area of Male’. MDP activists surrounded the car, which attempted to leave the area, and requested that Inaz step out because “it was wrong.” He was taken to party headquarters and pressured to resign.

Today Inaz told Minivan News that he would not like to say anything regarding the incident or about the rumors spread since Tuesday that he had resigned.

”Call the Press Secretary, he should tell the press very clearly,” he said when asked to confirm his resignation.

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair told Minivan News that Inaz had sent the President a letter but that the President had not read it yet.

”So we cannot confirm if it is a letter of resignation,” Zuhair said, adding that he has not attended since the incident.

Meanwhile, Yameen told the press that the meeting had been called by the Finance Minister to discuss the 2012 state budget, passed by the parliament earlier this week.

However, MDP activists allege that Inaz was plotting with Yameen and making secret deals.

Meanwhile, Adhaalath Party has condemned the action of MDP activists that night as uncivilized and degraded.

Adhaalath party issued a statement following the incident saying it was “regrettable and was against the spirit of the constitution, laws and Islamic Democratic principles.”

Today State Finance Minister Ahmed Naseer has also resigned, although according to Zuhair he did not mentioned the reason of his resignation.

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Gasim’s Royal Island Resort sues government

Villa Hotels’ Royal Island Resort and Spa, owned by Jumhoory Party (JP) Leader and MP ‘Burma’ Gasim Ibrahim has sued the government and requested the Civil Court to cancel an order by the Tourism Ministry to close the resort’s Spa over allegations of prostitution operations.

Today the Civil Court issued a warrant to cancel the Tourism Ministry’s order and permit spa operations until the suit against the government is concluded.

Speaking for the government at this morning’s hearing, Attorney General Office’s lawyer Maryam Shunana told the Judge that issuing the warrant was equivalent to closing the entire suit, Haveeru reports.

Former Attorney General Azima Shukoor spoke on behalf of the resort.

Shukoor argued that according to the agreement made between the resort and the government, the resort has 30 days to correct any issue found by the government. If the resort fails to correct the issue within that time frame, the government may fine the resort US$10,000 (Rf154,200), reports Haveeru.

Shukoor claimed that the government’s order was given prior to any investigation and was based on allegations alone. She requested that the ministry’s order be cancelled.

She further requested for the warrant to keep the Spa open until the suit reaches a verdict, adding that if the warrant was not issued the resort risked a great loss.

Deputy Solicitor General Ahmed Usham asked whether the Spa was still open–Shukoor replied that it was functioning. Usham responded that losses to the resort should not be raised in court if the Spa was not closed according to the Ministry’s order.

Yesterday, Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair said that the government has decided to shut down all the massage parlors in the Maldives and is considering banning the trade of alcohol and pork throughout the Maldives in response to demands made by protestors on December 23.

Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) Spokesperson and MP Ahmed Mahlouf called on the coalition of religious NGOs and opposition parties to take actions against the government’s decision to disrupt Gasim’s business operations.

He warned that the government will continue to disrupt other businesses run by opposition supporters.

Gasim has filed cases regarding the other four Villa resorts which were requested to close their spa operations. However, no hearings have yet been conducted.

Press Secretary Zuhair yesterday informed Minivan News that Gasim was pretending to be a victim only for political gain, and that the government’s decision was not intended to harm any individual.

He also said that spas Gasim’s resort were not the only ones asked to close operations, but that some spas and massage parlors in Male’ have also been asked to shut down business on similar charges.

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National Security Committee to forward resolution prohibiting Israeli flight operations

The parliament’s National Security Committee (NSC) has today decided to forward a resolution to the parliament to prohibit operations of Israel’s El Al airline to the Maldives.

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP for the Madaveli constituency Mohamed Nazim, also a member of the NSC, today confirmed the decision to Minivan News.

According to Nazim the resolution will be forwarded to parliament Speaker Abdulla Shahid today.

”The speaker will then decided when to present it to the parliament’s floor to ask for a vote,” Nazim said. ”The decision was made following a request made by the Islamic Minister Dr Abdul Majeed Abdul Bari to pass a resolution to prohibit the flight operations to the Maldives.”

In May Israel’s national carrier El Al formally applied to the Ministry of Transport to begin flying to the Maldives from December.

President Mohamed Nasheed’s Press Secretary, Mohamed Zuhair, said at the time that he believed the government was inclined to grant permission to the airline.

Later in April religious party Adhaalath resolved to terminate the coalition agreement with MDP in the event that permission was granted.

Transport Minister Adil Saleem previously said the ministry was processing a license for El Al subsidiary airline Sun d’Or International Airlines, and claimed the partnership would create opportunities for Israeli tourists to visit the country while also facilitating pilgrimages for Maldivians to mosques around Jerusalem and other parts of the country.

In September the Adhaalath Party’s council voted to break the coalition agreement to protest the current government’s religious policy, citing the Israeli flight issue as a component therein.

This week Minister of Islamic Affairs Dr. Abdul Majeed Abdul Bari requested the NSC to endorse a resolution forbidding the government to establish ties with Israel.

Expressing his views on the issue, Dr. Bari told the MPs he “personally does not support the Israel airline to operate in the Maldives”.

Speaking to Minivan News, Dr. Bari said that he made the request because he believes “Israel has committed several human rights violations”.

Dr. Bari noted that Maldives should not stand with Israel as it commits atrocities against the Muslim brothers and sisters in Palestine.

“Maldives cut off ties with Libyan President Muammar Gadaffi’s government when he was killing, violating fundamental rights of his people. Similarly, Maldives should follow the same standard by isolating Israel for the atrocities committed against Muslims,” Dr.Bari said.

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Government considering nation-wide ban of pork and alcohol

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair has said that the government has decided to shut down all the massage parlors in the Maldives and is considering banning the trade of alcohol and pork throughout the Maldives in response to demands made by protestors on December 23.

‘’The government has decided to take urgent measurements to fulfill the demands,’’ Zuhair said. “There are five demands made after raising voice in the name of protecting Islam.’’

Zuhair said one of the demands was to close massage parlors and spas, as there have been accusations that prostitution is conducted widely in these locales.

‘’Therefore the government has decided to close every massage parlor and spa in the Maldives,’’ he said. ‘’Those places are not operated with a special permission from the government, but the government has now begun inspecting those places.’’

Addressing the demand to disallow Israeli flights to land in the Maldives, he said the government has tried to commence operations of any flight only for the purpose of tourism, for the benefit of the citizens and for the benefit of businessman in the tourism sector.

‘’When tourists want to come they will first book the resort before booking the airline and if the resorts cancel their bookings they will not come to the Maldives and the airline will stop operations because it cannot run the business if there won’t be any passenger to travel,’’ he said adding that the situation was in the hands of tourism businessman.

Referring to the demand made to remove all the SAARC monuments placed in Addu, he said under the decentralization plan, the decision rests with the Addu City Council.

‘’The government will not obstruct any decision made by the council to remove those monuments.’’

‘’Next is [UN High Commissioner for Human Rights] Navi Pillay’s remarks made in parliament, according to the President during the meeting she held with the President she did not mention anything that a Muslim would resist,’’ Zuhair said. ‘’The parliament is the one that has said anything in response to comments made by her in parliament, because the meeting with parliament was not organized by the government.’’

Trade of alcohol, Zuhair said, is not a business conducted by the government. He added that the government receives a relatively large amount of money through this trade from Goods and Services Tax (GST).

‘’The businessman running the trade of alcohol receives a huge amount of profit through this business as well,’’ he said. ‘’The government is now considering banning trade of alcohol and pork throughout the Maldives.’’

Only 200 people live in some less populous islands, but 400-500 citizens live in the tourist resorts, he pointed out.

Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MP Ahmed Mahlouf today said no matter what Zuhair said the government will not have the courage to ban the trade of alcohol in the resorts.

‘’It is all lies made by the government to mislead the citizens,’’ Mahlouf said.

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Transport, Tourism Ministers summoned for actions against Gasim’s businesses

Parliament’s Government Oversight Committee has decided to summon Transport Minister Adil Saleem and Tourism Minister Dr Maryam Zulfa after the government closed five spas in five Villa company resorts and grounded Airline ‘Flyme’ operations.

Flyme operations were cleared earlier today upon completion of a security inspection.

The companies are owned by opposition Jumhoory Party (JP) Leader and MP ‘Burma’ Gasim Ibrahim.

Transport Minister Adil Saleem today told Minivan News that the parliament has not informed him about the decision and has not yet received a summons.

He said the Transport Ministry had to ask Flyme to stop operations after it received a report that a plane’s windscreen broke during a flight to Male’.

‘’I as the Transport Minister have to be responsible for the safety of the flights operating in the Maldives,’’ Adil said. ‘’We did a safety audit following the incident.’’

He said three things were noted in the audit report.

‘’They have now corrected the three things noted in the safety audit report,’’ he said. Adil said he would not like to tell the media about the three things noted in the report.

Meanwhile Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) voiced its extreme concern over the Tourism Ministry’s actions.

‘’The association has not been able to find the reason behind this nor see any investigation done by Tourism Ministry for such irresponsible action,’’ read MATATO’s press statement. ‘’The industry is in the midst of the business period with the new year ahead of us and sees that these actions by the ministry will have serious implications beyond repair.’’

The association noted that transfers that have been arranged for tourist arrival via ‘Flyme’ will be disrupted due to the decision to suspend the airline.

‘’The spa and wellness concept is very popular among tourists and many tourists pre-book their treatments in advance not only in Villa Resorts but across all the resorts in the Maldives,’’ the statement read. ‘’Already several international hotel chains operating in the Maldives are worried that the same could happen to them, and this will have a negative impact on investor confidence and will be a motive for businesses to take money out of the economy rather than inject it locally.’’

MATATO also urged the government to keep politics away from tourism as ‘’majority of Maldivians depend on tourism for their livelihood and it is something to be dealt with extreme caution and care.’’

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Chief Judge of the Criminal Court to sue MDP MP

Chief of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed has decided to sue Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ibrahim ‘Bonda’ Rasheed for defamation following comments he made in parliament yesterday.

Speaking at the parliament meeting yesterday Rasheed referred to Judge Abdulla as the ‘’big thief ‘’ who has hijacked the parliament as well as parliament speaker Abdulla Shahid.

Rasheed also said it is time for citizens to come out and demolish the courts.

‘’The citizens do not have justice, the laws were made to provide justice,’’ he said. ‘’The constitution was made to provide justice, but we don’t have it.’’

He also said the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and Judicial Administration want to depart on trips abroad as soon as they get the money allocated for them in the annual budget.

Today Judge Abdulla Mohamed told Minivan News that he is currently examining the case in order to sue Rasheed.

‘’I don’t have any further comments to make at this time,’’ he said.

Local media reported that the Judge had told local media that comments MP Rasheed made were against Islamic principles.

Newspaper Haveeru reported that Judge Abdulla said everyone’s good name has to be protected and that he was currently examining the case to sue him.

Speaking at the Parliament Rasheed also accused Jumhoory Party leader and MP ‘Burma’ Gasim Ibrahim of funding terrorists, and called for the accounts of persons doing illegal business to be frozen.

Today in a text message, Rasheed accused Judge Abdulla of bringing islanders from his island for the December 23 ‘Defend Islam’ protest while accusing Gasim of sending money in envelopes.

Rasheed also said he has evidence that Judge Abdulla decided to sue him according to Gasim’s order, adding that he has decided to send a case against Gasim to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

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Broadcasting Commission, Journalist Association condemns MNDF “threats” to private media

The Maldives Broadcasting Commission (MBC) and Maldives Journalist Association (MJA) has condemned the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) for asking private television stations not to broadcast any content from Friday’s ‘Defend Islam’ protest that could disrupt national security and “encourage the toppling of the lawfully-formed government.”

Privately-owned media outlets, DhiTV and Villa TV, broadcast live coverage of the eight-hour long protest organised by a coalition of NGOs and seven opposition parties.

In a statement yesterday, MJA contended that the letter sent to the television stations, signed by Chief of Defence Force Major General Moosa Ali Jaleel, amounted to “undue influence” and “threats” to free media, noting that regulating the media was the role of the Media Council and Broadcasting Commission.

MJA claimed that MNDF was politically pressured to send the letters, observing that the directive was sent before the protest had started.

“The announcement was very irresponsible and we call on MNDF to apologise,” MJA said in the statement.

The journalist association also strongly criticised state broadcaster Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation (MNBC) for “biased coverage” of Friday’s opposition and ruling party protests.

In addition to repeated runs of President Mohamed Nasheed’s speech at the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) rally in support of ‘moderate Islam,’ the state broadcaster also showed live telecast of an impromptu rally held at the MDP Haruge facility on Friday night.

“MNBC is run by state money and transmitting biased video footage and images is something that Maldives Broadcasting Commission should investigate,” the MJA said, reiterating its call for the government to transfer assets of MNBC to MBC, which was formed by an Act of parliament.

Broadcasting Commission Chair Badr Naseer meanwhile told local media that threats to the media from the military was “not something that we should see in a society maturing for democracy.”

MNDF Spokesperson Major Abdul Raheem told Minivan News that the army did not wish to comment on the MJA statement.

“That day we issued the statement because we found that it was necessary given the situation at that time,” he said.

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Islanders protest as President arrives on Filladhoo

Islanders of Filladhoo in Haa Alifu Atoll gathered at the beach yesterday upon President Mohamed Nasheed’s arrival on the island to protest the current government’s religious policy.

President of Filladhoo Council Mohamed Vijaan told Minivan News that the protesters conducted the protest to express their opinion from the time President arrived until he left the island.

“I do not know which party they represented or the amount of protesters,’’ Vijaan said. ‘’They were protesting against placement of ‘idols’ in Addu and demanding to give the money that Filladhoo is waiting to receive from the money foreign countries gave in aid to the country following the 2004 December tsunami.’’

Vijaan said the money was granted to the Maldives during the time of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

‘’Due to a court ruling the money was not given to Filladhoo, and this government said they would appeal the case at the High Court but after that there was no news of it,’’ Vijaan said, adding that 110 houses in Filladhoo were destroyed by the tsunami.

He said President Nasheed arrived to the island at 12:20pm and left at 3:30pm yesterday. The protesters protested until his departure.

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair said that it was not a protest but a group of people expressing their opinion.

‘’There was no unrest,’’ Zuhair said. ‘’It was this government that introduced freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.’’

According to the President’s Office the President met with Island Councils of Filladhoo and exchanged views with the Council members on proposed development projects for the islands.

‘’He also called for the support of the Island Councils in executing government policies,’’ read a statement on the President’s Office website.

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