Author: Minivan News

Court orders Zitahali Resort, Spa Kuda-Funafaru to pay MIRA US$300,000 in fines

Civil Court has ordered Zitahali Resort and Spa Kuda-Funafaru to pay over $300,000 to Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) in fines, local media has reported.

The court order states that Zitahali Resort owes MIRA a total of $384,172.68 as lease rent, land rent, adjusted advance payment and fines from failing to pay the amount by November 2012, local media reported.

According to Sun Online, Zitahli is owned by Moosa Shiyam Abdullah Ali, brother of Maldivian Democratic Party MP Ahmed Hamza.

The Civil Court order states that Ali has three months to pay the full amount to MIRA.

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State reserves shrink to MVR 4.9 billion

State reserves have shrunk to MVR 4.9 billion (US$317769131), according to Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) statistics as reported by local media.

This is essentially only enough for one month of imports.

Between November and December 2012 reserves dropped 14 percent, or MVR 849.7 million (US$55103761). In comparison with the start of 2012 – when the State reserve was MVR 5.3 billion (US$343709468) – January 2013 has seen an eight percent decline.

MMA statistics explain the reason for the downward slide at the end of 2012 is due to depletion of State funds in local and foreign banks, according to Haveeru.

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Deadline to seek foreign experts for CoNI investigation extended

The deadline to seek two foreign experts for investigation into the report of Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI) has been extended, local media has reported.

Parliament’s Committee on Oversight of the Government decided to extend the deadline until Sunday, as proper procedure was not followed when the announcement was published on the website by the parliament office, local media stated.

Committee Chairperson and Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ali Waheed was quoted by local media as saying that the announcement, written in English, had been published in the Dhivehi section of the parliament website rather than in the English section.

“I am concerned about what the employees of the parliament office have done. It’s not acceptable that an announcement that should have been published in the English section was published in the Dhivehi section. We have to pay attention to this,” Waheed was quoted as saying in Sun Online.

Committee members said that individuals interested in applying for assisting in the investigation of the CoNI report did not have any information on how to apply for this post, local media reported.

The announcement seeks two experts who have experience working in world legislative assemblies, who are willing to work with the committee members for two weeks.

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Maldivian prisoners in foreign jails cannot be transferred home due to lack of proper laws

Eleven Maldivian citizens are currently serving prison sentences in foreign countries because the Maldives lacks the proper laws to transfer them back home, local media has reported.

An official from the Foreign Ministry was quoted in local media as saying that the Ministry is “gravely concerned” about the number of people detained in foreign jails, and that it is working on transferring them to jails in the Maldives.

The official stated that a prisoner transfer agreement had been signed with Sri Lanka and India, however the lack of proper laws in regard to prisoner transfer made the process difficult.

“We have worked hard for such a law. It is however, a thing for the Attorney General. We can send away the foreigners in our jails, but to transfer a Maldivian to Maldives, we lack the proper law on how the person may carry out the sentence.

“There are numerous people who we have not been able to transfer because of the lack of such a law. If not, we can transfer them to Maldives,” the official was quoted as saying in Sun Online.

The foreign Ministry, as reported by local media, said that Maldivian prisoners are currently in jails in Syria, Italy, Sri Lanka for drug related cases, one in a Hong Kong prison in relation to a murder case, one in Chennai for an unknown reason and two people arrested in Trivadndrum on drug charges.

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Thilafushi Corporation Limited incurs MVR 650 million loss from reclamation project

Thilafushi Corporation Limited (TCL) has incurred MVR 650 million (US$ 42 million) worth of losses over the Thilafushi reclamation project, local media reports.

Speaking at a Parliament Public Accounts Sub-Committee, attorney representing TCL Mazlan Rasheed was quoted as saying that if the project had been completed, the company would have earned US$400 million.

The loss was incurred due to the Heavy Load company not reclaiming the agreed 152 hectares of land within the granted six month period, Sun Online reported.

According to Rasheed, Heavy Load had only reclaimed 32 hectares and that a further US$1 million needs to spent on levelling the reclaimed ground.

The Thilafushi reclamation project was awarded to Heavy Load for a sum of US$21 million (MVR 323 million).

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No intention to reverse decision to charge 15 year-old with fornication: PG’s office

The Prosecutor General’s (PG) office has “no intention” of reversing the decision to charge a 15 year-old child abuse victim with fornication, local media has reported.

An official from the PG’s office told local newspaper Haveeru that the decision to charge the 15-year-old from Shaviyani Atoll Feydhoo with fornication was made after extensive assessment of the case.

Back in June 2012, the same minor – a school student at the time – gave birth to a baby later discovered buried in the outdoor shower area of a home on Feydhoo.

The discovery led to the arrest of four people, including the 15 year-old girl’s mother and step father.

Haveeru reported that as the charges filed against the girl have no connection with the buried baby case, the PG’s office had no intention to withdraw the charges.

“So far we have no intention of reversing the decision to charge her at the Juvenile Court,” a PG’s official was quoted by local media.

Speaking to Minivan News on January 9 the Prosecutor General (PG’s) Office confirmed it had pressed charges against a 15 year-old girl from the island of Feydhoo in Shaviyani Atoll for having “consensual sexual relations”.

A spokesperson for the PG’s Office said the charges against the minor were unrelated to a separate case against the girl’s stepfather over allegations he had sexually abused her.

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ACC to investigate Club Faru Resort complaints

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is to investigate whether Club Faru Resort employees were hired without being told of a change in management, local media reports.

Earlier this month, the Tourism Ministry took over the resort from its present owners following the expiry of its lease agreement and handed control to the government-owned Maldives Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC).

President of ACC Hassan Luthfy told local media that while no case had been filed to the commission in writing regarding Club Faru, the ACC was investigating due to the complaints received from “various groups” in relation to the resort.

“The major complaint we have received is that the government operates the resort using its previous employees, and that they were given employment without making the necessary announcements. These kinds of complaints, we are looking into them,” he said.

Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb told Minivan News that the resort would be closed within two months as part of the government’s plan to begin the second phase of “reclaiming” Hulhumale’ this year.

“The resort is to be operated by a government company for two months and it will then be closed down and reclaimed.
“It was a seven year lease that expired on November 15,” he said earlier this month. “Now the government has decided to reclaim that part of Hulhumale’.”

Adheeb told Minivan News that the resort would be closed as part of the government’s plans to begin the second phase of “reclaiming” Hulhumale’ this year.

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MTCC ferry and bus services to charge GST

Ferry and bus services operated by Maldives Transport and Construction Company (MTCC) will now charge GST in addition to the ticket price, local media has reported.

MTCC Transport Executive Ismail Fariq told Sun Online that the company is now required to collect GST as it is a registered company at Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA).

Under the new requirements, tickets to Hulhumale’ cost MVR 5.30 and a ticket to Vilimale’ is charged at MVR 3.18. Inter-atoll island-to-island ferry services charge MVR 21 and MVR 53 for a trip to Male’
. Hulhumale’ bus fees have also increased to MVR 2.12, according to local media.

“It is not that we have increased the prices of our services. We have just added the GST 6 percent to our services,” Fariq told local media. “As such, GST will be collected from ferries from Hulhumale’, Vilingili, Gulhee Falhu, Thilafushi and province ferries as well as Hulhumale’ bus services.”

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Stranded cargo vessel causes MVR 61 million worth of damage to reef

The cargo vessel stranded off the coast of Male’ last week (January 7) caused MVR 61 million (US$3.9 million) worth of damage to the reef, local media has reported.

An assessment conducted by the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) showed that the 210 metre long and 30 metre wide boat had caused damage to the reef, Chairman of Transport Authority Abdul Rasheed Nafiz told local media.

According to Nafiz, discussions between the two parties are to be held during the next three days before a fine can be imposed.

The Liberian 27,000-ton boat named Auguste Schulte became stranded in shallow water when it attempted to make a turn, local media reported.

It was eventually refloated after three hours using two tug boats and through the assistance of the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF).

The Transport Authority earlier stated that the government could impose a fine of MVR 85,000 (US$ 5,508) per square metre of damage caused to the reef.

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