Author: Minivan News

Parliament passes public health bill

Parliament on Wednesday passed 40-1 a public health bill submitted by Independent MP for Kulhudhufushi South, Mohamed Nasheed, more than two years ago.

The legislation (Dhivehi) specifies guidelines for protection of public health and includes penalties for violations.

While the Health Minister would be responsible for public health matters, the law proposes the formation of a Health Protection Agency with powers to appoint officials to various posts in the health sector, quarantining and carrying out inspections.

If the bill is ratified by the President, a public health fund would be established with proceeds from licensing fees, payments from services, fines and a portion of import duties from cigarettes and tobacco.

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Parliament accepts police bill

Parliament on Wednesday accepted legislation proposed by Independent MP for Kulhudhufushi South, Mohamed Nasheed, to revamp the existing Police Act.

MPs voted 24-19 with one abstention to accept the bill and sent it to the National Security Committee for further review.

Presenting the bill to parliament on October 31, Nasheed said the new law was intended to “bring fundamental, revolutionary change” to the police institution.

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Singapore’s Crescendas Group claim Maldives is still secure for foreign investment

Maldives is still a safe and secure environment for foreign investors, Singapore’s Crescendas Group has claimed today.

The comments were made in local media days after the Maldives government annulled a contract with Indian infrastructure giant GMR to redevelop Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) near to Male’. GMR was just two years into a 25-year contract to develop and manage the country’s main airport.

Prior to the annulment, an anti-GMR campaign organised by coalition-aligned parties was formed to increase public support to “reclaim” the airport.

Despite this week’s developments, Crescendas Group Chief Executive Officer Lawrence Leo today claimed to have “strong confidence” in the Maldives, expressing the company’s interest in looking to invest in country for “the long term”.

“There is huge investment potential here. We have met many from both the private sector and government; we have received great support from everyone. Most important thing to be noted is everyone we met gave very positive responses. This shows that Maldives is one of the best places to invest,” he told Haveeru.

“We are also thinking to invest here for the long term because we have strong confidence, otherwise we wouldn’t have brought our funds to invest it here,” Leo added.

Crescendas group is currently developing a resort in Addu Atoll Hankede.

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DhiTV board members summoned to Parliament

DhiTV board members have been summoned by the Parliament General Committee to “clarify some information”.

Last week Editor and News Head of DhiTV Midhath Adam was heavily criticised at the Parliament’s Privileges Committee following accusations of defamation.

Midhath today (November 29) said that the directors’ board has since been asked to be present at parliament at 9:30am on Monday. According to Midhath, the board had not decided on a course of action over the matter.

Parliament has asked DhiTV to provide the names of two board members who will be present before next Sunday.

Midhath was previously summoned to the parliament on two separate occasions to clarify information regarding DhiTV content.

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Chairperson and Hulhu-Henveiru MP Reeko Moosa Manik, accused DhiTV of defaming his business and family, whilst Jabir further accused DhiTV of broadcasting stories that were shaped to attack him personally.

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Department of Information abolished by President

Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture has taken over the role of the Department of Information, after the latter was abolished by President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik.

The department was dissolved after some of new the institutions – formed by law under the new constitution – were found to perform the same functions previously carried out by Department of Information.

Following the change, the registration of media; formulating policies and facilitating the development of local media; creating the official Maldives’ calendar; maintaining the registry of journalists and writers; and, representing the Maldives internationally in the press field will be carried out by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will provide information to the international media on local events.

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HRCM calls for end to discrimination against foreign workers following murder of Bangladeshi

The murder of a Bangladeshi worker has prompted the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) to call for an end to discrimination against foreign workers.

HRCM condemned the killing of 25-year-old Bangladeshi worker, Muneerul Islam, who was found stabbed to death on Monday (November 28).

A statement from HRCM pointed out that Maldivians fail to recognise the significant contribution foreign workers make to the economic development of the country.

HRCM further stated that all humans – regardless of country or race – have the right to human rights, and called for the authorities to bring those responsible to justice.

Muneerul Islam was found murdered in his apartment located on the sixth floor of a building on Chaandhanee Magu, Male’s main tourist strip.

Earlier this year a senior Indian diplomatic official in the Maldives expressed concern over the ongoing practice of confiscating passports of migrant workers arriving to the country from across South Asia – likening the practice to slavery.

The Maldives has come under strong criticism internationally in recent years over its record in trying to prevent people trafficking, with the country appearing on the US State Department’s Tier Two Watch List for Human Trafficking three years in a row.

In the report, the Maldives is mainly flagged as a destination country for victims of labour exploitation, particularly from Bangladesh and to a lesser extent, India, but was also noted as a destination for sex trafficking.

Police have said that the murder of the Bangladeshi national is a “serious case”, but said no arrests had been made.

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Negotiating a route into the Maldives tougher than for North Korea, record setting traveller claims

The first person to visit all 201 countries without using a plane has said he found gaining access to the Maldives far tougher than attempts to enter North Korea and Afghanistan.

Graham Hughes a 33-year-old from Liverpool, England, made it to the South Sudan capital of Juba yesterday (November 26), where he completed his journey.

Despite facing many questions on how he gained access to countries like North Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan, Hughes revealed that negotiating a route into the Maldives was far tougher, the Daily Mail reported.

Hughes used buses, taxis and trains to travel 160,000 miles across the world in 1,426 days, a voyage he claimed was budgeted at just US$100 a week.

He spent four days “crossing open ocean in a leaky boat” to reach Cape Verde, was jailed in the Congo accused of spying and was arrest trying to “sneak into” Russia.

Following the completion of his journey, Guinness has now confirmed that Hughes was the first person to have officially visited every nation on the earth without relying on an aircraft.

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Finance Ministry reveals plans to establish offshore banking

Economic authorities are planning to establish an Offshore Financial Centre (OFC) in the Maldives, Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad has revealed in local media.

The plans to establish an OFC in the Maldives were announced while the state budget was presented at the parliament.

According to Jihad, the purpose of introducing OFC facilities in the Maldives would allow for the generation of revenue outside of the tourism industry.

“Offshore financing can be successfully done in small island nations like the Maldives. Large banks around the globe have their interest in Maldives,” Jihad told Haveeru.

Jihad added that he had travelled to Mauritius to speak with officials from banks involved in offshore financing.

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State to decide on President’s ability to grant clemency to death row convicts

The state has been given the opportunity to respond over annulling the President’s ability to grant clemency to convicts on death row.

The High Court hearing gave the state the opportunity to decide over the matter of dismissing the authority given to President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik in accordance with the constitution.

The case submitted to the High Court states that the victim’s family has the power to pardon convicts in accordance to Islamic principles, while the death penalty can only be enforced with the unanimous consent of all heirs.

The case questioned why statements are taken from heirs if the President can ultimately decide on granting clemency to murderers, and that this could be considered as a violation of the rights given to the victim’s family.

The case states that article 268 of the constitution obliges all laws and regulations adhere to Islamic principles, while any law contradicting it will be void. It further states that under article 10 of the constitution, any law or regulation that defies the Islamic Shariah is forbidden.

Therefore, the case claims that the power afforded to the President to grant clemency is a violation of article 10 of the constitution. Furthermore, the clemency bill must not be a power afforded to the President under article 268 and that it must be annulled.

The case states that while the Maldives theoretically has a death penalty under Islamic Shariah, the last person to be judicially executed was Hakim Didi in 1953, who was executed by firing squad after being found guilty of conspiracy to murder using black magic.

State Attorney Usama Moosa said research has been conducted by the state and that the process is ongoing. Mossa added that because the case relates to capital punishment, the state had requested legal expertise from various persons.

Chair of the Judges bench Abdul Rauf said that the case is not specific to capital punishment but it relates to clemency.

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