Author: Minivan News

Thasmeen warns DRP councillors against helping PPM recruit members

Main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali has warned that the party’s island and atoll councillors who help the newly-formed Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) – led by former DRP ‘Zaeem’ or Honorary Leader Maumoon Abdul Gayoom – recruit members will be dismissed from DRP.

Thasmeen told MNBC One today that the party’s charter outlined procedures for disciplinary action against members who violate the charter or party rules and regulations.

PPM Spokesperson MP Ahmed Mahlouf told local media last week that the party would seek to amend the Decentralisation Act to allow councillors to quit their parties without losing their seats.

Thasmeen however said that the law should not be changed merely because it puts the newly-formed party at a disadvantage.

The Decentralisation Act was passed in a completely partisan vote after MPs of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) walked out in protest of the high number of councillors and the committee decision to scrap province councils in the original draft legislation.

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Electronic voting to be introduced in 2013

The Elections Commission (EC) has decided to introduce electronic voting for the upcoming presidential election in 2013.

The decision was made with unanimous support of the five members on the commission.

The EC said in a press statement today that the commission would make recommendations to parliament to amend elections laws to allow use of electronic facilities.

A task-force is to be formed shortly to formulate plans to obtain the facilities, build public confidence and raise awareness.

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MIRA begins GST registration

The Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) has invited Goods and Services Tax (GST) payers to register with the authority before September 30.

The GST bill passed last month comes into force on October 2 following its ratification by President Mohamed Nasheed on September 2.

Businesses that offer goods and services worth over Rf1 million over the course of a year would have to register to pay the GST.

Registration forms are available from the MIRA website.

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Hanimaadhoo women take over council office

A group of women on the island of Hanimaadhoo in Haa Dhaal Atoll have taken over the island council office in protest on non-payment of six-months worth of wages for sweeping and cleaning the island.

Haveeru reports that the women gathered outside the council office yesterday and stopped anyone from entering. After leaving the area late in the afternoon, the disgruntled women together with some youth on the island blocked the three gates of the council office this morning.

Hanimaadhoo Council Chair Abdusalam Ali said he was allowed to enter the office only to send a message to the Finance Ministry.

He explained that the women were owed a total of Rf150,000 (US$10,000) as remuneration for six months. The protestors meanwhile insist that they would not leave the office until they were paid.

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Thilafushi lagoon cleared of floating garbage

The lagoon of industrial island Thilafushi has been cleared of floating garbage to allow vessels to enter and dock at the harbour without difficulty, reports Haveeru.

According to a statement by the Thilafushi Corporation yesterday, the cleaning effort was proceeding apace and the corporation expected the lagoon to be completely cleared this week.

The corporation explained that garbage was floating freely because of spillage from barges discharging garbage at the island.

The Male’ City Council’s waste management section has informed the corporation that it would be monitoring garbage disposal at Thilafushi, the press statement revealed.

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Thulhaadhoo by-election cancelled

The Elections Commission (EC) has cancelled a by-election it announced in July to replace a Thulhaadhoo councillor after the High Court ruled that the dismissal of Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Councillor Umaira Abubakur was unlawful.

Sun Online reported that EC Chair Fuad Thaufeeq confirmed the by-election scheduled for September 20 has been cancelled.

Umair, the sole DRP representative on the five-member council, was dismissed by four Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) councillors after she ostensibly failed to attend ten consecutive meetings, six of which were emergency meetings called in her absence.

Umaira was reportedly participating in a training programme for newly-elected councillors.

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Hotline counseling for public after Huraa drowning

The Health Ministry has established a counseling hotline for those traumatised by the drowning incident at Huraa last Friday.

Four grade nine students and the principal of Hiriya School drowned during a Fisheries Science snorkeling trip last Friday. Principle Ali Nazim drowned trying to rescue Nash-ath Saeed, Mariyam Naza, Aishath Saniha, and Mariyam Shaiha from a strong current off of Huraa island.

Deputy Health Minister said the Education Ministry requested a free counseling service on the day of the incident, and the hotline became operative on Saturday.

Counselors, administrators and volunteers for the hotline are based at IGMH hospital, where the victims were brought on Friday for examination. Hospital CEO Cathy Waters said, “the hotline is for anybody affected by the incident across the community, especially family, friends, school staff, the teachers on the trip, and IGMH staff who were involved in the case at the hospital.”

Deputy Health Minister Lubna Mohamed Zahir Hussein told Minivan News that the hotline has been heavily used since it went into effect. She estimated that over 50 people are involved in the service.

Lubna added that there is no end date for the hotline. “These things need to be settled slowly,” she said.

The hotline is open from 8 am until 10 pm, on 3010005.

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Expatriate workers blamed for Male’s waste, claims councillor ‘Fly’

Villi-Maafannu councillor Ahmed ‘Fly’ Hameed has claimed that litter in Male is primarily caused by expatriate workers employed in shops.

Male’ City Council has discussed whether to take measures against the alleged culprits, Haveeru reports.

Hammed proposed designating supervisors to monitor the shops where expatriate workers are suspected of contributing to the litter. The council has also considered imposing a fine on those who leave their trash in the streets, reports Haveeru.

Recently, the overflow of waste at Thilafushi was found to be drifting into the open ocean after a change in tides. The EPA asked that everyone take responsibility for the issue.

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No sale of alcohol on Fuvamulah “where people are most religious”: Adhaalath

The Adhaalath Party’s Fuvamulah Wing has said that the government’s attempt to allow the sale of alcohol to foreigners by designating islands as uninhabited cannot go ahead on the island of Fuvamulah, ‘’which has the most number of people who can recite the Quran by heart.’’

In a press statement, the party claimed that government had “failed in its earlier attempts to legalise the trade of alcohol on inhabited islands and has now chosen another way to do it, which is by decreeing areas on inhabited islands as uninhabited.”

‘’Given that Fuvamulah has the most number of people who have learned the Quran by heart, it is like a slap on the face for the islanders of Fuvamulah,’’ the statement said. ‘’The world has seen that tourism can happen without nightclubs, casinos, alcohol and pork.’’

The party’s Fuvamulah Wing also claimed that the government was discriminating against Fuvamulah, referring to an incident when President decided to have a public referendum on whether to change the name of Thinadhoo to ‘Havru Thinadhoo’, that Fuvamulah being a large island was not considered in the list of islands to become cities.

Furthermore, the Adhaalath Party’s Fuvamulah Wing said that its members on the island will “fully corporate with the government and will work for free” to build guest villas, so long as there would be “no work inconsistent with the tenets of Islam.”

On September 2 the President’s Office said that President Mohamed Nasheed has signed two decrees, affirming the “Bilhifeyshi” area and “Thoon’du” area of Fuvammulah as two uninhabited islands under the decentralisation act.

Earlier this week at a press conference, Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed, Adhaalath Party spokesperson, said that the decrees were part of a “Satanic plot” to sidestep legal prohibitions to selling alcohol in inhabited islands.

“We are not opposed at all to building a city hotel for the development of Fuvahmulah,” he said. “But you don’t have to sell alcohol at every city hotel. The Adhaalath Party sees the declaration of uninhabited islands within Fuvahmulah as an absurd move, as an act of madness.”

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