Author: Minivan News

MIRA’s board to discuss accepting payments in local currency

The Maldives Inland Revenue Authority’s (MIRA) board has yet to decide whether to follow a directive from the Finance Ministry to accept tax payments in local currency, Haveeru reports.

A MIRA official explained that laws such as the Tourism Act and Tourism Goods and Services Tax Act stipulated that payments must be made in US dollars.

“The services for which payments can be legally charged with the local currency will be charged accordingly from today, like the Airport Service Tax. It is stated that this tax can be charged in local currency. Also, some agreements do not specify a particular currency and so if both sides agree fees under such agreements will also be received in Rufiyaa,” the official told Haveeru.

MIRA board member Abbas Adil Riza meanwhile said that “MIRA’s administrative employees will follow the board’s instructions and not directives of the Finance Ministry. We are trying to implement laws.”

In a bid to alleviate the acute dollar shortage affecting the country, cabinet decided last week that all fees and taxes collected by the government must be paid in Dhivehi rufiya.

While the Maldives Association of Construction Industries (MACI) welcomed the move, the association’s President Mohamed Ali Janah told Haveeru yesterday that the government should also find alternative sources of revenue in US dollars.

“The way I see it, the government is taking on the dollar burden previously put up with by the businesses and individuals. If so the government has to come up with alternative sources of dollar income. If the government is also to obtain dollars from the market, the shortage will increase in magnitude,” he said.

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Government to release full details of economic reform agenda

The government will publicise its entire economic reform agenda at a launch on Monday, President Mohamed Nasheed has said.

Speaking during his weekly radio address, Nasheed downplayed the “unfavourable consequences” of the reforms he said were being predicted by some members of parliament and “a few business associations”, stated that the package of bills would allow further development and promote growth in the Maldives.

Nasheed also noted that 40 convicts had been released under the government’s ‘Second Chance’ program and were currently being rehabilitated. The government is also running a program to train 8500 local workers in various skills, in a bid to combat widespread unemployment, particularly among young people.

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MIRA sues to recover over US$2.5 million from Giraavaru Island Resort

The Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) has filed a case at the Civil Court today to recover over US$2.5 million owed to the state by Giraavaru Island Resort owner Abdul Rauf, M. Sunrose.

Haveeru reports that the US$2.5 million was incurred as fines for non-payment of lease rent. The resort had failed to make timely rent payments for the past three years.

MIRA calculated the fine at 0.5 percent of the amount due for every additional day after the rent payment deadline.

The tax collection authority appealed today for a court order to compel Rauf to make the payments in full. The judge adjourned the first hearing after providing a ten-day period for Rauf to respond to the claim.

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Coastguard rescues crew of capsized boat

The coastguard of the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) rescued three crewmen of a boat that capsized around 3:00am this morning.

According to MNDF, the “Sharaf 4” 83-foot long boat was carrying wood and timber from Male’ when it encountered rough seas en route to the south and capsized in the Kaafu Vaadhoo sea.

The three crewmen – two Maldivians and one foreigner – was rescued at sea by the coastguard and brought back to Male’.

Divers from the coastguard has meanwhile been dispatched to help recover the submerged vessel.

As the cargo of the boat was lost at sea, the coastguard has appealed vessels traveling through the Vaadhoo sea to be wary of floating wood.

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Dhivehi Language Academy inaugurated

President Mohamed Nasheed has inaugurated a Dhivehi Language Academy to promote, preserve and study the origins and usage of the Dhivehi language.

Nasheed appointed five members to the Academy: Nu-uma Abdul Raheem, Rafia Abdul Gadir, Mohamed Amir Ahmed, Zeenath Ahmed Dhanbu Suthulige, and Ashraf Ali, stating that their appointment reflected their “skill and dedication to linguistics”.

During the inaugration ceremony held at the National Art Gallery, Nasheed urged members of the Academy “to be broad minded and open to adaptation of foreign concepts while dealing with the study of creation and evolution of Dhivehi language over a period of time in history,” according to a statement from the President’s Office.

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Finance Secretary Ahmed Mausoom appointed President’s Chief of Staff

President Mohamed Nasheed yesterday appointed Ahmed Mausoom as Chief of Staff of the President’s Office, the country’s highest administrative authority and a post with the same rank as Minister.

As Chief of Staff, Mausoom will direct the daily functions of the President’s Office under the President and Vice President.

Mausoom was formerly Finance Secretary, a post he has held since Nasheed assumed office on November 11, 2008.

A founding member of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Mausoom lived in exile in Sri Lanka for many years prior to being granted political asylum in the UK in 2004. He returned to the Maldives in 2006 to promote political reform in the country alongside then-opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed.

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President visits exhibition featuring his portrait at National Art Gallery

President Mohamed Nasheed has visited an exhibition of work by Maldivian artist Abdulla Nashaath that opened at the National Art Gallery last month.

The exhibition of 95 works, titled “Nashaath – Skill and Realism through Pencil”, includes a portrait of President Nasheed.

Nashaath has used pencil to draw portraits of local and international celebrities. In a statement on the President’s Office website, Nashaath said that “paving the way and expressing my thoughts” is important to strengthen the  fundamentals of the infant stages of democracy in Maldives.

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MPs debate motion without notice on Dhiyamigili blackout

A partisan row erupted in parliament today during a debate on a motion without notice proposed by minority opposition Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) MP Riyaz Rasheed condemning a four-day long electricity blackout in Thaa Atoll Dhiyamigili.

Today’s sitting was adjourned at 12:00pm after several MPs of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) objected to the motion as the damaged engine at the Dhiyamigili powerhouse had been repaired and electricity was back on at 4.10am this morning. MP Ali Mohamed, presiding over the sitting in the absence of Speaker Abdulla Shahid, adjourned the sitting after heated rows broke out in the chamber.

Under parliamentary rules, motions without notice could be submitted to open the floor to an impromptu debate on issues of national importance. However because besides offering MPs an opportunity to voice their views, no concrete action results from a motion without notice, MDP MPs argued that such motions were “a waste of Majlis’ time.”

Presenting the motion, MP Riyaz Rasheed urged the people of Dhiyamigili to sue the utility company for compensation as refrigerated foodstuff had been damaged in the island.

Riyaz’s Thaa Atoll colleague, MDP MP Mohamed Musthafa meanwhile alleged that Home Minister Hassan Afeef was behind the blackout and urged the people of Dhiyamigili to “chase out the utility company employees.”

Other MDP MPs however pointed out that MP Riyaz Rasheed’s company Meridian Service was being sued by the State Trading Organisation (STO) to recover over Rf19 million (US$1.4 million) owed for oil released on credit as well as Rf384,198 (US$29,800) as fines for non-payment.

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