Author: Minivan News

NGOs to train female candidates to compete in local council elections

A group of local NGOs will train female candidates in the hope of boosting the number of women competing in the local council elections, to be held in February 2011.

The training program is organised by Maldivian Network on Violence against Women, Transparency Maldives, Democracy House and Democracy Network, Haveeru reported, with the first round to be held at Bandos Island Resort from December 19-21.

“The candidates will be taught how to carry out a campaign and organise public speeches,” said Project Coordinator Nafia Abdulla. “We are focusing this round on the female candidates competing in the [local council] election. But the opportunity will be given for women involved in politics if we have open seats,” Haverru reported Nafia as saying.

Ninety women are expected to take part in the three round training programme.

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MNSL reduces debt by US$7 million

The Maldives National Shipping Limited (MNSL) has reduced its US$16 million debt to US$9 million, closing its Sri Lankan branch, downsizing its Singapore office and gave off leased containers.

“Our objective is to settle the [remaining] debts by next year,” Haveeru reports Chairman Mohamed ‘Senco’ Shareef, as saying. “After we took over the management of the company, we took several measures to reduce expenditure including reducing employees and administrative expenses.”

The company now expects to purchase a 5000 tonne cargo carrier following the sale of the 12,000 tonne “MV Maldive Enterprise” currently anchored at an African port because of a malfunctioning engine and costing the company US$2,000 daily.

“We are checking the prices. We expect to buy a 5000 tonne cargo carrier for about US$1.9 million. We hope that we would be able to settle the debts with the new cargo carrier and an existing one,” Haveeru reported Shareef as saying.

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Did the US manipulate climate talks, asks Democracy Now

The Maldives was one of the fiercest critics advocating for a robust climate treaty, observes Amy Goodman on Democracy Now.

However the leaked US Embassy cables reveal that in February, two months after the Copenhagen talks, the US deputy climate change envoy, Jonathan Pershing, met the European Union climate action commissioner, Connie Hedegaard, in Brussels, where she told him, quote, “the Alliance of Small Island States countries ‘could be our best allies’ given their need for financing.”

The cables show talks between officials between the Maldives and the US referring to several projects costing approximately $50 million. The Maldives has since wholeheartedly embraced the Copenhagen Accord.

Amy Goodman interviews US Special Climate Change Envoy Todd Stern, and John Vidal, the Environment Editor for the UK’s Guardian newspaper.

Read more

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India pledges financial support for Male’ hospital overhaul: report

India’s government has pledged to provide Rf2.7m in aid designed to try and boost services being offered at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in Male’, Haveeru has reported.

The funds form part of a package that is expected to provide new examination equipment and medical consumables at some point during the next month ahead of additional plans to renovate the hospital.

Zubair Mohamed, Managing Director of Male’ Health Services Corporation (MHC), reportedly announced that more details on the nature of aid being made available for renovating IGMH would be announced after the completion of negotiations between the Maldivian and Indian governments.

The hospital has recently experienced uncertainty over the issue of its future management on the back of protracted discussions with the India-based medical company, Apollo Hospitals.

Just last month, local media reported that Health Minister, Dr Aminath Jameel, claimed a deal between the Maldives government and Apollo Hospitals to manage IGMH had fallen through.

“We had to terminate the agreement because they [Apollo] were unable to meet the terms and conditions stated in the agreement.
Every agreement specifies deadlines to settle certain matters,” Dr Jameel reportedly said. “We have also informed them [Apollo] that the agreement has been terminated.”

Senior staff at the Health Ministry and Chair of the Maldives’ Privatization Committee, Mahmoud Razee, told Minivan News at the time that they had not been informed of the deal’s collapse and had only heard media reports.

The government reportedly terminated the agreement with Apollo after the Indian medical giant was unable to invest the agreed amount to develop the hospital.

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Private groups sought for local heritage promotion

Private parties are being sought by the government to aid in the conservation and promotion of historical sites across the country, according to news reports.

Haveeru has reported that a total of 68 sites, including Utheemu Palace and the Ihavandhoo Hirigalu Mosque in Haa Alif Atoll, the Matheerashu coffin, the National Museum and a host of historical mosques, will all be included in the plan.

The country’s Heritage Department, which is linked to the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, said that the decision was made due to growing demand and interest among the public.

December 15 has been set as a deadline for private groups wishing to express an interest to the Heritage Department in supporting the programme, the paper added.

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Vice President meets overseas cadets

Cadets and officers from Bangladesh, India, Singapore and Sri Lanka, who are currently visiting the Maldives under the Youth Exchange Programme, met with Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan yesterday under a programme to trade knowledge and experience between cultures.

The Vice President said the visit would give the young cadets them “a different perspective on climate change”, and an awareness of how immediate the threat of climate change was for some countries such as the Maldives.

The Cadet Youth Exchange Programme aims to visit and participate in cadet corps activities in the exchange countries, and create among participants the awareness, understanding and appreciation of other cultures and society.

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Education workshops mull Maldives university “masterplan”

The development of a higher education “masterplan” for the Maldives that could eventually establish a network of university and training facilities were the key focus of consultation workshops held in the country this week.

The workshops, which were held yesterday at Male’s Traders Hotel and earlier in the week – December 2 – at Gan, Addu Atoll, were held to consult with a number of stakeholders in the field of higher education for a study on expanding training opportunities in the country, Miadhu reported.

Speaking yesterday from the Traders Hotel, Education Minister Dr Mustafa Lutfi said the workshops form part of a study that is being jointly conducted with World Bank support to try and provide higher education for everyone in the Maldives, an ambition he claimed that was vital for developing the nation.

Maldivian Vice President, Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan, who was also in attendance at the event, was reported to have spoke on the vital need for a university in the country; something seen by the government as a “work in progress” at present.

According to Miadhu, Dr Waheed stressed there was a serious need to look at the Maldives’ capability to support multiple state-run universities that were technically capable of meeting international standards.

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Higher education will shape the future of Maldivian democracy: Vice President

The future of democracy in the Maldives is tied to the country’s embrace of higher education, according to Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan.

Speaking at the Consultation Workshop on Future Higher Education in the Maldives, Dr Waheed said he doubted the Maldives could develop a thriving democracy “without a free and high quality education system”.

A higher education system would set what was built and developed at lower levels, he explained, and therefore it was vital to improve the “very weak liberal arts education foundation that we have today.”

“We need to broaden our understanding and our conception of needs of higher education in our country than merely filling vacant jobs,” Dr Waheed said.

The Consultation Workshop on Future Higher Education that was held yesterday was organised by the Department of Higher Education, with the assistance of the World Bank.

The main objective of the workshop was to consult with a wide audience of stakeholders in higher education, which would lead to the preparation of a master plan in higher education in the Maldives.

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Adhaalath calls for caution over Jewish doctor visit

The religious Adhaalath Party has claimed the Maldivian public should be cautious of a team of Israeli doctors coming to the country this week to help perform eye surgery treatments, alleging that some medical staff from the nation have been involved in harvesting organs from “murdered Palestinians”.

Citing a press released sourced from the Adhaalath Party, Haveeru reported that the team of doctors, which form part of an organisation called Eye from Zion, are suspected of being financially supported during their visit by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC).

According to the release, the JDC is claimed to be a missionary group, though the organisation’s official website lists itself as a body to provide “humanitarian assistance”.
“A doctors’ team from Eye from Zion is visiting the Maldives in this eye camp. Do not think that they are from a normal hospital. We also understand that the doctors’ team is accompanied by an Israeli Foreign Ministry delegation,” quoted Haveeru from the Adhaalath press release.

The party has claimed that it is not trying to create a panic among the public, but added that it aimed to bring attention amongst international media of the alleged “actions against our brothers and sisters of Palestine.”

Haveeru added that the religious conservative political party had also accused the Maldives government of having “secret relations” with their Israeli counterparts.

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