Islanders on Milandhoo, Feevah, Foakaidhoo and Narudhoo in Shaviyani Atoll reported feeling an earthquake on Sunday afternoon.
A quake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale was detected in the Indian Ocean 215 miles south of Jakarta at 1:21pm.
“It seemed like the ground slipped under the feet. The people having lunch in their homes came out. The windowpanes also shook,” Foakaidhoo Island Chief Ali Nizar told newspaper Haveeru.
No damage was reported.
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(0)The ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) conducted internal elections yesterday for party posts.
A total of 455 candidates contested for posts in 77 constituencies, including a president and secretary for each voting district.
For constituencies with an MDP MP in parliament, elections took place for vice-president, secretary, assistant secretary and planning secretary.
With 250 ballot boxes in over a 100 islands, the party claims it was the largest election in the country to date.
Official results will be announced in three days.
Meanwhile, provisional results show that a number of senior government officials, notably State Ministers Ahmed Adhil and Ahmed Inaz and the Fisheries Ministry’s Food Security Coordinator Mohamed “OK” Zahir, lost out.
(0)Dislikes(0)The illegal sale of timber from large timber trees has resumed in Laamu Gan, two years after police put a stop to the activity, reports Haveeru.
An islander who wished to remain anonymous claimed that a boatload of timber was being sold for Rf30,000 (US$2,300).
Mathimaradhoo district Island Chief Abdul Raheem said that large trees lining the industrial roads of the large island were fast disappearing.
A small number of people from all three districts of the island were employed in the illegal trade, he added.
Deputy Province State Minister Hussein Umar said that complaints had been received and action would be taken to stop the environmentally harmful activity.
(0)Dislikes(0)President Mohamed Nasheed appointed Hussain Amru as the Chief Executive Officer of the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) last week.
Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair told Haveeru that Amru was working on corporate issues as undersecretary at the president’s office and had completed higher education in the field.
In January this year, President Nasheed dismissed former Managing Director Mohamed “Nafa” Naseem from the post ostensibly for poor performance and failure to follow government policy on competitive markets.
Meanwhile, Thilafushi Corporation CEO Mohamed Zahir has been appointed Food and Security Coordinator at the Fisheries Ministry after the corporation’s board decided to replace Zahir.
In May this year, the board decided to appoint Ibrahim Riyaz, Dhiraagu Marketing Manager for Broadband and Data, as the new acting Managing Director of Thilafushi Corporation.
(0)Dislikes(0)Parliament has scheduled the endorsement of the President and Vice President of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) for the first sitting of the next session this Monday.
President Mohamed Nasheed had nominated commission members Mariyam Azra as HRCM’s President an post and Aiminath Jeehaan as Vice President, however the matter was still in debate when the last session of parliament closed in August.
HRCM’s former President Ahmed Saleem last month condemned parliament’s inaction on the issue as “unforgivable”.
“It’s all because HRCM and human rights are not as important to the Majlis as taking their leave,” he told Minivan News.
“The Majlis is destroying this country and leaving the government incapable of doing anything.”
On Monday parliament will also vote on proposed amendments to the Finance Committee’s report on salaries, the Parole Bill, Bill on Importing Animals and Birds, the government’s amendment to the Decentralisation Bill and the Domestic Violence Bill.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Aishath Azra was nominated as HRCM’s President. This has been corrected to Mariyam Azra.
(0)Dislikes(0)An Indian teacher on Foakaidhoo in Shaviyani Atoll has been rescued by authorities after islanders tied her up and attempted to throw her off the island for allegedly drawing a crucifix.
Haveeru reported that senior teacher at the island’s school Ibrahim Rasheed attempted to explain to the “devout Muslim” parents that the design drawn was a plus symbol marking north, south, east, and west directions on a map.
Following a joint investigation by the Parent-Teacher Association and school management, “they refused to accept the facts when their claim that the teacher had drawn a [crucifix] was explained,” Rasheed told Haveeru.
Students and parents protested outside the school on Wednesday evening, he said.
Meanwhile the teacher, who has worked at the school for three years, has been moved to Funadhoo.
(0)Dislikes(0)President Mohamed Nasheed has said the salary of civil servants could be restored before the end of this year.
In a statement from the President’s Office, Nasheed “thanked all civil servants for the great sacrifice they have made” and “expressed hope that civil service pay could be restored to the level before the reduction of 15 percent.”
Nasheed also said the government was hopeful reaching its target budget of Rf7 billion before the end of the year.
(0)Dislikes(0)Democracy in the Maldives would have little credibility if it failed to empower the country’s women, Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed has told the Council for a Community of Democracies.
The Council, which includes President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite, President of Libera Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf and former Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark, convened to discuss female representation in democracies and other issues pertaining to the empowerment of women.
Dr Shaheed told the Council that the Maldives has yet to adequately include women in its major democratic bodies, and that the exclusion of half of any given population from public and political life rendered notions of democracy hollow, and marginalising a large portion of society.
(0)Dislikes(0)The sale of oil in Hoarafushi in Haa Dhaalu Atoll has ceased following the death prominent businessman Hussain Mohamed Manik, reports daily newspaper Haveeru.
Haveeru reported that sales had ended as there was no other oil businessman on the island.
The body of the businessman was discovered in an abandoned house in Hoarafushi yesterday morning, and police believe he was murdered.
A special squad of police attended the island for investigation yesterday afternoon.
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