Civil Court injunction prevents government takeover of Alidhoo, Kudarah resorts

The Tourism Ministry has been prevented from taking control of resort properties operated by Yacht Tours Maldives under a Civil Court injunction issued yesterday (June 4), pending a final ruling on a long-running dispute over unpaid rent.

J Hotels and Resorts, a company owned by opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Abdulla Jabir, went to the Civil Court yesterday to contest the government’s right to reclaim the two resorts over allegations the company had failed to settle rent payments and fines totalling some US$7 million (MVR 107 million).

The company has claimed that the vast majority of the outstanding payment is the result of fines issued by the state during the ongoing payment dispute.

The government has sought to revoke the lease for Alidhoo Resort in Haa Alif Atoll and Kudarah Island Resort in South Alifu Atoll from J Hotels and Resorts’ parent company Yacht Tours Maldives since late last year.  The state had previously provided the operator a seven day period to hand over the properties.

However, Yacht Tours Maldives has continued to contest the government’s right to reclaim the land.

“Unlawful cancellation”

Yacht Tours Director Ibrahim Shiham said that the Civil Court injunction issued last night suspended what he alleged was the government’s “unlawful cancellation” of its lease for the two resorts until a ruling was made on the company’s dispute over rent payments.

Speaking to Minivan News, Shiham accused the government of trying to come on to the Kudarah resort property on Monday (June 3) without a court warrant to take back the property, alleging authorities had sought to create a “political drama” out of the case.

He claimed that authorities were refused entry by around “three or four people” on the island, despite local media reports citing a ministry source as claiming that around 50 people had attempted to block their arrival at the resort’s jetty area.

The Tourism Ministry has alleged to Sun Online that Yacht Tours had continuously failed to pay back the rent and fines in installments as previously agreed following the first termination notice.

Yacht Tours meanwhile claimed that uncertainty as a result of the Tourism Ministry’s actions had seen occupancy rates at Alidhoo Resort fall from over 60 per cent in recent weeks to just 11 percent yesterday due to cancelled bookings.

Shiham has alleged that company was being unfairly punished as a result of an “internal argument” between the Ministry of Tourism and the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) over whether to accept an advance payment previously paid by Yacht Tours to cover rent owed to authorities.

He added that under amendments made to tourism regulations back in 2011, a long-term US$1.5 million dollars (MVR 23 million) rent advance for the island of Watavarreha was no longer required to be paid all at once, making the company eligible for a repayment.

Earlier this year, Yacht Tours released documents and transcripts of official letters to media showing it had requested then Minister of Tourism Dr Mariyam Zulfa to transfer a refundable payment from the Watavarreha advance to cover payments owed for Kudarah and Alidhoo.

A follow-up letter, dated August 21, 2011, stated that according to the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA), the government owed the company US$1,115,374 (MVR 17,176,760).  At the same time, the company was said to owe a total amount of US$1,300,418 (MVR19.9 million) in charges for the three resorts to the state.

Shiham said that the Tourism Ministry under the previous government of former President Mohamed Nasheed had requested MIRA process the payment accordingly.

“However, MIRA did not wish to do this. This has become an internal argument that is nothing to do with us,” he said. “We believe the Tourism Ministry has the authority on this matter.”

Shiham added that as the payments were not related to service taxes that were required to be paid directly to MIRA, the matter of rent should be decided by the Tourism Ministry itself.

With the controversial change of government overnight on February 7, 2012, Yacht Tours has claimed that its agreement was further complicated, leading to MIRA filing a court case against the company.

Speaking to Minivan News this week, former Tourism Minister Dr Zulfa confirmed that Yacht Tours had previously requested the Finance Ministry use the advance payment for Watawarreha Island to cover rent payments for its other properties that were in arrears.

“As a matter of law, I advised the then Finance Minister Mr [Ahmed] Inaz that there was nothing barring such as adjustment since all the resort properties were under the same company name,” she said.

Dr Zulfa added that the company separately requested a refund on the funds paid for Watawarreha, despite the land tax legislation at the time being collected correctly by the government.  She added that the advance payment was designed to have been deducted by the government from payable rent.

“I did advise Mr Jabir to submit the matter to court for a legal determination if he felt that the advance payment was rendered unfair and I think he duly did,” she said. “I hope it is clear that the government of President Nasheed did not agree to the refund, but merely advised that an adjustment in rent across all resort-properties leased to Yacht Tours regardless of what island such advance was paid for was possible, because of course they were leased to the same company.”

Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb was not responding to calls from the Minivan News at  time of press. Deputy Tourism Minister Mohamed Maleeh Jamal was out of the country.

Termination notice

Minister Adheeb earlier this year rejected allegations that the Tourism Ministry was singling out certain resort operators in terms of treatment, adding that each property was required to pay rent or face receiving a termination notice.

Adheeb claimed that when he first took up his position following February’s controversial transfer of power, there were 12 resorts found to be not paying rent at the time.

“We are not tolerating resorts who do not pay rent, any operating resort has to pay. Those who are not paying already have the termination notice. This culture has to go, by the end of this year all resorts will be paying and it will become a more stable industry,” he said at the time.

At a press conference held on December 31, 2012, Adheeb said that resort operator Yacht Tours had been sent termination notices for both Alidhoo and Kudarah resorts, with a seven day period for handover.

He added that while the ministry had come to a payment system agreement with a number of other companies, Yacht Tours had sent no official written communication in regard to the payment of outstanding rents.

The claims were later rejected by Yacht Tours, which in turn alleged that the ministry had failed to respond to its correspondence on the matter of rent payments, leading it to take legal action to resolve the dispute.

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Police arrest third suspect in connection to Artur brothers investigation

Police in the Maldives have confirmed the arrest of a third suspect linked to ongoing investigations into the alleged criminal activities of two foreign nationals identified as the Artur brothers.

A police media spokesperson confirmed that 28 year-old Maldives national Ahmed Vishal had been taken into custody yesterday (June 2) on suspicion of being connected – in an as yet unspecified way – to the Artur brothers’ operations in the country.  The Arturs have come under scrutiny from Maldives authorities after being linked in local media with alleged drug trafficking, money laundering, raids on media outlets and other serious crimes in Kenya.

Police declined to give more details on the specific charges against Visham, who was reported in local media as having been detained on a sixth floor apartment of a building in Male’.

Visham is the third suspect along with fellow Maldivian Ahmed Nishan and French national Godzine Sargsyan to be detained by police in relation to investigation into the Artur Brother’s presence in the country.

Police issued a statement in April asking for public assistance in locating Godzine, who along with Nishan later surrendered themselves to authorities.  Police officers then proceeded to conduct a search of the Marble Guest House in Male’ where the suspects were alleged to have stayed.

The Criminal Court last month agreed to extend the detention of both Nishan and Godzine, who has been identified by authorities as one of the Artur brothers.

The court stated at the time that police had charged the pair with assault and battery, cases related to fraud, and providing invalid documents to government institutions.

Photos

Photos of the Arturs in the company of the two Maldivian ministers emerged on social media, apparently taken during the Piston Motor Racing Challenge held on Hulhumale’ between January 25 and 26.

A letter from the Tourism Ministry to immigration authorities requesting a residency visa for Margaryan and Sargayan Artur, dated January 27 and signed by Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb, was subsequently leaked on social media.

A company named ‘Artur Brothers World Connections’ was registered in the Maldives in October 2012, with the Artur brothers holding an 80 percent share in a 61-19 percent split.

French nationals identified as Godzine Sargsyan and Edga Sargsyan had a 10 and 7 percent share, while a Maldivian national Ismail Waseem of H. Ever Chance was listed as holding the remaining 3 percent.

Waseem’s share was subsequently transferred to Abdulla Shaffath of H. Ever Peace on November 25.

Meanwhile, on April 8, reports in local media suggested that Zaidul Khaleel, General Manager of the Club Faru resort, operated by the state-owned Maldives Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), had been dismissed after he was found to have paid the brothers’ US$6000 bill.

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Low salaries and safety issues keeping foreign doctors away: Health Ministry

The Ministry of Health has identified salaries and staff safety as the key issues driving “shortages” in the number of trained medical staff coming from abroad to work at hospitals in the Maldives.

Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health Geela Ali said that authorities were in the process of trying to recruit a number of medical specialists from across the region, adding that efforts were needed to overcome the various “issues” limiting interest from foreign professionals in coming to the Maldives.

The comments were made as Dr Mohamed Habeeb, presently in charge of Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in Male’, last week raised concerns in local media about a serious shortage of doctors, which he said was having a major impact on services.

IGMH Media Correspondent Zeenath Ali explained to Minivan News today that although paediatric services had been suspended temporarily at IGMH three months ago due to a lack of qualified staff, the services were now operating as normal.

“Previously, we had an issue with the numbers of doctors due to some resignations and contracts finishing,” she said of the difficulties faced three months ago.

Zeenath added that while the issue of having no paediatric staff had since been resolved, IGMH has requested assistance from the Health Ministry in recruiting additional medical specialists to meet patient demand in the capital.

Despite this high demand for medical services, she said IGMH had not since been forced to terminate entire services at the hospital as a result of staff numbers.

“We have four paediatricians presently working at the hospital. But it remains difficult on the international market to try and attract paediatricians to join us,” she said.

According to Zeenath, IGMH has also requested that additional anaesthesiologists be hired to meet the hospital’s present workload. She added that the Ministry of Health was said to be working on recruiting more staff to cope with patient demand.

Speaking about these recruitment efforts, Health Ministry Permanent Secretary Geela said there was presently a shortage of medical staff at hospitals and health centres across the country as a result of ongoing issues – not least in the basic salary packages offered by the state.

“We have been running adverts to try and find qualified staff across the region, but so far we are not seeing adequate response from other countries,” she said.

Geela claimed that salary was among the most prevalent issues authorities had identified as being responsible for shortages in medical staff, with the government pledging to raise wages from January 2014 should the proposals gain parliamentary approval.

“This will allow us to offer better salaries from 2014 and we hope there will be more interest internationally,” she said.

Staff safety

Another challenge for attracting foreign medical staff was ensuring the safety of staff, particularly in the outer atolls.

Geela said that the Health Ministry could not alone ensure safer working environments for foreign medical staff, with wider support from the government and public needed.

“We need a societal approach to try and combat this problem. When we place staff on islands, community support is required to make sure they are looked after,” she said.

Threats

IGMH’s orthopaedic department temporarily ceased working last month after a group of people allegedly threatened a member of staff who had refused to provide a doctor’s note for overseas treatment through the Maldives’ nationwide health insurance scheme, ‘Aasandha’.

A patient, who asked for the doctor’s recommendation to receive medical treatment abroad, was first told by IGMH that such a recommendation could not be made because his injury could be treated in the hospital, according to a statement issued by IGMH.

The hospital claimed the man then refused treatment from IGMH before coming back to the hospital with a group of 10 men who threatened to attack the doctor, stating that he too would have to seek medical treatment through ‘Aasandha’ if he did not write the recommendation note.

The hospital at the time said it was considering the use of police officers maintain security on site following concerns about threats of violence to staff.

Minivan News reported in September 2012 on the alleged widespread intimidation, fraud and “substandard” treatment by patients, health authorities, local staff and the country’s courts faced by expatriate medical professionals in the Maldives.

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Government uncertain over waste management future as Tatva negotiations continue

The government remains locked in negotiations to find a “permanent” waste management solution in the Maldives following concerns about a recent build up of garbage in Male’, State Environment Minister Abdul Matheen Mohamed has said.

Matheen told Minivan News that although immediate concerns about garbage levels in the capital had been dealt with by Male’ City Council (MCC), which was in the process of “clearing” waste disposal sites on a daily basis – uncertainty remained on a long-term solution to dealing with trash.

At present, waste from across the country is shipped over to the island of Thilafushi near Male’ – an island that serves as the country’s key site for processing and burning garbage.

Certain councillors and MPs from Male’ last week claimed that a failure to deal with a build up of waste in the capital in recent months had escalated into a “national disaster” that could have potential health and safety implications for the public if not addressed.

However, Matheen added that the Finance Ministry’s decision last month to provide an estimated MVR 7 million (US$454,000) in funding to the MCC to try and clear trash from waste sites in the capital had already shown positive results.

“The MCC is clearing waste daily, the crisis is over,” he said. “Right now I believe that trying to manage waste in Male’ is not the best solution. If this waste can be shifted to Thilafushi that may be for the best.”

State negotiations

Matheen said that the government was committed to seeking financing for alternative waste management schemes, while also renegotiating a deal signed by the former government with Tatva Global Renewable Energy.

The government of former President Mohamed Nasheed signed a contract with Tatva in 2011 to allow the India-based company to take over handling of waste in the capital – as well as from nearby inhabited islands and resorts properties.

The agreement also outlined a means of generating power from recycling waste products brought to Thilafushi in an attempt to cut down on trash being burned.

By December last year, President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s administration announced it was in the process of renegotiating Tatva’s agreement in a bid to replace the deal with what Environment Minister Dr Mariyam Shakeela at the time called a “mutually beneficial” agreement.

Just last week, Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad said that although the new agreement with Tatva was yet to be signed, a deal was expected to be finalised in the coming days.

However, Matheen today claimed that no agreement had been reached as yet over the negotiations, which he claimed appeared to be nearing some form of conclusion.

“The process has taken so much time. We will have to take a decision soon [on whether to sign the Tatva deal],” he said.

According to Matheen, the discussions with Tatva Global Renewable Energy had been complicated by having to find an agreement between a number of different parties; including the government, the MCC, service providers like the State Electric Company Limited (STELCO) and management at Thilafushi.

He alleged that another concern about the deal was the need for Tatva itself to find sufficient investment to back its own part of the proposed waste management scheme.

A spokesperson for Tatva was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

Matheen said that the government was waiting to see if an agreement could be reached with Tatva over the deal, adding that authorities would otherwise seek to open discussions with other service providers to try and find an alternate means of waste management.

Male’ clean up

While the negotiations continue, Male’ Councillor Mohamed Abdul Kareem confirmed to Minivan News that despite difficulties earlier this month, the council had now almost dealt fully with waste build-up in the capital after receiving funding from the Finance Ministry.

“The only problem we have had with waste management has been the budgeting issues, other than that, we have the technical expertise to clean the waste,” he said.

Kareem claimed that upon receiving funds from the government, the MCC had been able to hire special dhonis (boats) to clear garbage from disposal sites in Male’ that had been allowed to build up over a period of several months. The build up of waste had led to disputes between the council and various state bodies over responsibility for clearing the waste.

Waste being cleared from Male' Saturday (June 1)

With a proportion of funding now having been received by the MCC from the Finance Minsitry, Kareem said the council had been able to clear waste yard number two in Male’ of rubbish.  The site was now being “treated” to try and reduce odours that had built up at the site as a result of recent wet weather, before it would again start receiving waste.

He added that the site was presently being cleared and would not be temporarily open for use until the council completed its treatment and renovation.

Kareem claimed that as long as the government continued to provide funding for the MCC to handle waste management in and around the capital, the MCC did not expect to have any similar problems cleaning waste in the future.

He alleged last month that following the initial signing of the Tatva waste management deal under the previous government in May 2011, the MCC had not been provided with a budget for waste management – even after the deal was stalled by the present administration.

Waste concerns

In April, divisions were reported to have arisen between different ministerial bodies and the private sector over who should take responsibility for garbage being dumped into the sea.

Earlier this year, Minivan News reported that government authorities were working on trying to create functional waste management projects that would serve as an alternative to shipping waste to Thilafushi, despite numerous failed attempts in the past.

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Behind the bars: Inside the shelter for the Maldives’ unregistered expats

The Department of Immigration and Emigration’s shelter for undocumented workers in Male’ was opened earlier this year as part of commitments by the state to provide a more “humane” means of tackling the issue of unregistered foreign workers in the country.

Authorities have previously provided few details to the media concerning the plain white building based on Orchid Magu, or what is beyond the black iron bars that adorn the entrance of the site.

Minivan News toured the premises on Wednesday. An immigration official said despite appearances, the bars – open throughout the day – were not for detaining unregistered workers, who are free to leave at any time. Instead they were there to protect workers inside from unscrupulous agents and employers.

“Many choose not to stay here overnight, they will perhaps spend the night at a friend’s place. They come here for support or for food, mainly,” the immigration guide explains.

According to the immigration department no workers are detained at the shelter, which serves as a site to support expatriate workers not registered to work in the country. Officials at the shelter estimate there are presently some 40,000 unregistered foreigners working in the country – a huge proportion given that a third of the Maldives’ population are foreign workers.

Immigration Controller Dr Mohamed Ali has previously told Minivan News that while almost all foreign workers coming to the Maldives arrive under registered companies, some were finding themselves “illegally used” by employers due to “systematic abuse” of the visa system.

The entire ground floor of the building – mostly an empty hall with a number of makeshift metallic frames that can be converted to beds – is made available for unregistered workers, several of whom watched bemused at the makeshift media tour of the facility taking place in their presence.

The shelter also has a kitchen area open to unregistered workers, as well as a bathroom with a dozen or so toilet cubicles, several sinks and showers. The shower area  looks basic, but the immigration official explains they are designed to be able to cater around 50 people in line with human rights conventions.

“We try to ensure [the shelter] is up to standards for the human rights people, though I’m sure they would still say something,” the guide explains, emphasising that no one is detained on the site.

In cases where foreign workers are found to be working illegally, the Immigration Department also has what it calls a “processing centre” – a gated compound on the island of Hulhumale’ where expatriates are kept before being sent back to their respective countries.

The opening of the shelter this year comes as the Maldives has come under increasing pressure to tackle the issue of unregistered expatriates, with the country appearing  on the US State Department’s Tier Two Watch List for Human Trafficking.  The country has appeared on the list for three years in a row.

Migration monitoring

Just above the shelter on the building’s first floor, is the immigration department’s monitoring and repatriation service, which is charged with monitoring immigrant workers being brought to the Maldives.

Immigration Department Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Munaaz, who is in charge of the facility, said that some 3000 unregistered foreign workers had been returned to their respective home countries so far this year. That figure is equal to the total number of expatriates deported during 2012.

Earlier this year, Immigration Controller Dr Mohamed Ali confirmed that authorities had targeted the return of 10,000 unregistered workers by the end of the year.

This pledge to return a predetermined number of expatriates was criticised at the time by the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM), which raised concerns that some workers were being punished for the actions of employers or agents acting outside the law.

Munaaz said the vast majority of foreign workers were brought Maldives legally, though for a number of different reasons many found themselves employed in the country without being correctly registered.

“Sometimes this happens due to a dispute with an employee where they go missing. There are some cases, not many, where an employer will decide to stop taking responsibility for an employee and throw them out onto the street,” he said.

Among services offered by the monitoring service is a special form for “missing migrant workers”.

Munaaz claimed that in all these cases, foreign workers were requested to come to the expatriate monitoring service for assistance, adding that the shelter had been established to provide food and support for foreigners who were victims of illegal employment practices.

The immigration Department said a local helpline service was available for foreign workers on 750 4511.

Munaaz added that the immigration department had recently become aware of individuals posing as recruitment agents who were travelling to airports to poach foreign workers by promising them resort positions or higher pad jobs than the work they may have originally been brought to the country for. Whether these jobs really exist is unknown.

“Now we have started to identify how this is being done and we are working to stop this,” he said. “We know there are agents living here in Male’, some who are foreign nationals from the same countries, and they are bringing people over. We are in the process of breaking these rings.”

Foreign low-wage workers are often lured to the country by such brokers, paying a ‘recruitment’ fee or entering into debt – sometimes as high as several thousand dollars – that is shared between local agents and recruiters in the country of origin, most significantly Bangladesh.

In many cases the workers are then brought into the country ‘legitimately’ by a specially-created paper company, created using the ID of a complicit or unwitting Maldivian national, for the stated purpose of working on a ‘construction project’ of dubious existence.

Senior immigration sources have confided to Minivan News that almost no human verification was undertaken by authorities to ensure workers were genuinely employed once a business or construction project was approved.

Moreover, despite the size and scale of the practice, not a single recruitment agent or labour trafficker has appeared before a Maldivian court.

Public cooperation

Munaaz said that with an estimated 40,000 unregistered workers across the Maldives – a figure some industry bodies like the Maldives Association of Construction Industry (MACI) estimate is in reality likely to be much higher – police and immigration authorities could not alone find a solution.

Although stating that local attitudes towards foreign workers needed to be changed, Munaaz was reluctant to say the Maldivian public at large were responsible for the problem. Instead he said certain local individuals and enterprises were profiting from the exploitation of foreign workers.

“It is maybe just one or two percent [of the population] who have involvement in this, but they are doing a lot of harm to the country,” he said. “It will take time, but the public must take a role for the good of the country,” he said.

Munaaz alleged that anyone walking down by the junction at Chaandhanee Magu and Majeedhee Magu – one of the capital’s busiest intersections – most mornings would be able see migrant workers waiting around the area in the hope of receiving ad-hoc offers of work and daily payment – usually from the back of a van.

He claimed that many people were aware of the practice in the capital, but most only talked about it without taking any action.

Under a clause in the Immigration Act of 2007, Munaaz said the Immigration Department’s legal representatives were now taking action against individuals sheltering or employing unregistered expatriates by issuing fines of up to MVR 50,000 (US$3,240).

However, the figures on the exact number of individuals fined by immigration officials on this basis were not available at time of press.

Munaaz added than rather approaching and checking documents of foreign workers out on Republic Square or other areas of the capital, the Immigration Department was opting to focusing on cooperating with police investigators to perform checks of tea houses, work sites, as well as the market area in Male’ to ensure all foreign workers were registered.

With the number of expatriate workers returned by immigration officials to their home countries for the last five months already matching the number repatriated during 2012, Munaaz claimed that the increased workload was directly related to concerns raised by President Dr Mohamed Waheed.

“President Waheed has been very involved in this after receiving a lot of concerns on islands he has visited about illegal immigrants,” Munaaz said, adding that the formation of the shelter back in January this year was a result of these concerns.

Munaaz said that five months on from the shelter’s formation, his team at the monitoring service were now working overtime, barely handling the number of calls being received by the public related to the issue of unregistered workers.

“We are working on the issue, but previous governments have simply left this matter unattended for so long that there are now more than 40,000 unregistered workers in the country,” he said.

Munaaz said his department aimed to not send anyone out of the country who was believed to be a victim of traffickers or other rights abuses.

In cases where expatriates had been working illegally in the country for several years, sometimes for periods up to a decade, he said the Immigration Department could no longer treat them as victims of smuggling.

One senior immigration source who asked not to be identified told Minivan News this week that the exact manner in which enterprises and individuals were profiting from unregistered workers continued to require investigation.

The problem was not isolated to businesses on inhabited islands, the source said, stating that one of the country’s exclusive island resort properties had recently been found by the Immigration Department to have employed between 50 to 60 foreign staff illegally.

As a result, immigration authorities were in the process of conducting reviews of resort operations around the country, according to the source.

Human trafficking

While the government earlier this year launched a special campaign intended to raising awareness of the rights of foreign workers, NGOs and institutions continue to identify human trafficking as a significant issue needing to be addressed in the country.

Human rights groups in the Maldives have for instance continued to criticise the present and former governments for failing to pass legislation that would allow authorities to press charges against individuals directly for the offence of human trafficking.  The legal measures to do so are presently under review in parliament.

However, one anonymous source in immigration said that it was still possible to penalise any Maldivian suspected of trafficking foreigners into the country on the grounds of contravening the Maldives Immigration Act, ratified in 2007.

“If a Maldivian tries to go against this law they should be penalised with very heavy fines. The law has been in place since 2007,” the source claimed. “Yet has anyone been fined for illegal immigration activity? The answer is no. The legal authority to do this is there.”

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Elections Commission publishes eligible voters list, provides 10 days to report discrepancies

The Elections Commission (EC) has published the list of eligible voters for the presidential election scheduled for September 7, in the government’s online gazette.

Speaking to local media today, the EC said public would now have 10 days to ensure that people included on the list were correctly registered – or else  risk invalidating their right to vote come polling in September.

Local NGO Transparency Maldives, which will be monitoring the upcoming election, said it would not have time to audit the eligible voters list before the vote, with members of the public being required to verify the details of themselves and relatives on the list.

Beyond concerns at the relatively short amount of time given to voters to check their eligibility, the NGO said it believed ensuring voters were correctly registered to vote near their current place of residence once the election was officially announced was a particularly pressing concern.

Under the regulations on presidential elections published earlier this month, any complaints concerning the status of the 240,302 voters included on the register should be raised with the EC within the next 10 days.

Speaking to local media, EC President Fuad Thaufeeq said it was possible that the published list would include individuals who had since died without their records being updated with the commission.

“We believe we have not received accurate information regarding people who have passed away. We obtain the information from whichever relevant authority holds the information at that time,” he was quoted as saying by Sun Online.

Thaufeeq said the public were requested over the next 10 days to inform the EC of any discrepancies on the list such as the inclusion of names of the deceased, a failure to include eligible voters on the list, or an incorrect national identification card number.

“If the person is dead, the procedure is that it can verified by statements from two family members. The persons who are not included on the list cannot vote. Persons also cannot vote if their names are spelled wrong, or if their addresses are wrong, or if the name on their ID cards and the name on the list does not match,” he was reported as saying.

Thaufeeq was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

NGO response

Addressing the possibility of discrepancies, Transparency Maldives Project Director Aiman Rasheed said the NGO would not have time to conduct the lengthy audit required to ensure the list was fully accurate, given the time constraints.

He said that under Article 15 (A) of the new Presidential Elections Regulations, it would not be possible to make any changes to the registry beyond the first ten days of its publication. Additionally, any person absent from the registry would not be eligible to be re-registered for September’s vote unless the EC was notified in the next ten days.

While the registry has been published “early” ahead of elections expected in early September, Rasheed said the NGO was aware of “issues” being raised that the EC has previously provided the minimum required length of time allowed under regulations to clarify any vote discrepancies or errors.

He added that the 10 day period was another example of this.

According to Rasheed, another concern held by Transparency Maldives regarding voting in September was the issue of re-registration for members of the public living in different islands or countries from their permanent address held by the EC.

Taking the case of a Maldives national living abroad in Malaysia or Sri Lanka, he claimed that unless a voter re-registered their details with the EC to use a ballot box in that country, they would need to return to their place of permanent residence in order to vote.

Rasheed said the EC had already travelled to islands across the country to try and raise awareness over the issue, which reflected what he said were “progressive improvements” in the commission’s work to keep voters informed.

Transparency said a timeframe by when voters would need to re-register their new addresses had not been outlined by the EC at present, but was expected to be set after the election was officially announced.

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Resort workers union concerned over police detention of executive committee members

The Tourism Employees Association of Maldives (TEAM) has criticised police for arresting two of its executive committee members who attempted to travel to the One & Only Reethi Rah resort, following a High Court order reinstating them as workers at the property.

TEAM Secretary General Mauroof Zakir told Minivan News that Mohamed Khalid and Ali Muaz were detained by police on Thursday (May 30) while trying to catch the resort staff ferry. He said both men had remained in custody until being released by the Criminal Court today.

Both men were dismissed from the resort in 2009 over allegations of attacking the property’s then general manager – although no charges were filed at the time, TEAM has claimed.

A police media official today confirmed that the two men were detained by officers on Thursday for “interrupting the schedule” of the Reethi Rah staff ferry and had been held in custody for five days while investigations continued into the matter.

A spokesperson for operator Reethi Rah Resort Pvt Ltd (RRR) meanwhile said the company had not been notified of Khalid or Muiz’s plans to “visit” the property or received advance notice of their attempts to return to work on the site.

“RRR wishes to note that pursuant to applicable laws and practice, it is an offence to trespass on resorts and private property, by any person, without the consent of the owner,” the company stated.

RRR claimed that in the cases where it had reinstated “certain individuals from TEAM” following civil litigation, the workers had later refused to turn up to work.

“Despite not turning up for work after re-instatement, they claimed full salary and benefits, which has been paid to them without fail,” the company stated.

RRR said that it was presently the defendant in ongoing lawsuits filed by individual members of TEAM who had contested their reinstatement at the property.

The company noted that the individuals in question continued to claim they had not been reinstated, despite taking “salaries and benefits from RRR which only employees are entitled to”.

Court order

However, TEAM Secretary General Mauroof today accused management at One & Only of continually failing to comply with a High Court order requesting the reinstatement of nine staff members – including himself – over allegations they were unfairly dismissed back in 2009.

He claimed that RRR had previously issued a letter of reinstatement for Khalid and Muaz to return to the resort, but provided them with new positions in which they had no experience of working. TEAM said that the Civil Court as a result had previously fined the resort operator for failing to reinstate both workers to their previous positions as waiters at the property.

Following Khalid and Muiz’s arrests last week, Mauroof alleged that it was not the first time that police had attempted to stop the two men from boarding the staff ferry to travel to the resort, despite the Employment Tribunal ruling back in July 2009 that both men be reinstated to their former roles at the property. He said the Employment Tribunal ruling was later backed by High Court.

According to TEAM, as well as ordering the reinstatement of the nine workers dismissed from One & Only Reethi Rah back in April 2009, the resort had also been ordered to pay them their basic back salary and service charges up to September 2012.

TEAM said that it continued to seek negotiations with management at RRR over the issue of reinstating the dismissed staff to their former positions. With court cases continuing into the matter, Mauroof claimed that the resort owner was running out of ground to legally appeal its case, calling on the company to reinstate both men in line with the court order.

In the meantime, TEAM has said that Khalid and Muaz would “continue to fight” to return to work at the resort within the country’s laws and regulations, adding that they would again attempt to travel to the resort on the staff ferry.

With legal wrangling between RRR and TEAM over the staff dismissals continuing for the last four years, Mauroof said that the case remained vitally important to the dismissed workers. He said that amidst fears concerning unemployment rates in the country, the dismissed wished to return to their jobs for fear they might not be able to find positions at other properties in the country.

Industry fears

Despite the Maldives ratification this year of ILO eight “fundamental” International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions, TEAM said it continued to be concerned about the rate of “unfair dismissals” across the resort industry.

While accepting that the country’s local workforce needed to be more “cooperative” with resort management, Mauroof accused some companies – particularly smaller local hospitality groups – of trying to keep workers “in the dark” regarding their rights.

“No one wants to lose their jobs in the industry, but we see some resorts trying to keep staff in constant fear that they face termination from their jobs,” he said.

Mauroof claimed that there were particular concerns over job security among staff working for local hotels groups, rather then multinationals and larger resort operators such as One & Only, which he said had a much better track record.

Minivan News was awaiting the response of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture at time of press if it had taken a role in the dispute between RRR and TEAM.

Rights monitoring

Deputy Tourism Minister Mohamed Maleeh Jamal said earlier this month that the tourism ministry closely monitored working standards and staff treatment across the industry.

Malle claimed at the time that from the ministry’s experience, the vast majority of the country’s resort workers and management were all working together to benefit the wider industry.

“If there is an issue, we will go and inspect resorts and make sure staff are being treated in line within the stipulated requirements,” he said.

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MP’s defection to president’s party a “betrayal”, says PPM MP

The defection of Thimarafushi MP Ahmed Shareef to President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s Gaumee Ithihaad Party (GIP) on Monday was a “betrayal”, Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MP Ahmed Nihan has declared.

Nihan said that with rumours circulating over the last two to three weeks concerning Shareef’s planned defection, PPM members within Thimarafushi were concerned about the MP’s move, as well as expressing wider criticisms about the conduct of President Waheed and the GIP.

However, he stressed that the PPM remained “very much committed” to the coalition government backing President Waheed. The present government came to power following the controversial transfer of power on February 7 last year, which saw President Mohamed Nasheed resign from office following a mutiny by sections of the police and military.

Nihan said following Shareef’s decision to defect from the party, rumours continued to circulate that another PPM MP was potentially considering joining with President Waheed ahead of September’s scheduled elections.

He said that the PPM was committed to supporting President Waheed’s government “for the sake of the nation”, despite calls from the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) earlier this month to support an interim government ahead of September’s elections in order to secure “free and fair” voting.

“I strongly believe that PPM will continue to [President Waheed’s] government, but at the end of the day [the GIP] are the ones who are playing games here,” he said.

Criticisms

Despite the party pledging its ongoing support to the current government, the PPM has publicly levelled some criticisms at President Waheed this month about his alleged use of state resources for campaigning, as well as his decision to sack Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed as home minister.

The government at the time claimed that Jameel’s position was terminated over his decision to stand directly against President Waheed in September’s election as running mate to PPM presidential candidate Abdulla Yameen, which it claimed has created a conflict of interest.

Yameen was later quoted during a PPM rally that cabinet ministers in a coalition government are not obliged to assist the president’s election campaign.

He also claimed that PPM has not been given the number of government posts promised by Dr Waheed more than a year ago with the formation of the coalition government.

Nihan claimed that despite these concerns, the PPM had continued to back President Waheed’s government, adding that with the party having the second highest number of MPs within parliament behind the MDP, it had “defended” the president government in a number of crucial votes of late.

“Since February 7, 2012, we have been the key party in securing votes for Dr Waheed,” he said, adding that the “majority” of supporters who had welcomed President Waheed to various islands would have been members of the PPM.

However, with the defection of MP Shareef to GIP, Nihan claimed that that the party and its supporters would be concerned should any more of its elected representatives be asked to join the GIP.

“We hope [Presdent Waheed] will not take any more MPs from the party,” he said.

Speaking to local media today on his decision to defect to the GIP, MP Shareef said he had opted to change parties in a move he said would “most benefit” his constituents.

“I have decided to join President Waheed’s party. The party will carry out the arrangements,” he was quoted as saying by Sun Online.

GIP Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza was not responding to calls at time of press. Meanwhile, Minivan News was awaiting a response from the coalition’s media team on Shareef’s decision.

Coalition backing

Ahead of September’s election, the government-aligned Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has announced that it will join the religious conservative Adhaalath Party and the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) in a coalition backing President Waheed.

Dr Waheed’s Gaumee Ithihaad Party (GIP) currently has 3,930 registered members while the DRP has 21,411 members, according to the Elections Commission (EC). The DRP is also the third largest party in parliament while the GIP has no representation in either the legislature or local councils.

The government-aligned Jumhoree Party (JP) meanwhile announced earlier this month that no decision has been made on whether to join a coalition backing President Dr Mohamed Waheed in September’s election, as it prepares to officially choose its presidential candidate and leader.

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Eleven suspects detained over Male’ store attack as police continue gang hunt

Police have said 11 suspects have been taken into custody for alleged involvement in a stabbing attack at the ‘Home X’ store in the capital on May 19 that hospitalised one male victim – with authorities pledging to continue a crack down on gang activity.

In a statement released today, police claimed that the 11 individuals, all male suspects between 17 and 27 years of age, were detained on the 9th floor of the Aroodhaage building in Male’ as part of investigations into the store assault.

“Out of the 11 individuals brought in, there were two 19 year old males, one 27 year old male, one 20 year old male, one 21 year old male, four 18 year old males and two 17 year old males,” police stated following the operation.

Local media reported at the time that the victim of the attack had fled into an electronics store in Male’ in order to shelter from a group that proceeded to assault him using a “sharp object”.

The store attack was among a series of stabbings reported across the capital this month –  prompting police to form a special task force designed to try and combat gang violence.

The now-active task force consists of members from the Forensics Directorate, Intelligence and Covert Policing Command, Information and Communication Directorate, Central Operations Command and Technical Police from the Divisional Operations Command of the Maldives Police Service.

“Criminal at large”

Speaking to local media today, Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz said members of the taskforce were now searching for 50 “high-profile” suspects alleged to have had involvement with gang-related activities

“They are a threat to the society. We consider everyone, who had not been punished for a crime they had committed, as a criminal at large,” he was quoted by local newspaper Haveeru as saying.

Riyaz was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press regarding how the 50 suspects had been identified or if they belonged to specific groups.  The police media department was also not responding to calls at time of press.

Riya’s comments were made less than a week after he alleged politicians were most often responsible for encouraging gang-related activities in the capital island Male’.

The claims echoed the findings of a report into the country’s gang culture published last year by the Asia Foundation that found politicians and businessmen paid gangs to assault rivals, damage property, and in some cases have opponents killed.

Clear approach

Speaking to Minivan News earlier this month, former head of police intelligence Chief Superintendent Mohamed ‘MC’ Hameed claimed the stabbing incidents were “probably” retaliatory and inter-related based on media reports at the time.

Hameed also raised accused the country’s police service of presently lacking a clear approach in terms of reducing and dealing with violence crimes and criminals.

“Not being able to police Male’ – the most populated city in the country – due to the lack of an effective strategy and the disconnect between the key areas of criminal investigations, intelligence gathering, and front line policing is a big issue,” he added.

In addition to the lack of a “very effective policing approach” to combat violent crime, low level crimes had also not been addressed, according to Hameed.

“A lot of antisocial behavior goes unnoticed and unaddressed by the police, such as harassment and public nuisance. For example, girls of a very young age are harassed, even while walking with their families. Additionally, juveniles are seen under the influence of drugs and intoxicated in public,” he explained.

Hameed advocated that a strong, more integrated, holistic approach is needed that applies a broader strategy to effectively reduce crime.

“Increasing police officers physical presence, as well as effective targeting of high profile offenders and hotspots needs to be addressed,” he said.

“Collaboration between criminal investigations, intelligence gathering, and front line policing are three areas that have never worked that effectively,” he added at the time.

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