Author: Neil Merrett

MFDA raises concerns over poor hygiene during city-wide food inspections

Eateries and restaurants across Male’ are this month coming under city-wide inspection by the Maldives Food and Drug Authority (MFDA) for the first time in four years over hygiene standards, an area the government body claims “generally remains poor.”

Shareefa Adam, Director General for the MFDA, which forms part of the remit for the Maldives Health Ministry, told Minivan News that so far 32 premises had been inspected since the beginning of the month as part of plans to visit every registered and unregistered property before July.

At present, the MFDA said that two premises have been shut down on the basis of its latest inspections.

The inspections have been criticised by some Male-based catering groups, who claim to have been unfairly punished by MFDA officials they allege apply high-end resort standards to local businesses.

Accusations that inspectors are being too strict in their criteria was denied by the MFDA’s director general, who claimed they were using “basic” minimum hygiene standards such as cleanliness and preventing foreign materials from getting into food.

According to Adam, these standards were not fully understood by a wide number of proprietors in the capital, though any premises that were shut down could reapply to open again once they had corrected issues raised with their business.

“There is not enough training in food hygiene and we need to find ways to spread this message. For instance there are a large number of Bangladeshi workers in the food industry here and we need to find ways of communicating with them on this,” she said.

“Existing regulation is very simple and sometimes quite insufficient, so we are focused on minimum hygiene standards at present.”

Adam claimed that the month-long inspections would remain focused in Male’, before possibly being expanded to other islands at a later date. The MFDA director general said she believed that further inspections of all the catering establishments in the capital would take the entire month to complete.

“It takes quite a long time to complete these inspections as our staff numbers do not increase, yet the number of restaurants certainly does. We are looking at the standards of all food outlets, which are very poor in some places,” she claimed. “Some are not even registered with the MFDA at all and these must be closed down and then registered with us.”

Food outlet criticism

Hassan Muhaimin of Buruzu Catering Services, which was shut down this week following an MFDA inspection, alleged that the company had been punished for issues outside of the quality of its kitchens.

“We have a storage facility on the second floor of our building that is a locked room where we keep broken items and utensils. Although it was locked, the room was an issue [for inspectors],” he said.

Muhaimin said that despite some minor everyday issues in the kitchen, he felt the company had been judged mainly on the presence of materials like rat droppings in the locked storage room that had not been used in some time by the business.

“If there is someone operating a catering business downstairs, but someone else is living on another floor that isn’t being used by the business, should the company still be punished for issues on that floor? That is how I see it,” he added.

Muhaimin claimed that the store room inspected by the MFDA has since been cleaned out and the company kitchen was in the process of being refurbished, and said that Buruzu Catering Services would be hoping to appeal against the MFDA decision.

“I’m not aware of any other specific food outlets that have been closed down [during the ongoing inspections], but it is a huge blow for our company and will require some good PR plans to turn it around,” said Muhaimin. “We think it’s really unfair of the MFDA and raises questions about their own standards. For example, we purchase headgear [such as hairnets] from a company that supplies major resorts, yet [the MFDA] did not approve of them, saying they don’t cover the whole head area or the back of the neck.”

Muhaimin claimed it was his belief that the inspectors in some cases may be enacting top-range resort standards onto local companies and eateries.

Local teashop the Shabnam Café has also been closed after inspectors allegedly found rat droppings in the kitchen.

The owner complained to newspaper Haveeru that Shabnam Cafe that the droppings were not found in the cafe’s kitchen, but in a salted fish brought by an employee.

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Puducherry Blue: around South Asia in 32 artworks

A collection of works by artists from across SAARC’s nine member countries has gone on display at Male’s National Art Gallery, ahead of the 17th SAARC summit to be held in Addu City later this year.

The Puducherry Blue exhibition, which will run at the gallery until June 12 2011, aims to bring together various works from South Asian artists that were produced at an arts camp held in Puducherry, India, in 2010.

The collection presents a combination of various techniques; from more impressionist captures of national life such as Shwa in Tein Pagoda by Myanmar’s Kyaw Shein, to more contemporary takes on regional art – such as in the output of India’s R Balu, whose Timeproof exhibit does away with the conventional paint on canvas approach entirely.

The sole Maldivian work in the exhibition is provided by artist Mariyam Omar, whose work ‘Epiphany’ teases at traditional images of Maldivian dancing seemingly obscured by somewhat more contemporary artistic techniques – or liberal splashings of paint depending on one’s own viewpoint.

Speaking during the event’s Male’ opening, the Maldives’ Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr Mariyam Zulfa said that it was an honour for the country to host the exhibition, which has already toured a number of other SAARC nations.

“I am very delighted to have some of the artists here today who have travelled all this way to take part in this exhibition,” she said. “I’m sure if we can get ourselves organised we can take some of your works that we see here tonight for the SAARC summit that is being held in Addu City later this year. It will be our pride and joy to display these works at the [summit].”

Beyond the aesthetic value of the exhibition itself, Zulfa said she hoped the regional collaboration behind the exhibition would lead to wider number of events taking place at the gallery in a bid to inspire and develop local artists in the country.

“Hopefully, we can get the art community here a little more organised and learn a lot from your own experiences in the field of art,” she told those in attendance.

The exhibition has been arranged in collaboration with the High Commission of India in Male’, which has backed a number of arts projects in the country, including an arts camp earlier this year that saw a number of local and Indian artists gathering in Gan, Addu Atoll.

Indian High Commissioner Dnyaneshwar Mulay said at the exhibition launch that he believed that bringing together artists from across the region served to highlight the importance of connectivity between the  SAARC nations as well as the role that art plays in it.

“[Art] makes you think about what is the true meaning of life. Why do we have this urge to connect with people? Why do we paint for example? That is its beauty,” he said.

The Puducherry Blue exhibition will remain on display at Male’ National Art Gallery until June 12. More information is available through the National Gallery on 331 0729.

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Z-DRP plotting potential cross-party leadership coup, alleges opposition MP

A serving Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP has alleged that a spin-off faction formed by some of her colleagues is working to remove current leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali to forward their own presidential candidate – from another party.

Expressing these concerns, DRP MP Rozaina Adam today hit out at supporters of the Z-DRP faction, formed by a number of her fellow party members in the wake of infighting between serving leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and party founder Maumoon Abdul Gayoom over claims they were endangering the party’s election prospects.

She claims that the Z-DRP, who support Gayoom over his self-appointed successor Thasmeen, are endangering their own party’s election prospects in a coup to forward their own candidate and interests.

While Gayoom continues to hold the title of “honorary leader” of the DRP, Adam said she believed the former president’s involvement with the Z-DRP group was at the centre of the present disputes and infighting.

“There is no legal basis for what [Gayoom] is doing,” she said, referring to the former president’s attacks on the party leadership and its aims of removing Thasmeen from the leadership. Adam said that the divides within the DRP was weakening the party as the country’s main political opposition, as well as negatively impacting its support base.

Just yesterday, the DRP branch office of Adam’s Thulusdhoo constituency announced via a statement that its local supporters would consider “shifting sides” in regards to their political allegiance if the party failed to resolve the reported split.

“We call on former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and DRP Zaeem (honorary leader) to solve the internal dispute within the party,’’ read the statement, signed by the Deputy Head of the Thulusdhoo Branch.

Adam said that she was sceptical whether the party’s supporters would opt to join another party, especially in the case of the governing Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), though she accepted that the DRP’s reputation may have suffered among supporters.

“I do think [the party’s infighting] creates confusion for supporters, but I don’t think they will change party; that is not likely,” she said. “However, I don’t think that this movement [Z-DRP] is working for what’s best for the DRP. We see people in the party supporting People’s Alliance (PA) leader party leader Abdullah Yameen as a possible leader.”

Adam alleged that some MPs linked to the Z-DRP faction were actively trying to unseat Thasmeen solely to install another candidate such as Yameen, Gayoom’s half brother, or another politician wanting to claim the DRP’s presidential ticket for their own “agenda”.

“[Their motives] are based on pulling Thasmeen down and installing their own candidate,” she claimed. “[Ahmed] Mahlouf – a fellow DRP MP linked to the Z-DRP – has already stated that he would rather support President Mohamed Nasheed [of the MDP] than our own leader in Thasmeen. I suspect [the Z-DRP] have a candidate in mind for the presidency. I don’t know who this will be, but I believe it is not for the benefit of the party.”

Adam’s comments were made as fellow DRP MP Ahmed Nihan, himself aligned to the Z-DRP movement, said he believed there was widespread support within the wider party to appoint a new leader to replace Thasmeen by next year ahead of a general election scheduled for 2013.

Speaking to Minivan News, Nihan said that despite infighting within the party, there remained widespread support among his fellow DRP members for a new candidate to contest for the party as the 2013 presidential candidate. Amongst this apparent interest in changing leadership of the DRP, the MP claimed that he expected neither Thasmeen nor former President Gayoom to stand against President Mohamed Nasheed in the 2013 election.

The Z-DRP, which has been described by politicians and media outlets as both a political movement and an individual faction of the DRP standing to oppose Thasmeen, was formed amidst disputes in the party initially between supporters of Thasmeen and the party’s dismissed Deputy Leader Umar Naseer.

After these initial disputes led to Naseer’s dismissal  from the party in December, the infighting has evolved into outright criticisms between the only two men to have stood as leaders of the DRP.

After announcing this week that Gayoom had been requested to stand as a temporary leader of the Z-DRP and chair its member meetings until a new DRP leader was instated, Nihan said that this did not mean the former president would return from retirement to stand as a presidential candidate in 2013.

“Maumoon [Gayoom] is not coming out of his retirement to enter politics, but there is something much bigger for him to do. There is a moral obligation that if anything goes wrong [with the DRP], as party founder he must help find a solution,” he claimed. “Gayoom is not changing his mind to run in the next election, we will have a new leader by then.”

In addressing the capacity of the Z-DRP’s support to enact a potential change in leadership, Nihan rejected the descriptive term of a faction used by media to describe the group. The MP added that the Z-DRP was just the name of a movement that reflected wider concerns amongst party members that he claimed strongly believed Thasmeen had “failed” to oppose the government in policies such as allowing India-based infrastructure giant GMR to manage and overhaul Male’ international Airport.

“Gayoom does not want the DRP to be split up. Whatever our name is we are members, serving members of the DRP,” he claimed. “I don’t believe we are in a faction [Z-DRP], we are founding members of the party including myself, Ahmed Mahlouf and Duniya Maumoon. The majority of the DRP are behind us.”

Nihan said he was certain that a large number of the party’s general members “strongly believed” that Thasmeen was not doing enough to hold the government accountable. “Thasmeen has failed and our supporters have requested reforms,” he said. “We are calling for an agreement on holding a conference within a given time frame.”

According to Nihan, this conference could come in the form of an extraordinary party meeting or in the form of the congress scheduled for 2012. In the last party congress held back in 2010, Thasmeen was appointed by Gayoom himself as party leader.

Nihan said that any potential change in leadership ahead of the 2013 elections should be made would by a vote reflecting the choices of party members. “At present, we are hoping we may be able to schedule a congress or party meeting with members concerning leadership possibly by August,” he said.

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Government outlines student loan funding amidst wider education criticisms

The government has moved ahead with a Rf50 million student loan programme in an attempt to support a larger number of local people in further education, replacing the “pocket money” grant scheme that previously supplied limited study funding free of charge.

The funding switch has raised concerns among some students and opposition figures, who claim that not enough is being done to support and prepare young people for the challenges of a more diverse Maldives job market.

Aminath Ali, Deputy Minister of Human Resources, Youth and Sports, told Minivan News that 340 students currently studying in higher or further education institutions in the Maldives were now able to claim an equal share of the government supplied funding, which was expected to be paid back once courses were over.

“Out of 367 existing students who applied for the loans, 27 were rejected as they were not currently studying in the Maldives,” she said.

The switch from the previous “pocket money” system has not been without controversy, with some local students demonstrating outside the President’s Office back in March in order to try and reinstate charge-free grants for those in higher education.

Student protesters claimed at the time that some of their peers appeared to still be getting the pocket money grant, while others were struggling to afford or obtain books required for their studies in light of the student loan switch.

A spokesperson for the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) this week also criticised the government’s implementation of the student loan system, as well as its overall commitments to education in the country, claiming that both the funding and the range of courses currently on offer were “not sufficient” for their own needs – or those of the job market that will one day employ them.

Aminath Ali said she accepted that a number of students had become concerned about the change towards providing loans instead of the free grants previously offered.  However, the minister claimed the new system was in place to try to ensure that both the country and citizens could afford further education on a more sustainable basis in the long-term.

“Under the current budget we cannot provide free learning and funding for students at higher education institutions.  The [student loans] are similar to mechanisms in place in countries all over the world,” she said.  “Say a student has a total loan amount of Rf24,000 over their studies, they will have to pay back this amount and a five percent administration charge to cover the role of their bank over an agreed period of time.”

According to Ali, once a student had completed their studies, they are then given six months to find a job before having to begin paying back the funding.

The deputy human resources minister claimed that sufficient mechanisms were in place to allow student to pay back their loans to the government over a maximum of ten years depending on their revenue.  Ali added that in consultations with the Employment Ministry, she was confident that graduates would be able find jobs within this six month period that offer long-term career prospects for those willing to work.

The loan system is also said to be backed by 100 percent scholarship programmes for students studying abroad in areas such as medical sciences and technology, according to the ministry.  Ali claimed that 180 scholarships, based on educational performance, had been offered between January and May of this year.

Separate funding had also been put aside by the Ministry of Human Resources for students to apply for when entering into further education during the present academic year.

The Ministry of Education claimed that the move towards student loans reflected the need for funding at a wider number of institutions in the country that now offer higher education courses to students across different fields of expertise.

DRP Spokesperson Ibrahim ‘Mavota’ Shareef said that while the opposition party welcomed measures to financially support students in higher education, he believed the new loan system had failed to take into account hardships faced by the young, particularly those coming from islands to Male’ to live.

According to Shareef, while previous systems had provided a pocket money allowance and even some forms of salary to fund study from the government’s purse, he claimed the new loans were insufficient to cover the expenses of moving to Male’.

“From the complaints we have received from students, [the student loans] are not a popular initiative.  Government must reconsider this system, changes are expected to be for the better,” he said.  “If the government was replacing [student funding] with a better system, it would be welcomed.”

When addressing the government’s own need to reduce national spending and its own budget deficits amidst commitments to organisations such as the International Monetary fund (IMF), Shareef said that the government would have been better served by “gradually” phasing out the “pocket money” system as opposed to replacing it completely.

“In a country, no matter how rich it is, education is not an area where funding should be cut,” he said.

In addition to concerns over the student loan system, Shareef claimed that he also believed that the current higher education curriculum was out of synch with the demands of the modern Maldives job market.

“The whole education system does not match up with the job openings currently being offered,” he claimed. “Until the 1980’s, we had limited [job] openings available , so the purpose of education and training was to get people ready for working the civil service,” he said.

With the advent and growth of the country’s the tourist industry along with the emergence of regional and multinational businesses moving into the Maldivian economy, Shareef claimed that the education system had failed to move with the times in making people ready for this changing workplace.

“There are not enough professionals available that are trained to work in management positions within the tourism, fisheries and even construction industries.  Education is simply not meeting these requirements,” he said

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Government not lifting expat worker limits, HR minister claims

Minister of Human Resources Hassan Lateef, has denied that the government has loosened quotas on the hiring of expatriate workers like domestic servants, claiming regulatory reforms published last week had been designed to try “simplify” hiring foreigners.

Lateef told Minivan News that under new reforms, organisations or individuals wanting to hire expatriates would no longer have to apply for a quota before completing a separate application for a work permit, as part of attempts to make hiring foreign staff easier for employees and employers alike.

The minister added that the amendments, expected to be in place from next week, would continue to permit eligible households to hire a single domestic servant only.

“Some media outlets have been reporting that the government has removed quotas on certain expatriate workers, but this is not the idea at all,” he claimed.

Newspaper Haveeru reported today that amendments had been put forward in the government gazette on Thursday (March 26) to lift quota limits on expatriate employees hired to work either for government authorities, or as volunteer social workers or domestic servants.

Lateef claimed that the published reforms represented a procedural change for the Ministry of Human Resources due to concerns that the additional requirements of imposing a quota system on foreign workers was “totally unnecessary” alongside the existing work permit system.

The minister claimed that the process of an employer having to apply for a separate staff quota had made it difficult to replace expatriate staff such as domestic help quickly.

“There is no point in having too many layers in terms of [hiring] procedure. When it comes to household staff, it can be difficult to replace expatriate workers quickly,” he said. “Yet each household can still apply for only one domestic servant. This criteria is exactly the same as before the amendments were put forward.”

After being published in the government gazette, Lateef said that the amendments were expected to come into place next week.

With these amended regulations coming into place within 15 days of their gazette publication, the minister said he believed that collaboration would be needed with other official bodies such as the Department of Immigration and Emigration to oversee the measures.

Immigration issues

Just last month, the Maldives’ Controller of Immigration told Minivan News that the country needed to address its failure in not having adopted a national immigration policy to protect and control an expatriate workforce, which he estimated to at least equal the number of domestic labourers.

Controller Abdulla Shahid said at the time that that a lack of immigration controls or quota policy in the Maldives had left valuable foreign workers vulnerable to “inhumane” treatment from unscrupulous employers once they had legitimately arrived in the country.

Lateef said that in considering these apparent issues with immigration control in the country, he accepted that the Ministry of Human Resources, Youth and Sports would need to work collaboratively with fellow ministries over the changes.

“One cannot separate the issue of hiring expatriate workers between the immigration department and human resources officials. Like with any foreign workers, in hiring domestic servants we do have some [immigration] problems, which is why both systems should be linked,” he said.

Lateef claimed that there was significant work to be done with implementing the new regulations therefore, potentially requiring some additional policy changes to be made by the Department of Immigration and Emmigration.

However, speaking about the amendments to hire expatriate workers and replace the previous quota systems, Immigration Controller Shahid said today that he saw the new system as nothing more than a procedural change that would not significantly impact border control.

Although the changes to the quota requirements were likely to put more responsibility on labour authorities at the Ministry of Human resources, Shahid claimed the system was expected to make hiring expatriate domestic servants a “bit easier” in the country in the future.

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MATI claims tourism on track to maintain growth in 2011, despite Male’ protests

The Secretary General of the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) claims the country’s tourism industry remains on track to maintain growth despite recent widely publicised clashes between police and protesters in Male’ during May.

The total number of tourist arrivals to the country between January to April 2011 amounted to 327,563 people, up 16.9 percent over the same period last year, according to official statistics provided by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture. Of this demand, Europe continued to dominate visitor market share during the period.

MATI’s ‘Sim’ Mohamed Ibrahim told Minivan News that, as with for a number of destinations across South Asia, the Maldivian tourism sector had begun to “recover” from the impacts of global financial uncertainty in recent years. Sim said he believed the industry, through the use of strategies such as discounting during the off-season, appeared well placed to continue to profit from growing tourist interest, even with perceived challenges facing the industry relating to taxation and recent protests between police and members of the public.

Sim’s comments were made as the government pledged to increase a 3.5 percent Tourism Goods and Services Tax introduced on January 1 to five percent as part of economic reforms that led to a week of protests and violent clashes in Male’ during the beginning of this month.

These protests, which were said to have been instigated as a “youth movement” despite the involvement of several opposition politicians, saw thousands of Maldivians campaigning on the streets leading to occasional violent clashes that drew international coverage, raising some concerns over tourism safety.

Sim claimed that despite these protest concerns – which the government alleged reflected an attempt by some opposition politicians to “mislead” foreign media over their scale – the demonstrations occurring in Male’ and some islands were completely isolated from the country’s island-based resorts.  He added that the demonstrations would not impact tourism despite some nations issuing travel warnings for the Maldives.

Despite these potential concerns shown by some tourism markets, Sim said that he did not expect a huge negative impact on tourism arrival figures for May 2011 when released by authorities.  The MATI Secretary General added that he was optimistic over the impact of the government’s plans to introduce and extend direct taxation on all travel industry services and goods.

“There was some concern over the [tourism goods and services charge], the government appears to be going in the right direction by pledging to do away with duties such as bed charges by focusing on direct taxes,” he said. “On the whole we believe the tax will be beneficial to the country and the industry.”

From MATI’s perspective, Sim said that the organisation believed that instead of various duties and charges currently imposed by the government, the industry would be better served by replacing these charges with one or two “solid” direct taxes like the existing goods and service charges – a policy he claimed the government were already pursuing.

“We believe this would present a healthier picture for finance [in the industry],” he said.

When addressing potential future growth for visitor numbers amidst the Maldives’ peak tourism season drawing to an end in April, Sim said that “quite a lot” of discounting has been occurring within the industry to try and bolster arrivals.  However, the tourism association secretary general said that the decision to discount was ultimately profitable for the industry.

“We must not lose sight that the Maldives is a good value for money destination. For hoteliers, the most important thing is to keep the [visitor] figures going. There is quite a lot of discounting occurring to try and ensure more confidence to the market,” he said. “We are seeing more Chinese coming and although they may not be as high yield – in terms of spending power – than visitors from markets like Russia, they are arriving in good numbers.”

According to the latest Tourism Ministry figures, during the first four months of the year, European tourists including travellers from destinations like Russia accounted for 67.8 percent of the total market share of visitors compared to the same time last year up by 10.6 percent over the same time in 2010.

Asia and the Pacific represented 28.1 percent of the total tourist market with China alone accounting for 15.3 percent of all tourism arrivals over the period. Over the same time in 2010, visitors from the region increased by 35.1 percent to 92,132 people.

Among other regions, the Americas were found to represent 2.4 percent of the tourism market between January to April 2011, the Middle East accounted for 1.1 percent of arrivals and Africa represented 0.6 percent of the total tourism market.

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Mahlouf alleges MDP offered him $US2 million to defect

Opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Mahlouf has hit out at opposition politicians switching their allegiances for financial gain, claiming he too was offered a bribe to defect.

Mahlouf claimed that he had been “personally told” that Ali Waheed would be switching his political allegiance for money, and further alleged that he had himself been offered US$2 million to join and vote in favour of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

“I don’t believe selling myself is a choice, but ever since I have known some of these MPs they have always wanted money,” he said.

Mahlouf alleged that it was only Ali Waheed who had taken money to join the MDP – a move he claimed was a coup for the country’s governing party.

“[Waheed] was loved by the DRP, but now that he’s gone he is nobody,” Mahlouf said. “President Nasheed will have the same feeling, so this is a good deal.”

Mahouf said that although the defections, which come as a number of DRP parliamentarians have switched sides in parliament, was a sad development for opposition supporters. However he said he believed it was on the other hand a positive development in regards to the loyalty of the remaining politicians.

The DRP MP’s allegations of bribes being used to entice opposition politicians to switch parties were refuted by MDP spokesperson Ahmed Haleem, who claimed that Ali Waheed’s defection reflected political ambition and not financial concern.

Haleem added that although it remains essential for the MDP to obtain a political majority in parliament to pass a reform agenda blocked by partisan opposition majority, recent defections by MPs including the former DRP Deputy Leader were made on political principal and not bribes.

“Ali Waheed and Abdu Raheem – these are young ambitious people that are not part of the Gayoom regime. The MDP is the country’s only true democratic party, unlike the DRP which is more like a family organisation,” he claimed. “Waheed has a future in politics in this country and I believe he is a clean guy. So while we need a parliamentary majority for the MDP, we do not want to be spending money we don’t have to get it. This is politics, not a football transfer market.”

Questioned over whether some MDP supporters would be sceptical of the intentions of a former opposition MP like Ali Waheed, who in his first speech as an MDP member last week accepted he had been “critical” of President Nasheed and his government in the past, Haleem said he believed members were overall happy at the defection.

“I think all MDP supporters will be very happy, our members are determined in that they want change in this country,” he said.

The DRP has attracted significant local media attention in recent months with factional infighting between supporters of serving leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and his predecessor Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. One reason for the strife, according to Mahlouf, was division over how to respond to the government’s financial reform program and decision to devalue the rufiyaa against the US dollar.

Speaking at rallies and gatherings held this week against government economic reforms, following a week of protests earlier this month in Male’, Mahlouf, who is linked to the Z-DRP faction of the party, said that the so-called “youth movement” behind the protests had decided to give the government time to try and address financial concerns before resuming demonstrations.

Haleem meanwhile claimed that while the protests had lost momentum due to a growing public acceptance and understanding of the need for economic changes bought forward by President Mohamed Nasheed, as well as the “weakening” of the DRP.

“I think you will find that 99 percent of people are fed up with the DRP, even three of the party’s members have [defected],” Haleem said. “People are accepting that financial changes are needed and the president has been stating these aims more clearly. We are a civilised country and we need direct taxation – such as the tourism general service tax (TGST) – the President is not just changing the political but also the economic situation in the Maldives.”

Speaking last night during a rally held at the artificial beach area of Male’, Mahlouf claimed that demonstrations held over the last few days had been organised by Thasmeen’s supporters and a number of local NGOs rather than the “youth movement” that had instigated protests earlier in the month.

“We need to be responsible politicians right now and protesting every night is not the only solution to the economic issues,” he said.  “We did a good job supporting the protesters, but it’s time to give some time to the government to try and make changes before we consider more protests.”

Addressing crowds of DRP supporters during last night’s gathering, which he said had drawn “huge crowds”, Mahlouf used his speech to attack the recent defection of a number of DRP politicians such as Ali Waheed to the MDP cause, as the party of President Nasheed seeks to entrench its long-sought parliamentary majority.

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Two hospitalised in Male’ residential fire

Two people were hospitalised as a blaze destroyed the G. Saalimeege residential building in the centre of Male’ this morning .

Police confirmed that no fatalities had been recorded.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam told Minivan News that the fire, which was believed to have started around 9:30am this morning, was now under control and an investigations had been launched to determine its probable cause.

A number of roads surrounding the blaze were closed off by police and members of the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF). Minivan News observed that thick clouds of smoke emanating from the fire were still visible around the nearby Majlis building late in the morning.

Shiyam claimed that although all residents were believed to have been successfully evacuated from the building, it was unlikely they would be able to return as the wooden structure was completely destroyed.

He added that residents of the neighbouring building, G. Suthulige, were also evacuated as the fire spread causing further damage to additional properties.

Nearby furniture store Allora was also said to have been impacted by smoke from the blaze, though police said they were not aware of any damage to property at the site.

“Everybody was evacuated from the buildings although two people were hospitalised due to inhaling smoke from the fire,” Shiyam added.  “We are not aware of any fatalities resulting from the fire.”

Local newspaper Haveeru reported that MNDF firefighters had initially run out of water tackling the blaze.  However, the MNDF turned instead to a more plentiful supply in the form of the sea, opting to pipe water directly from the harbour opposite the President’s office on Boduthakurufaanu Magu.

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Business as usual for Maldives travel industry despite ash disrupting flights in Europe

European flight services to and from the Maldives have not been impacted by the release of volcanic ash from Iceland into the local atmosphere with business continuing as normal today, according to staff at Male’ International Airport.

The BBC reported that some 700 flights had been cancelled across Germany today over safety concerns concerning a buildup of ash in parts of European airspace that originated from Iceland’s Grimsvotn volcano.  The report added that the situation is reported to already been returning to normal.

Last April, an eruption from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano created a thick cloud of volcanic ash that grounded days of flights across Europe and Scandinavia. The ash impacted a number of the world’s leading airlines and their services to the Maldives, leaving tourists stranded in the country for days in some cases.

However, officials at Male’ International Airport said that the latest volcanic eruption occurring in Iceland this week had not at present had any severe impacts on arrival or departure schedules at the airport – claims that were shared by a number of airlines.

Speaking to Minivan News a spokesperson for British Airways, which operates  direct flights from London to the Maldives, said the airline had experienced only a minor number of interruptions to its flights on certain services to Scotland and parts of northern Germany.

“At present we have not been made aware of any potentially significant impacts [from the ash] on our flight schedules,” the spokesperson added.

Darrell Soertsz, District Manager for Emirates’ operations in the Maldives, said services between Europe and the Maldives had similarly been untroubled.

“So far things have been operating normally and we certainly hope to keep things that way,” he said.

Tourism Minister Dr Mariyam Zulfa said she had not been fully informed of the exact impacts of travel disruptions, if any, to the country’s tourism industry.

Dr Zulfa added that the industry had suffered last year following difficulties with volcanic ash in European airspace. Nonetheless she said it was her belief that tourism in the country was strong enough to overcome any possible difficulties that could result from the latest eruption.

“Any possible flight disruptions will of course have an impact on tourism,” she said. “Overall [last year’s] eruptions were a major hassle for the country. However, as is always the case, resort operators and other members of the industry will work together to find solutions and these solutions will be found.”

Speaking to Minivan News last year whilst the Eyjafjallajokull volcano eruption bought European Airspace to a standstill, ‘Sim’ Mohamed Ibrahim of the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) said the cancellation of flights highlighted the vulnerability of the country’s tourism industry to outside forces.

Sim said the most important thing to note from the situation was “how vulnerable and dependent we are on external influences” and how much “incidents that we can’t control” affect the industry.

He claimed that the eruptions had not been such a huge problem for resorts at the time, but noted people were not happy about the developments that left passengers stranded in the Maldives as well as all over the world. “Obviously, we are doing the best we can. The situation is very difficult to manage.”

Sim said although some resorts had taken the flight cancellations “very seriously and responsibly,” others did not do as much as they could to ensure their guests were kept as “happy and comfortable” as possible under the circumstances.

“There is very little we can do,” he said at the time. “There is no way anyone can leave or come [to the country].”

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