Business & Tourism – Page 57 – Minivan News

STO to purchase three resort islands to generate dollars

State Trading Organisation (STO) has announced it will venture into the Maldives tourism industry in order to increase its access to foreign currency.

The STO is the Maldives’ state-owned importer, and is the primary supplier of general goods, fuel and pharmaceuticals to the Maldives. It also supplies aviation fuel to Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA).

STO Managing Director Shahid Ali said the company needed to purchase “at least three resorts and one hotel”, to meet its demand for foreign currency at a time the country was facing a ongoing dollar shortage, according to newspaper Haveeru.

The Maldives grapples with a foreign currency deficit due to a heavy import-export imbalance. Goods from overseas must be purchased with foreign currency, but the Maldives has little ability to earn this outside the resort industry.

The industry typically pays salaries in local currency, while most of the its banking is conducted outside the country in financial hubs such as Singapore. The properties also charge directly in US dollars bypassing the rufiya altogether, a practice which is technically against the country’s monetary legislation but is unenforced by the central bank. As a result, the wider Maldives economy sees little of the dollars that tourists bring into the country, and importers must rely on the fluctuating blackmarket for rufiya-dollar transactions.

“We are trying to a find a way to earn the foreign currency we need without relying on another party for it,” Shahid Ali told Haveeru. “Venturing into the tourism industry is the way to achieve that. We need to own at least three resorts for this,” he said.

The STO board is currently reviewing resort islands for purchase, and a decision is yet to be made on which islands will be bought.

STO Spokesperson Ismail Sadiq had not returned calls at time of press.

The company is currently building a 5-star hotel on Hulhumale under a contract with USA-based multinational travel company, Carlson Group. The hotel project started in October 2011, although the contract was signed between STO and Carlson in 2008. Shahid said at the time that the delay was due to financial constraints.

The STO was initially formed in 1946 as a fully state-funded business, in the name of Athireemaafannu Trading Agency (ATA), with the task of purchasing and importing essential food items in bulk to be distributed nationally via local traders and their own retail outlets. It was later expanded and rebranded as the State Trading Organisation.

The STO is not the first government entity to venture into the tourism industry. In February 2010 the Maldives Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) – another public company investing in the tourism industry – paid US$3.5 million to end a long-running court dispute with former management of Herathera, Yacht Tours, after the company stopped paying rent and claimed the MTDC had failed to fulfil a contractual obligation to build a channel between the resort and the adjoining island of Hulhudhoo.

MTDC agreed to pay Yacht Tours the money to end the dispute due to spiraling costs: at one stage, 600 staff had been employed to look after 28 guests.

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Government to issue fishing subsidy upon Majilis approval

Fishermen will start receiving the 100 million Rufiyaa (US$6.4 million) fuel subsidy allocated to them in the 2012 state budget as soon as Parliament approves revisions proposed by the Fisheries Ministry, the government has said.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture Ahmed Shafeeu said subsidising fuel for fishing vessels would “incentivise” many fishermen who are currently unable to fish due to high fuel prices.

“A lot of fishermen now use larger fishing boats which require more fuel. So they opt not to make trips if they can’t get a good catch after burning so much fuel. The fuel subsidy will encourage more people to go fishing,” said the minister.

Shafeeu said fishing in the Maldives has declined by more than half from approximately 185,000 tonnes of fish caught in 2006 to about 70,000 in 2011.

“It is very important to assist the fishermen as it affects the livelihood of many people. Also, this needs to be done in order to sustain the industry and increase fish exports as there is a risk of losing some markets,” he explained.

This year’s subsidies, unlike previously, will be given based on the horsepower (hp) of the fishing vessel instead of the size of the vessel. Registrations are open until June 7 for fishing boats to apply for subsidies, according to the ministry.

The former administration withheld releasing the subsidy citing insufficient funds in the state budget for the fishing subsidy. Former Minister of Finance Ahmed Inaz told the Parliament in October 2011 that the state would have to reduce other subsidies to issue Rf100 million as oil subsidies for fishermen.

Governor of the country’s central bank Fazeel Najeeb last month said the Maldives was facing its worst economic crisis in recent history. Parliament’s Finance Committee revealed in May that expected revenue for 2012 had plunged 23 percent – a shortfall of US$168.6 million, leaving the country with a budget deficit of 27 percent.

Fisheries Minister Shafeeu said although the state is in debt, the 100 million must be released to fishermen since Parliament had allocated the money for fishing subsidies in the state budget.

Former CEO of the Maldives Industry of Fisheries Corporation (MIFCO) Adil Saleem, who also held the position of Transport Minister in the former government, said encouraging a subsidised industry “completely reverses” of the former government’s policies, although he said it was important for fishermen “in the current situation.”

“Subsidising is wrong,” Saleem said, arguing that it did not address the core problems in the industry and is “not the solution for a sustainable industry.”

“Coup financiers are shaping the industry so that the fishermen act as their staff, going fishing everyday on subsidised fuel,” said Saleem.

However, he noted the fishermen are currently in “desperate need” of assistance due to the low prices they get for the fish, and said the subsidies should be released to them as a short-term measure.

“An election is what we really need,” Saleem said.

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Sixty resort islands in limbo after political turmoil strikes CSR programme

The government has refuted local media reports that it is considering halting the lease of 60 islands award for resort development by the former administration.

The islands in question were to be leased under a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) tourism programme initiated by the former government. The programme faced heavy criticism from the start, especially from opposition figures now senior officials in the current government.

Critics alleged that the CSR programme was against the law as the islands were awarded in the absence of an open bidding system, and had favored Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) members.

The National Planning Council (NPC) – formed by the previous government and currently “under review” – leased islands for resort development to interested individuals, with the condition they undertook a development project on an inhabited island, such as building water and sewerage systems.

The development project had to be completed to an “acceptable level” on an island of the government’s choice within an allocated time frame, before the resort would be leased for development. In addition, the resort would be owned by a joint-venture company formed between the state and the resort developer, with the government holding a five percent share of the company.

The NPC had awarded contracts to at least 10 parties to develop 10 different islands. The fate of these contracts are still unclear as the potential resort developers await a decision by the government. The government, in turn, claim to be waiting for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to make a decision.

“The issue is not in our hands now. There are some legal issues to be addressed. Even the 10 islands with contracts might be cancelled. We will decide on it once the ACC gives its recommendations,” said the Minister of Tourism, Ahmed Adheeb.

Meanwhile, local newspaper Haveeru on Monday reported a “prominent” tourism ministry official stating that the government had decided not to lease the islands awarded “without bids”, in line with the ACC’s recommendations on the issue. Around 60 of the awarded islands will no longer to be leased, according to Haveeru.

“We have decided to cancel the proposals of the islands without agreements. In addition, a decision pertaining to the islands where agreements have been made will be taken after the ongoing discussions with the ACC,” the official told Haveeru.

President of the ACC, Hassan Luthfy denied reports that the commission had specifically ordered the NPC to discontinue the CSR programme.

“During the former administration, we recommended the NPC award all projects within an open bidding system. It did apply to the CSR programme but we did not specifically ask for the CSR projects to be stopped,” Luthfy told Minivan News.

The ACC began investigating the CSR programme in May 2012 and a decision is yet to be made.

Speaking to Minivan News, member of the NPC and former Economic Minister Mahmoud Razee defended the CSR-programme.

“The programme did not break the law. The tourism law allows two options by which resort islands can be leased: either through the bidding system or by the government holding a share of the company owning the leased resort,” said Razee.

He further claimed the CSR programme was more egalitarian and would enable more people to be involved in the tourism industry, rather than just those with access to large upfront capital.

“The programme was completely open for anyone to apply. It was conducted in a very transparent manner. It was also more efficient than the bidding system where people would just put down huge amounts of money and then later be unable to develop the resort. Even now there are about 60 islands awarded through bids that are still not developed,” he said.

“The CSR programme cuts down the initial costs for developers and gives more people the opportunity to own resorts,” Razee explained.

‘Sim’ Ibrahim Mohamed, one of the individuals awarded an island and under the CSR programme, agreed.

“According to tourism law there is no need for an open bid if the government has a share in the resort. The whole motivation behind the theme of the CSR programme was very noble. It was a very sound, well thought-out policy by the previous government,” said Ibrahim.

In contrast to the bidding system which “always favored people who already had money”, the CSR programme “made everyone equal in terms of the ability to enter the tourism industry as an owner,” he explained.

The CSR programme also opened a doorway for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to enter the tourism industry, said Ibrahim.

In addition, he said that leasing islands to resort developers in exchange for providing basic facilities on inhabited islands, such as water and sewerage system,s was “a very good way of doing it”, taking the country’s economic situation into consideration.

Asked how the current limbo state of the CSR programme would affect investor confidence in the country, Ibrahim noted “well, in this instance, the investors ran away.”

“This government has been in power for over 100 days and still nothing has happened. We don’t know. We are waiting, the investors are waiting. So it is just money lost, it is opportunity lost. It’s not only investors’ confidence but also financial institutions such as banks that lend you money.”

Although the government has not reached a decision yet, it still remains skeptical about the CSR programme.

“I don’t think the people who got the resorts have the financial capacity to conduct the projects in the islands,” said tourism minister Adheeb. “There are no documents with any evidence of their funds.”

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Government to unveil “new environmental strategy”

The government will “not completely” reverse the former government’s carbon neutral policies outlined by President Mohamed Nasheed during his three years in office, the President’s Office has said.

President’s Office Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza told Minivan News the government was this week expecting to unveil details of a new environmental strategy for the nation. Riza claimed this strategy would seek to play up national debate about sustainable practices at both an island and national level.

Riza’s comments were made as the government this month launches a number of environment-themed events to coincide with the Rio+20 sustainable development summit that is taking place in Brazil between June 20 and June 22.

Meanwhile, former President Mohamed Nasheed, who maintains he was removed from office in February under a “coup d’etat”, claimed it would be “impossible” for the present government to outline sustainable development strategies unless it had the stability of a democratic mandate.

Abbas however maintained that President Waheed would “not totally reverse” Nasheed’s environmental commitments towards carbon neutral policies.

“In the next 24 hours or so we will hope to be unveil more details of our new strategy. We will not be enacting a 180 degree change in direction to the previous government’s zero carbon strategy,” he claimed. “What we are aiming to do is to elaborate more on individual sustainable issues and subject them to national debate. Previously, these discussions on sustainability were not subjected to a national debate, such as through parliament.”

The former government conducted a number of high-profile exercises in a bid to raise the profile of its efforts to secure funding and assistance to make the country carbon neutral by 2020, such as the now internationally famous underwater cabinet meeting.

Riza added that the government was looking to establish new laws and regulations to safeguard nationwide sustainable commitments. There had been “very little” debate on environmental policy in parliament during Nasheed’s presidency, Riza said.

Destination: Rio

The Rio +20 Conference taking place later this month aims to bring together world leaders, NGOs and private sector representatives to outline new directions for political commitments on overcoming the challenges setting back sustainable development.

According to the Maldives government, the conference will focus on bolstering green economies to relieve poverty, as well as improving coordination between various international bodies and national authorities.

In the lead up to the event, the Maldives has launched a new social media service on Facebook, the Future of Maldives Sustainable Development, which details work presently being conducted by authorities towards eco-friendly commitments.

In the next few weeks, a number of sustainability themed events will be held around the country. These include a no-vehicle day in Male’, which will see non-emergency traffic banned from the capital’s roads for several hours next Tuesday (June 12), a renewable energy exchange at schools, and the launch of a Climate Change Trust Fund.

Presidential promotion

During his inaugural address in March, President Waheed claimed that like former President Nasheed, he would remain an internationally outspoken proponent on the plight of small nations facing the destructive impacts of climate change.

“The government will encourage the voice of small island nations to be heard in the global arena with regard to climate change,” stated the president. “The Maldives will always participate in voicing the concerns of small island nations.”

The president was heckled on multiple occasions whilst trying to give his constitutionally mandated address to parliament by MPs of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), which continues challenge the legitimacy of Dr Waheed’s government and demand early elections.

Waheed eventually delivered a truncated speech in April during a rescheduled Majlis session, amid loud protests in the parliament chamber and violent clashes between civilians and police in the capital.

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has meanwhile remained an outspoken advocate for the Maldives’ efforts to adopt wide-scale carbon neutral practices.

In an interview prior to the screening of the Island President at the Hay Festival in the UK, the former president said the lack of a stable government in the Maldives would set back efforts to promote its sustainable policies and interests internationally.

“It is going to be very difficult for us to adapt to climate change if we do not have a solid and secure democratic government,” Nasheed told the UK Daily Telegraph newspaper.

In the months following his controversial resignation, Nasheed visited the US to raise awareness on the current political upheaval in the country, as well the documentary film, “The Island President” in a tour that saw him appearing on prime time TV and at talks across the country.

The documentary film chronicles his government’s ambitious pledge to become a carbon neutral nation by 2020, and has received increased global coverage since Nasheed was removed from office.

Speaking to Conde Nast Traveler to promote the film at the time, Nasheed expressed hope that the country would continue to work towards becoming carbon neutral, even as he challenged the legitimacy of Dr Waheed’s government.

“We were making real progress. I hope the government will continue our policies. But you can’t have good policies without democracy. And you won’t address the climate change crisis without good policies,” Nasheed told journalist Dorinda Elliott. “All democratic movements must talk about both climate change and human rights.”

In March, local environmental NGO Bluepeace claimed that ongoing political uncertainty in the country and questions over the legitimacy of the current government had set back the country’s commitments to sustainable development.

Bluepeace Director Ahmed Ikram said discussions on domestic environmental commitments were being sidelined by increasingly partisan political thinking throughout the country.

Ikram claimed that the national media was also not providing much coverage or promotion to climate change adoption in the Maldives. He alleged this was in part due to sections of the media favouring the former president’s political opponents, reflecting the politicisation of environmental commitments.

“We support [former] President Nasheed. Yes there are times when we may have disagreed with his policies, but we still supported him as our president,” said Ikram. “What we are experiencing today – with Maldivian businesses making use of solar panels – are the benefits of Nasheed’s work on the environment.”

Despite his personal criticisms of the current government and the long-term prospects for democracy in the country, Ikram said Bluepeace fully supported the present government’s role in supporting projects such as the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Earth Hour initiative.

Asked if he felt that Maldivians were committed to long-term conservation beyond one-off annual events such as Earth Hour, Ikram said the Maldivian public were generally committed in adapting to climate change.

“I believe that the Maldivian people are the ones who will serve as climate change champions in the end,” he said.

International perspective

Despite Nasheed’s high-profile climate activism, Greenpeace in 2010 told Minivan News that the Maldives acted more “as a symbol than a practical demonstration” of how national development and fighting climate change can be mutually exclusive.

“The Maldives can become a strong proponent of a paradigm shift in the World Bank and in developing countries whereby it is recognised that fighting climate change and promoting development go hand in hand,” said Wendel Trio, Climate Policy and Global Deal Coordinator for Greenpeace International.

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Former shark fishermen learn farming and aquaculture at M&S-sponsored workshop

Mohamed Rauf is a father of three from Kanditheemu in Shaviyani Atoll. Like most fishermen in his island, he took up shark fishing as a means to provide for his family.

For three years Rauf’s family depended on selling sharks to local buyers until the government of the Maldives imposed a nationwide shark fishing ban, bringing a halt to his income from shark fishing.

In March 2010, the government banned all types of shark fishing within its territorial waters, which covers about 90,000 square kilometres, technically making it the largest shark sanctuary in the world at the time. A trade ban on all shark products was imposed in July 2011.

Rauf is just one of the estimated 200 shark fishermen whose livelihood was affected following the ban.

Although the government in March 2010 said it would provide the fishermen with financial support and retraining, Rauf had to wait two years for any action on the matter. Last week, his hopes were finally raised.

‘Alternative livelihoods for former shark fishermen’ is a training workshop funded by UK retailer Marks & Spencer, focusing on farming and aquaculture training. The workshop was held last week for former shark fishermen and their families from the islands of Kulhudhuffushi in Haa Dhaal Atoll and Kan’ditheemu and Goidhoo in Shaviyani Atoll.

Seamarc Pvt Ltd, an environmental consultancy in the Maldives, coordinated the workshop in collaboration with the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture and New England Seafood.

Environmental consultant at Seamarc, Marie Saleem, said the workshop was conducted by experts from the Hanimaadhoo Agriculture Centre and Marine Research Centre, and was a great success.

“The workshop served as an inspiration to people – they have being asking for this since 2010. Now they realise they can really do things like hydroponics and agriculture on the islands,” Saleem said.

The farming course focused on home gardening and hydroponic techniques. Participants learned to cultivate different crops including chilli, watermelon and papaya. Participants also acquired knowledge on common pest and disease control related to these crops.

The aquaculture course focused on different species of aquaculture including food fish, clown fish, grouper, pearl, seaweed and sea cucumber cultivation. A lecture on the commercial aspects of mariculture was also given by the Maldives Industrial Fisheries Corporation (MIFCO).

The Hanimaadhoo Agriculture Centre will conduct a further, more in-depth agricultural training course later this year. The three-month course and another two-week long training on aquaculture planned for the year are expected to equip the participants with more hands-on experience.

“It was more of an introductory workshop this time. We really hope participants will continue with the other workshops that are coming up,” Saleem added.

Rauf, who has now achieved a certificate from the workshop, agreed that further workshops, especially in aquaculture, would be helpful.

“The workshop was great. We learned a lot of new things. But I am only confident with the farming techniques so far. Another workshop in aquaculture will be very useful,” he said.

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Indian High Commission slams Education Ministry over stranded expatriate teachers

The Indian High Commission in the Maldives has claimed skilled expatriate workers such as teachers employed in Maldives continue to be “penalised” due to government and private sector employers failing to fulfil their responsibilities.

First Secretary of the Indian High Commission in the Maldives S. C. Agarwal has said he continues this week to receive complaints from expatriate teachers unable to return home as a result of education authorities failing to reissue visa documentation.

The Department of Immigration and Emigration, whilst under former controller Ilyas Hussain Ibrahim, claimed last week that a solution had been reached to allow the state-employed Indian teachers affected by the visa renewal issue to return home. A spokesperson for the immigration body added that the issues regarding the teachers’ out of date visas were the result of an “administrative problem” that had now been resolved.

However, First Secretary Agarwal maintains that teachers from India continue to be penalised under the present system for no fault of their own.

More than 30 teachers during the last week were said to have been unable to reclaim their passports from authorities after their visas were found to not have been renewed.

According to the Indian High Commission, the teachers, who are said to work at various public schools across the country, had effectively been left stranded in the Maldives after they were not permitted to leave the country.

In some cases, teachers are believed to have only discovered their visa documents had not been renewed by their employers after reaching Male’ to return home temporarily.

Agarwal said that although some teachers had returned to India on an emergency basis, others were still waiting on authorities to regularise their visas before being allowed to leave the country.

“Two teachers came to see me this morning after being in Male’ for more than a week now. They were told that they will not be able to leave at least before Tuesday until their visas are renewed. They have spent about Rf5,000 to stay here in Male,’” he said.

“I will not consider this issue resolved until all expatriates, whether from India or elsewhere, have their visas renewed or are sent home. Either expatriates are provided with the documentation they are promised by the government or their employers, or they should be sent home. There is no third option.”

Agarwal stressed that many of the teachers, whose passports are routinely taken from them by the Ministry, were being punished for mistakes made by the Ministry of Education, as well as immigration officials.

“My problem is we are getting teachers coming to us who have been stranded here in Male’ unable to return home. In many cases they are trying to return for emergency reasons and are unable to do so,” he said. “It is the responsibility of the employer – in this case the government – to ensure work visas are renewed on time.”

Agarwal said that he was concerned that a much larger number of teachers from India could have been affected by the visa renewal issue beyond the 30 cases brought to the attention of the high commission.

“I believe most of the workers affected will have gone to the Ministry of Education or the Immigration Department first to try and resolve the issue. The most desperate people will have come to us directly for assistance,” he said.

Complaints from the Indian High Commission about poor treatment of their nationals echo those made by the Bangladeshi High Commission on May 9.

Earlier this month, High Commissioner of Bangladesh, Rear Admiral Abu Saeed Mohamed Abdul Awal claimed workers were being brought to the Maldives to perform unskilled work, and often suffered from the practices of ”bad employers”.

“This is a real problem that is happening here, there have been many raids over the last year on unskilled [expatriate] workers who are suffering because of the companies employing them. They are not being given proper salaries and are paying the price for some of these employers,” he said at the time.

In line with concerns raised by counterparts within the High Commission of Bangladesh, Agarwal claimed that the Indian High Commission had also been speaking out about private sector employers who have left their foreign workers “in the lurch”.

“We have been made aware of cases where Indian workers are not being provided with the visas they are promised or, in some cases, even their salaries. My concerns today for these teachers is that they are trained professionals working in the government sector,” he said. “These workers are following the legal procedures here, but they are being penalised for it. There is even more concern for teachers based out in the islands, who may not know what is going on. The police will still be entitled to arrest them as illegal immigrants.”

Immigration solution

Former Controller of Immigration and Emigration Ilyas Hussain Ibrahim told Minivan News on Thursday – prior to his replacement by Dr Mohamed Ali – that the visa issues affecting the Indian teachers had been resolved.

“Now they can fly, but when they return they have to complete their visa document. I issued an order to our chief in that section to handle this as soon as possible,” he said at the time.

A spokesperson overseeing the visa issue for the Department of Immigration said that the difficulties in returning the Indian teachers home had been the result of an “administrative problem” that had since been solved.

“The problem had been that their visas had not been regularised by the Ministry of Education,” he said. The spokesperson claimed that the problems in regularising the teachers’ visas had been solved by allowing the workers to renew their documentation once they returned to the Maldives for work.

Deputy Education Minister Anthu Ali forwarded Minivan News to State Minister of Education Imad Solih. Solih was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

Regional concerns

Last month Indian High Commissioner Dynaneshwar Mulay raised concerns over the treatment of expatriates from across the South Asia region – particularly by the country’s police and judiciary.

Mulay claimed that alongside concerns about the treatment of some Indian expatriates in relation to the law, there were significant issues relating to “basic human rights” that needed to be addressed concerning expatriates from countries including Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Mulay’s comments were made following an alleged attack on a Indian resort worker, who was reported to have been struck with a hammer and mugged while staying in a hotel in Male’. The attack was allegedly committed by a former employee of the same resort.

Big business

Beyond concerns about the basic human rights of foreign employees in the country, labour trafficking is also represents a significant national economic issue.

An ongoing police investigation into labour trafficking in the Maldives last year uncovered an industry worth an estimated US$123 million, eclipsing fishing (US$46 million in 2007) as the second greatest contributor of foreign currency to the Maldivian economy after tourism.

The authorities’ findings echo concerns first raised by former Bangladeshi High Commissioner Dr Selina Muhsin, reported by Minivan News in August 2010. The comments by Mushin were made shortly after the country was placed on the US State Department’s Tier 2 watchlist for human trafficking.

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Maldives only South Asian country to record tourism decline in Jan-Feb: MATI

The Maldives was the sole South Asian country not have seen an increase in tourist arrivals in the first two months of the year, according to the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI).

In a statement, MATI said that all other South Asian countries that published tourism statistics had recorded significant increases, with India at the top of the list with an increase of 40,000 tourists in Jan-Feb.

Sri Lanka experienced 27 percent growth in tourist arrivals. Tourist arrivals to the Maldives dropped by five percent during the same period.

According to Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) statistics, Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing tourist region in the world, with South East Asia showing the highest increases, closely followed by South Asia.

The Maldives’ number one tourism market – China – declined substantially in February and March after charter flights were cancelled due to political turmoil.

The market recovered in April with the restoration of these flights, with Chinese arrivals showing a 3.5 percent increase compared to the same period last year, after a massive 34.8 percent decline in February. The Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) has predicted substantial growth in June-July.

However the Italian and UK markets reported substantial declines in April, with arrivals plunging 27 percent and 20 percent respectively compared to April 2011. These losses were partially offset by an increase in German, Swiss and Russian arrivals.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the PATA statistics applied to arrivals so far this year. The PATA figures were for the first two months of the year. Minivan News apologises for any confusion caused.

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Immigration Offices raided by ACC; investigators allege intimidation

The offices of the Department of Immigration and Emigration were raided by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) officials with assistance from police after the granting of a court order.

The seeking of a court order followed thwarted efforts by the ACC earlier in the day to gain access to the immigration department’s offices across the greater Male’ area.

The ACC confiscated around 75 laptops, reports Haveeru, which had allegedly been given to staff as part of a Rf500 million (US$32 million) deal with the Malaysian company Nexbis to develop a new border control system in the Maldives.

According to Sun Online, the ACC has this morning filed a case against the Immigration Department alleging that its staff were intimidated whilst attempting to conduct their investigations.

ACC Vice President Muavviz Rasheed stated that investigators were locked in the building and that the lights and the air conditioning were turned off.

“It is a crime to obstruct ACC in its efforts to carry out its responsibilities. There are punishments for this. So we will take action according to the law. We will not be silent when people attempt to dishonour our authority in this manner,” ACC Vice President Muavviz Rasheed told Sun.

Assistant Controller of the Immigration Department Ibrahim Ashraf told Minivan News today that this intimidation did not happen, rather that the incident alluded to by Muavviz occurred when ACC investigators attempted to remain in the building past the office’s working hours.

“They wanted to stay in the building past the end of working hours – we have been instructed not to do any overtime because of financial constraints. This resulted in havoc,” said Ashraf.

Ashraf said that he had spoken to the person responsible for locking the building at the end of each day and had been assured that the doors had not been locked with ACC employees inside.

Ashraf stated that the ACC had attempted to search the offices without first obtaining a court order and without informing immigration staff. In addition he said that the ACC wished to search employees’ personal lockers.

He said that the ACC had eventually been granted a the court order at midnight, after which its investigators returned to the Velanaage headquarters.

It was at this point that the ACC confiscated the majority of the laptops which Ahsraf stated were part of the Nexbis project. He added, however, that the new Nexbis software was not yet installed on the confiscated computers.

Ashraf also stated that the ACC visited the residence of a senior department figure at around 5:00am to confiscate a laptop after the court order had expired.

The ACC began to investigate the bidding process by which the deal had been awarded soon after it was announce that Nexbis had won the tender in November 2010.

In late 2011, the commission forwarded cases against the Immigration Controller Ilyas Hussain Ibrahim and Director General of the Finance Ministry Saamee Ageel, to the Prosecutor General’s Office (PG), alleging that the pair had abused their authority for undue financial gain in granting the contract to Nexbis.

After the ACC ordered work on the project halted, the Civil Court ruled that the commission did not have the authority to make such an order. The ACC subsequently challenged this ruling in the High Court.

The ACC President Hassan Luthfee told Minivan News last week that a decision was anticipated by the end of May. He hoped the High Court would “delineate” the role of the ACC.

Both the President and Vice President of the ACC were unavailable for comment at the time of press.

Clarification on the powers of the ACC would alleviate confusion which has also arisen in the Thilafushi-Heavy Load reclamation project.

Heavy Load, a company run by the family of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Interim Chairman Moosa ‘Reeko’ Manik, came under the ACC’s radar after similar complaints regarding this project’s tender process.

Moosa claimed at the time that the ACC was not politically impartial. At a press conference today, MDP Deputy Chairperson Mohamed ‘Inthi’ Imthiyaz was asked about yesterday’s raid, responding: “A series of mini-coups follow coup d’etat. I believe this is one of those mini-coups”.

Last week, details emerged that the first phase of the Nexbis project had been completed even as legal issues remained unresolved.

This first phase had reportedly involved a significant financial outlay by the company, which has previously threatened legal action should it incur losses as a result of delays to the project.

In the preceding week, the High Court had ordered an injunction halting any further work on the project pending the outcome of the ACC’s appeal on the Civil Court ruling.

Assistant Controller Ashraf expressed his concern that hindrances to the new border control system will have ramifications that go far beyond political turf-wars.

“Whoever is doing this to jeopardise the image of the Immigration Department needs to understand that the consequences may be disastrous. I don’t want the Maldives to become another Bali or Mumbai,” he said.

“They can take action against corruption and let the border control project continue. We are becoming a weak spot in the region. I have serious concerns.”

“We have a population of 300,000 which includes 100,000 foreigners. We have to be sure that they do not have criminal records, that they are not fugitives hiding in paradise,” added Ashraf.

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Heavy Load’s Thilafushi project one fifth completed in double the allotted time

Delays in the Thilafushi reclamation project have resulted in only 20 percent of the work being completed, says Managing Director of the government owned Thilafushi Corporation (TCL), Mohamed Latheef.

The Rf323 million ($US21 million) project was awarded to the Heavy Load Maldives company in September 2010, with work beginning in February 2011. The scheme was to involve the reclamation of 157 hectares of land over six months as part of the continued development of an international port for the Thilafalhu Industrial Zone (TIZ). Thilafalhu is the name of the lagoon around which Thilafushi lies.

The TIZ is intended to promote industrial growth in the greater Male’ area by providing facilities on Thilafushi that will attract medium to heavy industries. This will also include plots for large industrial facilities, warehouse facilities, and a roll-on roll-off ferry service.

As well as fostering economic growth it is hoped that this plan can reduce congestion, and thereby increase the quality of life, for the people of Male’, where the nation’s major port is currently situated.

Male’ is one of the most densely populated cities in the world with over 100,000 people per square kilometre.

Latheef stated that only 32 hectares had been reclaimed on Thilafushi by Heavy Load.

“The project is on hold due to issues which we are working with contractors to resolve,” said Latheef. “We hope to resolve these issues in the next one two weeks.”

Latheef said that these problems were both technical and financial.

“The dredger is not currently on site. It has been taken to Sri Lanka for maintenance,” he added.

The project ran into legal difficulties within days of work having started. The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) alleged corrupt practices in the project’s tendering process. The TCL then filed a case against the ACC in the Civil Court arguing that it did not have the authority to order that the work be suspended.

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Interim Chairman Moosa ‘Reeko’ Manik, whose family runs the Heavy Load Maldives company, alleged at the time that the ACC’s charges were a “political trick”, suggesting that elements of the ACC were influenced by opposition politicians.

Representatives of Heavy Load, including Moosa himself, were unavailable for comment at the time of press.

In a similar case, the ACC has attempted, seemingly without success, to halt the work on a new border security system provided by the Malaysian company Nexbis. President of the ACC Hassan Luthfee told Minvan News last week that the ACC has appealed to the Supreme Court to “delineate” the role of the ACC.

Luthfee today said that the Civil Court case was due to be heard in the second week of June whilst the ACC’s original case alleging corrupt bidding practices remains with the Prosecutor General (PG).

Sun Online this week reported that the PG’s office had filed cases against three former TCL board members in relation to the award of the reclamation project to Heavy Load.

Sun also reported last month that the guarantee cheque from Heavy Load, worth 5 percent of the deal’s value, Rf16.1 million (US$1 million), had expired. A spokesman from the Finance Ministry said that a new cheque was required but had not at that time been received, although the company had assured it would be done.

Thilafushi has become infamous internationally in recent months as the ‘ugly face’ of the Maldives owing to the waste management services that the island provides. Both the BBC and France’s Le Monde have covered the topic in recent weeks.

Reclamation of land around the lagoon began in 1992 in order to solve the waste management problems from waste generated in Malé. Since then an increasing number of industrial firms have relocated to plots leased on the island.

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