Category: News in Brief

Maldivian fishing vessel catches fire

A boat belonging to Maldivian fisheries company Mifco has caught fire while undergoing repairs at a Sri Lankan dockyard.

Adli Ismail, managing director of the Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (Mifco), said the cause of the fire in the boat’s insulation has not yet been identified, according to Haveeru.

Colombo firefighters were able to bring the fire under control within an hour.

“There was no structural damage to the boat. However, I really think we will need to replace the insulation,” said Adli.

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Drug testing to resume after almost two years

An independent laboratory will begin drug testing this month on urine samples provided by police, reports Haveeru.

Under the landmark Drug Act enacted in January 2012, the National Drug Agency (NDA) was required to assign a private laboratory to conduct testing before June 2013.

The prosecutor general’s office subsequently ceased filing drug abuse cases in court, apart from cases in which suspects confessed. It is unclear whether suspects in the remaining cases will now face charges.

NDA CEO Ahmed Muneer said on Sunday that Med-Lab Diagnostic Centre has been contracted to conduct drug testing for a period of five years.

In November, the drug agency called for a third time for private parties to apply to conduct the drugs tests.

The NGA is the designated lead agency dealing with all issues related to drug prevention, harm reduction and treatment.

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Divers plan underwater protest for Nasheed release

One hundred divers will wave flags underwater in protest against the jailing of ex-president Mohamed Nasheed on Saturday.

The dive, entitled “Free Climate Hero”, will take place near the West Park Cafe area of the capital on Saturday from 4pm to 6pm.

“You will see flags coming out of the water,” said said Hussein Latheef, a lead organiser of the event, according to Haveeru.

The dive protest is the latest in a series of events aiming to lobby for Nasheed’s release since he was jailed for 13 years on terrorism charges last month.

During his presidency, from 2008 to 2012, Nasheed was an active climate campaigner, highlighting the plight of the Maldives as a small island state vulnerable to rising sea levels.

In 2009 his cabinet made headlines by holding an underwater cabinet meeting calling for global cuts in carbon emissions.

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Three arrested at opposition protest

Three people were arrested from last night’s opposition protest in Malé for “obstructing police duty,” according to local media.

The opposition Alliance Against Brutality, made up of the Maldivian Democratic Party, Adhaalath Party and senior members of the Jumhooree Party, has been protesting daily in the capital since the conviction of former President Mohamed Nasheed on terrorism charges last month.

Protesters stopped using loudspeakers or megaphones after 11:00pm and ended the protest at 12:00am to comply with police regulations, CNM reported.

Police said the three arrested last night would be taken to court today for a remand hearing.

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Discount flats for state officials undermine trust: Transparency

Transparency Maldives has called on the state to refrain from providing “any form of gratuities and privileges to state officials” following the hand over of flats to high-ranking officials.

The government awarded luxury flats at discount prices to Supreme Court judges and four heads of independent bodies including the Anti-Corruption Commission in what it called an attempt to “ensure their integrity”.

The awarding of flats to state officials can be perceived as an attempt by the executive to exert undue influence, Transparency said.

While the state can provide privileges to state officials “based on need and limited to the duration of employment of individuals”, Transparency Maldives expressed concern that the flats are “permanently contracted by the executive to public officials holding time-bound positions of the state”.

“The offering of arbitrary privileges to public officials holding high-ranking positions and the acceptance of such privileges will undermine public trust in these institutions,” the anti-corruption NGO warned.

“TM also notes that upholding integrity in the performance of high-ranking public posts is an integral and core mandate of such positions, and should not be incentivised through handouts of property or other forms of personal enrichment.”

The government has defended its decision to offer discounts on the flats to selected judges and chiefs of independent bodies.

Co-chair of the Economic Council Ahmed Adeeb told a press conference last week that the apartments were awarded to “ensure the integrity of independent institutions”.

“The flats were not handed out. The recipients have to pay for them. This will result in ensured integrity of independent institutions and moreover it will strengthen the state,” he said.

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MDP launches petition for Nasheed release

The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party has begun collecting signatures on a petition calling for the release of former President Mohamed Nasheed.

The party said the petition will be submitted to President Abdulla Yameen, who is empowered by clemency laws and the constitution to grant pardons.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has set up tables outside its main office on Sosun Magu and in the market area in Male’.

The party also plans to send out teams across the country to collect signatures, and a copy of the petition is available on its website.

Nasheed was found guilty of terrorism last month and sentenced to 13 years in prison. The parliament subsequently voted through an amendment to the Prisons and Parole Act that stripped Nasheed of his leadership position in the MDP.

The amendment said inmates could not fill leadership posts in political parties for the period of their incarceration.

Speaking at a rally on Thursday night, MDP Chairperson Ali Waheed claimed Attorney General Mohamed Anil advised parliament that the amendment was unconstitutional.

The chairman of the committee that was reviewing the legislation – ruling Progressive Party of Maldives MP Ibrahim Riza – kept the attorney general’s letter secret from other MPs, Waheed alleged.

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Deals signed for waste management centres in northern atolls

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The environment ministry has signed contracts to build waste management centres in four islands in Noonu atoll and an incinerator shed in Raa atoll Vandhoo.

According to the ministry, the contracts were signed last week with Wee Hour Investment Pvt Ltd and Saruh Pvt Ltd at a ceremony on Thursday (April 2).

Wee Hour Investment was contracted to build the incinerator shed at an estimated cost of MVR 2.5 million ($160,000) and a waste management centre in Noonu Magoodhoo at a cost of MVR 585,260.

Saruh was contracted to construct waste management centres in Noonu Lhohi, Maalhendhoo, and Fodhoo at a cost of MVR 592,087, MVR 798,617, and MVR 539,047, respectively.

Minister of Environment and Energy Thoriq Ibrahim signed the contracts on behalf of the government.

In February 2014, the ministry signed an agreement with Germany’s Michaelis GmbH and Co to establish an incineration plant at Raa Vandhoo to eliminate 40 tonnes of waste produced in all islands of Noonu, Raa, Baa and Lhaviyani Atolls.

The US$2.6 million waste management project was funded by the World Bank and was expected to be functional by 2015.

The General Manager of Michaelis Bernard Grim said the incinerator system could also be used to produce ice in the long run.

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Women urge drastic action from president on drugs

A women’s group campaigning against drug abuse has handed the government a petition urging President Abdulla Yameen to prioritise the Maldives’ drug crisis.

The Society for Women Against Drugs collected 359 signatures calling on the president to improve the quality of drug rehabilitation care, and to launch medical care for addicts suffering from withdrawal symptoms in police custody.

“Successive governments have attempted to address the problem of drugs, but they are not doing enough and we don’t see politicians prioritizing the issue,” said the group’s chairperson Fathimath Afiya after handing over the petition last week.

According to a 2012 UN report, there are 7,496 drug addicts in the Maldives. However, critics say the true figure is much higher.

Meanwhile, health advocacy groups have expressed concern over a high risk of HIV spreading among an unmonitored population of injecting drug users.

President Yameen in February acknowledged that changes were needed in the drug rehabilitation system, but the cabinet in March discussed mechanisms to decrease state expenditure on drug care centres.

Home Minister Umar Naseer last year pledged to prioritize drug trafficking and last month brought in a sniffer dog squad.

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UN sees increase in Maldivian jihadists overseas

A UN report has raised concerns over an increase in fighters leaving the Maldives to join terrorist organisations including al-Qaida and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

The expert report to the UN Security Council, obtained by The Associated Press, said the flow of fighters globally “is higher than it has ever been historically”, increasing from a few thousand a decade ago to over 25,000 from more than 100 nations today.

The Maldives police chief Hussein Waheed in January estimated some 50 Maldivians are fighting in foreign wars, but the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party says the figure could be as high as 200.

Waheed’s comments came after reports of at least 13 Maldivians leaving for jihad surfaced in local media in early January. Since then, at least four more have traveled to the Middle East.

Some seven Maldivians are reported to have died in the past year during battle in Syria, according to local media.

Waheed said that police were monitoring the activities of militants and would reveal details of plans to prevent radicalisation at a later date. The MDP has said the government is doing little to counter radicalisation and prevent recruitment of would-be fighters.

The UN report, written by a UN panel monitoring sanctions against Al-Qaida, listed the Maldives, Finland and Trinidad and Tobago as countries from which numbers of fighters were increasing, while the highest number of foreign fighters come from Tunisia, Morocco, France and Russia.

Most fighters travel to Syria and Iraq, to fight primarily for the Islamic State and the Al-Nusra front.

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