Category: News in Brief

President Waheed orders officials “shun” Parliament oversight committee

In a letter sent to Parliament Speaker Abdulla Shahid Sunday (January 20) President Mohamed Waheed stated that cabinet members, government officials, and members of the security forces will “shun” Parliament’s Government Accountability Committee, according to Haveeru.

Waheed stated that until Shahid ensures Majlis and Committee actions are “in line” with the Maldivian constitution and Parliament’s rules of procedure, government officials will not adhere to summons by the Committee on Oversight of the Government, reports Sun Online.

This continues the government’s trend of resistance to the Executive Oversight Committee probe of the Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI).

The Committee is currently conducting an inquiry into the controversial transfer of power that took place February of last year. It has so far interviewed senior military officers, police officers and senior officials of both the current and former government. The former Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) chiefs have claimed that former President Mohamed Nasheed had no choice but to resign on February 7, 2012, following a police and military mutiny.

The Committee previously requested President Hassan to hand over statements of key figures of the former government and military officials given to CoNI.

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Civil Court orders Usfasgandu “handed over” within seven days

Male’ City Council has been ordered by the Civil Court to “hand over” the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) political activity area Usfasgandu to the Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure within the next seven days, reports local media.

The Usfasgandu area was given to the Male’ City Council on September 19, 2012 and according to the Civil Court ruling – citing the regulation regarding land transfers under council jurisdiction – it is “evident” the land is being used in a way that violates the government’s land use plan. This violation is because the city council lacks the authority to “hand over” the land to other parties [the MDP], according to Sun Online.

The civil court’s ruling also states that the city council’s current use of the area is in contradiction to the agreement made between the council, Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure, and Ministry of Finance and Treasury.

In that agreement, the land “shall be kept empty for public use and that the land shall be developed in manner accessible to the public all times.”

Structures are allowed to be made within the 800 square foot land area, as long as they do not exceed three metres in height and can be used as “toilets, changing rooms, showers, short eats vendors, or a place to sell drinking water,” local media stated.

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Senior US officials to visit Maldives

Three US officials are to visit the Maldives and Sri Lanka next week amid concerns for the democracy of both countries.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State James Moore, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Vikram Singh and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Jane Zimmerman will travel to both countries between January 26 to February 1.

In the Maldives, the high-profile delegation will “meet government officials and members of political parties to continue support for a way forward that respects Maldivian democratic institutions, the rule of law, and the will of the Maldivian people in the run up to this year’s presidential elections,” the US Embassy in Colombo said in a statement.

James R Moore is a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs since September 2010, and previously the Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy in Colombo from 2006 to 2009.

Jane B Zimmerman is a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, responsible for South and Central Asia, the Western Hemisphere, and International Religious Freedom.

Vikram J Singh is Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for South and Southeast Asia within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defence for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs. Singh also serves as the principal adviser to senior leadership within the Department of Defence for all policy matters pertaining to development and implementation of defense strategies and plans for the region.

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Protests disrupting services on Maafaru: Home Ministry

The Ministry of Home Affairs “expressed concern” about the prevention of islanders’ basic needs being met on the island of Maafaru in Noonu Atoll, with ongoing protests having resulted in the island council office, health center, and school closings, local media reported.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs Thursday (January 17) stated the provision of these services is obligated under the constitution and subsequent laws, as well as that the obstruction of these [fundamental human] rights is equivalent to denying citizens of their rights.

Therefore, necessary legal actions will be taken to restore the provision of these services without discrimination to all citizens, according to Sun Online.

The ministry added that planned government projects to provide basic services are based on income received by the state.

The government also said they “will always welcome peaceful assembly” since this right is guaranteed in the Maldivian constitution, according to local media.

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Court orders Zitahali Resort, Spa Kuda-Funafaru to pay MIRA US$300,000 in fines

Civil Court has ordered Zitahali Resort and Spa Kuda-Funafaru to pay over $300,000 to Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) in fines, local media has reported.

The court order states that Zitahali Resort owes MIRA a total of $384,172.68 as lease rent, land rent, adjusted advance payment and fines from failing to pay the amount by November 2012, local media reported.

According to Sun Online, Zitahli is owned by Moosa Shiyam Abdullah Ali, brother of Maldivian Democratic Party MP Ahmed Hamza.

The Civil Court order states that Ali has three months to pay the full amount to MIRA.

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State reserves shrink to MVR 4.9 billion

State reserves have shrunk to MVR 4.9 billion (US$317769131), according to Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) statistics as reported by local media.

This is essentially only enough for one month of imports.

Between November and December 2012 reserves dropped 14 percent, or MVR 849.7 million (US$55103761). In comparison with the start of 2012 – when the State reserve was MVR 5.3 billion (US$343709468) – January 2013 has seen an eight percent decline.

MMA statistics explain the reason for the downward slide at the end of 2012 is due to depletion of State funds in local and foreign banks, according to Haveeru.

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Deadline to seek foreign experts for CoNI investigation extended

The deadline to seek two foreign experts for investigation into the report of Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI) has been extended, local media has reported.

Parliament’s Committee on Oversight of the Government decided to extend the deadline until Sunday, as proper procedure was not followed when the announcement was published on the website by the parliament office, local media stated.

Committee Chairperson and Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ali Waheed was quoted by local media as saying that the announcement, written in English, had been published in the Dhivehi section of the parliament website rather than in the English section.

“I am concerned about what the employees of the parliament office have done. It’s not acceptable that an announcement that should have been published in the English section was published in the Dhivehi section. We have to pay attention to this,” Waheed was quoted as saying in Sun Online.

Committee members said that individuals interested in applying for assisting in the investigation of the CoNI report did not have any information on how to apply for this post, local media reported.

The announcement seeks two experts who have experience working in world legislative assemblies, who are willing to work with the committee members for two weeks.

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Maldivian prisoners in foreign jails cannot be transferred home due to lack of proper laws

Eleven Maldivian citizens are currently serving prison sentences in foreign countries because the Maldives lacks the proper laws to transfer them back home, local media has reported.

An official from the Foreign Ministry was quoted in local media as saying that the Ministry is “gravely concerned” about the number of people detained in foreign jails, and that it is working on transferring them to jails in the Maldives.

The official stated that a prisoner transfer agreement had been signed with Sri Lanka and India, however the lack of proper laws in regard to prisoner transfer made the process difficult.

“We have worked hard for such a law. It is however, a thing for the Attorney General. We can send away the foreigners in our jails, but to transfer a Maldivian to Maldives, we lack the proper law on how the person may carry out the sentence.

“There are numerous people who we have not been able to transfer because of the lack of such a law. If not, we can transfer them to Maldives,” the official was quoted as saying in Sun Online.

The foreign Ministry, as reported by local media, said that Maldivian prisoners are currently in jails in Syria, Italy, Sri Lanka for drug related cases, one in a Hong Kong prison in relation to a murder case, one in Chennai for an unknown reason and two people arrested in Trivadndrum on drug charges.

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Thilafushi Corporation Limited incurs MVR 650 million loss from reclamation project

Thilafushi Corporation Limited (TCL) has incurred MVR 650 million (US$ 42 million) worth of losses over the Thilafushi reclamation project, local media reports.

Speaking at a Parliament Public Accounts Sub-Committee, attorney representing TCL Mazlan Rasheed was quoted as saying that if the project had been completed, the company would have earned US$400 million.

The loss was incurred due to the Heavy Load company not reclaiming the agreed 152 hectares of land within the granted six month period, Sun Online reported.

According to Rasheed, Heavy Load had only reclaimed 32 hectares and that a further US$1 million needs to spent on levelling the reclaimed ground.

The Thilafushi reclamation project was awarded to Heavy Load for a sum of US$21 million (MVR 323 million).

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