Category: News in Brief

ADK Hospital to increases prices by 10 percent

Privately owned ADK Hospital is to increase services by ten percent starting on February 22, Haveeru has reported.

“We haven’t increased prices since the government health insurance policy Aasandha started. But the prices of the goods have increased. So we had to increase the prices of the services offered too,” ADK Managing Director Affal Mohamed told Haveeru.

The change in prices would not affect the coverage afforded by national health insurance scheme Aasandha, Affal said.

ADK has renewed contracts with Aasandha for the year, but newly introduced services including orthoscopic surgery and neurosurgery are not yet covered.

Affal said the hospital is currently in talks with the government to provide coverage for orthoscopic surgery and neurosurgery at the hospital.

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Dhanbidhoo harbor project begins

The Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) has begun constructing a 500 foot long harbor on Laamu Atoll Dhanbidhoo Island on Tuesday.

The US$2.2million project is expected to be completed within 290 days

Housing Minister Dr. Mohamed Muizz said Dhanbidhoo residents had been demanding a harbor for several years and said: “The harbor will help to bring about economic and social development to the island.”

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Romanian tourists increase by 32 percent in 2014

The number of tourist arrivals from Romania to the Maldives has increased by 32 percent in 2014.

According to Romania-Insider, 3204 Romanians traveled to the Maldives in 2014 – an increase of 781 arrivals compared to the 2423 arrivals 2013.

The increase in arrivals was attributed to the commencement of chartered flights from Bucharest, Romania to Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA).

“Most tourists went to the islands in December last year, namely about 678, almost double compared to December 2013, when only 371 traveled there,” read the Romanian insider.

Romanians only account for 0.3 percent of the market share of tourists arriving in Maldives.

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Government to reinstate discontinued service, merit allowances for security forces

The government has decided to reinstate a discontinued service and merit allowance for the Maldives Police Service and Maldives National Defense Force.

The allowances were discontinued in 2009 during former president Mohamed Nasheed’s administration, and are to be reinstated this month.

According to Haveeru, security personnel who have served between ten and 20 years are eligible for the service allowance, while policemen and army officers who have attained higher education will be eligible for a professional allowance.

A similar allowance is to be given to officials who have undergone training related to their fields.

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JP MP Mohamed Hussain backs government

Jumhooree Party (JP) MP Mohamed Hussain has said he would continue to support the government despite the JP’s alliance with the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Haveeru has reported.

Hussain, however, refused to comment when asked if he would resign from the JP and join the ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM).

A member of the Mohamed Hussain Foundation who wished to remain anonymous told Haveeru that Hussain had backed the PPM in order to develop his constituency.

“He was elected after promising to work with the government to bring development to the constituency. The last five years went by us without any development for us and we are again in the brink of repeating it. So Hussain is reluctant to change sides,” said the source.

Hussain, who had also served under former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, joined JP in 2011 when Gayoom left the Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) to form the PPM.

The MDP and JP have recently said they expect at least ten government MPs to join their coalition. Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb has denied claims, but admitted two or three MPs may leave the PPM.

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Nasheed’s constitutional rights violated in three year trial, says legal team

Former President Mohamed Nasheed’s legal team has called on Prosecutor General Muhuthaz Muhsin to drop criminal charges, claiming the opposition leader’s constitutional rights had been violated for three years on pending “unlawful” charges.

Muhsin on Monday withdrew charges against all former government and army officials accused of detaining Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed for further review. The withdrawal came amidst Nasheed’s challenge of the process by which judges were appointed to an extraordinary bench to oversee his trial.

The offense carries a maximum jail term of three years under Article 81 of the Penal Code, but will carry a reduced sentence in the new Penal Code scheduled to come in to force in April.

“President Mohamed Nasheed’s charges have been pending without a verdict for three years. In those three years, he has been deprived of his constitutional and legal rights and the trial has affected his political career,” said Nasheed’s lawyers in a letter to the PG.

Nasheed was first summoned to court in 2012, but the trial was stalled in 2013 when the High Court began to review the composition of the bench. After a two-year hiatus, the High Court on February 9 threw out Nasheed’s complaint, paving the way for the trial to restart at the Hulhumalé magistrate court.

However, the former president’s legal team immediately launched a new challenge at the Civil Court. Meanwhile, the Maldivian Democratic Party accused the PG of attempting to expedite the case before the enactment of the new Penal Code in order to bar Nasheed from contesting the 2018 presidential polls.

Nasheed’s lawyers today contended the PG is not authorized to take up the charges in court for a second time.

MDP has describing the case among many “unjust obstacles to the party and President Nasheed.” Further pursuit of the case only “serves the government’s political agenda” the party claimed.

Judge Abdulla’s arrest led to daily protests on the streets of the capital, culminating in a police and army mutiny and Nasheed’s resignation on February 7.

Jumhooree Party Leader Gasim Ibrahim, a key figure in Nasheed’s ouster, has called on the state to drop charges, describing charges as “out of line with national and public interest.”

In January, the MDP and JP formed an alliance against President Abdulla Yameen’s claiming his administration has repeatedly violated the constitution.

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Arham’s father asks for death sentence for son’s killers

The father of Mohamed Arham, a 16-year-old murdered in a gang attack in Malé in 2012, has asked for the death penalty for the four defendants.

Arham’s father Abdul Ghafoor Ali was brought to Criminal Court today, reported Haveeru, and asked whether he wanted blood money, to forgive the defendants, or the death penalty if they are found guilty of stabbing Arham to death.

“I want the death penalty,” Gafoor had reportedly said.

The four defendants of the case are Sufyan Ali from Gaafu Dhaalu Gahdhoo, Mohamed Wisam and Mansoor Yoosuf from Laamu Maavah, and Athif Rasheed from the capital Malé.

Out of the four, Sufiyan was reported to have spoken in court today, complaining of the long period they had been held in detention, saying that justice would be served by concluding the sentencing.

Arham, who had no criminal record, was found in dead inside ‘Lorenzo Park’ in Henveiru ward with several stab wounds, with police later saying he had been the victim of a gang feud.

The government has since moved to end the 60-year moratorium on the death penalty, announcing last April that executions could start after those facing death sentences had exhausted all their appeals.

Source: Haveeru

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IFRC completes 27 housing units in Gaza built with Maldivian aid

The International Federation of Red Crescent (IFRC) has completed 27 of the 100 housing units built in Gaza using Maldivian aid, reports Sun Online.

According to an IFRC report on the progress of the project, the 27 housing units – which were completed last month – were handed over to residents of Beit Hanoun on February 15 through the districts municipality and the Palestinian Ministry of Housing.

The 100 units, estimated to provide housing for 700 Palestinians, are being built in areas where Israeli airstrikes destroyed housing, schools, and other infrastructure during the heavy raids in mid-2014.

The ‘Help Gaza’ telethon was launched in the Maldives in response to the destruction caused by last year’s fighting, raising MVR29.4 million (US$1.91 million) before the funds were handed to the IFRC on August 28 last year.

Source: Sun Online

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JSC appoints judges to Criminal Court and the Civil Court

The Judicial Services Commission (JSC) has appointed judges to both the Criminal Court and the Civil Court.

According to a statement on the commission’s website, the JSC decided to appoint one judge to the Criminal Court and four judges to the Civil Court in a meeting held last night (February 16).

Ahmed Rasheed of Hulhumalé 14-06 was appointed to the Criminal Court while Hassan Faheem Ibrahim from Haa Dhaalu Maukunudhoo, Ali Abdulla (Galolhu ward, Malé), Abdula Naseer Shafeeq (Lhavyani Kurendhoo), and Mohamed Haleem (Noonu Velidhoo) were appointed to the Civil Court.

An announcement was made for the application of interested candidates to the vacant positions on the benches of High Court, Criminal Court, and the Civil Court on Feburary 1, 2015.

The commission is yet to decide on the appointment of a judge to the High Court bench after the resignation of Judge Yoosuf Hussain – reportedly for health reasons – in early February.

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