Category: Politics

Dear Editor,
Tuesday’s vote of no confidence vote against our Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed is really a vote of no confidence against the Majlis.
Speaker Abdullah Shahid has turned the Majlis into a circus by tabling this motion and has lost whatever credibility he had left. Not only has Abdullah Shahid failed to follow required protocol in such matters, he has forgotten the oath he took to uphold the honour and integrity of the Majlis.
As for Majlis members we will see on Tuesday just who remembers the promises they made to us during their campaigns and the oath they took as Majlis members to uphold our constitution and the will of the people. And who sold out.
The vote of no confidence against Dr Shaheed brings shame on our nation. If ever we needed proof of just how badly we have fallen in our morals and ethics and just how corrupt our politicians are, this is it.
Perhaps it is not a bad thing after all. In many ways it is a relief for we will know once and for all on Tuesday who our heroes are and who are the enemies of our nation.
For only those who put their own agendas above that of the people can vote against a cabinet minister who stood for and worked so hard for the democatic new Maldives we have today.
Shame on you Abdulla Shahid. Shame on you DRP-PA.
Regards,
Anonymous

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Dear Editor,

Last few weeks have been a real test about what some quarters of the Maldivian community deem as irreligious – same sex relations, liquor permits and Christian weddings.

In a recent press conference the minister of tourism was asked whether he was thinking of allowing ‘wedding tourism’ in the country to which the minister answered in the affirmative. The journalist asking the question also highlighted that the minister’s predecessor had decided that wedding tourism was not for us Maldivians as it would have meant the allowing of non-Muslim weddings to take place on (Muslim) Maldivian soil. Listening to this dialogue it appeared to me that the journalist asking the question was oblivious to the fact that now we are allowing non-married couples to visit the country and commit ziney (fornication out of wedlock, and considered haraam in Shariah and Maldivian law) as the country’s tourism laws and regulations do not require visiting tourist couples to be married, let alone to be Muslims.

Out of the more than 600,000 tourists visiting the Maldives every year, most are couples who reside in private bungalows or rooms where they are left alone to do what takes their fancy, including sexual intercourse. And they have well stocked mini-bars to boot. To me it does not make sense not to allow non-Muslims to be married on Maldivian soil, if at the moment the situation is as described above. What harm does it cause to us Maldivians if we allow non-Muslims to be married on Maldivian soil, when on that same soil we are allowing non-Muslims to have sex outside marriage, drink alcohol, display their nudity or be scantily dressed – all on the same Maldivian soil throughout the country?

Another issue that recently made headlines was that of the government’s consideration of allowing the serving of liquor and alcohol products on the recently opened Holiday Inn in Male. The moment the ministry of trade and economic development – the government authority mandated with giving out liquor licenses for tourism purposes – broke the news of the consideration of permitting Holiday Inn to serve liquor, there were several statements issued to the media from groups who claimed they were defending religion in the Maldives.

At the moment, the tourism regulations and law does not allow liquor to be served on tourism establishments based on inhabited islands. The premise here being that liquor will not be served on islands where Maldivian communities reside as it may serve as an incentive and encouragement for Muslim Maldivian’s to consume alcohol. However, the definition of an inhabited island may need some revision after more than three decades of tourism in the country given the mixed results the policy seems to have achieved so far.

Maldives has followed a policy of ‘one resort, one island’ since tourism arrived in the country in the early seventies. Tourists have dress codes and many other guidelines to follow and special permits to be taken if visiting inhabited islands. Similarly, the Maldivian staff who work on these resorts have two lives to relate to; that on the resort and that with the rest of the Maldivian community. The average resort employee works 10 to 11 months on the resort. This leaves roughly one month out of every year to be with his family on the island where he is registered (the island to which he is seen as ‘belonging’). This raised serious questions as to the definition of an inhabited island for the purposes of allowing liquor to be served.

We could assume that the underlying assumption of the ‘one resort, one island’ concept is to ‘protect’ Maldivians from any corrupting influences the tourists may have on Maldivians. It stems from the Islamic ideology that Maldivians have enshrined as the primary source and cornerstone of the Maldivian constitution and ensuing laws. In the constitution, any Maldivians using liquor or choosing to fray from the tenets of Islam is punishable in various ways, including the negation of Maldivian citizenship. Hence, they have created a marvelous way to deny the rights they are willing to give to the 600,000 plus visitors coming to the Maldives every year as tourists. Other than the use of liquor, Maldivians cannot even choose which religion to believe in. And to me this is ridiculous as it assumes that Maldivians are never mature enough to be able to choose right from wrong. It is all the more laughable when we know thousands of expatriate workers are sold alcohol under a permit given by the government. These expatriates, mind you, do not reside in some island allocated specially for them, but live on Male and other inhabited islands. And given the living conditions in Male and in other atolls, mostly they reside in houses or buildings where several other Maldivian families including children live. Giving a license to sell liquor in Holiday Inn or other city hotel or guest house will not do anything more harmful than what is happening right now, right here.

Best wishes,

Ahmed Fahmy

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Dear Editor,
I am not surprised to hear from the clinician Dr Niyaf that Maldives could be considered as one of the endemic areas of Dengue Fever. In fact I would say the Maldives is one of the areas and should have been considered long while ago. I had three kids from my family diagnosed with Dengue two years ago and my mother got Chikungunya last year which took her more than six months to recover from.
All these illnessess in Maldives are not something new and have been here for the last five years. The question is how much is the government going to do to eradicate the mosquitoes (the main carriers of the bugs) from the Maldives. When I contacted my local island office last year during the rainy season to spray against the mosquitoes, they simply turned a blind eye to it.
We need a strong and an active campaign to completely eradicate all these mosquitoes by spraying all the inhabitat islands of the Maldives. We cannot stay quiet and put our citizens especially the children at the risk of Dengue Fever and its serious complications. Maldives can be rid of all these mosquitoes.
We did get rid of dirty rats in the late eighties and nineties, why can’t the government do a similar programme against the mosquitoes now? The local island offices, department of public health, NGOs, Ministry of Health, hospitals and of course the Defence Force – we all need to start a campaign to free the Maldives from all these mosquitoes. The developed world did, why cant we such a small country do it? The government needs to atl east initiate and manage such a programme.
Regards,
Ibrahim

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Dear Editor,
Dengue is endemic in Maldives. We have had cases of Dengue Fever all year, every year for the past several years.
Like I said elsewhere, I would have said that this year is no different in terms of Dengue cases. But to me, as a clinician, it is distinctly different. We have had far more Dengue cases presenting in or progressing to critical Dengue Shock Syndrome. It is therefore likely that we, this year, are facing a more virulent strain of the Dengue Virus – not a mutation of the virus! Not that it is impossible but because a more likely possibility exists.
If we continue to get many cases of Dengue Shock Syndrome it is quite likely, despite our best efforts, that we lose a patient to the illness! That is the nature of the disease itself. Medical treatment has it’s limits and we work with additional constraints.
Regards,
Dr Abdullah Niyaf

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Dear Editor
The DRP members and its supporters should really stop acting like spoiled kids and instead concentrate their time and efforts on correcting their past mistakes, and gaining public confidence in time for the next election.
Right now, it just seems that they are like a group of spoiled kids who can’t accept it that they are no longer in power! And you bet that the party will have lots of supporters because the politicians in the party had at least 15 years (assuming that the first 15 years were at least not so bad) to win over such supporters by bribing them and paving the way for them to gain from corruption.
I wouldn’t mind supporting the DRP, but not the current one for sure. DRP needs a new face…but not those of young and impulsive politicians like the young MPs like Ali Waheed etc (They really need to learn a thing or two before standing up to represent any constituency!).
Sure DRP may just win the next election through bribery and violence, but then again it won’t last long. So if DRP wants to win and be able to hold on to their victory, my advice is to really stop acting like kids and to get rid of the old timers, whose past records are really just not helping you grow as a party! And please teach the young MPs that they have a long way to go and a lot to learn, so please stop acting like they know everything and try to keep in mind at least once in a while that, there are some people with brains out there, who aren’t going to hang on to their every word and worship them like God just because they are DRP MPs! So please tell them to prove themselves to the people who elected them by actually talking some sense and acting with a bit of dignity!
Regards,
Mariyam

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Dear Editor,
Studies conducted by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL is the facility of the US Department of Energy (DOE) for renewable energy and energy efficiency research, development and deployment) show that the northern parts of Maldives are best for developing wind generated power systems.
According to the survey the resource potential for a large scale application in Gaafaru is moderate and good for a small scale application.
The wind power density at a height of 50m is in a range of 325W/m² to 350W/m² for an average wind speed at sea level of 6.5m/s to 6.7m/s. This makes the project at Gaafaru more than feasible in terms of wind resources.
It is also nice to note that something so interesting with real value in economic terms if successful is being undertaken by the Maldives.
Refer to: http://www.nrel.gov/wind/pdfs/34518.pdf
The map can be found on page 66 of the report.
Regards,
Mohamed

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Dear Editor,
Some questions regarding Gaafaru wind farm project and especially Falcon Energy who is handling the project:
What is the country of origin of Falcon Energy? Thats not mentioned anywhere – not even in the presidents office press release. So upon searching I find this article about the Gaafaru project that suggests that Falcon Energy is from Texas.
http://www.cleanskies.com/articles/maldives-invests-wind-energy
So looking further for company information we come across this:
http://www.manta.com/coms2/dnbcompany_fgwz2m
So a small private company from Texas with reportedly less than five staff is raising US$200 million in direct investment, with GE as their technical partner for a completely new venture. (It is also possible that the company information above maybe outdated and therefore not accurate.)
My opinion: Now having General Electric on board would convince most people who are not mildly informed of corporate scams to take the authenticity of this project for granted. I can assure you that nothing is beyond imagination in the corporate world – look up the recent Madoff scam for a clue. I am NOT suggesting this is a scam of any sort – I am saying that we need more information than just the Falcon Energy name and its not a very clear picture we are getting.
Further questions: At the official event to start the project,
1. STELCO CEO was talking about tourism development that is part of the project. Does this not bother you a bit? A Maldivian resort makes millions – is Falcon getting this as a compensation to make the project feasible? Does this mean the project is not self-sustaining like we are led to believe from the president’s speech? Also wouldn’t you think the electricity COULD be dirt cheap if subsidised by earnings from running a resort?
2. The feasibility is yet to be done by GE. Ok, then what was the event about?
3. Our President Nasheed, in his customary style, casually mentioned the prices at which STELCO is going to purchase the electricity from Falcon Energy. How is that even possible without a feasibility?!
Where are the investigative journalists?!
Regards,
Anonymous

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

A bill on child abuse was passed by parliament today with amendments to increase jail terms for sex offenders.

Of the 60 MPs who participated in the vote, 58 voted in favour, two voted against and one abstained. The two MPs who voted against were Bilendhoo MP Ahmed Hamza and Hoarafushi MP Ahmed Rasheed of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

Kulhudhufushi South MP Mohamed Nasheed, an independent, who drafted the legislation, proposed a raft of amendments to reverse the changes to the jail terms made by the committee that reviewed the bill.

A total of 36 amendments were passed.

The bill was passed with longer jail terms than those decided upon by the committee, which set a minimum sentence of one to two years for some offences.

The bill specifies various categories of offences, including molestation, performing a sexual act in the presence of a minor, forcing a minor to watch a sexual act, child abuse by a person in position of authority or trust, exhibiting genitals to a minor, incest and abusing a minor after forcing them to take an intoxicating substance.

The jail term for incest will be between 20 and 25 years, while the sentence for paying a minor for sex will be 15 to 20 years and those convicted of abusing a minor after forcing him or her to take drugs will get 25 years.

Other amendments passed include: empowering criminal court to detain a suspect after investigation; the establishment of a mechanism to make information on sex offenders available; and a provision for child witnesses to give testimony on camera outside of court.

Final words

During the final debate before today’s vote, some MPs expressed concern that the jail terms or penalties were too harsh and said offenders should be given opportunities for rehabilitation.

Several MPs argued that the harsh penalties could be used unfairly or for political purposes.

Vilufushi MP Riyaz Rasheed, a member of the committee, said the chairman of the Judicial Services Commission, the prosecutor general and other stakeholders were consulted.

“They said they believed there should be limits in specifying sentences. So the committee decided limits of between 2 to 15 years, 2 to 18 years and 2 to 25 years,” he said.

Riyaz said MPs should consider the competency of the judiciary in delivering fair trials.

“We agree to sentencing a person to even 40 years if it [the charges] can be effectively proven against him…because we were afraid that a person might get a long sentence for just tickling, the committee thought about it and formulated the bill this way,” he said.

Ungoofaru MP Dr Afrashim Ali said a person unjustly accused of inappropriately touching a child and a sex offender who leaves the child with severe injuries should not receive the same sentence.

Hamza, one of the two MPs who voted against the bill, said a fundamental principle of the criminal justice system was that it is better to let 99 criminals go than unfairly punish an innocent person.

As a father, he said he agreed that tough measures needed to be taken to combat child abuse, but MPs should put reason ahead of their emotions and consider the judiciary’s capability to deliver fair trials.

Several MPs said laws to give harsher penalties to people who abuse children were urgently needed due to the gravity of the problem in the Maldives.

Nasheed said he accepted there may be teething problems in enforcing the law and he would support strengthening legal procedures.

Presenting the bill in July, Nasheed said common complaints about law enforcement included lack of funds, facilities and expertise.

“I have drawn up a timetable to fully implement everything in the bill within three years,” he said.

Nasheed added he would submit his “action plan” to the committee to place obligations on the government to implement the law.

Special procedures and guidelines

The bill proposes jail terms without the possibility of parole or early release, and suspends the right to silence and release from detention while investigation is ongoing.

Further, under the bill, children under 13 cannot give consent for sexual acts, while consent given by children between 13 and 18 will not be deemed legal unless proven otherwise, “in clear terms”.

The bill specifies special categories of evidence to be admitted in trials of child sex offenders – such as narration to third parties – while courts would be asked to accept lesser standards of evidence.

Victims will be provided avenues to seek financial compensation from the offender and the state shall provide security, rehabilitation and counselling to the child.

The law will classify the victim’s information from public access or the media. If passed, failure to alert the authorities of a child sex offence will be deemed itself a punishable offence.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Dear Editor,
I am very much impressed about government’s decision to begin a 200 million dollar project on harvesting wind energy in the Maldives. I hope this project is going to be a successful project rather than empty paper work that end up on shelves.
Previous studies conducted on the potential renewable energy resources including wind, indicates north – central region to be the highest in terms of wind energy resource (e.g. Wind energy resource atlas of Sri Lanka and Maldives conducted by Elliott et al, 2003) in Maldives.
According to this study the wind map for Maldives is highest on north of Male’ at 4.5 deg (N Lat) to 6.2 deg N Lat in south Maalhosmadulu, north Maalhosmadulu, south Miladhunmadulu, north Miladhunmadulu and Faadhippolhu region.
Why Gaafaru in Male atoll has been chosen is a concern. I wonder whether such previous studies have been reviewed in planning the proposed winder energy project? In any such projects, site selection is a crucial component which plays a key role and is a vital element in the success of project.
I hope, all those who involve in this project will try to make this a success.
Regards,
Mohamed

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)