Category: Politics

Dear Editor
It’s sad to hear the news of the Maldivian man who is apparently stuck in a Colombo hospital after undergoing angioplasty surgery due to shortage of money.
The family would have been revealed the detail of the medical records countersigned by the management of that particular hospital. It would be easy for people get convinced of this kind of plea from well wishers and general public.
May Allah help to the family, if the case is genuine.
Regards,
Mohamed

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Dear Editor,
I was very thrilled when I read about the windmill energy project on Minivan News. I thought in my mind if this is really true it would bring about a big ease in our daily energy dependence and the cost of it. I also thought well at least Mr Nasheed is doing something good and felt happy to know about the project.
But after reading the letters of other fellow writers in here, all my excitement went down. If all what you have written about the wind speed, feasibility of gaafaru location for this project and the authenciticity of Falcon is true, then I am sure this is one of those BIG lies of President Nasheed.
He has been proven to be a perfect liar so far and I wouldn’t be surprised to know this project is one of his lies too. Having said that, I still hope this project is all true not because I want to give credit to Mr Nasheed, but it’s something we Maldivians need, especially the middle and poor class ones. I hope this is not like the Moon Bay Marina project made by Gayyoom.

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Dear Editor,
Looking deeper into the parties signed up to partner with the government for the wind farm project in Gaafaru, I am extremely pleased to know a global company such as General Electric has taken an interest in the project. However, I have failed to find out any trace of the other partner “Falcon Energy” on the internet. This certainly does raise some eye brows considering Falcon Energy’s pivotal role in a USD 200+ million energy project in the Maldives with GE.
So i decided to investigate and here is what i have found out so far.
There are two companies called Falcon Energy.
(1) Falcon Energy (UK) http://www.falconenergy.co.uk/
Is a company that checks “air tightness” and smoke tests. I immediately ruled this company out!
(2) Falcon Energy Group (SEG) www.falconenergy.com.sg/
An offshore marine and oil and gas company. I was pleased to see this company and was glad to know that it had taken an interest. But as i dwelled further, i found out that the CEO is not the man we saw on TV – Danny Boutin – who was introduced as the CEO of Falcon Energy at the function. See organisational chart of the real Falcon Energy
http://www.falconenergy.com.sg/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15&Itemid=14
Secondly, I noticed that the logo of both companies are not the same, the logo of Falcon Energy that i saw in Maldives had a picture of a Falcon on top of the typography. This Falcon Energy had the letter FEG for Falcon Energy Group as its logo (no picture).
So I ruled this Falcon Energy out as well with disappointment and started looking into who Danny Boutin was.
So who is Danny Boutin?
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.facebook.com/profile/pic.php%3Fuid%3DAAAAAQAQUVMU0MvHK_G8sdOIbqX6RQAAAAr89Z61nIg62LyhbCwSG1QV&imgrefurl=http://www.facebook.com/people/Danny-Boutin/1344710200&usg=__Ii69-Sw1M-8tpVSi8gntInRK6ds=&h=150&w=200&sz=5&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=0dwwbaWiUAIVAM:&tbnh=78&tbnw=104&prev=/images%3Fq%3DDanny%2Bboutin%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DG%26um%3D1
Doesn’t he look familiar and muscular!
But then it gets very mysterious, I was googling in various combinations, and when I searched for “Danny Falcon Energy” I came up with this result for a one “Danny Broughton” not “Danny Boutin”
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/danny-broughton/9/b95/9bb
Notice his current workplace – FALCON OILFIELD SERVICES! what a freaky coincidence.
and then i went to Falcon Oilfield Services website

Home

The logo of this company looks like a logo that could inspire the falcon logo that we saw on TV.
Of course none of this is substantial to make any sensational claims. But after reading and looking into all the above, I have grown a bit wary about Danny Boutin and his Falcon Energy.
It is very convenient to masquerade as a powerful energy company when its nothing but a shell company and it is very scary to think of the misappropriation that could perhaps take place when an investment of over USD 200 is involved with this “Falcon Energy” leading the project. Once again, i have nothing substantial, just a couple of minutes of googling, but i am no fool to be told that this “Falcon Energy” has handled over millions of dollars of projects earlier. If it had, there would be some credible trace on the internet.
My closing point being, i just wonder if the current government realise this and how much of due diligence has been done before such a big move is made with a virtually non-existent company.
Regards,
Hussein

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Dear Editor,
I’m very suprised that Minivan News acts so dumb when it covers what the government does or says. Anyone with any sense would know that the wind farm project is just another one of President Nasheed’s usual tactics to deceive the public. It is just another project like the Thimarafushi Airport project.
According to DO, the company that Nasheed claims is implementing the Wind Farm project has said that it is yet to do a feasibility study on the project. Without as much as feasibility study President Nasheed even went on to tell us the price the company is going to charge for each unit of electricity.
Regards,
Ragib

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Dear Editor,
One would really think that the current government is really doing hard to relieve Maldives from financial crisis these days. That’s all they have been bragging about since Mr Nasheed took over the office of presidency. He has dismissed hundreds of people from jobs, brought about nearly 20-60% pay cuts and made our lives a misery in the name of a low budget and a financial crisis.
People are struggling to get the basic necessities of life. Breadwinners in families have lost jobs while the cost of living remains elevaes day by day. But apart from all these, there is one thing which is not stopping Mr President Nasheed and his Vice President Mr Waheed from doing: Their FOREIGN TRIPS.
It’s nearly a year they both came into power but none of them have stayed more than a month on Maldivian soil. They have had far too many foreign trips at the expense of the governement money while they themselves say all the time that we are in a financial crisis and have cut so many peoples’ jobs and salaries.
Well Mr President and vice president, do you mind cutting off your foreign trips all over the world and staying at home, doing some work here during these difficult financial days of Maldives? We (Maldivians) didn’t pay by losing our jobs and accepting pay cuts for both of you and your family to enjoy foreign trips all the time.
If the country is really in crisis, perhaps you should also realise that and sacrifice all these lavish trips abroad. There are Maldivians still suffering to eat a meal a day while you are eating at posh hotels from New York to Sydney. Just think about it!
Regards,
Anonymous

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Dear Editor,
So I guess I missed out on the infamous letter. I never got a chance to read this letter but did see Minivan News’s press release regarding the letter. If I am not wrong Minivan did remove the letter from the website, right?
Why, though?
Again I haven’t seen this letter, but from what I have read I believe it is a letter regarding homosexuality.
Now, what really baffles me about Maldivian society is the fact that people actually “think” and “believe” that everyone in the Maldives is straight. If anyone had a brain and thought about it, isn’t it obvious that this is not true. So not talking about it, not addressing it, is not going to make it go away.
I hope that in the true spirit of freedom of expression, Minivan indeed will publish this letter and also help me locate the letter in reference here.
Regards,
Anonymous

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Dear Editor,
It is depressing and worrying to read that what some people are most concerned about is the fact that the president spoke out about the growing radicalisation of the country and recruitment by the Taliban. Not the fact that this radicalisation is happening and Talibanisation is on the rise.
Burying our heads in the sand is going to concede even more ground to those who wish to turn the Maldives into a society of intolerance and extreme religious beliefs. While some in the religious community attack others for being too ‘liberal’ and ‘brainwashed’ by a ‘Western education’, they tend to forget that the brand of Islam they preach is no more indigenous to the Maldives than is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and certainly less indigenous than the Maldivian attitude of tolerance, acceptance of the other and equality for women.
I would like to thank the president, and recently the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives, for having the courage to speak out against the growing radicalistion of Maldivian Society. If we do not speak now and act now, we will lose this tolerant and moderate scoeity to one that is intolerant and one that most of us want nothing to do with.
Regards,
Anonymous

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Dear Editor
I fully support what President Nasheed said in recent interviews to CNN-India regarding the Maldivians in Pakistan recruited to Jihaad.
We have spent nearly three decades without proper knowledge of what the majority of our students are doing in Pakistan. What the past government knew was hundreds of students leaving to Pakistan for free education in Islamic Madrassas. Who knew what they were doing in those Madrassass? Who was monitoring on what they were studying?
The government turned a blind eye to what those students were doing. I am not saying that all those who study in Pakistan are Jihaadheens, there are number of students who come out from Pakistani universities and institutes who are now in service in our nation building.
Today, when government began to speak about it, people started pointing fingers at the current regime. The aim of the current regime is to reverse such wrongdoings. The end results of such critical issues kept in a vacuum would be more damaging. It’s time to speak about it now and bring our children on to a safe ground. Speaking about those issues doesn’t meant that Maldives will be labelled as terrorist country.
Even the Pakistani government would think about not giving further opportunities to our students from such Madrassas in Pakistan which would eventually stop our students going into gun points. The central reason why those Maldivians joined (if any) in terrorist organizations abroad was due to the failed former regime that turned a blind eye to those innocent Maldivians.
I pray Allah to save our country from such terrorist mindsets.
Regards,
Anonymous

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A tobacco control bill proposed by the government to ban smoking in public places and set restrictions on its use was sent to committee for further review today.

All 55 MPs who participated voted in favour of sending the bill to the social affairs committee.

Presenting the bill at a previous sitting, Health Minister Aminath Jameel said the dangers and health risks of tobacco were well established and the habit led to extreme suffering.

“When I looked at the statistics of our country, I see cancer, one of the most painful of diseases. In 2004, 40 people passed away. In 2008, the number of people who died from different types of cancer increased to 79,” she said.

The number of people who died of heart diseases increased from 192 people in 2004 to 403 in 2008, she added.

The bill states its purpose is to keep children away from tobacco use, provide information to smokers to make responsible decisions and stop advertisement and promotion of cigarettes.

The second clause of the bill states that everyone has the right to protection from passive smoking.

If passed, smoking will be banned in workplaces, public places such as parks, cinemas and conference halls, public transport, teashops, restaurants, cafes, education institutes and hospitals.

Further, selling cigarettes to minors will be an offence and cigarettes will only be sold in packs.

It also places restrictions on the advertisement and promotion of cigarettes.

A one-year period following ratification will be given to draft regulations and enforce the laws.

The legislation also calls for the formation of a national council for tobacco control to be chaired by the health minister.

In 2004, Maldives acceded to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which requires certain regulations to be enforced.

Draconian

During the debate that spanned two sittings, although most MPs supported the legislation, some MPs said the provisions were “too harsh” and should not be implemented abruptly.

Several MPs said the bill read like it was intended to ban tobacco rather than control its use.

Ihavandhoo MP Ahmed Abdullah of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and Funadhoo MP Abdul Raheem Abdullah of the opposition People’s Alliance argued that specifying fines to range between Rf500 (US$39) and Rf100,000 (US$7,800) was not sensible.

Some opposition MPs, such as Hanimadhoo MP Mohamed Mujthaz and Mulaku MP Abdullah Yamin, criticised the bill for being poorly researched and proposed just for the sake of it.

Kulhudhufushi South MP Mohamed Nasheed, an independent, noted that one-third of all deaths in the Maldives were due to illnesses caused by smoking.

If current trends continue, he added, the WHO estimated the number would rise to two-thirds by 2030.

Several MPs said cigarette-smoking was a gateway to drug use, noting the price of cigarettes in the Maldives was the lowest in the region.

Hithadhoo North MP Mohamed Aslam proposed doubling import duties for cigarettes.

Addressing MPs’ concerns, the health minister said editorial issues in the bill could be resolved at committee stage.

Many countries in the world enforce similar laws such as those proposed in the bill, she said, adding that it would be difficult to prevent children from taking up smoking.

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