Category: Society & Culture

Teshuva Agricultural Products abandons visit to Filadhoo following anti-Israeli sentiment

An Israeli agricultural delegation from Teshuva Agricultural Products that was supposed to arrive on Filadhoo cancelled the visit after the islanders warned that they would not let the delegation go further than the jetty.

Island Council Member Mohamed Vijan today told Minivan News that almost all the citizens of the island were at the beach on Saturday to stop the Israel delegation from entering the island.

‘’But they never arrived, and no one informed the council that day that the visit has been cancelled,’’ Vijan said.

He said now the island was calm and everything was “as usual”.

‘’We have heard nothing from the Atoll Council or any other institution about the Israel delegation,’’ he added.

On its website Teshuva claims its advanced agricultural methods “allow for fresh culinary herbs to be grown in soil-less hydroponic systems.”

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s new political party, the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), meanwhile issued a press statement thanking the islanders of Filadhoo for protesting against the Israeli agricultural delegation.

In the statement, the PPM said that the Filadhoo islanders have “shown the feelings of the Maldivian people at a time when the Palestinians are trying to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.”

The PPM went on to claim that the relationship established with the Middle East during Gayoom’s reign was now crumbling “due to the foreign policy of the current government”.

The religious Adhaalath Party meanwhile called on other islands to follow the example of Filadhoo and block the delegation from visiting any other island in the Maldives.

In the statement Adhaalath Party said that although the government has claimed the Maldives would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Palestine at the UN, the government was “an ally of Israel”, and that even if the Maldives voted in favor of Palestinian statehood “that will be done out of the embarrassment they would face if they did not.”

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First international fast food chain opens in Maldives

President Mohamed Nasheed attended the official opening of Marrybrown, a halal Malaysian fast food chain and the first international fast food chain to come to the Maldives.

The Marrybrown franchise currently operates in 15 countries worldwide. The restaurant in the Maldives was established by Lily International Private Limited, a leading business venture in the Maldives.

In his speech at the opening ceremony, the president thanked Lily International for its various contributions to Maldivian businesses since the 1980s.

The president also noted that the Maldivian lifestyle is changing to accommodate businesses enterprises such as Marrybrown, and that steps are being taken by the government to facilitate competition in the open market. The president said necessary legal amendments such as tax and state income laws were being made, and hoped more service enterprises would be established in the Maldives.

Marrybrown Chairman Lawrence Liew said the chain caters to a general population. “We have something different for everyone at a reasonable price in a clean environment. Our kids play centre creates a positive family space,” he said.

President Nasheed eats the inaugural fried chicken burger

After a moment of technical difficulties, Marrybrown opened its doors to the president, the press and the public. The President tasted the chain’s first fried chicken burger in the Maldives alongside franchise and government officials, and was given a tour of the facility which includes an air conditioned interior dining and play area and an upper open air veranda.

Families flocked to the restaurant doors for the next few hours, eager to acquire the free fried chicken meals that were being distributed in honor of the occasion.  A chipmunk mascot in a signature pair of green overalls welcomed children to the event outside, while groups were let in in stages to avoid crowding.

“The menu for Maldives was specially designed over the last six months by our chefs, and is a combination of Malaysian and Maldivian cuisines,” Co-Founder and Group Management Director Nancy Leiw told Minivan News.

When asked about the health value of the fast food menu, Leiw claimed Marrybrown “delivered all the necessary nutrients.”

“It’s a very balanced diet. Think about a burger. You have your carbohydrates, your protein, the lettuce gives you valuable vitamins and minerals, you have everything you need.”

Burgers are served with tomato and chili sauce packets and soft drinks.

Liew said that the franchise owner is “an ambitious businessman”, and that Marrybrown will be expanding business in the Maldives. “We don’t just serve food, we serve people. We will be providing opportunities in employment, business management, and local development,” she said.

The Marrybrown opening was facilitated by Malaysian staff, who will train Maldivian employees to “pass on our expertise and style of customer service,” said Liew.

The franchise’s nationality bore special connotations for the Maldives. “Malaysia is Muslim, and the Maldives is Muslim. We share a special synergy in Islam,” said Liew. “This synergy will allow us to work together in productive ways to create new opportunities for growth in line with our shared cultural standards.”

Liew noted that Marrybrown is celebrating 30 years of operation this year, and will be holding promotions and fundraising events for local charities and businesses throughout the year.

Marrybrown plans to open several more restaurants in the Maldives in the near future.

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Maldives one of seven most important countries on UN Human Rights Council: Human Rights Watch

The Maldives has been identified as one of the seven most important countries on the UN Human Rights Council, in a report by the Human Rights Watch organisation.

The Maldives, together with Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, the United States and Zambia were identified has making “a critical difference” during the period of the report, “working both collectively and in parallel to ensure that the Council’s mandate to address and prevent situations of violations was fulfilled more rigorously, recognising the Council’s inaction of the past”.

Negative influences identified on the Council included China, Cuba and Russia, the report noted, which “systematically voted to reject any action of the Council that they deemed too critical of a state, or that was not supported by the state in question. They argued that the Council should be a forum where states meet to discuss human rights issues cooperatively without what they considered to be interfering in the domestic affairs of others.”

In particular, the Maldives was praised for its energetic engagement with the council and its solid voting record.

“Despite having a small delegation, [the Maldives] commitment to human rights and democracy has motivated it to be a part of, or to take leadership on, a significant number of initiatives over the last year. The Maldives was among the first group of signatories calling for the special sessions on Côte d’Ivoire and Libya. The Maldives also cosponsored the resolutions on Iran, Tunisia, Côte d’Ivoire, Libya, and Kyrgyzstan,” the report said.

However it identified as “regrettable” the Maldives position on whether to launch an international investigation into war crimes in the final days of the Sri Lankan civil war, “particularly on the question of accountability.”

“The Maldives has been uncharacteristically reluctant to endorse the calls of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General’s panel for the creation of an independent international mechanism to investigate the final months of the conflict. Its close bilateral relationship with Sri Lanka, rather than the credible allegations coming from the ground, has prompted this position,” the report noted.

“The Maldives should revisit its approach on Sri Lanka in order to bring it in line with its otherwise principled approach to human rights at the Council.”

The report also noted that despite its strong record of positive engagement on many issues at the Council, “the Maldives supported the resolution on traditional values and voted with the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) against the resolution on human rights, sexual orientation, and gender identity.”

Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem meanwhile said the Maldives was proud that the country was now “internationally-respected for its commitment to human rights and for its influence on the global stage”

“At the time, many people doubted the Government’s decision to put forward the Maldives’ candidature for the UN Human Rights Council, saying we are too small to make a difference. Human Rights Watch’s new report shows unequivocally that such doubts were misplaced. Not only has the Maldives played a central role at the Council, we have also helped make the Council far more effective as the pre-eminent global body responsible for protecting human rights,” Naseem said.

Read the full report (English)

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“We don’t want Israelis to invest in our island”: Filadhoo islanders

Islanders on Filadhoo in Haa Alifu Atoll have reacted with outrage to news of an Israeli agricultural delegation scheduled to arrive on the island next Saturday, warning that the visitors from Teshuva Agricultural Products “will go no further than the island jetty.”

On its website the company claims its advanced agricultural methods “allow for fresh culinary herbs to be grown in soil-less hydroponic systems.”

Filadhoo islander Mohamed Hamidh told Minivan News that the majority of the island’s 550-strong population were against the visit by the Israeli company.

Hamidh said that when the islanders first received information about the delegation, they prepared a petition signed by 100 islanders and submitted it to the island council.

“That night the Island Council called the islanders for a meeting and 83 islanders attended the meeting. Councilors called for a vote and 82 out of the present 83 citizens voted that they do not want to let the Israeli delegation step on the island,” Hamidh said.

Local media reported that the petition signed by the 100 citizens claimed the Israeli delegation intended to preach Christianity on the island and conduct un-Islamic activities, although they came under the banner of an agricultural delegation.

An earlier press release by the Deputy Leader of the Adhaalath Party accused the agricultural delegation of being agents from Mossad, the Israeli secret service.

Hamidh meanwhile said the islanders would not welcome the delegation because Israelis “have been mistreating the Muslims in Palestine” and have “killed so many Palestinian men and left many Palestinian women widowed.”

“We have reports that although the islanders oppose their presence, they will still head towards our island. They are supposed to be arriving on Saturday morning around 8:30am, so we will keep an eye on the jetty and will not let them enter this island,” he said.

Island Council Member Mohamed Vijan told Minivan News that the council was “left with no other choice” but to support the will of the citizens.

“Last Monday the Atoll Council informed the Island Council that this delegation from Israel will visit Filadhoo on Saturday,” he said.

He said the council will be “with the citizens” whether they were in favour or opposed to the visiting delegation.

Earlier this month Deputy Leader of the Adhaalath Party Dr Mauroof Hussein called for alarm after alleging that a delegation from Teshuva Agricultural Products was due to arrive in the Maldives to assess the country’s agricultural potential.

The last time an Israeli delegation visited the Maldives – a team of volunteer eye surgeons – protests erupted across Male’ that saw the burning of Israeli flags and calls to “ban all Israeli medical teams” from practicing in the Maldives.

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DRP requests six month delay for general GST

Main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali has sent a letter to the President requesting a six-month delay to the introduction of a 3.5 percent Goods and Services Tax (GST) approved by parliament last month.

In his letter, the minority leader noted that according to parliamentary rules of procedure, only the government could submit tax legislation. He urged the government to delay the implementation of the GST to allow businesses enough time to prepare. The General GST is due to come into force on October 2.

Thasmeen argued that a number of citizens could be subject to legal penalties specified in the legislation if they were not provided sufficient information about registering and paying the new direct tax.

In a booklet handed out to media last month titled “DRP’s response to the government’s economic nuisance package,” the party noted that the General GST would affect small businesses such as cornershops, cafes and teashops.

The businesses would “need a lot of preparation” to maintain accounts, install “modern computer systems and hire accountants” as well as provide customer’s statements showing the GST percentage.

Morever, taxing “total value of business transactions” would not be possible with GST at zero percent for some items.

Considering the potential “administrative confusion” and the country’s heavy reliance on imports, the DRP argued that levying a customs duty at the entry point to the country was more effective.

President’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair told Minivan News today that the government viewed the DRP as the main opposition party and “gives a high priority to their concerns.”

“But the President has been advised by financial experts that all taxes should be part of one network and it is not sensible to omit one tax for the whole system to work,” he said.

Zuhair noted that “people wanted to delay the introduction of political parties” in the past, adding that “we have lost 30 years without a tax system.”

In May, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a three-year support programme after the government agreed to “a package of policy reforms that will help stabilise and strengthen the Maldives’ economy.”

Under the IMF programme, the government committed to:

  • Raise import duties on pork, tobacco, alcohol and plastic products by August 2011 (requires Majlis approval);
  • Introduce a general goods and services tax (GST) of 5 percent applicable to all sectors other than tourism, electricity, health and water (requires Majlis approval);
  • Raise the Tourism Goods and Services Tax (TGST) from 3.5 percent to 6 percent from January 2012, and to 10 percent in January 2013 (requires Majlis approval);
  • Pass an income tax bill in the Majlis by no later than January 2012;
  • Ensure existing bed tax of US$8 dollars a night remains until end of 2013;
  • Reduce import duties on certain products from January 2011;
  • Freeze public sector wages and allowances until end of 2012;
  • Lower capital spending by 5 percent
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Islamic Foundation files court case seeking repeal of Religious Unity Regulations

Religious NGO Islamic Foundation of the Maldives (IFM) has filed a case at the High Court requesting the court rule that the Religious Unity Regulations are inconsistent with the constitution.

Controversial new religious unity regulations were published in the government’s gazette last week, cracking down on extremist and unlicensed preaching of Islam in the Maldives.

Local media reported that prominent religious scholar Sheikh Ibrahim Fareed, who currently faces charges for allegedly violating the Religious Unity Act, filed the case in the High Court and spoke to the media outside the court.

Media reported Sheikh Fareed as stating that the regulation was inconsistent with the constitution as well as the Quran.

Fareed was quoted as saying that romantic thoughts, social talks and religious speeches were part of the fundamental right of freedom of speech as stated in the constitution.

Meanwhile, religious NGO Jamiyyathul Salaf and the religious council of the Adhaalath Party voiced opposition to the regulations.

Sheikh Fareed today told Minivan News that the regulation was “very” inconsistent with the Quran and the constitution.

“By God’s will next week I will request the High Court issue a court order to delay the implementation of the regulation until the court reaches to a conclusion on the issue,” Sheikh Fareed said. “The regulation was drafted by the Islamic Ministry and it pressured the government to publish it in the gazette.”

Islamic Foundation protestHe said islanders of Miladhoo in Noonu Atoll have been protesting outside on the streets of the island today calling for the religious unity regulation to be amended.

Media Coordinator of the protest and Chairman of Miladhoo Island Council Hassan Gassan told Minivan News that the protest started at 4:15pm today.

“The protest is organised by the IFM Miladhoo Wing and a huge majority of the islanders have joined the protest,” he said. “We walked around the main streets of the island and stopped at the island harbor.”

He said protesters were calling for the resignation of Islamic Minister Dr Abdul Majeed Abdul Bari, and to amend the Religious Unity Regulations.

New religious unity regulations were published in the government’s gazette last week, cracking down on extremist and unlicensed preaching of Islam in the Maldives.

The regulations reflect the enforcement of the Religious Unity Act of 1994 and were originally put forward by the Islamic Ministry, but have undergone numerous drafts and revisions over the past year. The penalty for violating the regulations under the Act is 2-5 years imprisonment, banishment or house arrest.

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Abandoned child legally assigned foster parents for first time in Maldivian history

The Family Court has assigned foster parents to a 10-month-old baby for the first time in Maldivian history. The child, who had been abandoned, was transferred from state care to a married couple on Sunday, September 18.

“This is the first time that non-biological parents have been given legal guardianship of a child in the Maldives,” said Ilham Mohamed, a local NGO worker familiar with the matter.

Mohamed said that foster parents previously risked the biological parents turning up to demand money and/or the child. “This example will make the process more secure,” she said.

The new foster parents will have the same legal rights given in adoption, except for the rights to consent to marriage and leave an inheritance.

Mohamed pointed out that in many cases where a father will not consent to his daughter’s marriage, the young couple requests and often receives court permission. She said the process usually takes between two and three months.

The couple’s lawyer, former Attorney General (AG) Aishath Azima Shakoor, told local media that the couple wanted to opt for their new daughter to inherit an equal share of their property. According to Mohamed, Maldivian law allows foster parents this option.

Shakoor recently told local media that the court had transferred the state’s legal guardianship of the child under Shari’a law to the couple, who have agreed in writing to protect and provide for the girl.

The Maldives did not provide services for abandoned children before the 1990s. Sources say that the number of abandoned children rose during that decade, possibly due to the allegedly higher rate of drug use among young adults at that time.

In 1992, the Ministry of Gender and Family established the Unit for the Rights of the Child (URC), now known as the Child and Family Protection Services (CFPS). Since then, the ministry maintains that the number of care-giving staff and institutions are unable to meet demand.

An Auditor General’s report dated 2009 reported 43 children at the state’s orphanage on Villingili, near Male. The report noted that the orphanage was understaffed and staff members were unable to provide sufficient care for children below the age of five. Most employees were not trained in child psychology, and there were no provisions for medical emergencies.

The orphanage on Male is currently over capacity and children are not segregated by age, said Mohamed.

Minivan News previously reported that Maldivian Family Law requires various next-of-kin be asked to care for abandoned children before the state assumes responsibility. But the process of identifying proper care-givers was reported long and difficult, and the Ministry of Family and Gender was regularly backed up with applications at the time.

The report also noted that adoption, as it is handled in the West, is illegal in Islam.

“Adoption in the Western style is not part of Islam,” explained Mohamed. “But fostering, or taking people into your care, is part of Islamic culture. It doesn’t really matter what name you use, foster or adopt, just so long as children have a safe place to live.”

Mohamed said she believes most orphanages have wait lists, and expects foster parenting to increase significantly.

“The couple that has been approved struggled to convince local authorities of their case. But now that this has been done once, it won’t be difficult for people to do it again.”

Mohamed noted that the struggle to legalize foster parenting began in the late 1990s, and calls the recent case a “very significant event.”

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ACC paid members’ phone bills illegally, finds audit report

Mobile phone bills of Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) members were paid out of the commission’s budget illegally, according to the independent institution’s audit report for 2010 made public yesterday.

The audit report published on the website of the Auditor General’s Office found that the bills of mobile phones given for office use were paid by the commission from April 2010 onwards if the amount did not exceed Rf 650 per month.

“Since according to article 16(a) of the Anti-Corruption Act salaries and allowances for commission members shall be determined by the People’s Majlis (parliament), we note that following the parliament’s Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) response on March 30, 2011 to the Anti-Corruption Commission’s letter on March 16, 2011, [the commission] stopped paying the phone bills of members,” reads the audit report.

“The [PAC] letter told the commission to cease paying phone bills until the Public Accounts Committee reviews phone allowances of institutions whose salaries are determined by the People’s Majlis and informs [the commission of a decision].”

In addition, the audit report noted that unused funds left over after ACC trips were not properly recorded under the applicable budget code.

Moreover, reports of such trips were not filed within three working days of the end of the trip as stipulated by clause 5.13 of the state financial regulations.

An ACC spokesperson had not responded to Minivan News at time of press. However ACC Deputy Chair Muaviz Rasheed told newspaper Haveeru today that the mobile phones were used for office work and the ACC received authorisation to pay the phone bills from the Finance Ministry.

While a monthly limit of Rf 650 was set, Muaviz said that the amounts paid were below the limit for most months.

The audit report meanwhile noted that the ACC’s financial statement was prepared in accordance with international public sector accounting standards and “shows the commission’s financial status truthfully and accurately.”

Out of the Rf16.5 million (US$1 million) annual budget released to the ACC in 2010, the report noted that Rf12.4 million (US$800,000) was spent on salaries and allowances for employees. Over Rf778,000 (US$50,400) was meanwhile spent on training staff.

The ACC audit report for 2010 is the first report released by the Audit Office since 2009 following former Auditor General Ibrahim Naeem’s contentious dismissal by parliament in March 2010 over corruption allegations. After rejecting the President’s first nominee, Naeem’s replacement – current Auditor General Ibrahim Niyaz – was eventually approved in May this year.

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Faculty of Sharia Law to expel student wearing face veil

The only student wearing the face veil studying at the Faculty of Sharia Law will be asked to remove it during class or face being expelled if she refuses to do so, Dean of the Faculty of Sharia Law Dr Ibrahim Zakariyya Moosa has reportedly stated.

An online religious news website in the Maldives, ‘Islaameenoor’, reported the girl as saying that she was called to go to the office after class, whereupon Dr Zakariyya told her that it was not compulsory for Muslim women to wear the face veil.

Dr Zakariyya reportedly told the girl that studying was compulsory under Islam, and that if wearing the face veil obstructed her from studying, she should not wear it even if it was a Sunnah.

According to Islaameenoor, the girl responded that she did not wear the veil to create confusion about the religion, but to uphold the religion as much as she could, the paper reported.

Dr Zakariyya allegedly told her that he had no choice to allow something disallowed, and that she should not come to study wearing the face veil although she was able to come wearing a loose black hijab.

According to the paper, Dr Zakariyya told her that in different parts of the country terrorists had used the hijab to hide weapons, and that there was “no way to identify the sex of a person wearing the full hijab”.

Dr Zakariyya explained to her that there was no way the faculty could confirm that it was really her attending the exam if she wore the face veil, to which the girl replied that if the faculty was suspicious, female staff working in the faculty could remove her face veil and check.

Dr Zakariyya then told the student that there was an opportunity to secretly have headphones in her ear while doing the exams, which she said was possible even wearing the normal veil without covering the face.

When Minivan News attempted to contact Dr Zakariyya, the front desk at the faculty referred Minivan News to the Maldives National University. The Maldives National University referred Minivan News back to the faculty of Islamic Studies, which said it did not have the authority to comment.

Maldives National University Chancellor, also the former Education Minister Dr Musthafa Luthfy, also said he did not wish to comment on the matter.

Former State Islamic Minister Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed, currently Dean of Islamic Studies at Villa College, said he had not heard of the matter and would not comment on it unless the reports had been officially confirmed.

Online newspaper ‘Sun’ meanwhile today reported Dr Zakariyya as confirming that the reports were correct, and he had advised a student wearing the face veil to remove it while coming to study.

He reportedly told the paper that the Faculty of Sharia Law would “take strict measures” next year in such cases.

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