Category: Society & Culture

Cancelled agreement to develop IGMH cost US$150,000, reveals audit

The termination of an agreement between the Ministry of Health and Family with Indian company Apollo Hospitals Enterprises to manage and develop the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) cost the government US$150,000, the Ministry of Finance and Treasury’s audit report for 2010 has revealed.

The audit report (Dhivehi) made public on Thursday (June 6) flagged an advance payment of US$ 150,000 from the finance ministry’s special budget to Apollo Hospitals as 20 percent of a transition management fee under the “management and development agreement” (MDA) signed on January 23, 2010.

Auditor General Niyaz Ibrahim contended that the payment was made by the finance ministry in violation of budgetary rules and accounting principles, adding that expenses of another office or institution should not be included in the finance ministry’s financial statement.

Moreover, the privatisation of the government hospital was not overseen by the privatisation committee as stipulated in public finance regulations amended in late 2009, the audit report noted.

The secretariat of the privatisation committee, which functioned under the Ministry of Economic Development, informed auditors that interested parties were invited to submit detailed proposals for developing IGMH in a public-private partnership deal in January 2009.

However, none of the detailed bids met the criteria set by the health ministry and the privatisation project was scrapped.

Following a visit by then-President Mohamed Nasheed to India, Health Minister Dr Aminath Jameel told the press on January 25, 2010 that Apollo was awarded the project because none of the bidders fit the criteria.

Apollo was chosen following consultation with the Indian government and based on legal advice, she added.

However, in August 2010, the Male’ Health Services Corporation – which operated IGMH – advised the health ministry against proceeding with the privatisation deal as Apollo’s proposal was not financially feasible for the government-owned health corporation.

On September 30, 2010, the health ministry informed Apollo that the government has decided to scrap the project since the necessary financial capital had not been arranged.

The audit report also noted that a transition management agreement and an operation management agreement that was required under the MDA was not signed in the stipulated 180-day period.

“Therefore, the US$ 150,000 paid to Apollo Hospitals under the MoU [Memorandum of Understanding] signed with IGMH in 2010 was a waste of funds with no benefit to the state,” the audit report stated.

It added that the loss was incurred as a result of “inadequate planning” before hastily signing the MoU without obtaining legal advice, considering the financial burden on the state and determining a source of capital.

The Auditor General recommended asking the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to determine whether any state official abused their authority in awarding the project to Apollo Hospitals without a bidding process.

Other cases

Among eight other cases highlighted in the report where expenses were made ostensibly in violation of public finance law, the audit revealed that in 2007 the government incurred a loss of MVR 30.8 million (US$1.9 million) after paying for 150,000 copies of the Quran Dhivehi translation with numerous errors.

The audit report noted that the project was awarded to Novelty Printers without a bidding process through the tender evaluation board.

Moreover, an advance payment of 85 percent of the contracted amount was made to Novelty Printers in violation of existing regulations, the audit discovered.

In June 2010, the Fiqh Academy decided to destroy the copies printed in 2007 as the errors could not be easily corrected. The decision was made following a year-long review by scholars of the academy.

The audit discovered that the errors in the final version were not present in the proofed copy approved by the President’s Office in 2007 – during the final years of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s reign – suggesting that Novelty was responsible for the errors.

Novelty Printers wrote to the President’s Office in November 2008 apologising for the printing errors, which they explained occurred due to a problem in the computer file used to make the printing plates.

The audit also discovered that Novelty was paid the remaining 15 percent of the contracted amount in May 2010 after a state minister at the finance ministry approved the payment.

The state minister sent a memo to the budget section falsely claiming that the government had received all 150,000 copies, the audit report noted.

The Auditor General recommended that the ACC should investigate the culpable official for alleged corruption and that the state should either recover the MVR 30 million paid to Novelty or demand 150,000 copies without errors.

The audit report also noted that the government was ordered by the Civil Court in January 2010 to pay US$119,616 as compensation for a former deputy general manager of the Maldives National Shipping Line (MNSL) for unlawful termination in 2002.

The Auditor General recommended legal action against the government officials responsible for incurring the financial loss by unlawfully sacking the MNSL deputy manager in 2002.

The audit further revealed that in 2009 and 2010 the finance ministry paid US$ 4 million to two American companies under a “settlement agreement” while arbitration proceedings were ongoing in Singapore.

In 2006, a consortium formed by the International Medical Group and Sirius International Insurance Corporation was awarded a contract to provide health insurance for government employees.

The companies sought arbitration in Singapore following a contract dispute with the now-defunct Ministry of Higher Education, Employment and Social Security. However, the US$4 million settlement was reached out of arbitration in May 2009 by the new government that took office in November 2008.

The settlement was paid out of the finance ministry’s special budget in 2009 and 2010.

The Auditor General recommended “a thorough investigation” to recover the financial loss incurred by the government as a result of the contract.

The audit report also contended that the finance ministry had not undertaken “adequate efforts” to recover MVR 51.4 million (US$3.3 million) owed to the government as loan repayments as of December 2010.

The loans worth a total of MVR 69.4 million (US$4.5 million) were provided to select individuals by the President’s Office from 1992 to 2006 under special privileges afforded to then-President Gayoom.

The loans were given with a six percent interest rate to be paid back within two to five years, the report found, noting that the repayment period would have lapsed in 2011 for the most recent loans.

However, in a letter sent to the finance ministry on November 6, 2008 – five days before Gayoom left office – the repayment period was extended to five years.

As the loans were given to senior officials of the outgoing government, the audit report contended that the decision to extend the repayment period amounted to corruption.

The Auditor General therefore asked for an investigation by the ACC into the extension and recommended that the finance ministry file court cases to recover the unpaid amounts.

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Health Trust Fund fundraising events raise over MVR 5.5 million (US$357,142)

Following a week of fundraising events the Health Ministry has raised over 5.5 million MVR (US$357,142) for the Health Trust Fund established in late April, falling short of the MVR 270 million (US$ 17,532,450) needed for health sector services.

The Health Trust Fund was established 20 November 2012 under Ministry of Finance and Treasury regulations and inaugurated on April 29, 2013.

The only way the Health Trust Fund can be maintained is through donations of sufficient assets and in this regard government and private sector contributions are very important, Minister of Health Dr Ahmed Jamsheed recently told local media.

He explained that the health sector requires an additional MVR 270 million (US$ 17,532,450), which requires public contributions and cooperation.

Previously health sector services were “covered by the people”, however following the start of the Aasandha universal health insurance scheme on 1 January 2012 the government of Maldives needed a “huge amount of finance” to cover expenses, said Jamsheed.

Therefore, the Health Ministry organised a series of fundraising events to “commence activities to raise funds, not to gather all the funds need to cover all health sector services,” he added.

“We want health services to be sustainable by putting an end to service disruptions due to machinery breakdowns as well as provide a systematic way for people to give in-kind donations,” Health Ministry Director and fundraising media team member Thasleema Usman told Minivan News yesterday (June 8).

“There has always been a budget shortfall at the Health Ministry, there has never been enough money,” Usman said.

“We wanted to try and do something for the Maldivian people, additionally there are also people who want to contribute [to the fund] for the benefit of the public,” she added.

Usman explained that the various fundraising events were organised as a start for the trust fund and to raise awareness among the public.

“We didn’t want this to be a ‘once off’ thing,” she said.

“Although the total amount of funds raised are still being tallied, as of this afternoon (June 9), the total reported was MVR 5.5 million (US$357,142), with over MVR 2 million (USD$129,870) in cash donations and more than MVR 3 million (US$194,805) from in kind contributions,” Maldives Food and Drug Authority (MFDA) Senior Scientific Officer and fundraising media team member Mariyam Shabeena told Minivan News today (June 9).

Budgetary needs

The health sector budgeted MVR 2.2 billion (US$142,857,000) for 2013, however around MVR 1.1 billion  US$71,428,500) or 50 percent of the total budget is allocated for the National Social Protection Agency (NSPA), according to Usman.

She said that over MVR 5 million is needed for social safety net subsidy programs, such as single parent’s allowance, foster parent’s allowance, disability registration and benefit and electricity subsidies, which fall under NSPA.

NSPA is also responsible for managing the national social health insurance scheme, a public-private partnership with Allied Insurance.

“Aasandha requires 1.13 billion MVR (US$73,376,550) to provide actual health care,” Usman said.

“An additional MVR 500 million (US$32,467,500) is required for Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) operations and the Health Ministry budget also includes institutions, such as the Maldives Food and Drug Authority (MFDA), National Drug Agency (NDA), etc,” she continued.

Usman explained that the health trust fund will be transparent, with legal mechanisms to manage the money.

“The Health Ministry can only have a sustainable trust fund if funds are raised legally, by abiding with Finance Ministry regulations,” she said.

“The fund has a very well written policy that explains how the money will be used and what has been used,” Usman continued.

“A nine member committee chaired by the Health Minister will oversee the fund, which has a grading system to determine where funds are need most.”

Members of the public making contributions can earmark their donations for a particular island or association, but the trust fund committee needs to know what is being earmarked so contributions are not wasted, Usman added.

Events

“We have received a lot of support from the media, they have been a very, very big help,” said Usman.

A one hour telethon pre-show was broadcast nationwide from June 1 – 7 on four TV stations – MBC, VTV, DhiTV, Raajje TV – and three radio stations – MBC, VTV, DhiFM to raise awareness about the fundraising events.

“The broadcast reports showed where we are, the assistance required, and the grand realities of how the Health Ministry spends their budget,” Usman explained.

The actual telethon was held Saturday ( June 8 ) from 6:00am to midnight. It was kicked off with a sponsored walk along one of Male’s main thoroughfares.

Additionally, two charity football matches were held in Male’s National Stadium Friday (June 7), with Maldivian media presenters facing off against film stars.

The film star women’s team was victorious, winning 4 – 0 , while the men’s media team won 3-0 after dominating overtime penalty kicks.

Proceeds from ticket sales and t-shirt purchases also contributed to the Health Ministry fund.

Furthermore, a Children’s Evening fundraising event was also held at Male’s Children’s Park (Kudakudinge Bageecha).

Donation boxes were also placed at ferry terminals in Male’, as well as IGMH, regional and atoll hospitals.

“Ultimately these events were very successful because we were able to raise so much money,” said Usman.

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Police find more beer cans near Villimale’

Residents of Villimale have alerted police after 52 cans of beer were found washed up on the island, following an operation to recover some 19,200 cans that fell into the sea from a dhoni travelling to Hulhule’ from Male’’s commercial port.

The police were called early on Friday morning by a group of people on Villimale’ after they found the cans near the boat yard on the island.

The Maldives Customs Department recently issued a statement claiming the beer cans found floating near Male’ were being transferred to a bonded warehouse in Hulhule’ from Male’, but said the dhoni carrying the beer cans lost balance and 800 cases fell into the sea.

Customs said the beer cans were a shipment imported to the Maldives for resort business and had cleared the customs examination procedure.

According to the statement, the customs officer who loaded the beer cases onto the dhoni counted the amount of cans that were loaded onto the boat, figured out the amount missing and informed the police immediately.

On Thursday Marine Police and Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) officers conducted an operation to collect thousands of the cans found floating in the sea on the west side of Male’.

Possession and consumption of alcohol is illegal outside resort islands and licensed safari boats in the Maldives.

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Raajje TV alleges Maldives Broadcasting Commission warning “biased”

Raajje TV claims a warning issued to them late last week by the Maldives Broadcasting Commission was biased, given their lack of transparent procedures for determining code of conduct violations.

“The Maldives Broadcasting Commission (MBC) sent a letter to Raajje TV last Thursday (June 6) saying the news aired on 23 February 2013 violated their code of conduct,” Deputy CEO of Raajje TV Yamin Rasheed told Minivan News today (June 8).

“Raajje TV strongly believes the commission’s decision is biased and will appeal to Maldives Media Council (MMC), the highest authority,” Rasheed stated.

MBC investigated a complaint that Raajje TV “broadcast false information” when its news-ticker displayed information that the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) had called on its members to slaughter Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) members, Sun Online reported.

The commission’s investigation concluded that Raajje TV violated the code of practice by “showing images, sounds or texts of content that might damage a person’s dignity or is demeaning in nature”, as stated in articles 3(a), 5(a) and (b), according to local media.

“The ‘caution’ [letter MBC issued] is a warning. If that repeats they will take actions within broadcasting law, which might include temporary suspension of Raajje TV’s broadcast licence,” Rasheed explained.

He believes that MBC’s investigative decision making process is bias, because there is no transparent procedure for determining [code of] conduct violations.

“It is not clear how they concluded these statements, there is no clear procedure, it is not publicly announced,” said Rasheed. “I don’t know how they came to that conclusion.”

“We trust our journalists to report what they hear and see as true, they report the facts,” he stated.

Regarding the February 23 broadcast in question, Rasheed explained that “PPM officials called the MDP a terrorist group at that rally, we have the recorded footage.”

“Yet we don’t know what the opposition submitted against us, we don’t know specifically what the MBC is concerned about [regarding the code of conduct],” said Rasheed.

Rasheed claimed that MBC had “done nothing” in regard to code of conduct violations committed by Television Maldives (TVM), Villa TV (VTV), DhiTV and their sister network DhiFM, which “shows their bias”.

“DhiTV and VTV are constantly harassing politicians, for example saying Nasheed is anti-religious and many other things against him. DhiFM has shown pornographic footage, while the state broadcaster TVM has shown anti-social footage related to Maldivian culture of couples kissing, which is illegal,” alleged Rasheed.

VTV is owed by resort tycoon and Judicial Services Commission (JSC) member, Jumhoree Party (JP) Leader and MP Gasim Ibrahim.

DhiTV and DhiFM are predominantly owned by Champa Mohamed Moosa, a prominent businessman and resort owner in the Maldives.

In March 2013, MBC called for the Maldives Media Company, which owns DhiFM Plus, to air a statement of apology without any reservations from the station for violating the broadcasting code of conduct after allegedly airing pornographic content during a late night news show.

In July 2011, MBC reprimanded DhiFM for repeated use of “indecent language” during programmes aired by the radio station and simultaneously broadcast live by sister network DhiTV in its “visual radio” segment.

The Maldives Broadcasting Commission, as well as its Vice President Mohamed Shahyb, were not responding to calls at time of press.

Maldives Media Council support

Raajje TV plans to appeal the MBC warning with the MMC on Sunday or Monday, according to Rasheed.

“The only thing we see from MBC is the intention to penalise media,” claimed Rasheed.

Conversely, Rasheed praised the MMC for their positive interactions with and support of free press in the Maldives.

“The media council is our parental body, was elected from within the media groups, and is more independent than the commission,” said Rasheed.

“They have a responsibility to protect our rights and regulations and are doing things for media freedom as well as giving us many training opportunities,” he continued.

“They are more all-encompassing in dealing with media because they deal with both print and broadcast journalism,” he added.

Rasheed hopes to receive MMC support in regard to the MBC warning issued, since they previously filed a case with the prosecutor general against the President’s Office for intentionally not cooperating with Raajje TV.

In April, the Civil Court ruled in favour of Raajje TV in its lawsuit against the President’s Office for barring the opposition-aligned television station from President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s press conferences and functions.

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PPM will address Maldives’ strained relationship with India: Gayoom

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has pledged during a visit to India that the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) will repair strained relations between the two countries should it come to power in September, local media has reported.

The three day visit, which concluded Thursday (June 6), saw the former president meet with dignitaries including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss bilateral relations and the impact of the Maldives government’s decision to last year cancel a US$511 million airport deal with India-based infrastructure giant GMR.

In interviews with Indian media, Gayoom expressed sadness that the Maldives’ relationship with India had been impacted by President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s administration deciding to evict GMR from the country with seven days notice.

Gayoom blamed Nasheed for not obtaining parliamentary approval and “consulting all political parties” before signing the deal with the GMR-Malaysian Airports consortium.

“This was a mistake. Had he consulted all political parties, the public would not have formed the impression that corruption had taken place. Then we told the next President Mr Waheed that he should hold discussions with the GMR Group and the Indian government to arrive at an acceptable solution, after which the government was free to act on its own. Unfortunately, this was not done and suddenly there was this unhappy ending,” Gayoom was reported as saying in the Hindu.

Waheed’s government late last year declared the contract between GMR and the Nasheed government, which was vetted by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), as ‘void ad initio’, or invalid from the outset. It is currently disputing its obligation to compensate the company in arbitration proceedings, arguing that the termination clause could not be applied to a contract it had deemed invalid.

Gayoom told Indian media that former President Mohamed Nasheed – whose government was controversially replaced in February last year – had to take the majority of blame for the GMR contract dispute, despite not being in office at the time of its cancellation.

“The GMR experience was not a very good one for us. It began badly with [Nasheed] not informing parliament,” Gayoom was reported as saying in the Indian Express.

“By law, he should have had it passed by parliament. Some may even say it had an illegal beginning. [The cancellation] was a very populist move at the time as the public had a perception that the contract was bad for the country. The way it was handled was not good. I am sad that this has somehow affected our bilateral relations. We want to overcome that and restore our relationship with India to its former level,” Gayoom told the paper.

The government’s sudden eviction of the Indian investor did not however appear on a list of 11 grievances handed to all senior Maldivian reporters by the Indian High Commission in January, which instead included concerns such as discrimination against Indian expatriates and the confiscation of passports by Maldivian employers.

The list’s release was followed by the Indian High Commission issuing a statement in early February slamming local media in the Maldives for “misrepresentation and twisting of issues”.

Gayoom nonetheless told the Hindustan Times publication this week that he would endeavor to maintain strong bilateral relations with India, claiming that people who were “anti-GMR” were not “anti-India”.

The PPM is presently part of the coalition government backing President Waheed, whom Gayoom said had been requested to find an “acceptable solution” for both GMR and the Indian government that addressed concerns about the airport deal.

Fierce criticism

Among the most fierce critics of the GMR airport deal before its cancellation last year were the now government-aligned Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP ), led by President Waheed’s Special Advisor Dr Hassan Saeed.

Saeed in November last year appealed to Prime Minister Singh to terminate the GMR deal, writing that “GMR and India ‘bashing’ is becoming popular politics”.

While in opposition in December 2011, the DQP also released a 24 page pamphlet alleging that allowing GMR to develop Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) was “paving the way for the enslavement of Maldivians in our beloved land”, and warning that “Indian people are especially devious”.

Former Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, the DQP’s Deputy Leader at the time of the pamphlet’s publication, was recently unveiled as the running mate of PPM Presidential candidate Abdulla Yameen – Gayoom’s half brother.

SOFA a concern: Gayoom

Gayoom – described in the Hindu as a “sprightly 76 year-old” – also expressed concern about the Status of Forces (SOFA) agreement being negotiated between Waheed’s government and the United States.

“I am not happy. I didn’t want that to happen,” he said, warning that such a move risked upsetting the balance of power in the Indian Ocean.

A source within the PPM said former President Gayoom, during his 30 years as head of state had forged strong relations with various regional powers such as India and Sri Lanka.

The source said that while the handling of the GMR contract remained a controversial issue, the recent strain in the relationship between India and the Maldives was the result of a number of factors, including “certain difficulties” facing expatriate workers from India living in the country.

“We have a large number of professional expatriates from India working here in health, education and accountancy. The [Indian] embassy here in Male’ has aired some of the issues with us,” the party source claimed, adding that the Maldives also had grievances over obtaining visas to travel to India that needed to be resolved.

The party official claimed that Indian authorities had raised these issues not only with the PPM, but all other stakeholders both in government and the country’s political opposition, presently represented by the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

Highs and lows

Despite admitting that every country has high and lows in their bilateral relations with neighbours, Indian High Commissioner to the Maldives Rajeev Shahare has previously emphasised what he called the country’s “unshakable” long-standing relationship with the Maldives.

“During my tenure, I will endeavour to further strengthen the relationship between India and the Maldives, which is already very strong with an unshakable foundation,” he said on April 10, shortly after his appointment.

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“They do not care”: Maldives outsources climate change pavilion at international art show

The Tourism Ministry outsourced the Maldives’ first national pavilion at the Venice Biennale art show to an Arab-European collective of curators, some of whom have alleged the Maldives government does not care about climate change or the arts.

The overarching theme of the Maldives’ pavilion, entitled “Portable Nation: Disappearance as a Work in Progress – Approaches to Ecological Romanticism”, is about how the survival of the nation, Maldivian people and cultural heritage are threatened by catastrophic climate change impacts, such as rising sea levels.

The pavilion is meant to raise awareness and be a call to action against climate change as well as explore questions of environmental impact, climate change and migration in the Maldives, as part of the art show taking place in Venice, Italy.

The art exhibitions also highlights Maldivians’ current efforts to archive and collect as much of their cultural heritage as possible, prior to the entire nation’s disappearance, due to rising sea levels, and the subsequent forced displacement of 350,000 people.

The Maldives pavilion was “almost abandoned” following the controversial transfer of power February 7, 2012, given that it was originally an initiative of former President Mohamed Nasheed and envisioned as a way to draw attention to climate change and the plight faced by the Maldives, according to an article published by the Inter Press Service (IPS).

Although Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Ahmed Adeeb commissioned the pavilion, President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik’s government “lost interest” in the initiative and allowed a joint Arab-European collective of artists, called the Chamber of Public Secrets (CPS), to curate the exhibitions, alleges the IPS.

Some of the Maldives pavilion curators have accused Waheed’s government of having no interest in the arts, the pavilion exhibitions, or climate change.

“They did not care. They did not mind. They don’t believe in the power of art to affect anything anyway,” associate curator Maren Richter told the IPS.

“The new government even denies the [climate change] problem and says that Nasheed was a liar. They say, ‘He built an airport and resorts, why would he do that if sea levels are rising?’,” added Richter.

CPS curator and Lebanese artist Khaled Ramadan echoed these sentiments in his documentary “Maldives To Be or Not”, which “explores Western preconceived notions about the Maldives and its ecology.”

The film focuses on the current socio-political challenges faced by Maldivians, which include climate change as well as “the corrupt tourism industry” and the struggle “to balance their life between modernity and traditions,” he explained to the publication BLOUIN ARTINFO.

Ramadan visited the Maldives in March 2013 as a “citizen of the Arab world who wanted to learn about what’s left of the shared history and how this amphibious nation is treating its contemporary culture in relation to its ecological strengths and weaknesses.”

“The environmental hazard about the Maldivian nature is an over politicised notion, and the nature has proven to be much more sustainable than the Maldivian culture,” wrote the Maldives Pavilion blog.

“Would our request to represent Maldives as outsiders have been accepted by Venice Biennale officials without official letter from the current Maldives government?” asked Ehsan Fardjadniya, an artist and activist based in Amsterdam participating in Maldives Pavilion.

The initial ideas for the Maldives pavilion were to unite a network of activists to discuss and act on climate change issues and the ongoing political turmoil in the country via a mobile pavilion representing the forced migration of these future climate refugees, Fardjadniya explained in an interview for the Maldives Pavilion blog.

“Right now, the project has found a venue and doesn’t seem to relate itself much or at all with the pressing issues in the Maldives,” said Fardjadniya. “On the contrary, we seem to be commissioned by the current government to represent the Maldives at 55th Venice Biennale.”

“I would rather be an outsider to this present situation and act against this cultural coup,” Fardjadniya declared.

The Maldives pavilion includes a variety of exhibitions created by international multi-media artists, individual contributors and group collaborations.

While the exhibitions were primarily created by artists of various nationalities, two Maldivians, Moomin Fouad and Mohamed Ali, contributed their film “Happy Birthday”. The film, about a kidnapping and disappearance, previously won 12 MFA Awards at the 2011 Maldives Film Festival.

The 55th Venice Biennale was launched on 29 May and will be open to visitors until 24 November.

The Biennale claims to be “one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the world…promoting new artistic trends and organising international events in contemporary arts” since its formation in 1895.

Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Ahmed Adeeb was not responding to calls at time of press.

Addendum: Following publication of this article Minivan News received the following statement from Abed Anouti, Producer at the Chamber of Public Secrets, in response to an enquiry made by Minivan News the previous day.

In compliance with CPS’s copyright request Minivan News has also taken down an image of the pavilion’s promotional poster, distributed by CPS and used to illustrate the story.

The article by Ferry Biedermann published at IPS is full of miss information. Mr. Ferry NEVER interviewed anyone from the Maldives Pavilion, his claims stand for his own account. He has no sound recording, email correspondence, footage or even photos from the curators of the pavilion to support his claims.

As we do with all journalists, we only presented to Mr. Ferry our PR which is published on our website. CPS always asks journalists to look at our PR statement at our website to learn more about the project. He didn’t use time to study the artworks at the pavilion, he is not an art writer or even cultural writer, he is another journalist who is looking for sensations.

Mr. Ferry Biedermann is not the only journalist who took advantage of our positive pavilion to score political or journalistic points to himself or his agency.

Minivan is another agency that is spreading rumors and misquotations. Neither the curators of the Maldives Pavilion nor the participating artists have given any interviews to Ferry Biedermann or Minivan.

CPS team and the invited artists worked hard for over a year on the issue of climate change to present a research based art exhibition in Venice, our focus is not only Maldives but environment in a global context.

So far professional art writers have been given the Maldives Pavilion the best reviews and we are among the most popular destinations of the Venice Biennale. Furthermore, the Maldives Pavilion was the only one to be interviewed by the Italian national TV on the day of the opening.

As a professional artists group, we approach the Maldives with positive thinking, we are not journalists who seek negative stories. We don’t wish to politicize art and refuse to be part of any political sensational publishing agencies like Minivan.

Just for the record all conversations and emails with non-professional art writers or art critics are published on our web to avoid misuse or misquotation of any of us like in the case with Mr. Ferry.

Finally, Minivan unethically used our graphic poster without our knowledge or permission. Therefore we urge you to remove it from your website due to copyright.

Abed Anouti,

CPS – Producer

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All candidates should accept outcome of a credible election: McKinnon

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party has called for increased international assistance to help ensure a free and fair presidential election in September, alleging that the country’s political system is presently under considerable “stress”.

As the country’s sole political opposition, the MDP has criticised what it calls a “lack of decisive action” from the international community both in implementing findings from the Commonwealth-backed Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI) report, as well as providing election support.

The government-aligned Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), which is also fielding a candidate in September’s election, meanwhile said it believed “a lot more has to be done” by the Elections Commission (EC) to ensure voting is free and fair.

The claims were made following Commonwealth Secretary-General’s Special Envoy Sir Donald McKinnon’s visit to the Maldives this week, as preparations get underway for the presidential vote scheduled for September 7, 2013.

In a statement released yesterday (June 5), McKinnon called for free, fair, peaceful and inclusive elections, while also highlighting the need for the public to ensure their details were correctly included on the recently gazetted electoral register.

Verification

Upon being published in the Government Gazzette last Thursday (May 30), the public has been given a 10 day window to check and clarify that people included on the list were correctly registered – or risk invalidating their right to vote.

With the conclusion of a four-day visit to the Maldives yesterday, McKinnon called on all Maldives nationals with the right to vote to take the time to verify their details were correct.

“Voter registers are at their best when the regulatory authority and the political parties work together to ensure their accuracy,” he said.

“It is also my hope that the nominated candidates of political parties will be able to contest the election, on a level playing field, so that the election outcome fully reflects the will of the voters. This will be important for the election’s credibility. I would also expect all candidates to accept the outcome of a credible election.”

Mckinnon’s statement also spoke on the importance of moving forward with recommendations raised in the CoNI report on holding “perpetrators of police brutality” during last year’s controversial transfer of power to account.

As part of his visit, McKinnon met with President Dr Mohamed Waheed to pledge the Commonwealth’s support for free and fair elections, while the government said it remained committed to fair polling and the need for unspecified political reform.

President’s Office Media Secretary Masood Imad was not responding to calls at time of press.

Calls for action

Speaking to Minivan News following the publication of McKinnon’s statement, MDP MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor claimed that the party had continued to hope for stronger action from the Commonwealth during the last year to ensure implementation of the CoNI report’s findings.

The CoNI report rejected the MDP’s allegations that the government of former President Mohamed Nasheed was toppled by a “coup d’etat” on February 7, 2012, following a mutiny by sections of the country’s police and military.

The MDP eventually accepted the report last year “with reservations” concerning the alleged omission of key evidence submitted at the time.  The party claimed the decision was taken to move ahead with recommendations that members of the security forces be found investigated for “illegal acts” during the transfer be punished accordingly.

During a parliamentary inquiry by the Parliament’s Executive Oversight Committee (EOC) earlier this year, the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) claimed that actions by certain officers during the mutiny which led to the change in government were unlawful and amounted to crimes worthy of prosecution by the state.

PIC Vice President Haala Hameed said during the session that the PIC had identified 29 cases of police misconduct, out of which cases concerning six police officers had been sent to the prosecutor general (PG) for prosecution.

The PIC at the time claimed it had urged then-Home Minister Mohamed Jameel to suspend the officers immediately, however the request was not adhered to, and instead at least one of the accused was promoted.

The commission this week announced it had concluded its investigation into police conduct during the controversial transfer of power in February 2012.

Ghafoor alleged that there had since been very limited interest from the Commonwealth in following up on the CoNI recommendations, accusing senior police and military officials of preparing for September’s election in a similar manner to political parties competing in the vote.

He raised particular concern that Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz and Minister of Defence Colonel (Retired) Mohamed Nazim, who assumed their roles directly following the controversial transfer of power, remained in their positions ahead of the election.

Vote concerns

Although welcoming McKinnon’s comments stressing the importance of the public verifying their details were included correctly on the voter registry, Ghafoor claimed that the Commonwealth had identified only one of a number of potential electoral concerns ahead of September’s vote.

He therefore called for greater intentional assistance to ensure free and fair elections ahead of September’s polling.

“The entire political system in being put under stress now and we wait to see what assistance the Commonwealth will provide,” Ghafoor said. “Our Elections Commission is good, but they continue to be put under pressure.”

“There is a lack of decisive action, but the words are certainly there from the international community,” Hamid added.

Alongside the MDP, the government-aligned Progressive Party of Maldives and the Jumhoree Party are also expected to field candidates directly against President Waheed and a coalition of several parties backing him as their candidate during September’s election.

Speaking to Minivan News, PPM MP Ahmed Nihan said that while the party continued to work within the present coalition government under President Waheed, it held concerns about his alleged use of state funds for campaigning.

He said that despite claims made in local media by members of the president’s coalition that recent island visits had been for the benefit of the nation, the PPM viewed the trips as state-funded election campaigning by Dr Waheed’s party.

From the perspective of the EC, Nihan said that the party was also continuing to come across issues within the recently published election registry relating to incorrect information and the inclusion of voters now believed to be deceased.

He said that with an estimated third of the population also having moved from their home islands to the capital in recent years, correct registration would be another vital issue in the lead up to September.

Nihan claimed the EC therefore “has a lot of work to do” in the lead up to September to ensure its database of registered voters was both up-to-date and correct, adding that with the money spent by the state over the last three years, uncertainty remained over how smoothly voting would go.

“The government also has to try and provide the funds for the EC and also participate with international stakeholders to get the assistance to ensure elections are free and fair,” he said.

Minivan News was also awaiting a response to the MDP’s allegations at time of press from Moosa Rameez, a spokesperson for the JP, which is headed by local business magnate and MP Gasim Ibrahim.

The President’s Office has previously rejected accusations that the government was working to exert undue influence on voters through state resources, accusing both the MDP and PPM of making allegations without any evidence.

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Employers facing investigation after 75 expatriates detained for illegally working in market

The Maldives Department of Immigration and Emigration has detained 75 illegal workers this week, and is currently investigating how many are victims of corrupt employment practices.

An immigration official, who asked not to be identified, said an unspecified number of the 75 expatriate workers detained in Male’ on Tuesday (June 4) had already been released as authorities sought to clarify the exact reasons for how they had ended up working in the capital’s market area.

Foreign nationals are not permitted under Maldives law to work at the market area, according to the Immigration Department.

Despite this, a total of 57 foreign workers were seized by authorities in April this year after having been found working at the market area of Male’.

A police media official confirmed yesterday (June 5) that officers had assisted in detaining 75 “illegal aliens” from the local market area of Male’, referring all further enquiries to the country’s immigration service, which has taken responsibility for the workers.

Immigration Controller Dr Mohamed Ali was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press to confirm how many of the detained foreigners were presently expected to be sent to the department’s “processing centre” – a gated compound on the island of Hulhumale’.  Unregistered expatriates are usually kept at the centre before being sent back to their respective countries.

Immigration Department Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Munaaz – charged with overseeing the service’s monitoring and repatriation efforts – has meanwhile said that authorities were expecting to decide within the next 48 hours how many of the 75 expatriates may face deportation. With investigations ongoing into the case, he said that no further details on the detained workers could be made public at present, with an official announcement expected in the next few days.

The Maldives has come under increasing pressure to tackle the issue of unregistered expatriates, with the country appearing on the US State Department’s Tier Two Watch List for Human Trafficking.  The country has appeared on the list for three years in a row.

Immigration Controller Dr Ali has previously told Minivan News that while almost all foreign workers coming to the Maldives arrive under registered companies, some were finding themselves “illegally used” by employers due to “systematic abuse” of the visa system.

Earlier this year, the Immigration Department confirmed that authorities had targeted the return of 10,000 unregistered workers by the end of the year.

This pledge to return a predetermined number of expatriates was criticised at the time by the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM), which raised concerns that some workers were being punished for the actions of employers and agents acting outside the law.

Worker release

The immigration source claimed that the country’s expatriate monitoring service was in the process of trying to individually identify whether the detained workers should be released, or deported.

The source said all those detained had not been registered to work in the market area, although some were suspected of being illegally made to do so by their legal employers.

“The paperwork is being done now to try to identify the people who are being put to work at these places by their employers,” the Immigration Department figure added. “These people are working in places where they are not registered to do so and we need to know why is this happening. Some of the employers are giving [the department] a different story to those provided by the expatriates.”

The anonymous source said that authorities would also be looking to take action against employers who may be supplying illegal labour.

The same source has claimed that the majority of the 75 detained workers were suspected of having absconded illegally from their Maldivian employer to seek better paid work elsewhere in the country.

Late last month, Immigration Department CEO Munaaz said his department had recently become aware of individuals posing as recruitment agents who were travelling to airports to poach foreign workers by promising them resort positions or higher pad jobs than the work they may have originally been brought to the country for.  Whether these jobs really exist is unknown.

“Now we have started to identify how this is being done and we are working to stop this,”Munaaz said at the time. “We know there are agents living here in Male’, some who are foreign nationals from the same countries, and they are bringing people over. We are in the process of breaking these rings.”

Foreign low-wage workers are often lured to the country by such brokers, paying a ‘recruitment’ fee or entering into debt – sometimes as high as several thousand dollars – that is shared between local agents and recruiters in the country of origin, most significantly Bangladesh.

In many cases the workers are then brought into the country ‘legitimately’ by a specially-created paper company, created using the ID of a complicit or unwitting Maldivian national, for the stated purpose of working on a ‘construction project’ of dubious existence.

Senior immigration sources have confided to Minivan News that almost no human verification was undertaken by authorities to ensure workers were genuinely employed once a business or construction project was approved.

Moreover, despite the size and scale of the practice, not a single recruitment agent or labour trafficker has appeared before a Maldivian court.

Human trafficking

While the government earlier this year launched a special campaign intended to raising awareness of the rights of foreign workers, NGOs and institutions continue to identify human trafficking as a significant issue needing to be addressed in the country.

Human rights groups in the Maldives have for instance continued to criticise the present and former governments for failing to pass legislation that would allow authorities to press charges against individuals directly for the offence of human trafficking.  The legal measures to do so are presently under review in parliament.

In February, former President Maldives Association of Construction Industry (MACI) Mohamed Ali Janah claimed that an estimated 40 percent of the foreign employees in the sector were thought not to be legally registered.

Considering these numbers, Janah said he could not rule out the involvement of organised crime in certain employment agencies, which supply a large amount of foreign labour to building sites in the Maldives.

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Judiciary needs transitional arrangement before elections: former JSC member

The former Presidential Member of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) Aishath Velezinee has called on international organisations to lead a transitional arrangement for the judiciary prior to September’s presidential elections.

UN Special Rapporteur for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers Gabriela Knaul’s final report to the UN Human Rights Council extensively outlined the political, budgetary and societal challenges facing the judiciary and wider legal community, as well as the politicisation of the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) and its failure to appoint qualified judges under Article 285 of the constitution.

The Special Rapporteur also expressed “deep concern” over the failure of the judicial system to address “serious violations of human rights” during the Maldives’ 30 year dictatorship, warning of “more instability and unrest” should this continue to be neglected.

“The UN special rapporteur’s report has raised very serious concerns that the public should be thinking about, because it has implications that affects every single individual in this country, the report is not for the state alone,” said Velezinee during a press conference held on June 5.

“The report raises questions regarding the impartiality of the supreme court. It highlights a political bias in the supreme court,” Velezinee said. “If we are going to allow the supreme court to be the decider on elections, there is very little reason for the public to have confidence in the election results.”

Velezinee noted that because only three months remain before the September 7 presidential elections, “It is time for the parliament and for the leaders to sit down together and come to a transitional arrangement.”

“That transitional arrangement should include a bench or some system outside of existing courts, outside of the supreme court, that will have a final say on all election related issues,” she stated.

“It can’t be done only locally. We need the expertise, presence and participation of the International Commission of Jurists as well as the UN in a transitional arrangement,” she continued.

“Considering the status of the state today, we need a partnership. Bilateral participation would not be something to promote, the best thing would be to have broader participation with international partners,” Velezinee added.

Resistance to consolidating democracy

“Our country today is at a serious critical junction and the issues are all coming from resistance to consolidating democracy,” said Velezinee.

“One of the most serious issues noted in the [UN special rapporteur’s] report is the misconstruing of democratic concepts in the constitution, and the use of these for personal gain by state officials within the JSC, Supreme Court, as well as parliament.”

“After elections the judiciary must be overhauled,” she declared.

The JSC was required to re-appoint judges under Article 285 of the constitution who possessed “educational qualifications, experience and recognised competence to discharge the duties and responsibilities of a judge, and must be of high moral character.”

“It is only through acknowledgement and acceptance that we have breached the constitution on article 285 that we will have the opportunity and the legitimacy to overhaul the judiciary,” explained Velezinee.

“That is very important, unless we do that we may fall into a cycle of coups… and this will go on unless the judiciary functions correctly.”

Velezinee said that while only the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) “has stood by the constitution”, it had failed so far to directly address the controversial re-appointment of unqualified judges to the judiciary.

“I have heard the MDP talk about problems in the judiciary and with individual judges, but I am disappointed I have not yet heard them speak of the constitutional breach of article 285,” she told Minivan News.

“[Parliamentary Speaker Abdulla] Shahid is an expert on democracy and is ready to intervene to return the Maldives to the constitution,” claimed Velezinee. “Having Shahid join the MDP is good because now they can go ahead and return the country [to constitutional rule].”

“I also welcome [former Attorney General Husnu] Suood breaking his silence and taking initiative. It’s a good sign he’s speaking up,” she added.

Eariler this week Suood claimed that the JSC had been taken over “dark powers”, and that it was fully under the control of certain political figures.

Suood further contended that the presidential candidate for the government-aligned Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament and PPM MP Ahmed Nazim, and retired Supreme Court Judge Mujthaz Fahmy have long been in the business of influencing the judges and the verdicts they had been issuing.

“The entire judiciary is under the influence of [retired Supreme Court Judge] Mujthaaz Fahmy,” he alleged.

Suood further alleged that Deputy Speaker Nazim had close ties with members of the JSC, and said several judges had told him that Yameen Abdul Gayoom – half brother of former President of 30 years, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom – had on several occasions given instructions to the judges over the phone as to how their sentences should be phrased.

Yameen and Nazim have denied the allegations.

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