The Criminal Court has extended the detention period of French national Godzine Sargsyan and a Maldivian man identified as Ahmed Nishan.
The Criminal Court today told local media that police have charged the pair with assault and battery, cases related to fraud, and providing invalid documents to government institutions.
Police have previously said there are many accusations against the two, but said details cannot be given as the case is still under investigation.
In April, police issued a statement asking for public assistance in locating Godzine Sargsyan. Godzine has been identified as one of the Artur brothers, who have come under scrutiny from local authorities after being linked in local media with alleged drug trafficking, money laundering, raids on media outlets and other serious crimes in Kenya.
Police said Godzine was a French national who came to the Maldives under the passport number 10CZ05238.
The pair turned themselves into police last week and were arrested.
Police are still looking for a Maldivian identified as Ahmed Visham of Henveiru Everchance House, in connection with the same case.
Local newspapers reported that the pair were living at Marble Guest House before they surrendered themselves to police. The Maldives Police Service later searched the guest house after arresting the two men.
Photos of the Arturs in the company of the two Maldivian ministers emerged on social media, apparently taken during the Piston Motor Racing Challenge held on Hulhumale’ between January 25 and 26.
A letter from the Tourism Ministry to immigration authorities requesting a residency visa for Margaryan and Sargayan Artur, dated January 27 and signed by Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb, was subsequently leaked on social media.
A company named ‘Artur Brothers World Connections’ was registered in the Maldives in October 2012, with the Artur brothers holding an 80 percent share in a 61-19 percent split.
French nationals identified as Godzine Sargsyan and Edga Sargsyan had a 10 and 7 percent share, while a Maldivian national Ismail Waseem of H. Ever Chance was listed as holding the remaining 3 percent.
Waseem’s share was subsequently transferred to Abdulla Shaffath of H. Ever Peace on November 25.
Meanwhile, on April 8, reports in local media suggested that Zaidul Khaleel, General Manager of the Club Faru resort, operated by the state-owned Maldives Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), had been dismissed after he was found to have paid the brothers’ US$6000 bill.
Immigration Controller Mohamed Ali previously told local media that while Sargasyan Artur had left the Maldives on March 31, given issues with the country’s border control system “there are questions surrounding the second brothers’ exit from the Maldives.”
Police have arrested six expats working on Fushivelaavaru in Noonu Atoll, after they allegedly assaulted two Maldivian staff members on the island.
According to a police statement, the incident occurred last night with the six expats workers being arrested at 5:30am this morning.
The expats arrested were all Bangladeshi nationals aged between 25 to 31, police stated. Police have not revealed the names of the persons arrested or the details surrounding the incident.
However, police stated that a 19 year-old and 25 year-old Maldivian were injured in the fight.
The two Maldivians were hospitalised at Manadhoo Hospital based in Noonu Atoll.
A police team is on the island investigating the case.
According to local media, Fushivelaavaru is an uninhabited island being developed into a resort.
An online newspaper based in Noonu Atoll, ‘Manadhoo Live’, reported that according to people working on the island, the incident occurred at about 8:15pm after a Maldivian staff member accidentally ran into a Bangladeshi man while he was walking out of the mess room.
The paper reported that the Bangladeshi workers on the island confronted the Maldivians following the incident and four Bangladeshi men allegedly attacked the two Maldivians using an iron bar.
Last Wednesday (May 15), an Indian physics teacher was hospitalised after a group of angry islanders allegedly confronted him on the island of Kumundhoo in Haa Dhaalu Atoll.
The teacher was then reported to have been beaten over accusations he hit a student in the chest.
Police have arrested eight persons from the island in connection with the case.
The Indian High Commission in the Maldives has said an expatriate teacher hospitalised after being attacked on the island of Kumundhoo in Haa Dhaalu Atoll is waiting on education authorities to renew his visa before he can return to India for treatment.
Physics teacher Neelakantan Pappukutty Subash Kumar, who was attacked on May 14 over allegations he hit a student in the chest, had still been working for the Ministry of Education despite his work visa having expired the previous month. The teacher is not thought to be in a critical condition, according to diplomatic sources.
Kumundhoo Island Councilor Ali Anwar claimed Wednesday (May 15) that islanders had destroyed a a power distribution unit outside the school to cut off its electricity, before then entering and attacking the teacher, despite efforts by staff to try and prevent the assault.
“Yesterday afternoon the expat teacher hit a 13 year-old student in the chest and the child fell and couldn’t breathe and was taken to the health centre,” Anwar said. “The islanders became angry at the teacher and gathered outside the school. The security guard and school staff were unable to control them.”
Arrests
The Maldives Police Service (MPS) confirmed today that five people had now been arrested in connection to the attack on the teacher, with investigations ongoing into the matter. A police spokesperson said the teacher had since been transferred to Male’ following the attack, although the MPS had no further details about his status at time of press.
Meanwhile, the Indian High Commission told Minivan News today that although the expatriate teacher’s condition was not believed to be critical, efforts to return him to India for additional treatment had been impeded as a result of education authorities failing to renew his visa on time.
“His visa expired in April and is not yet renewed. The Education Ministry will send him back as soon as his visa is renewed,” the commission confirmed.
Education Minister Dr Asim Ahmed was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.
An Indian diplomatic source said that it was likely Maldives authorities would have sent the expatriate back to India immediately had he been in a critical condition.
However, the same source claimed the teacher’s treatment continued to highlight ongoing concerns raised by the High Commission over the Maldives’ treatment of foreign workers, notably the retention of passports and travel documents by private and state employers.
“The fact remains that his work permit has not been renewed. He was a government employee – they should have renewed his documents before they expired, not afterwards,” the diplomatic source said. “This [issue] has been going on for over one and a half years now.”
A senior Indian medical with experience of working in the country previously alleged that expatriate professionals were regularly facing intimidation and fraud in the country from employers and some members of the public.
Strain
The Maldives’ relationship with India has appeared strained since President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s government took the decision last November to evict Indian infrastructure giant GMR from the country with seven days notice.
The US$511 concession agreement to develop Ibrahim Nasir International Airport was declared ‘void from the start’. However, 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 this January.
The list of Consular issues affecting the India-Maldives relationship included a number of concerns: discrimination against Indian expatriates, the keeping of passports of Indian nationals by employers, exploitation of Indian workers and repatriation of mortal remains.
Threats towards the country’s diplomats, a disparity in visa charges between the two countries and the repatriation of salaries were also raised as issues. 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”.
“The High Commission has noted a recent trend in a section of local media to publish negative, unsubstantiated reports, while blacking out objective and positive news on Indian issues,” the commission said at the time.
Despite admitting that every country has high and lows in their bilateral relations with neighbours, the new Indian High Commissioner to the Maldives Rajeev Shahare last month 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.
The third stabbing incident to occur in Male’ within 24 hours has left a total of four people injured and police searching for suspects.
Two young men, 18 and 21 years-old, were stabbed near Azmi-Naeem Medical & Diagnostic Centre (AMDC) in Male’s Maafanu neighborhood at approximately 3:30pm this afternoon (May 18), a police media official told Minivan News.
Police are currently looking into the incident, but verified that the victims have been taken to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) for medical treatment. One of the stabbing victims was originally taken to ADK Hospital, but was subsequently moved to IGMH for further treatment, according to police.
An eyewitness to the incident told local media outlet CNM that two young men were stabbed in the stomach near the clinic and were subsequently taken to the hospital by a pickup truck passing by.
Yesterday evening (May 17) two young men were also injured in separate stabbing incidents in Male’.
The first stabbing took place near Star Cinema in Male’s Maafanu neighborhood and was reported to police around 6:30pm. The 20 year-old victim suffered stab wounds to his chest and back, according to local media.
The second attack was reported to police at 7:00pm and occurred near Petrel cafe in Male’s Machangolhi neighbourhood. The victim, also a 20 year-old man, was stabbed in the back.
Both Friday evening’s stabbing victims were brought to IGMH for treatment.
One of last night’s stabbing victims has since been treated and released, while the other victim underwent surgery and is now in stable condition, IGMH Media Coordinator Zeenath Ali confirmed with Minivan News today (May 18).
The three cases are currently under investigation, and while there have been no arrests made at this time, the police are searching for the suspects allegedly involved in the stabbings, a police media official told Minivan News.
The police were unable to reveal whether the three stabbing incidents were related.
Since the start of 2013, 506 incidents of assault have been reported to police, with 51 cases having occurred so far this May.
Police arrested eight individuals in the island of Maradhoo in Addu City yesterday (May 15) following clashes with Special Operations (SO) officers near a campaign office of the government-aligned Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).
Police said in a statement that SO officers were dispatched upon receiving information that two rival groups were preparing for a gang fight.
“When police went to the scene at around 3:15pm [yesterday] and attempted to search the people there [for weapons], a group of people in the area threw rocks, inflicted varying degrees of injury to police officers and caused unrest,” the press release stated.
The eight men arrested during the disturbance for allegedly obstructing police duties included a 19 year-old, two 20 year-olds, a 21 year-old, a 22 year-old and two 27 year-olds, police said.
PPM MP Ahmed Nihan tweeted shortly after the arrests that clashes occurred with police following a complaint of loud music from the party’s youth office.
He today told Minivan News that although the PPM was in the process of collecting information on the incident, the party would not rule out the possibility that gang violence was behind yesterday’s clashes, playing down the possibility of political motivation behind the police action.
Nihan claimed that street fights between rival gangs from different neighbourhoods were common in Addu City, while also being symptomatic of growing “friction” between different political supporters ahead of this year’s presidential election.
“We can only rely on police accounts of the matter so far that this was a group of people fighting each other,” he said.
The clashes occurred in an area recently established by the PPM for young supporters, a policy that Nihan explained was designed to encourage youth engagement with its election campaign.
“We never thought anything like this would happen though,” he said. “We believe that the rule of law must be upheld regardless of political colour.”
Nihan said older supporters had noted a “scattered group” of young people around the area where clashes later occurred.
PPM officials told Minivan News that a party supporters and another eyewitness had alleged police had attempted to raid the campaign area to perform a search, resulting in confrontations with some PPM members present in the area.
MP Nihan told Minivan News yesterday that party supporters and other witnesses had alleged that officers had arbitrarily detained party members.
“There is some confusion as to what has gone on, even in the party. Sources tell me many people were taken into custody for no reason,” he said at the time.
The PPM today also slammed supporters of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) over what it claimed were attempts to accuse the Maldives Police Service of using excessive force against members of the government-aligned party.
Special Operations (SO)
Former President Mohamed Nasheed also took to twitter to condemn “the actions of a few policemen who’ve arrested members of pol parties, used excessive force, violated the sanctity of their premises.”
The police press release meanwhile stated that a group of people attempted to block the link road and had thrown rocks at police vehicles following the arrests.
Police also denied allegations in social media of brutality against women and children by SO officers.
Addu City Mayor Abdulla Sodiq said yesterday that he was aware of “confrontations” between police officers and a group of young people in Maradhoo, though he was awaiting exact details on the matter.
Sodig said that Maradhoo was traditionally a close knit community, with residents often standing by each other.
Newspaper Haveeru reported eyewitnesses as claiming that police beat people who chased them after rocks were thrown.
Photo from Addu Online
A resident of the house where the PPM office is located told the newspaper that police entered both the office and adjoining house, used pepper spray and threw people to the ground before taking them into custody.
He claimed that the situation turned violent when police asked a young man to lower his boxer shorts while searching him.
“He refused, started yelling and people gathered. Then verbal attacks were exchanged between the people and police and they started throwing rocks,” he was quoted as saying.
Community website Addu Online meanwhile reported that a crowd gathered in the area in the wake of the arrest to protest police brutality.
The demonstration was reportedly dispersed when SO officers returned to the area.
Local media reported later in the day that rocks were thrown at two police officers near the Hithadhoo regional hospital. The pair were however not hit by the projectiles.
Police also arrested an individual in Addu City last week for allegedly threatening to kill an officer.
Mayor Sodig told Minivan News earlier this month that 50 people were arrested in advance of a visit by President Mohamed Waheed on May 8, “and about 90 percent of those taken in were MDP [Maldivian Democratic Party] supporters”.
Police however denied making the arrests.
As part of an ongoing police operation in Addu to “keep the peace”, “lots of people were taken into custody and were released after their information was collected”, a police media official who spoke with Minivan News initially stated.
The official then refuted the statement, claiming that only one person was arrested in Addu City on May 7.
Mayor Sodig explained that the city council had requested the police “provide extra strength to increase numbers to about 30 per station.”
“The special operations team [responded by] sending their ‘star force’, but they don’t have their commander here. He’s not in control of this group or operations. Instead they are directly overseen by Male’ command,” said Sodig.
“That’s the reason why we don’t want them to continue,” he declared.
The task force consisting of 50 special operations police was started in January 17, 2013 and was supposed to end April 17, according to Sodig. However, the entire special operations force has remained in Addu City, targeting those allegedly involved in drug and gang issues.
Former President Mohamed Nasheed announced the Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) willingness to discuss enacting an interim government with the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), which the party believes is essential for free and fair elections to occur.
The MDP has desired the establishment of an interim government since the controversial transfer of power of February 7, 2012 and is open to holding discussions with the PPM to establish a transitional government prior to September’s Presidential elections, Nasheed stated during a press conference held at the Mookai Hotel in Male’ today (May 16).
“If PPM wants to bring in an interim government, we are ready to hold discussions. MDP wants an interim government. We at MDP have always wanted an interim government. But we need support from other parties to do that in parliament. If PPM is so inclined, we are ready to hold discussions with PPM to achieve this,” Nasheed said.
“For free and fair elections [to take place], we are encouraged that PPM has pledged to stop Waheed from campaigning on state funds,” he added.
The MDP is continuing its call for the Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI) recommendations to be implemented, with the supervision of the international community. Nasheed stated he was disappointed CoNI recommendations have yet to be enacted – especially regarding holding to account those who mutinied against the government and committed various brutal acts, including destroying the MDP’s headquarters.
Nasheed said that the MDP did not believe free and fair elections were possible with Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz and Defence Minister Colonel (Rtd) Mohamed Nazim in their current positions, and has asked they be “transferred” from their current posts.
He distinguished between ‘rank and file’ Police Service and Maldives National Defence Force (MDNF) and their leadership. Nasheed said action should be taken against the highest ranking officers for their role on February 7.
MDP Spokesperson Mohamed Zuhair told Minivan News today that local media reports of Nasheed calling for Riyaz and Nazim to be “forcibly removed” are inaccurate, however the former President has called for their removal and transfer “as far away from their current positions as possible”.
“They are already enacting measures of intimidation under the guise of ‘coordination’ by requesting political parties give the name of a person to work with the police. The Elections Commission should be enacting such a policy, not the police. It’s very strange and highly suspicious,” said Zuhair.
Should PPM be of the same view that an interim government is necessary for credible elections to be held, MDP would work through the parliament to discuss with PPM, Zuhair explained.
“PPM’s President and former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has said their party would ‘go it alone’ and not form a coalition, because that would not allow policies to be implemented effectively. Then the natural next step [for the PPM] would be to gain parliamentary support from the only player able to give support, MDP,” said Zuhair.
PPM Spokesperson and MP Ahmed Nihan today rejected the likelihood of the government-aligned party working with the opposition MDP to remove President Waheed from office ahead of elections in September.
“I do not believe this is a possibility. If it was possible, we would have done this already I believe,” he said.
Nihan claimed that the PPM’s main concern at present was for free and fair elections to take place. However, he added that with the Commonwealth-backed CoNI concluding that President Waheed’s coalition government – which includes the PPM – had come to power legitimately, it would not back the MDP’s calls for the present administration to be removed.
Nihan added that, while continuing to support the present coalition government, many PPM supporters believed that the party presently represented one of only two political ideologies in the country. These philosophies he said were those of PPM founder former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, and former President Nasheed and the MDP.
Nihan claimed that the majority of the country’s smaller parties, including those choosing to side with President Waheed in a pre-election coalition, were all rooted to former President Gayoom and his “political wisdom”.
“Strange bedfellows”
Nasheed also addressed the recent addition of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) to the President Mohamed Hassan Manik’s coalition – which includes his Gaumee Ittihad Party (GIP) and the Adhaalath Party (AP) – and it’s incompatibility with a democratic presidential system of governance.
Nasheed expressed his happiness about Gayoom’s statement that coalitions do not work because they are not in line with a presidential governing system and are instead more reflective of a parliamentary system.
“I am very happy that President Gayoom – [who is] no doubt is the most experienced political leader [in the nation] – has been very clear about how inefficient for democratic policies the formation of coalitions are in a presidential system,” said Nasheed.
Nasheed noted that the Adhaalath Party and Sheiks’ extremist views will pose difficulties for the GIP-led coalition. Although the DRP are billing themselves as a moderate party, they will not establish the national ‘bastion of tolerance’ they claim to be purporting, Nasheed said.
The former President believes the coalition is a “hodgepodge” mix of ideologies, not politics and these “strange bedfellows” cannot achieve anything.
DRP disintegration
Nasheed stated that the alliance between GIP and DRP is only agreement between the two individual and not reflective of grassroots DRP supporters. He believes that DRP leader Thasmeen Ali and Waheed had no other choice and formed the coalition out of sheer necessity.
He also stated that the recent coalition has not produced a “third ideology” and that only two ideologies exist in the Maldives.
During door to door campaigning, the MDP has noticed that DRP grassroots support is disintegrating. They are either merging with PPM or joining MDP, according to MDP Press Director Mohamed Zuhair.
Additionally, Zuhair discussed the distinction President Nasheed made between other parties and MDP. He highlighted that MDP policies are formulated by consulting every household to asses the Maldivian people’s needs. This is followed by holding consultative seminars, with the feedback passed to the party’s ‘organs’ for discussion, then to policy committees, with the process culminating in an announcement.
“None of the other parties have this method,” said Zuhair.
“So far three policies have been announced, and the fourth – agrobusiness – will be announced tomorrow,” he continued.
“MDP is focusing on policy issues, having to ‘go out on the road’ and stage protests to ensure free and fair elections will change the entire dynamics of the campaign. We are hoping it doesn’t come to that,” said Zuhair.
A draft penal code under consideration by parliamentary committee will “destroy Islam” in the Maldives if the bill is passed in its current form, Sheikh Ilyas Hussain of the Adhaalath Party (AP) repeatedly insisted at parliament today.
The chair of the religious conservative AP’s scholars’ council and member of the Fiqh Academy was summoned to the committee after claiming that the draft legislation (Dhivehi) did not include Shariah penalties for fornication, apostasy and violent robbery.
“If it is passed, there is no doubt that there will be no religion in this Muslim society that claims to be 100 percent Muslim. There will be no Islamic punishments,” Sheikh Ilyas stated in a sermon delivered at the Furqan mosque in Male’ on March 23.
Sections of an audio recording of the sermon were played at the committee meeting today.
Ilyas however stood by the assertion and pointed to the bill specifying two years banishment as the punishment for fornication, instead of public flogging as prescribed in the Quran.
“Refusing [to incorporate] a single Hadd [fixed punishments specifically mentioned in Quran] is destroying Islam,” he said.
Other hudud crimes include murder, theft, highway robbery, consuming alcohol, apostasy and defaming a chaste woman.
Responding to Ilyas’ allegations, MP Ahmed Hamza, chair of the committee, noted that the draft penal code specifies as offences zina (fornication), theft, alcohol consumption and illegally toppling the government.
Following tense exchanges between Ilyas and MPs in a question and answer session, Hamza however conceded that “some [hudud] punishments” were not included in the draft legislation.
Hamza explained that a provision (article 1205) was added by the committee after the draft penal code was opened for public comment, under which sentencing persons convicted for premarital sex to 100 lashes is left to the discretion of judges.
Hamza also observed that a high degree of certainty is required in Islamic Shariah to convict a person of a hudud crime, such as four witnesses to prove fornication.
The hudud punishments were not incorporated because the Maldivian judiciary does not have the competence and public confidence to deliver fair judgments, Hamza said.
“I believe that our justice system has not developed to the level of establishing hadd,” he said, adding that the Prophet’s (pbuh) sayings advised against meting such punishments if there was the slightest doubt.
The six-member select committee reviewing the revised penal code includes MPs Ahmed Hamza, Imthiyaz Fahmy and Nazim Rashad from the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), MPs Abdul Raheem Abdulla and Abdul Azeez Jamal Abubakur from the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and MP Ahmed Mohamed (Vice Chair) from the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP).
A revised penal code was submitted to parliament in late 2009 to replace the existing law put in place in the 1960s. The bill has since been at committee stage.
The initial draft of the penal code was prepared by legal expert Professor Paul H Robinson and the University of Pennsylvania Law School of the United States, upon the request of the Attorney General in January, 2006. The project was supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Professor Robinson’s team have published two volumes (Volume 1 and Volume 2) consisting of commentaries on sections of the draft legislation.
“The author’s review suggests that the Maldivian criminal justice system systematically fails to do justice and regularly does injustice, that the reforms needed are wide-ranging, and that without dramatic change the system and its public reputation are likely to deteriorate further,” Professor Robinson wrote in his summary conclusion.
Fitna
At today’s meeting, MDP MPs accused Ilyas of “lying” and misleading the public when he swore by God during his sermon that Shariah punishments were not included in the revised penal code.
MP Imthiyaz Fahmy said he deeply regretted Ilyas’ remarks in his sermon that implied that members of the committee were not Muslims.
“I am aware that I am a Muslim, not because of any relation between myself and Sheikh Ilyas,” Imthiyaz said. “I am a Muslim because of a connection from the bottom of my heart to God.”
Inciting religious hatred was a crime under both domestic and international law, he added.
DRP MP Ahmed Mohamed said that the first draft of the bill was in conflict with Islamic Shariah but the committee has made significant changes at the advice of religious scholars.
He went on to defend the committees’ efforts in reviewing the bill in consultation with state institutions, religious scholars, legal experts and the Islamic Ministry.
PPM MP Abdul Azeez Jamal Abubakur meanwhile asked Ilyas why he chose to make allegations in public and sow discord instead of sharing his concerns with the committee.
He stressed that the review process was ongoing with the input of experts and religious scholars.
“When you say this is a law intended to destroy Islam, what happens is that we face threats,” he said. “People who love religion even called us kafir (non-believers) at the time. So this is a dangerous matter.”
The PPM MP for Laamu Maavah also disputed Ilyas’ claim that the bill did not specify consensual sex between adults as an offence.
In response, Ilyas said it was his duty to inform the public after the committee invited views and comments as most people were not well-informed on religious issues.
Ilyas also objected to a provision (article 411) exempting a woman from being lashed even if she confesses to fornication, if the man denies it and four witnesses are not produced.
“This is definitely against Islamic Shariah,” Ilyas said, adding that a confession at court should lead to punishment.
Sheikh Ilyas argued that such provisions contravened the constitution as article 10 stated that no laws contrary to any tenet of Islam shall be enacted in the Maldives.
An Indian physics teacher has been hospitalised after a group of angry islanders confronted him on the island of Kumundhoo in Haa Dhaalu Atoll, and beat him up after accusing him of hitting a student in the chest.
Police Media Official Ismail Ali confirmed the incident occurred and had been reported to police.
“At the time I don’t have details of the case. Police are still on the island since last night,” he said.
Speaking to Minivan News, Island Councilor Ali Anwar said he heard of the incident yesterday at 5:30pm.
“Yesterday afternoon the expat teacher hit a 13 year-old student in the chest and the child fell and couldn’t breathe and was taken to the health centre,” Anwar said. “The islanders became angry at the teacher and gathered outside the school. The security guard and school staff were unable to control them.”
He said the islanders destroyed a power distribution unit outside the school cutting off its electricity, and then attacked the expat teacher.
Anwar said the police were called immediately when the islanders gathered in front of the school, but arrived at 8:00pm that night after everything had ended.
“I understand that the Indian teacher has been admitted to Kulhudhuffushi Hospital and the injuries he received are not clear,” he said.
“No one on this island wishes to have him back so we don’t think he will return,” he added.
Police are still active on the island investigating the case, however no one has been arrested, according to Anwar.
Maldivian government authorities are providing emergency services and relief funds to island communities battered by three weeks of “extreme weather”.
The National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) issued a statement today (May 15) urging island and atoll councils to report any damage caused by the “harsh weather” as soon as possible.
President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik met with officials from the Maldives Police Service, the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), the NDMC, and other high-ranking government officials yesterday (May 14) to discuss damages sustained and relief counter measures being taken nationwide.
Waheed provided assurances that government authorities will collaborate with island communities to provide “all the assistance and support needed”. Thus, it was decided state funds will be provided to assist “those islands with maximum damage” through the Ministry of Finance and Treasury’s contingency budget.
State funds will not be released directly to NDMC, instead the Finance Ministry will maintain control of money allocated for relief efforts and “coordinate bills” with the centre, NDMC Project Director Hisan Hassan told Minivan News today.
The exact amount of emergency relief funds will be determined today, Hassan added.
Meanwhile, the MNDF and police have issued precautionary warnings to the public due to the severe weather conditions.
The Coast Guard issued a request yesterday that “all travelers to take necessary precautionary measures before setting on their journeys due to the severe weather with heavy rain and thunderstorms… particularly in the northern and southern regions of the Maldives.”
They recommended travelers test communications sets and obtain updated weather forecasts before embarking on any journeys.
The Coast Guard further stated that average wind speeds of 15-25 miles per hour (mph) in the southern atolls and 7-17 mph are expected in the northern atolls, while wind gusts during thunderstorms will reach 40-50 mph.
Additionally, the police issued an SMS bulletin today also warning the public to “take precautionary measures due to the bad weather”.
A “white bulletin” was also issued by the Maldives Meteorological Service (MET) today, warning that the central atolls can expect average winds speeds of 23-30 mph.
Food shortages and flooding
Thus far damage assessment reports have been submitted by 12 islands from seven atolls – Shaviyani, Meemu, Dhaalu, Thaa, Laamu, Fuvahmulah, and Addu City – representing regions from the far north to the far south of the Maldives, the NDMC told Minivan News today.
Hassan explained that other islands have reported storm-related damage directly to the media or have spoken with the NDMC, but have yet to official report these issues to the centre.
Flooding due to three weeks of severe weather and heavy rain has damaged households, sewerage systems, as well as caused extensive agricultural destruction, according to Hassan.
Food shortages on some islands have resulted from agricultural damage and the disruption of transportation and supply networks due to bad weather.
“All islands import food from Male’, however the seas have been so rough [supply] boats are still in Male’ and unable to reach the islands,” Hassan explained. “Yesterday the State Trading Organisation (STO) announced the they will try to send [food supplies] somehow.”
STO is not providing free food-stuffs to islands, rather they are seeking ways to reach the islands so community shops can restock. Normally, supply boats travel between the atolls at least twice a week, according to Hassan.
“Some small islands’ [residents] are a little afraid to travel to a nearby island [to resupply] because travel is difficult,” he said.
Hassan emphasised that food shortages have not reached “emergency situation” levels.
“For the time being there is no emergency. If an island completely runs out of food, the MNDF is always on board [collaborating] with STO and NDMC, and will send vessels,” said Hassan.
The MNDF and police will deploy and provide first response emergency services, if necessary, he added.
“The MNDF is also assisting with flood relief. They take fire fighting equipment to islands and help pump water,” said Hassan.
“Houses are flooding because they are not built on high platforms, so with one or one and a half feet of flooding, water will rush into homes,” he added.
Hassan emphasised the need for people to “take responsibility” and precautionary measures to ensure their safety in the bad weather conditions.
“They should not wait until flood waters reach knee-high levels and require the MNDF to provide assistance,” Hassan said.
“People should move [their] belongings to higher ground, get rid of old trees and branches, clean their roofs, and collect rainwater in tanks. Also, sandbags should be used to minimise further flooding,” he added.
Ensuring roofs and houses are secure is also essential given the strong winds that have accompanied the recent severe storms.
The NDMC is coordinating with the relevant ministry’s to ensure damages are evaluated and addressed promptly.
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