Day: January 19, 2007

Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa has won the “Best Luxury (4 and 5 star) in the World” category in www.tripadvisor.com’s 2006 Traveler’s Choice Awards as well as “Best Luxury (4 and 5 star) in Asia”.

It is the latest in a long line of awards for Maldivian tourism. “We’re very proud to have won these awards because tripadvisor.com reflects the opinions of genuine travellers from around the world who have visited the Hilton Maldives and experienced the resort in person,” said General Manager, Carsten Schieck. “Our team works hard to provide our guests with the best service possible so we are delighted to be chosen the best luxury hotel in the world”.

Previous awards include “Best Hotel in the World 2005” by the Sunday Times, “Leading Resort in the Indian Ocean 2006” by the World Travel Awards and “Most Exclusive Hotel in the World 2006” by VIP Traveller Magazine.

The resort is home to the world’s only all-glass undersea restaurant and the Maldives’ only destination spa.

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India and the Maldives have agreed to increase their bilateral cooperation in the areas of drug trafficking prevention, coastal security, disaster management and control of organised crime, including terrorist activities. Although the two countries have been closely cooperating in these fields, they will work together to evolve an institutionalised mechanism for this purpose.

The understanding was reached during the recent two-day visit of Union Home Secretary V K Duggal to the Maldives.

According to the Home Affairs Department in Delhi, the Indian side assured the Maldives of continued support in capacity building of their civilian police, particularly in areas of scientific investigation of crime and setting up of forensic facilities. In this connection, a team of forensic experts will visit the Maldives next month.

While in Male, Duggal held discussions with Maldivian Home Minister Mohamed Thasmeen Ali, Defence Minister Ismail Shafeeu and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Ahmed Shaheed. He also called on President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Maldives is a key partner with India in the Indian Ocean Region and it bestrides the strategic sea-lanes of communication in the region. India is also assisting the Maldives Defence and Security Authorities in their needs for training and defence equipment. The continuing high level visits between India and Maldives underscores India’s desire to maintain and strengthen its frontier of peace and friendship with all countries in the Indian Ocean Region.

These latest meetings follow on from talks last year on cooperation between India and Maldives over cooperation in combating sea-borne crime and the use of uninhabited islands for alleged terrorist and criminal purposes. The Indian Navy made a gift of a fast attack patrol craft last April which is designed and armed to detect and destroy fast moving surface craft or intercepting vessels engaged in illegal activities such as poaching or smuggling.

Powered by German MTU engines, it has a maximum speed of 28 knots and is capable of extended deployment up to 2,000 nautical miles and seven days at sea.

The patrol ship was previously deployed in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and was renamed as the Huravee under the Maldives flag. Maldives has an urgent need for surveillance and patrolling of its extensive Exclusive Economic Zone for which this patrol craft is an important tool. The ship transfer also included a component of technical and material assistance by the Indian Navy to Maldives Coastguard over a period of three years.

There was controversy over the Coastguard’s use of the Huravee last November against a Maldivian boat carrying protesters to Malé from the abortive November 10 political demonstration. The MDP protested to the Indian government, alleging that this was not in line with the intended purpose of the donated patrol.

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The people of Thinadhoo, capital of Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll, are brimming with reformist enthusiasm as British Conservative MP Gary Streeter visits and Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) founder Mohamed Latheef returns to his native island after three years in exile.

British Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party, Gary Streeter, received a big welcome as he arrived on the second leg of his visit to the Maldives. Streeter, who is Chairman of the Conservatives’ International Group, has come to the Maldives to discuss how his party can help the MDP to strengthen its organisation.

Latheef returned to the country yesterday after three years in voluntary exile. It is the first time he has been in the Maldives since he founded the MDP in October 2003.

There is a festival mood in the island and MDP officials and supporters are enthused to see their cause has attracted international attention. Fishermen have decked out their boats in yellow and blue MDP flags and are playing music which can be heard throughout the island. MDP supporters have raised party flags and red and green Maldivian flags on nearly every main street.

Banners near the harbour read: “our hearts and minds are with the reform,” while others accuse President Gayoom of stealing votes and warn him he will lose in democratic elections. Away from the coastline, graffiti lines many walls around the MDP’s office calling for the President’s resignation.

Only the weather is gloomy, with heavy rain overnight swamping the island, causing some floods and minor power cuts.

Streeter, who is MP for South-West Devon, is holding meetings with Dhaaira (Regional Office) representatives and will address the party faithful at a regional council meeting this evening in the island’s main assembly hall.

There is a relatively low police presence in the island and authorities are taking a cautious approach to the British politician’s visit. Apart from requests for the most anti-government banners to be taken down, and graffiti being painted over, local government officials are so far allowing the event to take place with minimum conflict.

The Conservative Party has also sent Philippa Broom, the Director of the Party’s International Office. The two Tory officials will now look at the MDP and see if they can help the party develop through the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), an organisation founded in 1992 in Britain to help the cause of centre-right, like-minded political parties who are committed to democracy.

The WFD has worked in the former USSR, Africa and many countries in Asia. “We are here to make an assessment as to whether or not we can work with them to help them become a more formidable, democratic, election winning party,” said Streeter, talking to Minivan News.

“We are continuing to look at their organisation…and of course it’s open to any party in the Maldives, The DRP, the Justice Party, anybody to seek help from a British political party and if it works, if the relationship clicks, they could get help too,” he added.

Asked what his impression of the Maldives was, he said he thought it was a “fantastic country” and added: “Obviously, there’s tension in the air. You know, the reform process has started and it’s not going as quickly as many people would want, but on the other hand look back three years and they have come an awful long way.”

“For a political party that has been going 2 or 3 years I think the MDP is truly remarkable. The depth of organisation, the numbers they can wheel out, some of their campaigning techniques, their material they produced, their ideas for the future – I think actually they have made a fantastic start,” Streeter said.

The Tory MP spent yesterday in Male’ talking to Shadow Cabinet members and government ministers. When he gets back to the capital, he will meet Elections Commissioner, Kaaf Dhaal Ahmed Maniku and other government ministers. He returns to London on Sunday.

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Phillip Wellman, a journalist for this website, will be forced to leave the country on Friday morning, just five days after returning to the Maldives. He was expelled from the country once already on November 3, 2006 along with a freelance photographer.

“They will be welcome in the Maldives in two weeks’ time,” said Chief Government Spokesman, Mohamed Hussein Shareef in November. But now it seems that is not so.

Wellman returned on January 15, but after only two days in the country he was summoned to see immigration officials on Wednesday morning and was given 48 hours to leave the country.

It is unclear at this stage whether he will be able to return. The notification of Wellman’s expulsion came the day after the US Ambassador to the Maldives left the country. Wellman is an U.S. citizen.

The Immigration Controller, Ibrahim Shafiu who is also a DRP Majlis member appointed by the President, says Wellman does not have “permission” to be in the country. Minivan News contacted the government before his arrival to inform them of his intention to return and received no objection to the proposal. He is currently here on a tourist visa valid for thirty days.

“The harassment of Minivan and MinivanNews.com journalists must stop,” said Reporters Without Borders in response to Wellman’s expulsion in November.

“We once again point out that an opposition media has as much right to work freely as a pro-government media,” Reporters Without Borders added.

Wellman’s second expulsion comes only days after the publication of a damning 2006 annual report by the South Asian Press Commission (SAPC), which said the Maldives “continues to be a journalist’s prison.”

“The continued detention and house arrest of a number of journalists is an issue of serious concern, as are the charges against five journalists and editors working for Minivan, which would appear to constitute a concerted effort by the authorities to target this publication,” said the report.

The SAPC’s study referred specifically to an incident in which Minivan News’ offices in Colombo were raided by Sri Lankan Interpol officers on a false tip-off from Police Chief, Adam Zahir, that the office was being used to store weapons.

“The Mission deplored the abuse of Interpol against exiled journalists and overseas Maldivian media, the blocking of Dhivehi Observer and Maldives Culture websites, and the jamming of the shortwave frequency of Minivan Radio.” The report added.

Minivan News has recently been working hard to assert greater independence and produce more objective and balanced news. The website has received much praise for its efforts and is seen by people within both the government and the opposition as the premier English language publication on the Maldives, read by many influential members of the international community.

The Maldives currently ranks 144th in the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, slightly lower than Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, but higher than Russia and Iraq.

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