Day: January 17, 2010

Fuel sellers cheating customers, says Fuel Association

“Almost every” fuel seller in the Maldives is taking advantage of lax certification to cheat their customers by using inaccurate meters, the President of the Fuel Association of the Maldives has claimed.

Mohamed Rasheed accused the trade ministry of failing to certify petrol station meters and allowing the industry to take advantage of consumers for more than 30 years.

The trade ministry retaliated by saying it was impossible for them to check every fuel meter in the Maldives, and blamed the fuel suppliers for failing to inform the trade ministry the meters were uncertified.

Rasheed criticised the trade ministry for being “irresponsible”, claiming that the problem was a big drain on money for both consumers and the Maldivian government.

Chairman of Fisherman Union Ibrahim Umar said the organisations had received many complaint from fishermen that the fuel sellers are “cheating” them by showing them inaccurate measurements from uncertified meters.

Umar claimed that sometimes the fuel sellers “take half a barrel by showing the consumers the wrong meter.”

At a press confernce today, Rasheed called on the trade ministry to approve a law that every fuel station in the Maldives must be certified by the ministry.

Director of the Trade Ministry Solih Hussein said “if the fuel sellers inform us today [they have an uncertified meter] we will put on the seal by tomorrow morning.”

Furthermore, Solih accused the Fuel Association Of Maldives of contradicting its own rules and regulations by exposing its own members to accusations of impropriety by their consumers.

“The Fishermens’ Union can now file a lawsuit against the Fuel Association of Maldives, as they have been selling fuel without certifying their meters, while many of consumers remain unaware of this certification,’ Solih said.

He calls on every consumer in the Maldives not to buy anything measured using a uncertified meter “whether it’s fuel, rice or vegetables.”

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Tourists attempting to ride whale sharks in South Ari Atoll

Excessive human interaction with whale sharks in South Ari Atoll could eventually lead to the species leaving the area permanently, the Maldives Whale Shark Research Project (MWSRP) has warned.

“We have reports of tourists touching and even attempting to ride the sharks,” said Adam Harman from the MWSRP.

In June last year the southern tip of the Ari Atoll region, a year long whale shark aggregation site, was declared a marine protected area (MPA). But recently there has been a large increase in the number of tourists visiting the area.

“The whale sharks have attracted more and more tourists to the area. Sometimes there are 25 boats and over 100 tourists swimming around one shark,” Harman said.

Interaction guidelines were implemented to protect whale sharks in 2008. According to these guidelines, only 12-13 swimmers from one boat are allowed around a shark at any given time, and even then there is to be no contact with the animals. However these guidelines are difficult to monitor since they are self regulated.

According to MWSRP, once a shark is spotted all the boats in the area converge around the shark, ‘caging’ it in. This endangers the animal in many ways and there is a huge possibility of propeller damage.

“If this keeps up we risk losing the sharks. They will move onto other preferential habitats” warned Harman.

“Currently we are getting three sightings a day. We used to have 39 encounters in the same three day period.

“Its hard to say what could happen, but if things don’t change by this time next year, the number of sharks in this area could go down.”

The threat of losing the whale sharks is very real, Harman emphasised. Similar cases have been recorded in Mexico and South Africa, where whale sharks have been known to leave their habitats.

This is not the first incident in South Ari Atoll where marine life have left to seek other preferential habitats. South Ari Atoll Madivaru, ‘Manta point’, was once a popularsite for manta rays.

“At one time you could spot almost 50. Today however, spotting even one is considered lucky,” Harman said.

Tourists converge on a whale shark in a flurry of flippers
Tourists converge on a whale shark in a flurry of flippers

Violent clashes

The clash of ideas has led to hostile confrontations between operators and researchers. In one incident a knife was allegedly used by safari operators to threaten researchers.

Director of the Environmental Protection Agency, Ibrahim Naeem, confirmed the government had received reports of such confrontations.

“We have urged the researchers and operators to stay out of each others’ way,” he said. “We do get many complaints about people interfering with whale sharks, but since the law doesn’t say its illegal, people still do it,” he continued.

“Divers and safari operators argue that 12 swimmers per whale is not enough, while scientists say that more than 12 poses a risk to the animals. We are having talks with the people involved in the industry and are in the process of reviewing the guidelines.”

The MWSRP have been working closely with the evironment, fisheries and tourism ministries to find a solution to the problem.

Minister of Tourism Dr Ali Sawad said ” We have been working in coordination with the environment ministry, and we are looking for ways to increase awareness and work more closely with divers associations and safari operators.”

Images provided by MWSRP.

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Police arrest 19 suspects in Campus Didi stabbing case

Police have arrested 19 people in connection with the stabbing of Ahmed Ibrahim ‘Campus’ didi on 27 December.

Didi was badly injured in the attack and was flown to India for medical treatment, while the attackers escaped with almost US$250,000 and Rf1 million in cash.

Chief Inspector of Police Mohamed Jamsheed said the 19 suspects were arrested with variety of weapons, including knives, spears and knuckle dusters, which police believe were used in the attack on Campus Didi.

‘We suspect these weapons were used to stab Campus Didi, as some of the [forensic evidence] we needed was found on these weapons,’ said Jamsheed.

Five of the people arrested were under the age of 18, he said, adding that only a few of the suspects were cooperating with police while most were remaining silent.

‘Some amount’ of the money robbed was recovered, he said.

Jamsheed added the investigation was ongoing and that police could not yet link the attack to similar recent incidents in male’.

‘These robberies are well planned and organised. We are advising people to get help from the police when carrying a large amount of money from one place to another.’

Police said they were currently unable to question Campus Didi as he was still being treated overseas.

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Comment: We are criminals

The Maldives has the 10th highest prison population rate in the world and our society is set up to perpetuate this rate.

The victory in 2008 ushering in democracy has barely lessened the number of people incarcerated. It has not changed how we treat people who have gone to jail, nor the causes for which so many of our people lose their freedom. It has not made us reflect on the effect this is having on our society. And as a nation we will suffer for this together.

Culture promoting criminality

Before we won the election, politicians on my side of the divide could have claimed that many of the prisoners in jail were the result of political repression.

But the problem goes beyond politics. The problem is societal and the responsibility now falls on each and every one of us to change the direction we’ve been heading in.

The vast majority of those arrested have been sentenced on drug related charges. We have 30% of our youth falling into drugs like heroin, and we are surprised that crime is soaring. We are surprised when gang related violence escalates, and we are surprised that Male’ and islands around the country are no longer safe.

Male’ is now split up by the gangs controlling strictly monitored lines. They hijack each other’s cars and motorcycles and go after one another with whatever weapon they can get their hands on.

For all of us who have nothing to do with these gangs, we just ignore it. We turn a blind eye because that’s what we’ve been taught to do for 30 years.

But political commentary aside, we each let this happen. We live in a small community where everyone knows everything about everyone else. We know when our neighbor is arrested. We know why the boy down the street was taken to jail and why the police kicked down his friend’s door the week before.

But instead of helping them recover and reintegrate, we shun them. We ostracize them and say they are not worth our time. Instead of offering a helping hand, we kick them to the curb as the wasted undesirable elements of our society. But with the prison population so high, it is a large part of our society.

Our prison population rate is the 10th largest in the world, and this is without all the people who have not yet been sentenced. We need to help these people join the working ranks and support our nation to grow. We need to stop abusing them with our indifference, and we have to make it clear to our government institutions and those who work for them, that we will not tolerate abuse against inmates and promote true rehabilitation instead.

Rehabilitation

We as a society have to help with rehabilitation. I don’t mean drug rehabilitation. I mean we have to teach inmates how to function in society and how to be productive members of it. But the truth is that rehabilitation was never a part of our penitentiary services. In the past, the entire prison institution was based around repression, fear, and control of the unruly elements of our society. The new government is trying to change that and I’ve seen more change in the DPRS (Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services) than in many of the other institutions, though even the DPRS has been subject to politically based manipulation by jailers, and not just by government sympathizers. However, what about all those people who have not yet been convicted?

These people are kept in police detention facilities. The same kind of facilities which have been responsible for custodial abuse reported recently. In addition to the kinds of abuse described by the inmates on DhiTV, there is a culture of brutality amongst the armed forces which needs to be addressed. Prisoners are constantly manhandled by their guards, whether they behave or not.

Further methods are used to ensure compliance and deal with unruly behavior. Amongst these methods are handcuffing inmates in difficult positions and leaving them for hours at a time under the hot sun, or if it is raining, leaving them out in the cold.

These are people who have not even been sentenced yet! Guilt has not been established. Due process has not been executed. And even if these people had been sentenced, they are still human beings and thereby extended inalienable rights; especially from torture. We suffered these kinds of abuses under the previous administration; it cannot be allowed to continue.

Reform

The attitudes within both the Police Service as well as the general populous need to be reformed. The Maldivian Police Service has made phenomenal improvement in how the deal with the citizenry, so there should be no reason why this cannot extend towards those members of society who are placed in their care.

We as society need to care about what happens to inmates. Without reform and true rehabilitation, we will never be able to progress as a nation.

We may have had a democratic election, but we still do not have a free society. The democracy monitoring international NGO, Freedom House, still ranks us as only partly free because of our apathy towards the prison population. We are such a small community.

We are all brothers, sisters, cousins, neighbors, and friends. We have no excuse to allow things to continue as they are. The shackles of tyranny still bind us. It’s time we start chipping away at these bindings, so that one day we will enjoy a free and stable society.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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National team players unhappy with late salaries

Members of the national football team have met the sports minister and Football Association Maldives (FAM) officials over pay issues.

According to Haveeru, the players have not received salaries for the last two months of last year.

After the meeting FAM announced that the players salaries would be released, reports Haveeru.

A few of the senior squad members have also lodged a complaint about not receiving any of the US$25,000 prize money the team received for being runners-up in the recent SAAF championship.

FAM said they have yet to receive the prize money.

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Man dies after falling off motorbike

A man died last night after falling off the back of a motorcycle in Thinadhoo.

According to police, 19 year-old Ahmed Mohamed of Tharuvaas Gaaf Dhaalu Thinadhoo fell off the back of a motorbike and sustained serious injuries to his head and his body.

Mohamed was being treated in the intensive care unit of the Thinadhoo regional hospital, however he passed away this morning.

Police reported that the driver of the motorbike was another 19 year-old who held the appropriate driving license and registration documents, and are currently investigating the cause of the accident.

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President announces plans for subsidies

In a press conference this morning, President Mohamed Nasheed announced that the government plans to boost subsidies to help compensate for high electric prices.

The president also said the government would be also broaden eligibility for subsidies, noting that the current eligibility criteria was based on data collected in 1997.

Under that data, the poverty line is considered Rf 21 (US$1.50) a day. The president said that a new survey was under way.

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Speedboat burns eight in Naifaru

A speedboat that entered Lhaviyyani Naifaru harbour injured some of its passengers when it suddenly caught fire on January 15 at 3:15 pm.

According to police, the boat was carrying 11 passengers when it caught fire, eight of whom suffered varying degrees on burns to their bodies. Investigators claimed a short circuiting battery was the cause of the fire.

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Girl dies after boat capsizes

A 13 year-old girl died when a boat capsized in Laamu Dhanbidhoo yesterday at around 4:15 pm.

The accident occurred during bad weather conditions as the boat was shipping sand from a nearby island, according to the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF).

The girl has been identified as Hawwa Aroosha of Fithuroanuge, Laamu Dhanbidhoo.

A 23 year-old man and three children were also on board when the accident happened.

One of the children, a 15 year-old boy, has been taken to Laamu Gan regional Hospital with serious injuries.

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