The labor party has sent a letter to the anti-corruption commission asking it to investigate a case at the president’s office in which lost four laptops and one projector were lost, reports Manadhoolive.
The letter clams during October 2009 the equipment was found to be missing from the president’s office, but until today the president’s office has neither informed the media or tried to find out why it was missing.
The Labor Party said it considered this as an “act of corruption” committed by the president’s office, and demanded the case be investigated.
Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed has met with the Representative for the Regional UNODC Office for South Asia, Cristina Albertin, to discuss the strengthening of the country’s response to drug abuse.
Speaking at the meeting, Waheed said that fighting against drug issues was one of the key pledges of the government.
He noted the important role civil societies could play in this endeavour, and stressed the need for more NGOs to be created.
Albertin agreed that the government alone could not prevent drug abuse in the country, and said that controlling the supply of drugs and punishing the drug importers was the strongest way to stop drug abuse in the country.
A team of 22 police have returned from India after completing a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) course.
According to police, the course was held from 2f November 2009 to 16 January 2010 in the Central School of Weapon and Tactics, Border Security Force (BSF) at Indoor in India.
As part of the program the group learnt weapon usage and handling, crime scene investigating, managing security and outdoor events for VIPs and counter terrorism.
The only other time Maldives police have taken a SWAT course was in Thailand in 2005.
Police Lance Corporal Fazeem Abdullah (SN 2345) was chosen as the Best Student from the course.
Parents have shut down the Shaviyani Feydhoo school for two days by refusing to send their children to school.
The school, which had around 170 students, was closed on Sunday and Monday because parents were unhappy that a principal had not been appointed despite the academic year having already started.
The previous principal, Mathew Varugees, returned to India at the end of last year.
Aishath Mohamed from the school’s parent teacher association said “The parents are not happy. The school is being run without a princiapal and it is affecting the studies of the children.”
“The old principal could not speak Dhivehi and many parents can’t speak English, so there was a major communication issue,” she said. “We had many issues to discuss but it was not possible and no one was happy with the situation. Even Mr Varugees agreed there was a communication problem – that is why he left, he said this school needed a Maldivian principal.”
Aishath said a senior teacher, Mohamed Shahid, had been running the school in the interim, “but he only agreed to stay until the start of the school year, when a new principal was promised.”
Parents have gone to the island office and demanded a new principal within the next two weeks.
Principal was arranged
Their story clashes with that of the Feydhoo councilor, Mohamed Mustafa Ismail.
“A principal was arranged for our school by the education ministry. Everything was ready including accommodation and transfer,” he said.
“But when the parents found he was not a Maldivian principal, they didn’t accept it. They gathered outside the island office and said not to bring the principal, because they would not let him set foot on the island.
“Obviously we had to let the ministry know that we could’t bring him here, and they have now said they can’t find a Maldivian for the position.”
Mustafa said while the parents had given the government two weeks to find a Maldivian principal, “it’s not like we can go to a shop and buy one. It’s hard to find Maldivians who are qualified for the job.”
He blamed the teachers for failing to show teamwork with foreign principals.
“Good teamwork is needed to work when working with foreign people, but the Maldivian teachers don’t like it and they tell the parents who then react this way,” he said
“By closing down the school the parents have got it wrong. It is not the solution.”
The movement of foreigners throughout the Maldives will be restricted, according to new rules implemented by the ministry of human resources, youth and sport.
All foreigners wishing to travel between islands from 1 February 2010 must present appropriate documents to the captain or person in charge of the vessel, the ministry revealed.
Speaking to Minivan News, Minister of Human Resources Hassan Latheef said the travel restrictions were being implemented to reduce the number of illegal expatriate workers travelling between islands.
“The problem of illegal workers in this country is huge, we have been getting many complaints from islands,” he said.
“An example is in Laamu atoll: illegal workers have become involved in agricultural business and are driving local farmers out of business.”
He acknowledged that “while we can’t deport everyone, I believe that stopping them from moving around is the first step towards solving this issue.”
Proper documentation
From February all foreigners must carry one of three documents to be able to travel around the country: either a valid work permit, proper visa documents for visitors, or a special letter from the ministry allowing travel.
Any captain or vessel owner which transports foreigners without these documents will face legal action, the ministry said.
Impact
Asked how the community might react to such measures, Latheef said “There won’t be much difficulty in implementing these measures, because even now ships have to keep a log of all the passengers it carries. There will be no inconvenience at all, as most crews will be able to check documents very fast and efficiently.”
Asked about the impact on non-working foreigners in the country, Latheef said “All they have to do is provide a visa or document showing their purpose in the country.”
Tourists “may find this alarming,” admitted Ahmed Solih, permanent secretary of the tourism ministry.
“But if the situation is explained, they will understand,” he said.
One expatriate currently working in the country wasn’t so sure.
“As someone who travels on a daily basis does this mean I have to carry my documents with me in case they are checked? Having to carry around papers all the time feels very restrictive,” he said.
“It feels like there is a currently a bit of a witch-hunt against expatriates, with the retraction of the liquor licences and the difficulty getting work permits – is the government trying to drive out skill sets the country doesn’t have?”
Solih said the problem of illegal workers was a national issue, particularly for a relatively small community like the Maldives.
“These measures may seem dramatic but this decision has only been made after many other alternatives have failed. I am sure there will be measures in the rules to account for the tourism industry.”
The ongoing dispute between the finance ministry and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) has heated up, after the CSC warned it would take legal action against any CSC member who prepares a wages bill with the reduced salaries.
A letter circulated among permanent secretaries urged them to send the salary sheets to the finance ministry with the restored levels, and said employees who prepared the wage bill would have to bear responsibility both for the reduced salary and disregarding the CSC’s directive.
The finance ministry retaliated by threatening legal action against government payroll officers who failed to fill out a reduced salary sheet, while a highly-placed source in the government said political appointees rather than civil servants would fill out the salary sheets.
On 13 January the finance ministry issued a statement directing all government institutions to make out the salary sheets according to the reduced amount, claiming that the three month period of reduced civil servant pay is to be increased until the government’s “special circumstances” are resolved.
The CSC has meanwhile announced that the finance ministry’s agreement to reduce civil servants’ salary for three months is now over, claimed that all civil servants must receive their full salary starting from this month.
The country’s political parties divided over the issue.
The opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) claimed the finance ministry “has no right” to deduct the salary of civil servants.
DRP member Mohamed Hussain ”Mundhu” Shareef said the party was resolute that civil servants would receive the same salaries as before.
“When President Nasheed came to the administration, reducing the amount of civil servants to from 29,000 to 18,000 was not in his manifesto,” Mundhu said, accusing him “of torturing the people”.
Reducing, increasing and resolving civil servants salaries was in the hands of the CSC, he said, and that the finance ministry was unable to set the salary against the CSC’s wishes.
Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mohamed “Colonel” Nasheed said the salary crisis was a national issue and an “economic domino” waiting to fall.
“If the CSC is upset there are a lot of problems we face other than civil servants salaries,” he said.
Nasheed suggested that the government institutions involved needed to get together and come to an agreement.
The head of the police drug enforcement unit Mohamed Jinah has claimed “it won’t be long” before police arrest the remaining four of the top six drug dealers identified by President Mohamed Nasheed.
“Two of the top six drug dealers have been arrested. We will arrest the remaining four as soon as possible,” he promised.
“They are not difficult to catch, but we want to catch them with a lot of proof and evidence. That is why it is taking so long.”
Jinah said that instead of focusing on capturing street level drug dealers, police had this year tried to target the higher levels and block the problem from the top.
”Hopefully, this year we will also arrest many smugglers and drug dealers,” he added.
Police also revealed today that they had pursued 2363 drugs-related cases in 2009, 1038 of which were sent to the prosecutor general’s office.
Police also conducted 200 “special operations to capture drug dealers in Male, ” Jinah revealed.
Last year police also seized 11.5 kilograms of drugs, including heroine, cannabis and benzodiazepine.
That haul meant the number of new drug users had been reduced by 43 per cent compared to previous years, Jinah said, citing a police survey.
Meanwhile, the Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Service (DPRS) recently caused controversy by transferring 87 inmates to house arrest, many of whom were drug offenders caught in possession of less than three grams of narcotic.
The DPRS said seven of them had been returned to jail because of bad behaviour “and not following the rules we applied to them.”‘
Nafiza Abdul Gafoor expertly holds a rock melon in her hands, and shows the technique for cutting it. The 32 year-old has worked in the farming sector for years, and training in Malaysia last year has also made her among the few Maldivians qualified in ‘auto pot’ farming.
‘Auto pot’ is a variation on hydroponics, and was introduced to Maldives through rock melon farming projects carried out by UNDP and Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture.
“This is a very good method of farming for the Maldives,” says Nafiza. She works as field officer in the four month-old greenhouse in Gnavyiyani Atoll Fuvamulah.
Creating a greenhouse
UNDP and the Ministry of Agriculture invited proposals from interested NGOs in early 2009.
“Our proposal won as we had already found the land and installed the well needed for it,” says Nafiza, who is part of the NGO Society for Environmental Awareness (SEA).
A melon ripening in the greenhouse
The Malaysian experts assigned to the project did not deem the land as suitable as it was too swampy. Within three months another area of land was procured, and it took the experts ten days to set up the green house and plant the first batch of rock melon plants.
“Now we always maintain 500 plants here,” Nafiza says.
The tedious task of weeding at the onset put off some of those recruited from the eight wards of the island: “Our staff is from nearby three wards now, as the greenhouse is on one end of the island.”
The first six months salary is paid by UNDP. Afterward, seventy per cent of dividends reaped from selling rock melon will be divided among staff with the rest being equally split for marketing, procuring products, and business expansion.
The staff of 32 consists mostly of women apart, with the exception of three men.
Aiminath Waheeda, 42, is a tailor by profession and has her own tailor shop but professeses a fascination for farming.
“My children are grown up now. I have time to do this, and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” says Aiminath.
After selling the first batch of melons last month she says she hopes for a better income in the future.
Planting and harvesting
“Within 58 days of planting we can harvest melons,” Nafiza explains.
The melons have to be visually perfect without any marks; this means that Nafiza and the others are careful to avoid walking near the plants once they flower, in case the brushes up against any leaves: “If you touch the plant or even brush up against it after it had flowered, there is the chance of the melon getting marks.”
Special fertilizers are added once a week to the tank that pumps water to the pots through an automated system. This is increased to twice a week once the plant flowers.
“After harvesting the melons we get rid of the plant, and plant the prepared ones the next day.”
Local supplier Happy Market buys melon from them and sells to resorts.
Misty inside the greenhouse
Expansion
“We wanted to introduce a method of farming that would also appeal to the younger generation,” says Dr Aiminath Shafia, state minister for agriculture. Youngsters aren’t keen to toil in the sun, and modern methods such as this could tempt them to farming, she reasons.
The scarcity of land in Maldives and the potential for creating high quality products is another reason for introducing auto pot production methods.
“We have also discussed it with resorts, which are willing to buy the produce if quality and consistency can be guaranteed.” Dr Shafia says linking the greenhouses with resorts is part of the project.
The pilot project carried out in Noonu Atoll Kendhikulhudhoo a couple of years ago proved to be a roaring success and is on the verge of expansion, while in Vaavu Atoll Felidhoo the green house is doing extremely well and another in Baa Atoll Baarah is already selling to nearby resorts.
The next two projects are an island in Addu Atoll and in Thaa Atoll Veymandoo. “We have not done projects in Addu Atoll and there are resorts nearby there, and Veymandoo is a farming island and we have other projects there as well,” Dr Shafia says.
She wants to introduce this method of farming to more people.
“We are willing to carry out little projects of ten pots for a small fee to those who reside in Male,” she says.
Police have arrested two men in Kaafu Himmafushi carrying packets of suspected narcotics.
Ismail Ibrahim, 30, of Meadows, Kaafu Himmafushi was arrested at 4:00am this morning with five packets of suspected narcotics.
Ahmed Abdullah Gadhir, 28, of Alhivilaage, Gaafu Dhaalu Thinadhoo was arrested last night at 11:50pm. Gadhir was in possession of one packet of alleged drugs.
According to police, both men were arrested after police received information the men were using illegal drug use.
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