Day: May 11, 2010

Religious unity regulations contain “ambiguities, policy issues”, says press secretary

The new regulations under the Religious Unity Act of 1994 drafted by the Islamic Ministry contain “ambiguities” and provisions that could be in conflict with the government’s stated policies, said the President’s Press Secretary, Mohamed Zuhair.

The President of the Human Rights Commission of Maldives, religious scholars, people from the entertainment industry and NGOs have expressed concern with the regulations, he said.

“The attorney general only looked at legal aspects before he approved it,” he said. “He did not have to consider the implications for policy or conflicts with stated government policy, mainly on freedom of expression.”

He added that Attorney General Husnu Suood had “reservations” about some provisions and favoured a cabinet meeting before publication of the regulations in the government’s gazette.

Zuhair said the “points of contention” included provisions that deal with Islamic codes of conduct and ambiguities in the terminology of some provisions.

“Codes of behaviour are not codified in Islam,” he said. “[People] have suggested that the phrase should be changed to tenets of Islam.”

There were also fears that the advisory board to be constituted under the regulations could become “the moral police” and exercise excessive powers.

Some religious scholars have also “personally called and asked for a wider discussion.”

“The president has three main concerns,” he said. “First, social implications of the regulations, second policy implications and whether there could be legal obstacles [to enforcement].”

Moreover, some of the provisions could be “extraneous” as laws already existed to tackle the problems the regulations target.

Meanwhile, State Minister for Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed urged the president’s office to resolve possible policy conflicts and publish the regulations.

As well as “all respected religious scholars in the country”, other government authorities were consulted in the formulation of the regulations Shaheem said.

Shaheem stressed that the attorney general’s office, the legal department at the president’s office and the Maldives Police Service have all cleared the regulations.

The state minister downplayed fears that the regulations would give coercive powers to the ministry.

“It is not our intention to put people in jail,” he said. “[For example], if someone writes an article mocking Islam, we will only advise that person and offer counselling.”

He added that the ministry did not want to discourage criticism and the regulations were necessary “for democracy and to build a stable society”.

The regulations were important to deal with social problems caused by disputes over religious issues, he explained.

Shaheem noted that he has received complaints this week from two islands with independent or breakaway prayer congregations.

“The islanders told me they [the breakaway group] threatened to attack foreigners if the islanders tried to stop them,” he said.

Meanwhile, the HRCM has denied Zuhair’s claim to local daily Haveeru yesterday that the commission raised concern with the regulations.

The commission’s statement denies that “any complaints” were made by any HRCM official.

It adds that the report in the media was “regrettable” and that the commission was not officially consulted in the process of drafting the regulations.

The Haveeru story quoted Zuhair as saying that the Tourism Ministry and Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation have also expressed concern.

However, the press secretary said today that Ahmed Saleem, president of the HRCM, had called “a senior official” of the government and voiced his concerns.

Saleem told the official he has not had time to review the regulations as he had to fly abroad soon, he said.

The HRCM statement could therefore mean “one of two things,” Zuhair said.

“They have either reviewed it and decided to endorse it or this is miscommunication inside the commission,” he said.

Ahmed Saleem could not be reached for comment at time of press.

Tourism Minister Dr Ahmed Sawad said he has not read the regulations yet.

“We’d like to go through it and see if there are any issues,” he said. “We will attend to it in the next two days.”

Ibrahim Khaleel, managing director of MNBC, said he has not officially complained or expressed concern.

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PA dismisses “impossible” pact with MDP

A coalition agreement between the government and the opposition People’s Alliance party is “impossible”, Secretary General of Peoples Alliances Adam Ahmed Shareef has said.

”Our stand is very clear,” Shareef said. ”We work in the opposition and we do not support the current government’s policy and the way they are treating people. In the current situation it’s impossible to join with them.”

He added that the current administration was unable to “cope with” the other parties in the Maldivian Democratic Party-led (MDP) coalition.

Shareef dismissed rumours that the party was in talks with the government.

”I do not think Yameen [PA leader] would shift to a position where the president can dismiss him anytime,” he said. “People are spreading rumors just to gain political support and to harm PA.”

Saareef also denied rumours of a rift between PA and its coalition partner, the main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP).

”What PA MP Ahmed Nazim said was that PA MPs should not have to follow the DRP whip line in parliament without prior consultation,” he said. “In such cases, hereafter PA MPs would vote according to their own views in a manner they think would be beneficial for the people,”

MDP Spokesman Ahmed Haleem told Minivan News earlier this week that the party had begun talks with PA to seek support in the confirmation process for a new economic minister.

“DRP are always against us and they have control of a lot of the media,” Haleem said. “But [PA leader] Abdulla Yameen has some commitment to the people – he was trade minister in 1998, he is an economist and he is well educated. I think he is OK.”

The Maldivian economy was sorely troubled “and a lot of people are suffering very badly and are very poor,” Haleem said. “[MDP and PA] have the same goal, we want to stabilise the economy and we are looking for support. Yameen’s seven members could support the parliamentary approval of a new minister.”

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Overseas travel advisories jeopardising tourism industry, claims DQP

The Dhivehi Qaumy Party (DQP) has criticised the government for jeopardising “the essential pillar of the Maldivian economy” after it claimed travel advisories to the country had been upgraded to ‘caution’ in several countries, including New Zealand and Canada, in the wake of recent political demonstrations.

“There was no doubt that any harm to the tourism industry, which is considered to be the government’s only real source of income, would have serious repercussions and cause pain and misery throughout society,” the party warned, in a statement.

“While the reality of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) is slowly dawning on the international community, the travel warnings issued by Canada and New Zealand show the extent to which these countries are concerned,” it said, going on to accuse the government of “encouraging unrest, squabbling and violence”.

“This is undoubtedly what happens when power is in the hands of an individual without any intelligence or character,” it claimed.

Travel advisories in many developed countries are notoriously cautious. When Minivan News visited the New Zealand travel advisory site, SafeTravel, it found the entry had not been updated since October 7, 2008.

“Presidential elections are due to take place in October 2008,” the site noted. “Violent protests associated with the ongoing political reform process have occurred in Male and on some non-resort islands. New Zealanders are advised to avoid any demonstrations and political rallies as they have the potential to turn violent.”

The Canadian equivalent was last updated on November 25, 2009 and contains no official travel warnings, but instead urges travellers to ‘excercise a high degree of caution’, the second of four alert levels.

“Canadians should exercise caution and maintain a high level of personal security awareness at all times, as the security situation could deteriorate rapidly without notice,” the site notes.

The Australian government travel advisory website SmartTraveller also flags the Maldives at the second of its five warning levels, “Exercise Caution”.

“We advise you to exercise caution and monitor developments that might affect your safety in the Republic of Maldives because of the risk of crime and civil unrest,” the site warns Australians, further recommending “you should avoid public gatherings and demonstrations as they may turn violent.”

The site similarly urges travellers to “Excerise Caution” in France, Sweden and Belgium.

Sim Mohamed Ibrahim from the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) observed that “in many countries it is a legal requirement for the government to inform citizens of anything that could be a danger.”

“There is political unrest in this country and sometimes demonstrations,” he said, explaining that it was very hard to explain to people hearing news reports about such things overseas that the incidents were restricted to Male’ and some inhabited islands “and not in tourist resorts.”

“The press is available to all over the world and if you read news about the Maldives a lot of stories about groups like the Adhaalath party, who are a political party but for all intents and purposes a religious party,” he said, explaining that the perception of rising extremism in the country risked becoming “the greatest problem facing the tourism industry in the future.”

“With the rhetoric in some newspapers and at public gatherings it appears to be on the rise, and it will be very easy for the Maldives to be branded alongside other countries [where fundamentalism is prevalent].”

“Certain elements of the extremist movement are in total opposition to parts of the tourism industry, such as the import of alcohol and pork for consumption by tourists. It has nothing to do with the Maldivian population, but still people are saying it should not be allowed.

“It is very sad because the vast majority of Maldivians are moderate, just like our fathers and grandfathers,” he said.

Vice President of the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Ibrahim Shareef meanwhile noted that “for the past 40 years the Maldives has been a peaceful country. But once we introduced a new political system in the name of democracy, there have been many political confrontations.”

Aggressive rhetoric from the President during an election was one thing, Shareef said, “but once elected he must be a symbol of unity.”

Travellers assessed risk carefully and were very cautious, he said, especially since the Maldives was an “expensive destination.”

“We have to put our house in order,” Shareef urged.

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Dhigufarufinolhu “destroyed” to construct harbor, claims government

Dhigufarufinolhu, a sandbank in Baa Atoll, has been “destroyed” to construct a harbour for the Royal Island Resort,  claims Mohamed Zuhair, Press Secretary of the President’s Office.

The resort is owned by Republican Party Leader and Maamigili MP Gasim Ibrahim.

While the harbour was being constructed for docking speedboats, Zuhair said the sandbank and the resort were not in the same landmass.

“The sandbank has a massive lagoon. In between the resort and sandbank there is deep blue sea,” he said.

Zuhair said that the destruction of the sandbank would have dire consequences for the ecosystem as its lagoon was home to a plethora of marine life.

“All the plankton, fish, bait, sea turtles who come ashore to lay eggs, corals in the area and many seabirds fled after the sandbank was destroyed,” he explained.

Zuhair added that the government has received a numerous complaints about the environmental impact of the construction.

“All the bait the [fishermen] caught there is gone, all the seabirds, which they used to locate fish, are gone after the harbor was constructed,” Zuhair said.

He further claimed that all living coral in the areas was now dying because of the spread of silt produced during the construction.

However, he added, the government could only take any action when the case was reported officially.

”The former government awarded that sandbank in the 1970s,” he said.

Environmental impact

According to Google Earth, the distance between the sandbank and the resort is approximately 1,065 feet.

The lagoon of the sandbank was approximately 2.9 kilometers in length and 1.3 kilometers in width.

Ibrahim Naeem, director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said sandbanks were an essential part of the ecosystem.

”Birds and turtles go there, fish in the area die if there are no rocks,” Naeem said. “The plankton and corals in the area will also die if a sandbank is destroyed.”

Naeem stressed that silt was a very dangerous substance.

”If it gets inside the respiratory system of a fish, they will have difficulty breathing,” he said. ”If it reaches the eye they will suffer from poor eyesight.”

He added that “whether Gasim or Hassan” was responsible was immaterial as the environmental impact would be the same.

Moreover, he said, construction of harbours was generally very harmful to the environment.

Gasim said he was out of the country and could not comment on the matter.

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Man dies while fishing

A man has died in an accident while fishing in a boat near Dhaalu Atoll Kudahuvadhu, police report.

Police identified the man as Mohamed Hussein, 48, of Dhirimaage in Dhaalu Atoll Bandidhu.

Police reported that the incident took place at 11:20am.

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