Day: June 23, 2010

13 Day Invoice Deadline for DRP over alleged Rf500,000 debt to Island Aviation: Civil Court

The DRP has been given 13 days by the Civil Court to complete an examination of documentation and invoices from Island Aviation Services, which is claiming that debts of Rf500,000 are owed to the Maldives government airline by the opposition political party, reports Miadhu Daily.

The Court said this would be DRP’s last opportunity to respond to Court orders, according to Miadhu Daily, and the DRP would have to respond to Island Aviation Services regarding the case by IAS against the DRP for unpaid bills.

In the previous hearing held on the case, the DRP’s lawyer appealed for more time to examine the documentation and invoices presented by the national airline, reported Miadhu Daily, and the DRP also hinted that it desired to settle the case out of court, after the IAS went to court following lack of cooperation from DRP.

The DRP later said it needed more time and requested an extension.

During the latest hearing, the IAS lawyer said that the airline no longer wished to reach an “out of court settlement” with the DRP, according to Miadhu Daily, and the DRP had also failed to respond to IAS’s earlier calls for an out of the court settlement, the IAS lawyer added.

The IAS has said that DRP is trying to delay payment as long as it can, and the DRP’s lawyer did not dispute the fact that there was a pending payment, but he said some of the IAS invoices were repeated and disputed the exact figures claimed by the IAS, reported Miadhu Daily.

The DRP lawyer asked for 29 days to verify the IAS documentation, but was given 13 days.

The judge also declared at yesterday’s hearing that the DRP has failed, or does not wish, to settle the issue out of court as earlier proposed by the IAS.

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30% Cut to Import Duties at Southern and Northern ports in Maldives

Import duties levied at the Northern and Southern Regional Ports of the Maldives are to be cut by 30% from 1 July 2010.

President Nasheed approved the 30% cut after recommendations by the Cabinet.

Cabinet made the recommendations mainly to lessen pressure on the Malé commercial port and to increase economic activity at regional ports.

The Cabinet also declared Kalhaidhoo island, Haddhunmathi (Laamu) atoll as an uninhabited island. Kalhaidhoo was judged unsafe, following the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. Most Kalhaidhoo people have been relocated to Gan on the same atoll, and currently only 27 people remain in Kalhaidhoo. The French Red Cross has provided housing for Kalhaidhoo people at Gan.

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Amendment to Decentralisation Act allowing joint development projects among atolls defeated in Majlis vote

An amendment to the Decentralisation Act was rejected by a 5 vote majority in the yesterday’s sitting of the Majlis – 37 MPs against, 32 MPs in favor.

The current Decentralisation Act states that only the Majlis can authorise inter-atoll projects or combine two or more administrative units (an atoll or part of an atoll designated as an administrative unit) for economic, social or administrative purposes.

The amendment aimed to provide more leverage to the administration to implement joint economic and social projects between two or more atolls, or administratively divided parts of an atoll, reported Miadhu Daily.

DRP MPs spoke strongly against the amendment, and criticised the current administration.

President Nasheed (a member of the MDP) signed the Decentralisation Act into law on 17 May 2010.

MDP MPs criticised the DRP and other opposition parties for voting against government proposals which would benefit the Maldivian people, reported Miadhu Daily. MDP MPs said that the DRP’s words do not match their actions which they described as a sign of an irresponsible opposition, and MDP MPs said that DRP’s main strategy at the moment was gaining support through creating fear against the MDP administration and destroying the trust between the administration and the people, reported Miadhu Daily.

MDP MPs also said the opposition parties were conducting a major smear campaign in its efforts to oust the executive government before the end of its 5 year term, reported Miadhu Daily, and MDP MPs also cited examples from EU and ASEAN showing that joining two or more administrative units for economic purposes would bear fruit because unity is the key to development.

The amendment had been presented to the Majlis by the MP for Henveiru-South, Hamid Abdul Ghafoor.

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