Month: June 2010

MTDC profits drop 29 percent

Profits of the Maldives Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) in 2009 dropped 29 percent to Rf86 million, according a report in Haveeru.

In its annual report MTDC claimed management issues at Herathera resort were the major reason for the decline in 2009. The company received a profit of Rf46.6 million from the resort in 2008, but this fell to Rf76,458 in 2009.

MTDC also invested heavily in settling disputes with Yacht Tours Maldives, spending RF23.3 million to extricate itself from the arrangement and losing a further Rf17.3 in land rent.

The report also blamed the 2009 economic recession for MTDC’s difficulty in obtainnig bank loans to pursue investment projects.

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Commenwealth media development workshop opens tomorrow

The Commonwealth will host a four-day media development workshop tomorrow at Holiday Inn, in conjunction with the Maldives Journalists Association (MJA).

The event will launch tomorrow morning at 10:00am with a speech by Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad.

The four day workshop will be led by two senior editors from Singapore. Bhagman Singh, Senior Editor, NewsHub, MediaCorp News, which owns and operates the regional satellite news network, Channel NewsAsia, will sessions on TV and radio journalism, while Jayandra Menon, Deputy Foreign Editor of The Straits Times, an English language daily, will share his skills on newspaper and online reporting.

Minivan News Editor JJ Robinson will also be present a session on Tuesday morning.

Deputy spokesperson for the Commonwealth Secretariat, Manoah Esipisu, said the workshop would “bring together two Commonwealth neighbours, Singapore and Maldives, in the sharing of expertise and experiences in media development.”

“This cross-cultural exchange will help to broaden and deepen understanding on journalism and the influence of politics and governance, culture, tradition, environment, education and technology,” Esipisu said.

“We are delighted that Mr Bhagman and Mr Menon have put their substantial experience in reporting Asia and global affairs at the disposal of their colleagues in Maldives, and look to their work in enhancing a sound tradition of media professionalism, leading to greater consistency in the accuracy, fairness and balance of news reports,” he added.

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UNDP and AusAID target US$340,340 to building civil society

The Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and have signed an agreement to boost civil society in the Maldives.

UNDP said the aim of the project would be to strengthen civil society organisations in the hope of promoting an open and democratic society.

The ‘Support to Civil Society Development’ project will particularly target smaller and more remote organisations at a grassroots level, as well as financially support NGOs in human rights, governance, rights-base development and gender equality.

“A strong civil society can only make a democracy stronger, by promoting dialogue, good
governance and even differing points of view,” said UNDP Resident Representative Andrew
Cox, in a statement.

“This project will be an important and practical step in bringing real support and building the capacity of Maldivian NGOs,” he said, acknowledging “the important role played by civil society organisations in
advancing the democratic process.”

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Villa international high school to be launched next Sunday

Villa International High school to be launched on next Sunday, reports Miadhu.

Miadhu reported that all the construction and refurbishment of the new school has now been completed.

The school has all the classes air conditioned, is connected on one network and contains a student assistance centre.

Miadhu reported that the school opening was delayed because there were some other works to be done which might cause disturbance to students.

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MNDF steps up patrols against pirate threat

Maldives National Defense Force has increase its patrols in the western waters of the Maldives because of the number of dinghies from Africa being sighted, reports Miadhu.

Lieutenant Ahmed Mujuthaba told Miadhu that the patrols were being conducted with the assistance of neighbouring countries.

Suspicious dinghies have been spotted in the north, central and southern areas of the Maldives during the past six months, he revealed to Miadhu, although he added that they were more likely to have strayed rather than be engaging in piracy.

Several weeks ago a Somali man narrowly escaped being buried after a dinghy containing him and five other men was recovered near Makunudhoo in Haadhaalu Atoll.

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Motorbike collides with car on Addu link Road

A motorbike collided with a parked car on the Addu link road yesterday.

Police reported that an 18 year-old male on the motorbike was seriously injured.

A 17 year-old boy who was on the back seat of the motorbike was also injured during the accident.

Police reported that the two injured have been admitted to Addu regional hospital.

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Street bike stunt performer Chris Pfeiffer shows off in Addu

Street bike champion Chris Pfeiffer has amazed “dozens” of supporters in Hithadhoo, reports Haveeru.

Pfeiffer, who has won the World Street Bike Free-style Riding Championship in Germany four times and secured a place in the Guinness Book of Records, was touring Addu Atoll last week showing off his skills as part of a marketing campaign for Red Bull. He will perform in Male on Friday.

Haveeru noted that  “But overall, we believe that this event was a huge success. So we thank the assistance and support of police and Addu residents.”

“I should say that the event held at Feydhoo was a huge success. But the Hithadhoo event did not attract much supporters, as the timing was not good,” Red Bull’s distributor in the Maldives, Mohamed Fahmy, told Haveeru.

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Optional Dhivehi subject will kill the language: expert

Making Dhivehi  an optional subject at A-level will erode and kill the language, according to Dhivehi language expert Abdulla Sadhig.

Miadhu reported Sadhig as saying that students who completed their secondary education learned very little of the language, particularly the grammar.

The subject were considered the “most boring” subjects among many students, Sadhig said, and it was more important to improve the quality of the teaching that to make the subject optional.

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Sri Lanka can learn from the Maldives: Sunday Times

Fancy sharply pruning down the cost of the president’s office or any government ministry or department for that matter? Maybe we can learn some lessons from the Maldives, a tiny island state which is having a major voice in the global climate change debate, writes the Sunday Times in Sri Lanka.

Young, vibrant, frank and honest, the young Nasheed has enforced some cuts which to most governments would be impossible. Consider this: The President’s Palace (residence) and its 300-strong staff previously cost the government 400 million rufiya (about $30.7 million) to run. The new President has cut it, virtually to the bone, and now the cost of running the residence is 27 million rufiya! How? He has moved to a smaller house and cut staff at the residence to 23.

The island nation of more than 1000 atolls has undertaken a stringent cost cutting exercise to rid the country of extravagant spending and channelling all this valuable money to social spending including a new social insurance scheme. This is happening under the new regime of Mohamed Nasheed who was elected President of the Maldives in November 2008, ending the 30-year reign of Mamoon Abdul Gayoom.

Read more

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