Month: August 2010

CCHD reports increase in cases of leprosy

An unusual spike in the number of leprosy cases in the Maldives this year has led the Centre for Centre for Community Health and Disease (CCHD) to issue a reminder that treatment and diagnosis for such communicable diseases is freely available.

Dr Jamsheed Mohamed from the CCHD told Minivan News that five cases of leprosy had been reported to the government in the first eight months of the year, when the average incidence was 3-4 cases annually.

“Almost all these people received diagnosis [of leprosy] abroad in a neighbouring country and were given short-term treatment,” he said. “Leprosy requires long-term treatment and in some cases this was not explained to the patients – medicine was only obtained for a short period and is not available in pharmacies [locally]. But we do maintain a supply and freely distribute it.”

“Historically diseases such as leprosy and malaria were a problem in the Maldives until the government started control programmes in the 60s,” Dr Jamsheed said.

Very few of the cases involved open skin lesions and were contagious “and there is nothing to be alarmed about,” he added, explaining that the CCHD was more concerned that people were unaware that the facilities and treatment were available locally, “including some healthcare workers.”

“Leprosy has a very long incubation period and the bacteria stays in our bodies for a long time before symptoms appear,” he said, adding that the rising number of cases was in line with a general resurgence of communicable diseases such as conjunctivitis, chicken pox and hand, foot and mouth disease.

“Until we can address population congestion and poor living conditions in crowded islands such as Male’, these diseases will remain with us and there is very little we can do to combat them effectively.”

Leprosy is a chronic disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. If it is untreated it can permanently damage the the skin, nerves, limbs and eyes, although contrary to its reputation the disease does not cause body parts to fall off.

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RISSC report ranks State Islamic Minister among top 500 most influential Muslims

The Maldives’ State Minister for Islamic Affairs Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed has been placed among the top 500 most influential Muslims, but the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre (RISC) in e Kingdom of Jordan.

The report, entitled “The 500 Most Influential Muslims – 2010”, commends Sheikh Shaheem for providing “good leadership to his ministry, especially in the drafting of regulations under the Religious Unity Act of the Maldives which, he believes, will provide a legal framework to protect Islam.”

The report also acknowledges Sheikh Shaheem’s “collaboration with the Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation (MNBC) to introduce a new television channel which will focus on relating Islam to the broader issues of society.”

The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre is an independent research entity affiliated with the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought is an international Islamic non-governmental, independent institute headquartered in Amman, the country’s capital.

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Father and son injured in street fight

One of three men who allegedly attacked a man and his father last night before fleeing surrendered himself to police this morning.

Police Sergeant Abdul Muhsin said the incident occurred at 11:50 pm last night.

“Three men attacked a father and son [in Male’]; they were both taken to hospital and treated. The father was 47 years-old and the son was 20,” Muhsin said.

He confirmed that one person in connection with the case had since been arrested.

A person familiar with the incident alleged the victim and another man first attacked the group of three men while they were walking past the house of the victim.

“The group of three men fought back,’’ said the source. ‘’One of the three men grabbed a metal tube and tried to escape from the fight.’’

He claimed the victim after ran towards his own house but was followed by one of the three men.

“The victim’s father came in between the two men to stop them [from fighting],’’ he said. “While his father was trying to stop the fight, another of the three men attacked the victim’s father caused him a two- inch cut in the arm.’’

He said claimed the victim suffered a head injury as well as bruises and cuts.

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President appoints JSC and CSC members

President Mohamed Nasheed has appointed three members to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), the independent body charged with oversight of the judiciary.

The three new members – Supreme Court Judge Adam Mohamed Abdulla, High Court Judge Abdulla Ghanee, and Mohamed Fahmee Hassan, President of the Civil Service Commission (CSC), took their oath of membership of JSC before Supreme Court judge Abdulla Areef and were presented with letters of appointment.

President Mohamed Nasheed also appointed Mohamed Fahmee Hassan as the President and Ahmed Hassan Didi as the Vice President of the Civil Service Commission.

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Private channels are run with “ill-gotten” money, claims Moosa

Parliamentary Group Leader of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Moosa ‘Reeko’ Manik, has claimed that private broadcasting channels in the Maldives are operated with “ill-gotten” money.

“These TV channels misuse freedom of media to assassinate the characters of political figures whose minds do not coincide with theirs,’’ alleged Moosa.

Moosa criticised the country’s private channels for “never speaking about anything done right by the current government.”

“Everything we do: these TV channels will talk about it wrongly as if it was bad for the people,’’ Moosa claimed.

“Even though we construct a mosque on an island, they will speak about it as if it was not good for the people,” he said.

Moosa accused Villa TV (VTV), owned by leader of the minority opposition Jumhoree Party (JP) Gasim ‘Buruma’ Ibrahim, and DhiTV, owned by Hassan ‘Champa’ Afeef, of misleading people by hiding all the development projects conducted by the government. The announcers of the channels “who cooperate with these organisations should be ashamed to do so,” he claimed.

“Freedom of expression is not only for the benefit of the media – if the media is falling from the right path, people have the right to express opinions against the media,’’ Moosa said.

Editor of DhiTV, Midhath Adam, said that Moosa’s remarks were obviously aimed at the owners of VTV and DhiTV.

‘’If Moosa was referring to the DhiTV news, that technically means he is attempting to narrow freedom of expression,” Midhath said.

“Whether Moosa likes it or not, we have to broadcast the different opinions and ideas of different people,’’ he said. “Anyway, this is just Moosa’s point of view. We can digest criticism and we are not outraged because of these comments,’’ he said.

In a press statement last week, the Maldives Journalists Association “strongly condemned” remarks made by Moosa on August 17, when the MP publicly threatened “action” against VTV for “repeatedly misleading and broadcasting news in a way that smears respect for MDP”.

“MJA also sad to note that a senior official of MDP – a party known for voicing free media – has repeatedly slated the media… and incited public hatred against journalism,” the MJA said.

In a retaliatory statement, Moosa claimed “some TV stations were established with the intention to cause civil unrest among the citizens, smear the respect of political figures in the country, and bother their personal life.”

“I am astonished that the MJA is silent about this matter,” he said, adding that the fact media were airing such claims was evidence that media freedom existed.

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John Keells Holdings switches leases from Alidhoo to Dhonveli

John Keells Holdings has concluded a leasing switch of tourism properties in the Maldives, according to a report in the Sri Lankan Sunday Times.

In a statement to the Colombo Stock Exchange, the diversified group which – together with Aitken Spence – is a large Sri Lankan leisure operator in neigbouring Maldives, said that it “divested the head lease of loss-making Alidhoo Island as consideration received the head lease of Dhonveli Island for a period of 18 years.”

The group previously had a sublease of Dhonveli until 2021.

“While the transaction itself will not result in a capital gain or loss in the profit and loss statement of the group, the sale of the loss making Alidihoo Island, which is located in the Northern-most atoll in the Maldives and the acquisition of the head lease of Dhonveli Island, which is profitable and just fifteen minutes by speed boat from the capital Male, will have a positive impact on the profitability of the group going forward,” the statement said.

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Universal issues statement “deeply deploring” actions of strike organisers

Universal Enterprises has issued a statement announcing the return of guests to the Kurumba Maldives resort from August 26, following last week’s industrial action.

The statement said the company “deeply deplored” the actions of strike organisers at Kurumba last week, claiming they “sent employees armed with makeshift weapons to blockade the main kitchen and physically threaten staff serving meals to guests”.

Staff at the resort – the first in the Maldives – declared themselves on strike early last week, complaining of inadequate staff accommodation and food, discrimination and unfair distribution of service charges.

“As a direct result of the violent acts witnessed by guests at the resort, all guests at Kurumba Maldives vacated the resort, while a number of booking cancellations were made, and Kurumba Maldives operated with zero guest occupancy between August 23 and 25,” Universal said in its statement.

Universal claimed that striking employees had been acting “under significant misconceptions, particularly in respect of some crucial aspects relating to computation of service charge and wage policies.”

“However, despite having key financial staff on standby from late evening on August 21 until the early evening of August 23, Universal was prevented by the organisers of the action from providing accurate and detailed information to the employees.”

“The organisers of the action continued [a] pattern of threatening behaviour together with unruly demonstrations directly in front of guest areas, when the Universal delegation presented Universal’s promised response in the presence of a representative from the Ministry of Tourism and three officers from the Labour Relations Authority,” the statement read.

“Despite Universal taking immediate action to resolve the matters of contention, and furthermore despite Universal’s pledge to thoroughly investigate all employee complaints, the organisers of he strike took just ten minutes to unilaterally reject all of Universal’s proposals and incite roting on the resort,” the company said.

“Despite the rioting that took place, Universal persisted in its attempts to resolve the situation peacefully. However, despite repeated requests, and in particular attempts by the governmental officers to persuade them to meet for discussions, the employees refused to commit to a peaceful resolution of the dispute. As a result, both the Tourism Ministry and the Labour Relations Authority withdrew their representatives from the resort.”

The protest was resolved peacefully on August 23 after Universal withdrew its consent for employees to strike on the privately-owned island. A team of police then mediated the return to work of the majority of employees, while four resigned. 19 staff were taken into police custody at Dhoonidhoo pending an investigation into intimidation and vandalism. The Criminal Court last week ruled that those staff should not leave Male’ for a period of five days during the police investigation.

Universal claimed that during the rioting, “and in most instances in full view of the guests, senior management staff were pursued through guest areas by mobs, physically assaulted, received death threats and warnings of physical dismemberment, and generally put in fear for their lives.”

“Doors were battered down, and attempts made to prevent vessels from departing the island. Universal also notes that the three officers of the Maldives Police Service then on the island were manhandled, threatened with physical harm, subjected to gross verbal abuse, and even physically obstructed in the execution of their duties. In addition, the representative from the Tourism Ministry and the officers of the Labour Relations Authority were subjected to harassment and grossly intimidating behaviour, threats and verbal abuse.”

President of the Tourism Employment Association of the Maldives (TEAM), Ahmed Easa, who is also an MP of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), said claims of guests being intimidated and staff deploying makeshift weaponry “were nonsense”.

“All we tried to do was collect staff to sit down in an open area, and not even use a hotel building or property. These claims are total nonsense and an attempt to place blame on us,” Easa claimed.

He acknowledged that a staff member had chased the secretary of the resort’s General Manager, “after she used bad words”.

“Police were there the whole time,” he said, claiming that allegations of three police officers being manhandled by strikers were “probably rubbish”.

Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam would not confirm whether police officers had been obstructed and manhandled, but noted that police “had received these complaints and are investigating the matter.”

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Maldivian mother give birth to conjoined twins

A Maldivian mother has reportedly given birth to conjoined twins in Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).

Hospital Spokesperson Zeenath Ali declined to disclose information about the twins, stating that the family had requested that information regarding the incident not be disclosed, and that the hospital’s medical staff also did not wish to disclose any information about the babies.

“Truly, we also do not know about it,” she said, adding that the hospital’s record system “will only show that a person gave birth, and does not include what kind of baby was born or its condition.”

Local newspaper Haveeru, which claimed to have pictures of the twins, reported that they were both female and shared the one heart, and that their condition was serious.

Conjoined twins, also known as ‘Siamese twins’, is a rare phenomenon thought to occur between one in every 50,000 to 100,000 births, with a higher incidence in Southwest Asia and Africa, and a greater frequency among females.

Approximately half conjoined twins are stillborn, while a smaller percentage of those pairs born alive  “have abnormalities incompatible with life”, according to Wikipedia’s entry on the subject.

The overall survival rate for conjoined twins is approximately 25 percent, while most cases of surgery to separate twins are extremely risky and life-threatening.

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MBC to take MNBC issue to court

The Maldives Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), established under a law enacted by parliament, has said it will take the government-created state media body Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation (MNBC) to court, in a dispute over which organisation would take control of the state media’s assets.

Daily newspaper Haveeru reported that the MBC will request in the Civil Court that the MNBC transfer all the assets, money and staff of MNBC to MBC.

Political Adviser for the President, Hassan Afeef, recently stated that the MNBC would not be dissolved even though parliament had established the MBC.

Afeef claimed that the two channels of the state media, Voice of Maldives and Television Maldives, were assets of MNBC and no asset of a company shall be transferred to another company without the consent of the owners, and that therefore the two channels could not be given to MBC.

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