The Criminal Court has sentenced a man to 15 days prison for contempt of court after he damaged court property.
The court said the man was summoned to the court to extend his detention in a drug related case.
The judge extended his detention for five days and also sentenced him for contempt of court under clause 88[a] of the penal code.
The type of incidents occur, court stated, “because of difficulties due to lack of capacity in the court.”
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(0)The President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed today formally appointed the minister for tourism and minister for Transport.
State Economic Minister Adhil Saleem was promoted to Minister of Transport.
Dr Mariyam Zulfa was appointed as the Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture.
The two new ministers took the oath of ministers this morning at a ceremony held in the President’s Office.
(0)Dislikes(0)President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed has said that ministers will not be removed from their positions if disapproved by the opposition-majority parliament during the endorsement process.
The Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has argued that parliament will endorse ministers individually and is reported to have a list of members it plans to disprove. The government contents that parliament’s endorsement of ministers is “ceremonial” and should be done wholesale.
Speaking during his weekly radio address, Nasheed said that he believed the consent of the parliament should be given ministers “as a whole, rather than voting individually.”
“Members appointed to the cabinet will remain in office whether the parliament approves or disapproves a member,” said Nasheed.
If the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs felt guilty in taking part in “an unlawful vote”, Nasheed requested them to remain silent in the parliament chamber and not take part.
Nasheed said although there were ministers who did and did not have the consent of the parliament, the DRP’s position was unrealistic.
“Although I desire the parliament’s approval for the cabinet it is not wise to keep the whole country in limbo until a condition that was not prescribed in a law is fulfilled,’’ he added.
Parliament ground to halt several weeks ago over the issue, and has been derailed on points of order.
Opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Nihan said the president’s decision would “drop the whole country into chaos.”
“He is disrespecting the constitution,’’ said Nihan, “even though he is the person who should be the most responsible for upholding the constitution.’’
Referring to the president’s position on the issue, Nihan suggested that “tomorrow a citizen might go in front of the president’s office claiming to be the president ‘because the constitution does not clearly state the details of who shall be president.'”
“If these things continue to go this way, one day the citizens may enter the president’s office and throw out the cabinet ministers themselves,” he warned. “I call on the president to respect and uphold the constitution.”
(0)Dislikes(0)Suhaila has been looking for a job for a long time. As typical of many young Maldives, her basic education consisted of GCE O-levels and a foundation program in an American College in Sri Lanka, which was inadequate for her to get employed.
Like many youth, maybe she did not know how to go about finding a job, or maybe her applications did not show her capabilities that convinced potential employers.
She wanted to work in the travel industry, and applied to a few airline agencies. Suhaila is a pretty girl, though far from the ‘catwalk model’ type of girl. Her greatest asset was her kind, helpful and sunny nature combined with a high sense of responsibility, eagerness to work and a positive attitude.
Over two years, she received two responses to her many applications. Both times the interviewers told her that they looked for pretty and slim girls as they would be working in the front line at the reservation desks.
Early this year, Suhaila she was offered a job with training in a new airline ticket reservation agency. The agency is owned by well-known names in Male’, and a few veterans with years of experience in well-known airlines operating in Maldives. Suhaila was confident that this would be a good place to work because of the shareholders.
After a mutual agreement, she travelled to Sri Lanka with another local girl and a boy as well as two of the business shareholders. They arrived late at night.
Around 1.30am, the girls got a call from the two men asking if they wish to go for dinner. Even though Suhaila felt it was considerate of her bosses to think they may be hungry after travelling so long, Suhaila declined, but the other girl went because she was not sure what was expected of her as an employee.
One evening they invited the girls to go clubbing which Suhaila declined. During the training, the guys turned up at the training venue and ask the girls to go shopping with them. Two days later, one of the guys asked Suhaila her family background. Suhaila told him who her mother and father were. Suhaila was not asked to go out with them anymore.
Upon completion of the training and start of work, Suhaila requested to sign her contract. She was told that they did not sign contracts. Her salary was fixed, and her work was ticketing and reservations. She found herself training newcomers, closing sales and doing ‘favors’.
Favors meant that she should re-open sales after closing because owners of the company wanted to issue tickets for friends and favorites. It also meant that Suhaila was expected to come and issue a ticket for company owners even up to midnight hours. It meant that regardless of how inconvenient it was to Suhaila in her personal time, she was expected to come out and work as they were her bosses. She had neither a job description nor clear work guidelines.
What was most bewildering to Suhaila was the confusion she experienced in the conflicting rules of the company owners. If one owner decided the working hours, the other told the staff a different opening and closing time. If one owner decided a ticket could be issued to a foreign worker without a work permit, the other would insist it be issued because it is business for them. The owners spoke at different times but over each other’s authority.
As some staff left out of frustration, a Sri Lankan girl was brought in and Suhaila was asked to train and orient her. Then one day, Suhaila was asked to deal with the salary sheets. She discovered that the foreign girl was earning US$500 as salary and receiving food, accommodation and medicals on top of it. She found out that the Sri Lankan girl got a holiday ticket paid to go and come back. Suhaila’s salary was Rf 3500 (US$272) and no other allowances.
A couple of month’s frustration was followed by her final decision to resign. The daughter of one of the owners’ running the show called for a staff meeting to try and understand the issues at hand. There were no changes in spite of the meeting except that the staff stayed a couple more months hoping something would happen. Finally Suhaila handed in her resignation. The owners expressed regret that Suhaila was leaving them as she was a very good worker. However, concluding that, one of the shareholders’ said they would never hire local staff but employ Sri Lankans who were easier to manage.
Is youth unemployment an issue of lack of intellectual social management?
The story above brings out many issues in the employment of young Maldivians and especially for girls. Instead of seeing youth as an asset to social development, social reality is a growing population of unemployed youth being the victim of social disorder. The problem occurs in a vicious circle where poverty, unemployment, crime, drugs, poor schooling, inadequate housing, broken and dysfunctional families, etc, where each one is the cause and each one is the effect. The future is explosive and a serious threat to social equilibrium as Maldives fails to give hope and social assurance to its youth.
Today the youth in Maldives is seen a liability, a major stumbling block in the transitional democracy, and looked upon as a social burden, their energy and vibrancy diminishing at an increasing rate. Who should be the creator of the conditions that will turn youth into assets? The government is no doubt the caretaker and has a very tough responsibility to fulfill. The pressure of this responsibility is to make the youth of this country economically independent and self-reliant.
It is not an easy task because it means making private entrepreneurs more responsible citizens first. Although the previous government was the major employer of its citizens as compared to the private sector employment in Maldives, it is not a sustainable function for the government, and the state is not responsible for creating jobs. It is responsible for creating a climate where jobs will be created, and it is responsible to take a proactive and not a reactive step to encourage entrepreneurial development for the purpose of economic and social benefit.
Small and medium businesses continue to be collectively the major employer in the developed countries. What falls under the government’s responsibility is to encourage and motivate the job creators, support capacity building, create legislations that nurtures social values, create aggressive alliances with the civil society, be in continuous dialogue with all the different development sectors and demonstrate faith in the Maldivian youth, give them respect, direction and a consistent message that they are part and parcel of the Maldivian Society.
Aminath Arif is the founder of SALAAM School
www.salaamschool.net
All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]
(0)Dislikes(0)More than 800 police, armed forces personnel, government offices, private companies and students joined hands on Kudabandos over the weekend to mark World Diabetes Day, reports Haveeru.
The event was organised by Diabetes Society of Maldives, which estimates that 6-8 percent of Maldivians are diabetic.
Haveeru reported that participants carried blue umbrellas to replicate the blue ring of this year’s logo, symbolising ‘Unite for Diabete’.
The event was held a week early that the actual day, November 14, because of the upcoming public holiday, the organisation told Haveeru.
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(0)Dislikes(0)Shares in the mobile security firm Nexbis, which won a contract to install a border security system in the Maldives, dropped 6.3 percent on Friday on the back of rumours that the project had been suspended.
The ‘build, operate and transfer’ concession contract covered the design of an electronic border gate system, as well as entry and exit documents, reported CFOworld.
The project was aimed at tackling the rising numbers of foreign nationals working illegally in the country, almost all of whom arrive via Male’ International Airport.
In a statement, Nexbis said it had not been informed of any suspension of its contract with the Maldives Immigration Department and was currently seeking clarification.
The Immigration Department confirmed to Minivan News today that the project had not been suspended.
A source within the department told Minivan News that while Nexbis had not been informed that the project was suspended, “but it hasn’t started rolling yet either, and now we’re waiting for the Anti-Corruption Commission.”
The Nexbis project ran into difficulties immediately after the signing on October 18, when the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) alleged it had received “a serious complaint” regarding “technical details” of the bid. The government initially appeared inclined to continue rolling out the project while it was investigated.
Of the current delay, “to my knowledge the ACC can’t give the go ahead because the committee members are not in the country. We are expecting to begin before the holidays,” he said.
“So far it appears to be an internal issue within the immigration department. There is no doubt that the project would close the doors to illegal workers and the hinder profits of those inside the country processing people.”
“There is no balance between the number of expats we having the country running around looking for jobs, and jobs available. That suggests there are people we don’t need in the country who are coming in too easily,” the source said.
Exploitation of foreign workers is epidemic in the Maldives and is the second highest earner of foreign currency after the tourism industry, according to numbers provided by the former High Commissioner for Bangladesh, Dr Selina Mohsin.
Many companies in the Maldives were benefiting “and facilitating” the problem, the source told Minivan News, which was impacting those companies “who do operate legally and pay visa fees to the government.”
The Nexbis system will store biometric data and allow the tracking of workers without relying on paper documents.
(0)Dislikes(0)Chair of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s Religious Council, Sheikh Adam ‘B.A’ Naseem, has resigned.
Sheikh Naseem confirmed to Minivan News that today he had sent the party a letter of resignation and requested the Elections Commission (EC) record his departure from the party.
“It was due to many issues,’’ Sheikh Naseem said. ‘’The education policy of this government is one issue.’’
There were other issues, he said, that he did “not wish to discuss”.
Spokesperson for MDP Ahmed Haleem said he had not received the information yet, and Chairperson of MDP MP Mariya Didi and Parliamentary Group leader MP Moosa Manik did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.
Last night protesters gathered near the house of Minister of Education Dr Musthafa Luthfy and called on the resignation of the minister, and some other senior officials at the ministry.
Religious NGOs such as Jamiyyathul Salaf and other NGOs have opposed to the introduction of co-education and warned the ministry that there will be “many social and religious issues” that would arise if the concept was introduced.
Dr Musthafa Luthfy recently told Minivan News that the ministry’s idea was not to introduce co-education, but was rather to combine primary grades to the current secondary schools, in which case the all-female and all-male schools would have to receive girls and boys.
There are currently four secondary schools in Male’, two for males only and the other two for females.
(0)Dislikes(0)Dear fellow Maldivian brothers and sisters,
Assalaamu alaikum Wrh. Wbr.
Let me express my concern over our school system. I invite all to comment on this, be it negative or positive, I would be pleased to hear your comments.
Maldivians believe their schools must develop a Muslim generation capable of analytical and critical thinking, who become Muslims by conviction and who will strive to fulfill their role as Allah’s vicegerents on Earth.
Maldivians believe their schools must develop strong and highly-educated Muslim persons for whom Islam is a complete way of life. This can only be achieved by developing a balanced and wholesome Islamic personality whereby one’s behavior and attitude are guided through training of the spirit, intellect and emotion as well as developing a sound and healthy body.
Maldivians believe their schools must develop educated Muslims who are capable of making good judgments that enable them to lead a life of ‘happiness’ through fulfilling their roles as the servants and vicegerents of Allah SWT.
Our schools must be Islamic schools because we are a 100 percent Muslim society. An Islamic school must emphasise an integrated and balanced human development – intellectual, physical, spiritual, moral, emotional and social – based on the Islamic World View anchored on Tawhid (the unity of Allah).
This means spiritual and character education is regarded as equally important as intellectual education.
Our schools must arouse curiosity and wonder in our students, inculcate important values such as sincerity, honesty, trustworthiness, self-reliance, excellence and responsibility.
Our schools must enhance our students’ spirituality through wonders of the natural phenomena, congregational prayers, Qur’an recitation and memorisation, Qur’an studies, halaqah (study circle), and observe Islamic adhab.
If you like to know about such a school, you can visit www.iis.edu.my
This school being international, English is the medium of instruction and the school adopts the University of Cambridge International Examinations Curriculum. Being Islamic, means Arabic Language and the Qur’an are equally or even more important.
International recognition and achievements of the above school: Top 5th Cambridge Centre in Malaysia 2004, ISO certification since 2003.
In a public gathering at Hulhumale’, Dr Hassan Saeed expressed that the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) was ready to setup an International Islamic School in the Maldives but the problem was they could not get land to build the school. Since the school I am talking about is also a subsidiary of IIUM, why not the Education Ministry try to obtain such assistance from the IIUM?
Wassalaamu alaikum Wrh. Wbr.
Saeed
All letters are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write a letter, please submit it to [email protected]
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