Year: 2010

US Pacific Command visiting the Maldives

President Mohamed Nasheed met with the National Security Act Assessment team of the US Pacific Command who are visiting the Maldives.

The meeting took place at the President’s Office yesterday, where they focused on formulating a national defense and security plan.

President Nasheed said the main areas concerning national defense and security are terrorism, piracy in the Western Indian Ocean and drug trafficking.

The US Pacific Command, led by Army Attaché to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence Smith, said they would assist the Maldives in further strengthening the national security framework.

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DRP-PA coalition still strong, says Yameen

Leader of the People’s Alliance (PA), Abdulla Yameen, has said that recent statements by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) members that the PA walked out on the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP)-PA coalition agreement is not true, reports Miadhu.

Yameen said the rumours were started to make MDP supporters happy, and to cause friction between himself and Qasim Ibrahim, founder and leader of Jumhoory Party, who recently joined the coalition.

The PA said the party could only back out of the coalition if the council decided to, and said the council had not considered the option.

Qasim later said he will accept any party’s work as long it is being done to improve people’s lives.

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NSPA introduces family package

The National Social Protection Agency (NSPA) has introduced a family package with a 50 per cent discount for its Madhana health insurance programme.

According to Haveeru, Ibrahim Waheed, NSPA Chairman, said the government would match the participant’s Rf1,000 if three or more people are included in the insurance scheme.

The package was introduced following complaints from the public over difficulties in paying the Rf2,000 annual charge, said Waheed.

Over 52,700 people have signed up for the Mahana health insurance policy.

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PG’s office still has not received Criminal Court report on Adam Naseer

The Prosecutor General’s office has said the Criminal Court still has not provided them with the reports on the verdict of Adam Naseer, labelled one of the country’s top six drug dealers, reports Miadhu.

Naseer was arrested in July 2009 and acquitted by the Criminal Court in February 2010 due to lack of evidence.

Following his acquittal, Naseer sued the Maldives Police Service (MPS) for holding his money and freezing his bank accounts. There were more than Rf 5 million in cash.

The PG’s office appealed to the High Court to keep his assets frozen until the appeal on his criminal charges was completed by the High Court.

The PG’s office was expecting the report from the Criminal Court to continue with the appeal, as they could not proceed without it.

In March 2010, Deputy Prosecutor General Hussein Shammem told Minivan News “we are still waiting on the full report from the Criminal Court, hopefully [we will get it] by the end of this week” he said. “We still need to get things started.”

Shameem told Miadhu his office had asked the Criminal Court twice for the reports but still had not received them.

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Police facing difficulties returning stolen goods

Maldives Police Service has said it faces difficulties in identifying owners to return stolen goods that it has confiscated.

The stolen goods in police possession include mobile phones and other electronic devices seized either during police patrols or special operations.

Police are currently looking for the owners of an electric drill, cut-off and saw.

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Tribunal rules in favour of Air Taxi local pilots

The Labour Tribunal last week ruled that seaplane operator Air Taxi has to provide accommodation to local pilots as well as foreigners.

The company was taken to the tribunal by 29 Maldivian pilots, who claimed discrimination and unfair practices.

The tribunal ruled that offering accommodation exclusively to foreign pilots was in violation to employment laws and amounted to discrimination.

The tribunal also ordered Air Taxi to include a provision in their employment contracts to provide a 30-day paid leave for employees.

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MPs with ‘decreed’ debt face disqualification from parliament

An article of the constitution stating that members of parliament with unpaid debts face immediate disqualification from the Majlis stands to be tested in the Supreme Court, after a spate of cross-party accusations on the subject.

Article 73 [c]of the constitution states, “A person shall be disqualified from election as, a member of the People’s Majlis, or a a member of the People’s Majlis immediately becomes disqualified, if he has a decreed debt which is not being paid as provided in the judgment.”

Deputy Leader of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Umar Naseer has filed a case at the Supreme Court claiming that the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP for Thimarafushi Mohamed Mustafa has an unpaid debt dating back to 1997 and should therefore be unseated.

However the MP has said there was “no doubt” of his eligibility for remaining an MP, dismissing the case filed against him. The Supreme Court has concluded its hearings on the case but has yet to deliver a verdict.

Umar argued that MP Mustafa should not have been eligible to be a candidate in last year’s parliamentary elections ”because he had a proven debt which was not paid.”’

“He has to pay US$31,231.66 (Rf401,326.83) to Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), which is now bankrupted and its loans and debts have been taken over by the Maldives Monitary Authority (MMA),” Umar said.

Umar said that on 28 August 1997, the civil court ruled that the debt should be payed by MP Mustafa and his company Seafood International Private Limited.

”We raised the issue at the Elections Commission (EC) during the parliamentary elections and the former president of EC said that there was no debt which should be paid by Mustafa,” he said.”That’s why I took it to the Supreme Court.”

But, Mustafa claimed he inquired with the MMA about the outstanding debts.

‘The MMA said that there was no debt that I should pay,” Mustafa said, ”That’s why I ran in the parliamentary elections.”

Mustafa added that the Elections Commission (EC) also investigated the case and ruled that he was eligible.

‘They are trying to defame my character,” he said. ”Umar Naseer is a politically insane person.”

Last month, the Male’ municipality asked the attorney general to file a suit against Mustafa to recover unpaid rent for a plot he leased for a restaurant in artificial beach.

MP Mustafa is one of several MPs who have been variously accused of having outstanding unpaid debts.

Namira Engineering was sentenced last week to pay Rf116,497 to the State Trading Organisation (STO). People’s Alliance MP and Deputy Speaker of Parliament Ahmed Nazim, who was former managing director of Namira Engineering before he resigned from the company, said he had left it three years ago and has no connection with the debt.

On 8 January, a criminal case involving Nazim, Eydhafushi MP Ahmed “Redwave” Saleem and former Atolls Minister Abdullah Hameed, was sent to Prosecutor General’s Office.

On 31st of January, Peoples Alliance party leader Yameen Abdul Gayoom sued the DRP leader-elect Ahmed Thasmeen Ali to recover an unpaid debt.

On 8 December 2009, Sultans of the Sea, a company affiliated with DRP Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, was ordered to pay Rf654 million to Bank of Maldives.

The BML audit report released last year revealed that US$633 million worth of loans was issued on 2008. Of the US$633 million, US$45 million was granted to Sultans of the Seas and US$36 million to Fonnadhoo Tuna Products.

MP Thasmeen did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

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No basis to ‘deadly phone virus’, reassures Dhiraagu

Erroneous reports of a deadly phone call that supposedly uses high frequency tones to cause brain hemorrhaging have hit the Maldives in a tidal wave of warning text messages, TV news reports and panicked gossip.

Several local television news channels in the Maldivians have already reported the urban legend as fact, creating widespread panic by claiming that 27 people had already died worldwide including two Maldivians, supposedly in Fuvamula. This was not confirmed by police.

The story is a recurrent hoax that is thought to have originated in Afghanistan in 2007, according to Reuters, which reported the outbreak of mass hysteria in April that year. However the rumours quickly spread to Pakistan, where they were blamed on ‘God’s wrath’, before resurfacing in India in 2006 as ‘devil calls’. These variants also featured a death count of 27.

One account by the Institute of War and Peace Reporting traces the myth’s origins to a political spat between the Afghan Interior Ministry and Ministry of Communications.

The Maldivian version involves the circulation of a text message similar to:

”Dont attend to any calls from 7888308033, 9316048121, 9876266211, 9888854137, 9876715587 these numbers come in red color. U may get brain hamrage due to high frequency. 27 person died just receiving the call. Watch dd news to confirm. Please inform all your friends and relatives soon – its urgent.”

Dhiraagu Marketing and Public Relations Manager Mohamed Mirushan said all the stories and texts about deadly mobile phone viruses were baseless.

”People are calling and asking about the virus,” he said. ”It is technologically impossible for a phone call to cause a brain haemorrhage.”

He said that people should not always believe what a text message said.

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Parliament passes local elections bill, breaks for recess

Legislation on local council elections was passed today in the last sitting of this year’s first session of parliament.

The bill was voted through with 38 votes in favour, 21 against and two abstentions. All MPs of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) in attendance either voted against the bill or abstained.

Last week, the landmark bill on decentralized administration was passed with amendments approved by the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) after MDP MPs (MDP) walked out in protest.

The model of seven provinces for decentralized administration put forward by the government was removed from the draft legislation by the opposition-dominated committee.

Presenting the local council elections bill to the floor, Mohamed Mujthaz, DRP MP for Hanimadhoo and chairman of the review committee, said amendments were made following consultations with the attorney general’s office and Elections Commission.

Further changes were made to bring the bill in line with the amended decentralization bill, he added.

A total of 13 amendments were approved on the floor today. However ammendment submitted by MDP MP Eva Abdullah to give women at least 30 percent of the seats in both atoll and island councils, thrown out by the DRP in a vote.

“By rejecting our ammendent to article 4, [the DRP] have disenfranchised a large part of the population,” she claimed.

The main point of contention in the final debate revolved around the tenure of island and atoll councilors appointed by President Mohamed Nasheed.

However, following discussions between the two main parties, an amendment was passed with bipartisan support to stipulate that, once the council elections are announced, the Civil Service Commission shall designate a civil servant to become the highest-ranking government official in the constituency for the interim period.

Other amendments proposed by MDP MPs, such as omitting a clause that would suspend civil servants who contest elections and setting a 30 per cent quota for women in the councils, were defeated.

An amendment proposed by Nilandhoo MP Abdul Muhsin to ensure job security for losing candidates from the civil service was approved with 41 votes.

Meanwhile, at last night’s MDP rally, Hassan Afeef, political advisor to the president, said the government will follow its policy of grouping atolls into provinces despite the passage of the decentralisation bill.

Although the bill gives too powers over the councils to the government, Afeef said President Nasheed’s administration will empower local councils.

At an earlier rally, “Reeko” Mossa Manik, MDP parliamentary group leader, said the party could pass amendments to the Decentralisation Act to reintroduce provinces.

Speaking to press upon his arrival in Male’ on Sunday night, President Nasheed said he will review the bill before making a decision on ratification.

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