Day: February 28, 2011

Police refuse to comment on reports of deputy commissioner’s suspension

The Deputy Commissioner of police Mohamed Rishwan has been reportedly suspended for allegedly disobeying an order from Home Minister Hassan Afeef concerning the Thulusdhoo atoll office, reports SunFM.

SunFM reported that the Home Minister ordered police to take over the Atoll Office in Thulusdhoo and that the Deputy Commissioner had refused to do so without a court order.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said he did not want to comment on the issue, and could not confirm whether the report was true.

Afeef told Miniban News that the position of Deputy Commissioner “is not given by me and [the matter] is not related to me.”

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair told Minivan News that he had not yet received the information.

”The police are an independent body,” Zuhair said. ”They work under the law.”

Zuhair recommended Minivan News contact Commissioner of Police for comment, however Ahmed Faseeh was not responding to calls at time of press.

He said that if something like this had occurred, the press office would be informed. “I have not received such information yet,” he said.

Zuhair said the government had decided to file a case in the court to solve the issue in Thulusdhoo, in which the local population have clashed with police over whether Kaafu councilors are permitted to relocate the atoll office to Thulusdhoo. The government has disputed that the councilors have the authority to do so.

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President appoints Korean pop singer honorary consul of Maldives in Korea

President Mohamed Nasheed has appointed 64 year-old Korean pop singer Yoon Hyung-ju as honorary consul of the Maldives in Korea.

A report in Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper, one of the country’s largest publications with a circulation of 2.2 million, claimed that Nasheed had offered the position to Hyung-ju when the singer visited the country at the government’s invitation from February 21-23.

The President’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair confirmed to Minivan News that Hyung-ju had been offered the position, “although the paperwork has not been completed yet.”

Hyung-ju, who is currently writing a song called ‘Save the Maldives’ for distribution across Asia and other parts of the world, told Chosun Ilbo that he wanted to let people in Korea know about the environmental challenges faced by the Maldives.

“I’ve long wanted to be a diplomat, and the dream came true at a late age,” Hyung-ju said.

“The reason I quit medical school when I was young wasn’t that I wanted to focus on my singing career but because I wanted to have a free-spirited life, travelling around the world.”

Hyung-ju said he had been introduced to the Maldivian Foreign Affairs officials when the diplomats visited Korea last year. It was these officials who had urged the President to make Hyung-ju an honorary consul, he claimed.

“Many people know the Maldives only as a tourist destination, but it is suffering from a number of difficulties. I will devote my remaining life to be of help to them,” the singer said.

Zuhair said that having a popular figure in Korea as honorary consul could “highlight Maldivian values and culture for would-be visitors.”

The job, he said, was unpaid and did not come with a diplomatic passport, although it “would include some privileges.”

South Korea is a major Asian tourism market for the Maldives, along with Japan and more recently, China. Minivan News understands that the Maldives is currently assessing whether to participate in this year’s World Expo, to be held in Korea.

President Nasheed’s previous appointees to the post of honorary consul include David Hardingham, founder of UK-based NGO Friends of Maldives.

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Atoll councilors entered the office by force, allege police

Police have accused Kaafu Atoll councilors of entering the Thulusdho island office without the permission of police, after the Thulusdho island court ordered police to hand over the keys. Police did not comply.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said that ”police are still watching over the building. When the councilors entered using force, we did not try to stop them.”

Shiyam said that police have not yet given the keys to the councilors.

”I don’t think anyone gave them the key, so police are active in the area to watch over the assets and valuables inside the building,” he said.

Local media today reported this morning the police were “laying siege” to the Atoll Office in Thulusdho and blocking the entrance, but said later that the building was handed over to the atoll councilors after minor confrontations between police and citizens of Thulusdhoo.

On Saturday, in a council meeting held in the Kaafu Atoll Office in Maafushi, the newly elected Kaafu Atoll councilors decided to move the current Atoll office in Maafushi to its former premises based in Kaafu Atoll, Thulusdhoo.

However, after the decision was made, police confiscated the keys of the former Kaafu Atoll office in Thulushoo and councilors were not allowed to enter. Councilors then requested the island court order police to hand over the keys.

The Court yesterday ordered the police to hand over the keys to the atoll councilors, and also court ordered the police not to obstruct the work of Atoll Councilors.

In a meeting with the press today, Home Minister Hassan Afeef said that the councilors did not have the authority to decide where the council’s office should be located.

”The passed the resolution not after discussing with us,” SunFM quoted Afeef saying. ”There will be no law that gives authority to the council to decide where there office will be located.”

Meanwhile the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has expressed concern over the violence occurred in Thulusdhoo.

HRCM said that the commission was observing the commotion since yesterday and noted that it was “worsening day by day.”

”We call on all the concerned authorities to solve the issue by negotiating,” said the HRCM. ”And we all call on everyone to keep their actions within the law.”

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Adhaalath claims tourists openly drinking alcohol, wearing bikinis on Hulhumale’ beach

The Adhaalath Party has complained that tourists have been wearing improper clothing and consuming alcohol on Hulhumale’ beach in public, and that the area was becoming “a place where Maldivian families cannot visit.”

The sale and consumption of alcohol is banned on inhabited islands. Resorts – and the airport hotel at Hulhule’ – are classified as ‘uninhabited’. As a result, the hedonistic concept of Western resort tourism has been able to peacefully coexist with the more conservative Islamic population on local islands. But the promotion of mid-market ‘guest house’ tourism on inhabited islands such as Hulhumale’ blurs the separation between the two.

“People who own beach front houses have developed guest houses in the area, and as a result tourists coming to the guest houses have started to use the Hulhumale’ beach they would aresort beach,’’ said the Adhaalath Party in statement. “They have been in the beach wearing clothes that do not properly cover their body, and are swimming likewise.’’

The Adhaalath Party cited “a reliable source” as claiming that tourists have been “putting up umbrellas and consuming alcohol under them on Hulhumale’ beach.”

The Party said that such things “should not occur on any of the inhabited islands of the Maldives.”

“It is not permissible under the law, religion or on social grounds,’’ said the party. ‘’It violates many rights of the Maldivians who visits the beach, when they see nudity and alcohol consumption.”

The party also said that it was “a serious issue” and that the concerned authorities should try and resolve.

Secretary General of the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI), ‘Sim’ Mohamed Ibrahim, acknowledged that such occurrences would be a challenge for mid-market tourism in the Maldives.

“The way it is currently structured is that alcohol is banned and there is a dress code for inhabited islands. Unless the regulations are changed – and I’m not saying they should be relaxed – tourist areas will need to be separated from local areas. In Male’ people cannot drink alcohol openly and nobody wears bikinis – it isn’t a problem.”

Ibrahim suggested that unless there were demarcated tourist areas, “there will always be these kinds of issues. It’s not an Adhaalath party issue or necessarily a religious issue – Western tourist dress is very different from traditional Maldivian dress.”

Separate tourist areas on inhabited islands would also be for the benefit of tourists’ privacy, he suggested. “They should be able to have a holiday in the Maldives, but they need privacy.”

Tourists, he agreed, should also be made more aware of Maldivian cultural traditions.

A UK national who lived in Hulhumale’ for a year until recently said she had not heard of foreigners living in Hulhumale’ using the beach in such a manner. But there were many new boutique hotel and guest house developments being constructed along the beach and there had been, she said, one instance of police being called after several tourists were seeing wearing bikinis “on a quiet corner of the beach.”

“Two foreign girls were also reported to police for wearing bikinis on the beach, but when police arrived they were wearing boardshorts and shirts,” she said.

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India Club blood donors collect 42.2 litres for National Thalassemia Centre

The India Club Maldives (ICM) has donated 42.2 litres of blood to the National Thalassemia Centre (NTC) at a blood donation camp on February 25.

Voluntary donors from many nationalities including, Indians, Maldivians, Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis, Nepali, Palestinians donated blood.

Acting High Commissioner of India G Narayanaswamy thanked the donors and supporters, saying that such events had much greater value than other cultural activities the India Club has conducted. Narayanaswamy also extended his thanks to Dr J.T. Rao of ADK hospital, Mohamed Zubair, Managing Director of Male Health services Corporation (MHSC), and Dr Farzana of the National Thalassemia Centre.

This is the fifth time the India Club has held a blood donation camp.

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