Male’ City Council has extended leases for plots rented out from the Alimas Ufaa Carnival area by an additional three months, reports Haveeru.
While the leases for the cafes and other facilities at the Carnival expired in 2006, the now-defunct Male’ Municipality has been extending the leases since 2007.
Male’ Mayor “Sarangu” Adam Manik said that the council decided to finalise development plans for the area during the next three months.
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(0)Tourist arrivals in February reached record-high figures with 87,106 guests visiting the Maldives last month, the highest-number recorded in a single month, reports Haveeru.
Arrivals in February increased 9.6 percent from the previous month, while the number of arrivals in February of last year was 77,063 tourists.
Statistics from the Immigration Department show a 15 percent increase during the first two months of 2011 compared to the same period last year.
Continuing last year’s trend, Chinese tourists constitute the largest market share with 18.5 percent, while European visitors still make up 64 percent.
Average occupancy in 91 resorts during February stayed high at 94.3 percent.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Labour Tribunal issued an injunction Tuesday to GMR after the company ordered an employee of the Maldives Airports Company studying abroad to report back to work.
According to Haveeru, the tribunal issued the temporary order after investigating a complaint filed by the employee, Shahryaz Latheef, who is currently in Bangkok, Thailand.
Pending a final decision on the case, the tribunal ordered GMR to pay Latheef basic salary and other expenses for the course as agreed upon in an agreement made with the Maldives Airports Company on July 8, 2010.
However, Latheef’s lawyer Ali Shah claimed that as of today GMR has yet to make the payments, adding that he would take the Indian infrastructure giant to court to enforce the tribunal’s order if it failed to comply before the end of the day.
(0)Dislikes(0)President Mohamed Nasheed appointed new Attorney General Abdulla Muizz to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) yesterday.
Muizz took the oath of membership for the JSC before Civil Court Judge Hathif Hilmy.
(0)Dislikes(0)Former Attorney General Dr Mohamed Munnavar has said his newly-registered Maldives Reform Movement (MRM) aims to lead the way for other political parties, according to Haveeru.
“What’s needed isn’t for us to follow the rest of the parties. The aim is to see that other parties come to us. I want to make this party that strong,” the former Maldivian Democratic Party leader said, adding that it would take three to six months for the party to become active.
Munnavar said that work was being done to improve the party administratively, suggesting that “other parties will take our side when we become active.”
(0)Dislikes(0)The Maldives Water and Sewerage Company (MWSC) launched its new e-services and Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) technology at a ceremony on Tuesday night.
According to the utility company, as the new meters are equipped with wireless transmitters capable of sending information to a receiving device at the company office, employees would no longer be sent to households every month for meter readings.
The device will also immediately alert the company to leaks or other problems.
MWSC’s e-services meanwhile include e-portal, e-bill and e-pay to enable customers to check their balance and make online payments.
(0)Dislikes(0)The structure of the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) is compromising its accountability and obstructing the creation of an independent judiciary, says Professor Murray Kellam, a former Australian Supreme Court Justice who has spent several weeks observing the group.
The UNDP brought Kellam to the Maldives to observe the JSC based on a recommendation in a report by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) that suggested the commission be subjected to independent outside oversight.
As well as a former Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Kellam is the current Chief Commissioner of the Tasmanian Anti-Corruption Commission and also has extensive experience assisting with the development of legal systems in countries such as Burma and Bangladesh.
He has also been appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia, an award given for distinguished service of a high degree to Australia or humanity at large.
“I think there’s a real problem when you’ve got members of both the executive and the legislative body administering judicial affairs,” Kellam said, on conclusion of his visit to the Maldives.
“You have the Speaker, Attorney General and an MP sitting in judgement on their own recommendations. That situation doesn’t need describing any further.”
Kellam said his observations were not intended to be critical of the members of the JSC, but rather to assist in the development of an independent and respected body.
In other countries it was usual for the Chief Justice to chair the body responsible for judicial accountability, but the members were made up of respected people from the community “rather than those allied to the executive or legislature.”
“The process in your Constitution here is that [in the event of] gross misconduct and gross incompetence, the Majlis (parliament) has the job of dismissing them, and that’s consistent with other places in the world. But the problem is that the body making the recommendation is also the membership.”
Kellam was provided with full access to the JSC’s meetings and files during his visit, however he acknowledged that language was a barrier – most significantly, the lack of official English translations of most legislation.
“The unofficial translation of the Constitution is pretty good, but I have doubts about the accuracy of the translation for the JSC Act. The UNDP assisted, but the [language gap] makes it pretty difficult.”
However, Kellam said that he agreed with the ICJ’s recommendation that parliament should evaluate the JSC “and ensure it operates more transparently.”
“There may be an argument that the appointments and complaints processes [for judges] should be separated,” he said. “At the moment it appears that the expectations of the authors of the constitution are not being met.”
There had been, he noted, a requirement for the JSC to undergo training, ”but that was removed by the Supreme Court and subsequently by the legislature.”
Urgent legislation required
Beyond a review and possible reform of the JSC by parliament, the Majlis needed to urgently pass a Criminal and Civil Code, a Penal Code, and an Evidence Act, as currently, “the courts have no guidance as to the exercise of their powers under the constitution.”
“These legislative enactments ensure consistency on the part of the courts and a proper legal basis for the process of litigation,” he said, adding that under the current circumstances, “I can’t see how the courts can operate. The importance of the legislature passing such legislation cannot be overstated.”
As for oversight, the parliament, he said, was entitled to take an interest in the functioning of the judiciary, as the courts were funded by public expenditure.
However, Kellam did mirror the concerns of the ICJ at the interference of the executive, and particularly, the “the extra-constitutional use of the Maldives National Defence Force and police and defiance of court orders.”
He noted the ICJ’s concerns over public statements of members of government meeting with judges and members of parliament imploring the President to ignore both the courts and the legislature: “Actions such as this brought Hitler to power,” he warned.
Judges needed to be able to make decisions contrary to interests of the executive, and should not be subject to pressure from the politically powerful, commercially powerful or any other specific social interest groups.
“I have in my own career made decisions the government was extremely unhappy with – but they did what they were told in due course, because that’s the way the rule of law operates.”
At the same time, “‘Rule of law’ does not mean ‘rule of judges’. Judges are not free to do as they wish. They are subject to the Constitution and the laws enacted by parliament. It is not their role to make disparaging
remarks about parties, witnesses who appear before them, or to send signals to society at large in order to intimidate and undermine other basic freedoms such as freedom of expression.
“Respect is not gained through coercive use of power. The judiciary earns respect by its performance and its conduct,” Kellam said.
Framework in place
The Maldives’ Constitution provided an excellent model for an independent judiciary, “much better than the ones in many countries I’ve worked in,” Kellam said.
“There was quite clearly a real endeavour to set up accountability mechanisms, such as the JSC, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and provision for an independent prosecutor – a really significant step.
“But having a model is one thing, executing the plan is another. In the end that depends on the calibre and integrity of people who run these organisations. They need to set the gold standard in terms of behaviour, conduct and transparency.”
Paying judges generously was a significant part of the equation, he said, recalling a judge he met in Cambodia who drove taxis at night to avoid having to accept bribes.
Australia, he commented, had never had a judge convicted of bribery.
“Judges misbehave in Australia just like elsewhere, but we do not have corruption. I think that’s a reflection of accountability, but also a significant reflection of the fact that they are well-paid. As a judge in Australia you would have to be extremely silly [to accept a bribe], because the risk of losing your salary and all your pension entitlements is simply too high.”
Transparency trumps nepotism
In both his interview with Minivan News and a lecture held on completion of his visit to the Maldives, Kellam repeatedly emphasised the importance of independence.
It was not, he said, necessarily a obstacle to independence that the Maldives was a small country with myriad family, political and business connections.
“I chair the Anti-Corruption Commission in Tasmania, a state with a population of 500,000 people,” he said. “Many families have been living there a very long time, and everyone knows everyone else which is a reason why they brought an outsider like me to chair their Anti-Corruption Commission.
Transparency, he said, was the answer to the problem, and was as much a defence for those drafting contracts with those they knew as a means of mitigation corruption.
“There should be a declaration at the start of meetings, where interests should be stated,” he said.
“If you are awarding a contract to your brother-in-law, which can happen in Tasmania, it must be on the table. The person awarding contract should make the declaration. It must be a similar problem for judges in island courts here – judges here know the islanders, but you can’t have them disqualifying themselves.
“We have a jury system in Australia, and in a town with a population of 20,000 the jury will know all the victims and the witnesses. The important thing is that there is transparency and it is on the stable.
“Sunlight is the best antiseptic. The real problem of perception happens when these things are not out in the open – when they are done under the table, and somebody says ‘Hang on, he’s related or they had dinner the other week.’ If it is in public, decisions can be made impartially. If it’s disclosed you can look at the tender process and say ‘Not withstanding that this person is the uncle of the person delivering on the contract, on the face of it this is transparent.’ That’s entirely different to somebody awarding a contract to a relative behind closed doors.”
Rulings had to also be open to public scrutiny, and actively published and subjected to public analysis. Judges and their verdicts were open to scrutiny and criticism, Kellam said, and in Australia it was understood that judges did not pursue cases of defamation against them.
The economic case for justice
An impartial judicial system was a key factor in encouraging foreign investment, Kellam said, and could have a direct and significant impact on the economy.
This was something that Singapore recognised 15 years ago, he said.
“They understood the value of a civil system that is incorruptible and competent. They spent a lot of money on their judiciary and Transparency International now rates their civil legal system as one of the best in the world.
“Singapore realised that one of the best ways to attract investment was to have a system whereby international investors knew they would get a fair go in domestic courts. If you look at the circumstances in other parts of the world where investors have no confidence in the judiciary, that deters investment and takes it offshore. They’ll go somewhere else.
Citing Adam Smith, considered one of the founders of modern capitalism, Kellam observed that “Commerce and manufacturers can seldom flourish long in any state which does not enjoy a regular administration of justice, in which people do not feel themselves secure in possession of their property, in which the faith of contracts is not supported by law.”
As a foreign investor, Kellam said, “you want to know that contact you enter into with domestic partners will be understood and enforced by courts if there is a breach. You want courts to judge you impartially – you don’t want to be discriminated against because you are a foreigner.”
“Secondly, it’s no good getting judgement if no there is enforcement – which is a major factor in developing countries. Sure you can get a judgement, but it’s not worth the paper it’s written on because there is no process for getting it enforced, and you can’t turn judgements into anything productive.”
Singapore had recognised this, and become not only a hub for foreign investment but also a regional hub for commercial arbitration.
“People from around the region will use Singapore as a place of law and business,” Kellam observed.
“The constitution sets up [an independent judiciary] for principled reasons. But there are not only good arguments for these in terms of principle, there are very good economic arguments. But the judges have got to understand that, and they’ve got to build it.”
Perhaps tellingly, President’s Member of the JSC Aishath Velezinee observed on her blog that “not a single member of the Judicial Service Commission (except for myself) or staff attended Professor Kellum’s lecture.
“What cannot be ignored is that neither the JSC nor the judges have the willingness and interest or the knowledge and capacity to reform the judiciary in accordance with the Constitution, despite the rhetoric.”
(0)Dislikes(0)Strike action at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island resort was bought to an end last night as staff at the site returned to work following alleged disputes over service charge policy, management have said.
In a statement issued today, the resort, which is part of hospitality conglomerate Hilton Worldwide, claimed that operations were returning to normal after being affected in “a small way” by a number of its staff convening in their quarters on Tuesday (22 March) to call for increases in the amount received from service charges.
As the country continues to review labour laws that would outline policies for striking at resorts, possibly outlawing protests by workers on the “shop floor”, the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island said this week’s industrial action had not result in any customers prematurely checking out from the site.
With the wider national Labour Act still awaiting approval in the Majlis, the Conrad resort said that it had attempted to try and open up negotiations with staff following commencement of the strike action on Tuesday evening.
“The hotel respects the rights of all employees to express their points of view in a lawful and non-disruptive manner. As such, team members were invited to discuss the issue with the management team in order to resolve the matter quickly and fairly,” the resort stated. “The staff were unwilling to discuss the matter despite several approaches.”
By yesterday morning (March 23), figures from the Crown Company, which owns the resort in question, as well as representatives from the labour and tourism ministries arrived to discuss the strikers’ grievances – initially without success. However, the company has claimed it was able to find a resolution by 7:00pm on Wednesday evening with staff returning to work “immediately”.
Although the Conrad Rangali Island was unable to provide details to Minivan News of the exact changes it might be making to its operations to conclude the strikes at the time of going to press, the resort claimed in a previous statement that it was willing to review its operations.
“The management’s position is that it is happy to re-evaluate the calculation of the service charge. Additionally, the resort will arrange for independent auditing of accounts to demonstrate that the service charge is distributed in its entirety,” the company said yesterday in a statement.
“The staff had already been informed on Tuesday that salary increases will be offered across the board and are expected to be higher than in previous years following a month-long survey of wage levels in the country.”
‘Sim’ Mohamed Ibrahim from the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) said following the resolution of the strikes that regulations that would outlaw strike action on resort property were currently under the consideration of the country’s parliament.
Sim claimed that the regulations, expected to be passed as part of a new Labour Act outlining a framework for the nation’s work practices had been drawn up by lawyers along with the assistance of a number of bodies including the President’s Office.
“There is regulation in the works that would govern strikes in the country,” he said. “It has been made very clear in public notifications from the labour ministry that has clarified that ‘wildcat strikes’ should not be tolerated.”
Although the strike regulations are still being reviewed within the Majlis, Sim said that they would likely be passed in their final form as part of a national labour act rather than an individual bill relating to industrial action.
He claimed additionally that the regulations were not related to outlawing strikes, but ensuring instead that industrial action did not take place on the private property of resort owners.
To this end of trying to ensure worker’s rights, Sim said he believed that the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture had already sent details of correct resort grievances procedures to the striking workers, which he claimed had not been followed.
Workers’ groups in the country such as Tourism Employees Association of Maldives (TEAM) have been openly critical of initial drafts of the strike regulations though, which it claimed were less about regulating industrial action but rather outlawing them altogether.
TEAM president and serving Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ahmed Easa has previously claimed that the organisation openly supported regulations that accepted that there has to be a reason to instigate strikes, as well the manner of how they should be conducted.
Back in November, a bill outlining possible standards for strike action was passed to the Majlis’ National Security Committee concerning possible amendments to regulations for industrial action at the country’s resort properties
The bill was initially passed to parliament in August by the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) in attempts to try and curb strikes such as those seen last year at Kurumba resort that reduced occupancy rates to zero for a period.
Parliamentary debate over the bill has seen both fierce opposition and support from figures across the tourism industry, who have argued that current unregulated strike action is detrimental to travel income.
(0)Dislikes(0)An own goal from Maldivian midfielder Assad Abdul Ghani was not enough to dent the country’s hopes of reaching the 2012 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup finals as it overcame Kyrgyzstan 2-1 in Male’ yesterday to guarantee a spot in the upcoming tournament.
Male’ has this week been playing host to all the Group C qualifying matches that will decide which two teams out of the Maldives, Tajikistan, Cambodia and Kyrgyzstan will be among the finalists to contest next year’s Challenge Cup.
After already beating Cambodia 4-0 at Male’s national stadium on Monday (21 March), Ali Ashadh further added to the home side’s goal tally within five minutes of yesterday’s game. That goal remained the difference between the two teams until the second half when Shamweel Qasim appeared to put the contest beyond doubt in the 79th minute.
The visitors had been reduced to ten men three minutes before the second goal after Azmat Baimatov was sent off, yet the game still ended with the potential for Kyrgyzstan to spring some points after Ghani’s error bought the deficit to within a single goal with three minutes remaining. Despite the potential pressure, the Maldivian players were able to hold on to win the game, setting up a top of the table clash for its final group match on Friday in Male’ against Tajikistan.
During the other Group C qualifying match held in the capital yesterday, Tajikistan managed to put three goals past a Cambodian side that had already been soundly beaten by the host nation.
Cambodia were a goal down by the second minute of the match following a strike by Nurriddin Davronov, but managed to staunchly defended its goal-line well into the second half until two goals within the last ten minutes of the game from Ibragim Rabimov and Pulod Koridov ensured the victors would be joining the Maldives in the AFC Challenge Cup finals.
The Maldives will now compete with seven other nations including India, Turkmenistan and fellow Group C rival Tajikistan in the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup. A host nation has not yet been selected for the tournament, but a venue is expected to be drawn from among one of the eight finalists under AFC rules.
The last AFC Challenge Cup tournament held in Sri Lanka during February 2010 was eventually won by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
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