Day: July 5, 2011

Revised committee composition approved over Z-DRP MPs’ objections

Pandemonium broke out in the chamber tonight as Speaker Abdulla Shahid called a vote to approve a compromise reached by parliamentary group (PG) leaders over the revised composition of standing committees.

In a riotous sitting that saw Jumhooree Party (JP) MP Ibrahim Muttalib tear off his mic and opposition ‘Zed-faction’ MPs on their feet in protest, the proposal agreed upon by the PG leaders was passed with 36 votes in favour and one against.

MPs of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party’s (DRP) breakaway Z-faction and some MPs of the coalition partner People’s Alliance (PA) were gathered in front of the Speaker’s desk when the vote was taken. The MPs contended that the agenda item was tabled against parliamentary rules and did not participate in the vote.

After the result was announced, some MPs were seen screaming and chasing after their erstwhile colleague.

Minivan News understand that Shahid was unharmed after security personnel stepped in between the Speaker and irate MPs.

The Z-DRP and some PA MPs had objected that they were not consulted before the committee lists were agreed upon by PG leaders.

The revised composition of the committees and list of MPs will be announced tomorrow.

Dispute

The dispute over control of voting majorities in powerful and influential committees was sparked by the defection of two opposition MPs to the ruling party in May. It has since led to forced cancellations and rendered the 12 parliamentary committees dysfunctional.

As parliamentary rules dictate proportional representation, the committee reshuffle was necessitated at the beginning of the current session in June when the MDP became the majority party with 34 seats.

The increased share of the ruling party in parliament (45 percent) had to therefore be reflected in the 11-member standing committees (45 percent or five seats).

With the DRP-PA coalition entitled to four seats, the dispute got drawn out with disagreements over filling the two remaining seats with either one of eight Independents or four minority opposition MPs (three Jumhooree Party MPs and one Dhivehi Qaumee Party MP).

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Media bodies slam police questioning of reporter accuracy

The police service has come under renewed criticism from media bodies like the Maldives Journalist Association (MJA) over claims it continues to stifle free speech by questioning reporters over both the identity of sources and the accuracy of their stories.

The MJA’s concerns relate specifically to the recent decision by police to summon DhiFM News Editor Mohamed Jinah Ali for questioning to prove the accuracy of a news report from December 29, 2010.  The report itself alleged that an international standard O’ Level examination paper was leaked and found hidden in a fish container in the country.

MJA founder and President, Ahmed ‘Hiriga’ Zahir, has told Minivan News that he is “very worried” that police were operating outside of their constitutional role by questioning journalists and media outlets over the accuracy of news reports. Similar concerns have been shared by the Maldives Media Council (MMC), which has said it also holds reservations over the nature of police questioning of journalists, despite itself calling for more professionalism and training within the national media.

In addressing these criticisms, Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed to Minivan News that authorities had spoken with the DhiFM editor in regards to the examination paper story, after it received complaints concerning the accuracy of the report and its relation to an ongoing investigation.

“Before we go ahead with any case on this matter, we needed to confirm if [DhiFM] are standing by their story,” Shiyam said. “We requested that if the story is true, then the reporter had to prove the details to us.”

The Department of Public Examinations that oversees handling of the papers has reportedly denied there is any truth to claims in the report that an international examination had been leaked.

According to police, the DhiFM report had claimed that an unidentified source within the Department of Public Examinations had revealed details of the alleged loss of the examination paper.

However, in responding to concerns from organisations like the MJA that it was for specialised authorities like the MMC and not the police to decide upon the legitimacy of a story, Shiyam said that law enforcement authorities had to respond to complaints received by members of the public, even in regards to the media.

“We don’t want to have to deal with issues like this, but there are presently many problems with the report,” he said. “Once we have confirmed whether the report is factual or not, then we will decide whether to send any case to the media council (MMC).”

However, the Police sub-inspector was unable to share the exact nature of the its concerns or the complaints made regarding the report when asked by Minivan News.

In responding to the police questioning of the DhiFM editor, MJA president Ahmed ‘Hiriga’ Zahir claimed that whether the report was true or not, the country had a specific journalism authority in the MMC that deals with potential issues of ethics and professionalism in the media. Hiriga said that he believed it therefore remained important to keep the police from overseeing media in this way.

The MJA founder gave a hypothetical example of the problems he believed police questioning posed for the media. Hiriga pointed out that if the media was confronted by a source within police detailing possible unethical practices by law enforcement officials, the media should be free to report this without possible prosecution.

“This really raises questions over freedom of expression in the country,” he said. “I don’t know if the report is true or not, but it is not the role of the police to decide this.”

Hiriga added that the country’s journalists were also protected under article 28 of the Maldives’ constitution. This article prevents reporters from having to give up the identities of their sources to police if they did not wish to do so.

The President of the Maldives Media Council (MMC) Mohamed Nazeef said that it had been made aware of the questioning issue by DhiFM, but added that no decision had been taken yet on its next course of action.

Nazeef added that he was concerned however that police had appeared to become involved in deciding upon issues of media ethics and the factual nature of an article’s content, which was the main purpose of the MMC.  The media council, which has an elected board of eight representatives from the media and seven public members, has stated aims of trying to safeguard a free national press that acts in a responsible manner, as well as reviewing complaints over coverage.

Rather than a problem that should be seen solely as an issue for police to resolve though, the MMC president said that it was important for society as a whole to break away from a long-standing culture of looking to punish the media for its reportage.

“There is a culture within society to want to punish the media through measures like giving prison sentences to journalists for their reporting. The way of thinking has changed now and we can’t penalise the media just because of something we might not like,” he claimed. “However, I think we need to see changes both within the media and the public too.  Society needs to accept that media is now free and can report on any issue, while the media has to be more professional in how it reports the news and trains journalists.”

As a wider concern, media freedom – and the industry’s responsibility in exercising it – has remained a prevalent issues for the country during the last year, both in terms of the right of police to question reporters and editorial independence.

Back in May, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) released a report entitled ‘Press Freedom in Peril‘ relating to the South Asia region that claimed there were a number of issues in the Maldives where “discord between journalists and the government is rife”.

In the findings, SAMSN stated that “going beyond the perception-based indexes of press freedom that have put Maldives among the most rapidly improving countries in terms of media reform, there are certain difficulties that journalists in the nation continue to face, even if these are not reflected in the broad numerical indexes, which are admittedly of limited value.”

However, the Maldivian media – including the government-owned Maldives National Broadcasting Company (MNBC) – is frequently accused of overt political bias in favouring one or other of the major political parties, viewed as a legacy of decades of autocratic governance and a state-controlled media establishment.

Several opposition-allied MPs and businessmen remain key owners of much of the country’s private media, and visiting journalism trainers have previously voiced concerns from young Maldivian journalists that senior editorial management obstruct them from reporting ethically.

Iraq Editorial Manager for the Institute of War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), Tiare Rath, observed in September 2010 following a series of journalism workshops that “one of the major issues all my students talked about is resistance among newsroom leadership – editors and publishers.”

“Even if the journalists support and understand the principles being taught, they consistently tell me they cannot apply them,” Rath said.
“This is a very, very serious problem that needs to be addressed.”

However, despite the issues of self-regulation facing the media, local press associations have continued to raise concerns about the conduct of police in questioning journalists over controversial and politically sensitive issues.

In February, the MJA spoke out along with other prominent media figures like the editor of the Haveeru newspaper to criticise police for requesting to speak with some of its journalists regarding the identity of sources on which it based a report.

The story focused on an alleged blackmail ring that reportedly obtained pornographic images of some high-profile national figures through the internet, which has been the basis of an ongoing police investigation. Haveeru said at the time that its staff declined to reveal the identities of its sources.

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First national drug use survey begins

The first nationwide survey on the extent of drug abuse in Maldivian society, dubbed “National Drug Use,” has begun today.

According to a press statement issued by the Health Ministry, the survey is being carried out with financial assistance from the European Union (EU) and will be conducted in collaboration with Maldivian company Enova Pvt Ltd.

Professional assistance to the survey, which will seek to identify the extent of drug use among Maldivians aged 16 to 64 years, was provided by the UNODC and the All India Institute for Medical Science.

A final report on the survey will be released in February 2012.

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Health Ministry criticises “inhumane treatment” of alleged sex abuse victim

The Ministry of Health and Family has today condemned some islanders on Dhidhoo, Haa Alifu Atoll, for what it has called the “inhumane treatment” of a 13-year old school girl.

The girl in question is an alleged victim of a sexual abuse case involving eight men, including two under the age of 18. The case came to light in April and was under police investigation.

The Health Ministry has hit out at the reported treatment of the girl by members of the local community that have been accused of trying to block her from returning to public education.

“Even if it’s the actions of a few, we are saddened to see that at a time when the girl is already undergoing physical and mental trauma, there are people who attempt to deprive the [alleged victim] of her basic rights and inflict more trauma,” the ministry stated in a press release.

After a long period of absence from public education, the girl attended school yesterday. However, a group of islanders barged into her class and removed her chair in an attempt to get her out of school, according to local news service, Haveeru.

She reportedly remained in class without a chair during the morning, and when she left school at interval time, the same group went and locked the entire building in an attempt to stop her from returning.  Police confirmed that they had “received reports of the closure of the Dhidhoo School” and had later re-opened it.

The school’s role

One local islander, who wished to use a false name to protect her identity, told Minivan News that there had been concerns about the alleged victim’s return to her school.

“Most islanders object to the fact that she is able to go back, while the school goers among the male suspects involved in the case are barred from [attending],” said Aiminath Sheenaz,18, a resident of the island.

Sheenaz said that when the abuse case first came to light, after a couple of days the girl did attend school. However, she added that disturbances created by some islanders had led to her staying home.

“The Ministry of Education informed the school to take her back that’s why she was in school yesterday,” Sheenaz claimed.

The principal of Dhidhoo school, Hussain Badheeu, was not answering calls when contacted by Minivan News and was unable to confirm the reports.

However, according to the press release published by the Health Ministry, the school had asked the alleged victim’s parents not to send her to back until the investigation was complete.

“When this ministry became aware of this, we contacted the relevant authorities and requested they facilitate her return to school,” the release stated.   “Education is a basic right, and after concluding the alleged victim is not at fault for what happened, the Ministry of Education asked the school to take her back.”

Islanders Attitudes

Despite the ministry’s verdict, Sheenaz said that some islanders believed it remains unfair that the alleged perpetrators can’t attend school.

“It was consensual. She did all that, fornicated with so many men,” she added.

Although being closer in age to the alleged victim, Sheenaz claimed she was also convinced of the 13 year old’s “willing participation” in these acts, adding that this was the prevailing belief of most islanders also. When the eight men suspected of having involvement with the case were first arrested, a group of islanders protested and called on the police to release the group that resulted in clashes.

Asked if attitudes about the case were likely to change in the future if the court case went on to prove that the male suspects had sexually abused the girl, Sheenaz was adamant that it would be impossible.

“A lot of people have given assurances that the girl agreed to the sexual acts,” she said.  The fact that these assurances apparently originate from the alleged suspects themselves does not seem to make a difference to these attitiudes.

The President of Dhidhoo council declined to comment on the issue when contacted by Minivan News.

However, it is believed that both the suspects and the victim are presently living on the same island at present.  Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said that the suspects implicated in the case were freed after a court had ordered their release.

The sub-inspector added that the investigation had now been completed, with the case expected to be sent to the Prosecutor General’s (PG) office very soon.

Shiyam said that the reported disturbance that occured in Dhidhoo concerning the case would be investigated and action taken against anyone who threatens fellow members of the public.

The Health Ministry has also bemoaned the lack of organisations such as NGOs advocating the rights of the alleged victim or voicing concern about the treatment she has received on her island.

“Actions like this by the public – hindering the girl from attending school –  even if it involves [a few people], encourages perpetrators of similar crimes to repeatedly offend,” said the ministry press release.  “We call upon everyone to stand up against injustice like this and work towards protecting the rights of the victims.”

Official police figures given to Minivan News this week indicated that a total of 163 sexual abuse cases were reported last year.  By comparison, the same statistics also revealed that 108 sexual abuse cases had been reported up to the end of May 2011.

According to these figures, 30 of these cases allegedly involved victims aged between two to 12 years.

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Four Maldivian children win medals at Special Olympics

Maldivian children with special needs who competed in the Special Olympics in Greece this year have won three gold medals, one silver medal and one bronze medal.

All four Maldivians, three boys and one girl, won medals in their events.

Mohamed Mustafa Ahmed, adult attendant of the athletes in Greece, told newspaper Haveeru yesterday that he was very pleased with the success as this was the first time Maldivians with special needs had taken part in the Special Olympics.

“This goes to show that such children can be part of society and participate in sports like other children,” he said.

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VIP room at IGMH to house dengue patients

A VIP room at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) intended for use by the President and his family has been given over to house dengue patients.

Earlier this week, 19 beds were set up at the hospital’s emergency lobby, which has since been used as a makeshift ward. In addition, the observation and physiotherapy areas are also being used to treat dengue patients.

President Mohamed Nasheed reportedly made the decision to use the VIP room today because the lobby area did not have a toilet for the patients.

MNBC One reports that the patients at the makeshift ward were now being transferred to the VIP room, which has enough space for 14 beds.

Meanwhile physiotherapy appointments at IGMH were cancelled yesterday while all non-emergency surgeries were suspended today.

While the seasonal dengue outbreak has claimed seven lives this year so far, including four children in 48 hours last week, the dengue control task force revealed yesterday that the number of cases reported has fallen in the past three days.

Some 18 cases were reported on the first day, followed by 16 the next day and 11 yesterday.

Haveeru reported that 35 patients have been admitted at IGMH among a total of 75 nationwide. Of the 35 patients at IGMH, four in serious condition had been placed under special care.

“These four cases did not have the risk of being fatal. But we have placed the patients under special care,” said Dr Ali Latheef, senior consultant at IGMH.

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Fourth consecutive parliament sitting cancelled

Today’s sitting of parliament was cancelled by Speaker Abdulla Shahid less than five minutes after it began at 1:00pm with the parties deadlocked over the new composition of committees.

Following yesterday’s cancellation and the delayed start today, Shahid began with a statement regarding the dispute but was unable to continue reading it over the clamour of protesting MPs.

The Speaker said that the next sitting would be held after consultation with Majority Leader Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and Minority Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali “when circumstances would allow the sitting to be held.”

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Comment: Winning the war on Dengue

The news that dengue is hitting the Maldives hard has reached the Netherlands, along with other parts of the world from which your beautiful country attracts large numbers of tourists.

That Maldivian children are dying of dengue is distressing and of course a horrific experience for the families affected, but there will surely be broader ramifications for the country. The blame culture that followed these deaths, fuelled by emotional debates in the press is affecting your country badly. Negative press will influence the tourism sector and may have a major economic impact.

When the Indian Ocean island La Reunion was struck by an outbreak of Chikungunya virus – also transmitted by dengue mosquitoes – in 2005/6, it suffered losses of tourism income amounting to €225 million (US$325 million). The French government had to inject €76 million to keep the tourism industry alive. With 1.2 million tourists per year, surely the Maldives cannot afford to wait for such a thing to happen.

So how can the war against dengue be won and can it be done quickly? In my opinion this is possible by doing just one thing well: learning from the past.

In the absence of a vaccine and specific medicines, the sole option to contain or eliminate dengue is through controlling the mosquito that transmits it. It is this option where many countries are failing miserably. Whereas in the middle of the last century, the responsibility for mosquito control remained in strong government hands and was rigorously organised and meticulously executed, a gradual shift of responsibility to the general population in recent decades has yielded disastrous outcomes.

Community awareness and engagement in controlling potential mosquito breeding sites has at best been partially effective, but remains hopeless in most countries with endemic dengue. The result at present: 2,5 billion people at risk, and an estimated 100 million cases of infection per year. These numbers keep growing steadily.

By 1947, the same mosquito that is causing havoc in the Maldives today had invaded 11 million square kilometres of Central and South America. The Pan-American Sanitary Bureau then took the decision to eliminate it. By 1962, these efforts had succeeded in 21 countries, an area encompassing 8.5 million square kilometres. I repeat, 8.5 million square kilometres. Compare that to the size of Male’, or even the Maldives at large, and one wonders why we have forgotten past successes and not simply repeated these.

Back then, these huge successes were based on intensive campaigns to search for breeding sites and either remove or treat them with insecticides to kill mosquito larvae. Large teams of inspectors moved from house to house, and all they did was that. Clean up trash and kill mosquito larvae. These teams were well organised, well funded, well trained, motivated, and well paid.  Much of that has changed, and with the shift of responsibility away from governments, so has the capacity and know-how to deal with outbreaks waned.

Pro-activism to control dengue mosquitoes is gone. Instead, waiting for things to go wrong and then act has become the norm for policy. Why is that?

First, it’s a money issue, and the lack of willingness of governments to put money on the table when prevention is the issue. Politicians like to solve problems that are visible but shy away from spending money on something that may strike one day. Further complicating chronic underfunding are five other factors that contribute to the failure of dengue vector control programmes.

These factors are:

  • The desire to find easy solutions
  • Degradation of technical and managerial skills
  • The increasing scope of the problem
  • The shortness of human memory
  • Expectation of failure

I emphasize that the most important factor in achieving successful control of dengue mosquitoes is a programme led by a high calibre administration and staffed by well-trained, supervised and motivated personnel. Most countries suffering from dengue lack precisely these things and call upon experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) when disaster strikes. Beyond the WHO’s advisory role, which mostly emphasizes strategies based on community participation of which we know that they don’t really work, there isn’t much it can do.

When the experts fly home, you remain with the problem and responsibility to execute their well-meant advice. They will not do it for you. Setting up a high-level response team is certainly a good thing, but meetings do not control epidemics.

What is needed are highly competent control staffs that know how to systematically cover areas and reduce vector breeding; staff that go out into the country and are capable of containing transmission of the virus and to prevent further misery. Although this should be done in a military style, this is not the same as mobilising the military as is now being done in the Maldives.

We have taken a different approach to the persistent problem of dengue by building on the hugely successful campaigns of the past, and augmenting the old strategies with the latest scientific knowledge and modern tools. The successes of the past were accomplished without computers, mobile telephony, satellite imagery, modern monitoring and surveillance tools, and so on.

We have these now, and should use them to the full. Not just to control outbreaks, but solve the problem permanently, in a sustainable and green manner.

We are discussing this approach with various islands in the Caribbean at present, and consider the Maldives as another great example of where dengue mosquitoes can be eliminated for good.

Now you are facing bad press, political turmoil, and deaths. A public-private partnership holds the key towards avoiding this from happening every few years, and if given an opportunity we are ready to lend a helping hand with our team that holds some of the world’s leading mosquito and dengue experts.

Maldivians should not worry about keeping their kids from going to school. Instead, the country should be planning a dengue mosquito elimination campaign. Good for the public, good for tourism.

Prof. Dr. Bart G.J Knols of the University of Amsterdam is a medical entomologist and CEO of the private firm Soper Strategies, which aims to provide comprehensive mosquito-borne disease elimination programmes.

(http://www.soperstrategies.com)

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]

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President inaugurates Maldives Film Awards

President Mohamed Nasheed last night joined some of the country’s most high-profile film makers and actors in Male’ to inaugurate a new awards ceremony honoring their work.

The Maldives Film Awards, which are said to have been organised for the first time by the Maldives Film Association, were held at the Social Centre in Male’ with the film ‘Happy Birthday’ proving the night’s major winner – earning 12 accolades.

The production, directed by Mumin Fuadh, collected awards for best film, director and original screenplay as well as the best actor accolade for Yosuf Shafiu.

Among the other categories contested on the night, the award’s jury gave Niuma Mohamed the best actress prize for her role in the film ‘Yousuf’. The ceremony also saw Ahmed Laish Asim collect the award for best child actor in the film ‘Yousuf’.

Other major recipients during the ceremony included Hassan Manik, who took home a lifetime achievement award.

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