Day: November 28, 2011

Noonu atoll councilor arrested for drug possession

Councillor Nasrulla Mohamed of Miladhoo in Noonu Atoll was arrested last night in the capital Male’ for alleged drug possession.

Mohamed, a member of ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), was arrested with two others at the Dolphin Restaurant. Haveeru reports that Abdulla Habib, who ran for the council position in February, was among those arrested.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam told Minivan News that illegal drugs were visible near the individuals when they were apprehended.

The three individuals are currently being held in police custody and awaiting a court verdict.

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Civil Court to rule on legality of airport development charge

A verdict is forthcoming in a case submitted by Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) Vice President Imad Solih to the Civil Court, in an effort to prevent GMR from collecting a US$25 airport development charge from departing passengers.

The DQP has argued that the charges were a tax and unconstitutional, reported Haveeru.

The Attorney General’s (AG) Office argued on behalf of the Finance Ministry that that the charge would be taken under the Airport Service Charge Act and was not a tax.

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Human trafficking on the rise, warn police

Police have reported a day-by-day increase in human trafficking in the Maldives, pointing to the rising numbers of illegal expatriate workers as evidence of the practice.

So far this year 308 cases have been reported to police involving expatriates leaving their sponsors, and more than 4000 passports belonging to illegal migrants have been found.

On June 11 “a huge number” of expats were brought to the Maldives illegally using forged documents, police said in a statement.

An ongoing police investigation into labour trafficking this year uncovered an industry worth an estimated US$123 million, eclipsing fishing (US$46 million in 2007) as the second greatest contributor of foreign currency to the Maldivian economy after tourism.

The former Bangladeshi High Commissioner to the Maldives, Dr Selina Muhsin, had told police that many Bangladeshi workers were brought to the Maldives through the promise of high salaries and employment, which was not forthcoming, police said.

In today’s statement, police noted that the Maldives still lacked a specific law against human trafficking, but said that enslavement and forced labor was a violation of the constitution. An Anti-Trafficking Act was now being drafted, police observed, and called for a policy of information sharing between concerning institutions, as well as guideline for treating victims.

This year 35 police officers were trained to combat human trafficking and police took part in a workshop held on ‘Integrated Approach to Combating Trafficking in Persons, organised by the International Organisation for Immigration (IMO), the statement said.

During her visit to the Maldives last week, UN High Commissioner on Human Rights Navi Pillay highlighted the plight of expatriate labourers in the Maldives, who make up a third of the population and in many cases have been lured to the country by unscrupulous employment brokers.

“The Minister of Foreign Affairs [Ahmed Naseem] is very aware of the suffering of foreign workers, and agreed that something needs to be done for these people,” Pillay said.

“You can’t have 60,000 people suffering here while performing work for the benefit of Maldivians and the tourism industry, and pretend this is invisible. The media has a role to give these people a voice so they can explain their problems.

“Many of them are trafficked and the little money they earn is exploited. This is of grave concern to me, because people like this are are protected under the UN Convention on Migrant Workers and their Families. I have urged the Maldives to ratify this, and regularise the presence of 60,000 people

“I also call for an end to the stereotyping of these people as a threat and unwanted.”

In July, members of Male’ City Council proposed solutions to “the nuisance and bother of expatriates [congregating] at the Republic Square”.

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Fantasy fines official, health head remains at post, says Mayor

Male’ City Council’s Trade Section has fined Fantasy Bakers Rf 6500 (US$420) for selling goods produced with expired products, City Mayor Ali Manik has confirmed.

Earlier today, local media Haveeru reported that Council Health Section Manager Hassan ‘Jambu’ Afeef had ‘unofficially’ issued the Rf 6,500 fine, and was consequently stripped of his duties.

However Manik told Minivan News today that Afeef had not been removed from his duties.

“They are trying to damage my reputation,” Afeef claimed. “Currently I am on vacation and I will not respect any decision to suspend me.”

“Hassan is still with us, of course, he has not left his duties,” said the Mayor, who was puzzled by the question. “The Rf 6,500 fine was approved by the Council, so of course it is official.”

The Mayor said an additional Rf100,000 (US$6500) fine from the City Council may be “issued after the court case”, for which police are currently conducting an investigation of Bakers Fantasy on the Prosecutor General’s order.

The Mayor could not say if the court would also issue a fine to the company.

Speaking today to Minivan News, Afeef said media reports were “incorrectly based on false information provided by certain council members.”

“The council decided to fine Fantasy for Rf100,000. Officials from the Trade Section subsequently went to Fantasy and reduced the fine to Rf 6,500,” he said. “It was not me, and it should be noted that some of the council’s members are not very responsible and are not even not cooperating with responsible members of the council.”

He said the decision to reduce the fine to Rf ,500 was made by him, and that some council members are “generally uninformed of council activities.”

“I was told that I am attempting to damage a business and that it would give a bad name to the Fantasy stores when I brought the issue to the council,”’ he said. “I said ‘I’m working for the people,’ and that it was the citizens who eat the products and it is my responsibility to stop it.’”

Afeef said media had been informed of the council’s statements on the Fantasy issue and that council members responsible had since apologised to him.

“They called me and said I was right about the Fantasy issue and the next day they wanted to erase the minutes of that meeting, but I did not allow this,” he said. “I am an MDP councilor. If they taking a salary from the citizens’ money, they should be sincere to the citizens. This a setup to damage my reputation and good name,” Afeef claimed.

Afeef reiterated that he remains fully employed as head of the Council’s Health Section, which he said the President and First Lady regarded “as an important social institution.”

Bakers Fantasy was closed on October 28 by Male’ City Council. The council subsequently inspected three storehouses and Aioli Restaurant, which is owned by Fantasy Pvt. Ltd. Expired products were found in two of three storehouses, however Aioli was found clean.

Fantasy Store was closed by police for two days on November 7 while police searched for expired goods, but was re-opened in order to protect business operations. Police intervened after the store had ignored an order from Community Health Services, which has legal authority to order temporary closures.

Fantasy shops are known for imported products and quality produce, and are popular among locals and expatriates.

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High Court invalidates Criminal Court verdict against police officer

The High Court has invalidated the Criminal Court’s ruling on a Police Drug Enforcement Department (DED) Officer.

The officer was accused of asking an inmate to find him two girls between the ages of 16 to 25 to have sex with him three nights from 8:00pm to 1:00am, and that in exchange the inmate was to be freed and the case dropped.

The High Court identified the inmate as Mabaah Waheed of Maafannu Jaina and the police officer as Police Constable Ahmed Ismail.

The Criminal Court had ruled that according to Mabaah’s statements, documents presented to the court and text messages sent to Mabah’s mobile phone warranted enough evidence to suggest claims made by Mabah against Ismail were true.

The High Court however noted that Mabaah was arrested by the police on a drug related matter in a case Ismail investigated, raising the possibility that Mabaah might have a grudge against Ismail and so his statements would be weak.

The High Court said in the ruling that Ismail had argued that evidences and statements given by Mabaah should be invalid because Mabaah was inclined to give false statements as Ismail had not commuted the investigation.

The texts allegedly sent to Mabaah by Ismail requesting for the girls were not tested by any digital analysis system, the High Court said, adding that there was not enough evidence to suggest the texts were really sent by Ismail.

The Court also said that there was no evidence other than the words of Mabaah that the documents, written in English, were given to him by Ismail asking for the two girls.

Delivering the verdict, the High Court said it was hard to believe that a person would give a document making such a request, and that the only evidence that the Prosecutor General has presented to the court was the document  and the text messages on the mobile phone, not enough to prove that the officer was guilty.

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State budget for 2012 submitted to parliament

The state budget for 2012 was submitted to parliament today by Finance Minister Ahmed Inaz with a projected fiscal deficit of 9.7 percent, down from 21 percent in 2009, 16.1 percent in 2010 and 10.1 percent in 2011.

In his introductory statement, Inaz said the programme-based budget was prepared with special focus on producing results and maintaining recurrent expenditure in line with income.

“The programmes included in the budget are based on the Strategic Action Plan,” he explained. “Special attention has been given in the budget programmes to provide adequate and quality service to the public. The government’s aim is to match up the figures in the budget with development plans and ensure that all state expenditure is made to achieve a stated target.”

Steering committees have been formed to oversee the 31 programmes in the budget, Inaz continued, urging MPs to evaluate the progress of implementation over the course of the year.

Total expenditure out of the 2012 state budget is estimated to be Rf14.6 billion (US$946.8 million), representing an 18 percent increase from 2011.

With the enactment of taxation legislation under the government’s economic reform package, revenue is projected to increase 11 percent from 2011 to Rf10.8 billion (US$700 million) next year with tax revenue expected to account for Rf7.3 billion (US$473 million).

The resulting fiscal deficit is to be plugged with Rf1.9 billion (US$123 million) in foreign loan assistance, Rf2 billion (US$129.8 million) forecast as budget support, and Rf750 million (US$48.6 million) from privatisation proceeds and sale of treasury bills and bonds in the domestic market.

Among the programmes that account for the increase in government spending, said Inaz, include a universal health insurance scheme and construction of housing units with foreign loan assistance.

Inaz noted that Rf2.1 billion (US$136 million) was allocated for education – which includes the ‘Hunaru’ training programme, student loan schemes and projects for improving school infrastructure – and Rf100 million (US$6.8 million) as capital investment for health corporations along with Rf20 million (US$1.2 million) for local councils to strengthen the public health sector.

While 44 percent of recurrent expenditure will be spent on salaries and allowances for state employees, Inaz said the wage bill has been reduced as a result of the voluntary redundancy programme conducted this year and the transfer of civil servants to corporatised entities.

State benefits and subsidies meanwhile account for 30 percent of recurrent expenditure followed by 17 percent (Rf120 million or US$7.7 million) on administrative costs.

The government is currently undertaking a review with World Bank assistance to ensure that subsidies are “means-tested and targeted” in 2012, Inaz revealed.

Inaz observed that unlike previous years, state revenue in 2012 will cover recurrent expenditure while deficit spending will be on capital investments.

The Rf3.8 billion (US$246 million) allocated for capital expenditure and net lending in 2012 represents a 43 percent increase from 2011, Inaz noted, adding that “the main reason [for the increase] is the estimated rise in foreign aid and large projects” such as the construction of 500 housing units with loan assistance from the Indian Exim (Export-Import) Bank and 2,500 housing units with loan assistance from the Chinese Exim Bank.

“Although total expenditure will increase as a result of these projects, we believe it is one of the most important projects that should be undertaken right now as resolving the shortage of housing is also the solution to a number of social problems,” Inaz said.

Investment programmes in 2012 fall under two broad categories of climate change and adapation programmes – which includes coastal protection, harbour construction, land reclamation, investments in renewable energy as well as establishing water and sanitation systems – and socio-economic investment programmes such as the housing projects.

Reiterating that the main priority in formulating the budget was to ensure value for money spent in terms of providing services, Inaz however explained that “due to the present structure of the state, Rf32 out of every Rf100 is spent on salaries and benefits, Rf6 is spent on interest payments on loans and Rf13 is spent on administrative costs.”

“After spending Rf27 [out of every Rf100] on capital expenditures, there is just Rf22 left to spent on services that offer direct benefits to the public,” he said, adding that Rf22 out of every Rf100 had to be spent on loan repayments.

2011

As expenditure outstripped revenue by Rf3 billion (US$194.5 million) in the 2011 budget of Rf12.9 billion (US$836 million), Inaz said the deficit was plugged through foreign aid and loan assistance as well as proceeds from privatisation and sale of T-bills and bonds.

Government income is meanwhile expected to reach a record level of Rf9 billion (US$583.6 million) this year.

Based on current estimates, said Inaz, the economy grew by 7.5 percent in 2011 compared to 5.7 percent in 2010. The forecast for economic  growth in 2012 is however 5.5 percent.

On the tourism industry, which accounts for 70 percent of GDP, Inaz said arrivals were expected to have risen 21 percent in 2011 from the previous year.

As of the end of September, tourist arrivals are 17.7 percent higher than 2010.

Although fish catch by volume rose 3.9 percent from 2010 in the first seven months of the year, Inaz said the Maldivian fisheries industry was not expected to improve in the next two years with the continuing decline of fishing in the Indian Ocean.

The introduction of long-line fishing and development of an aqua-culture and mari-culture industry was important to raise productivity, Inaz suggested.

With imports expected to rise in 2012, Inaz said the current account deficit will increase from 26 percent of GDP in 2011 to 28 percent next year.

To plug the widening current account deficit, said Inaz, economic policies in the budget were geared towards increasing exports and growing small and medium-sized businesses.

Inaz explained that the worsening balance of payments was tied to the ballooning fiscal deficit since 2005, which increased local currency in circulation and resulted in an “unstable foreign exchange market” and the creation of a black market for dollars.

In addition to tightening fiscal policy and rationalising expenditures, Inaz said money changers had to be regulated and the use of Maldivian rufiyaa as the legal tender should be enforced.

Expressing concern that 47 percent of transactions in the domestic economy were made through other currencies, the Finance Minister called on the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) as the country’s central bank to take measures to enforce the use of rufiyaa as legal tender.

A senior government official meanwhile told Minivan News that the government was still waiting on the income tax bill to be passed by parliament. The proposed tax will apply only to those who earn over Rf 30,000 a month (US$2000).

“It is not significant in terms of revenue, but it is important in terms of governance as it gives us the full picture,” the source said. “It will enable a full system of reporting and close loopholes that allow people to pass off business income as their own.”

The 3.5 percent tourism goods and services tax will be raised to six percent next year.

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Civil Court orders JSC to halt misconduct case against Chief Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed

The Civil Court yesterday ordered Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to take no action against Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed, until the court reached a verdict in the case filed against him.

Abdulla Mohamed filed the suit against the JSC after it complete a report into misconduct allegations against the cheif judge. According to the report, which the JSC has not yet publicly released, Abdulla Mohamed violated the Judge’s Code of Conduct by making a politically biased statement in an interview he gave to private broadcaster DhiTV.

Following the JSC’s decision to take action against Abdulla Mohamed, he filed a case against the JSC in the Civil Court requesting that it invalidate JSC’s report, claiming that DhiTV took his statement out of context.

In the Civil Court’s order, Judge Maryam Nihayath said that if the JSC took any further action against Abdulla Mohamed while the case was in court, it might disrupt the case and Abdulla Mohamed would suffer irreparable damages.

Last week the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) completed its investigation into the alleged misconduct of Abdulla Mohamed.

The case against  was presented to the JSC in January 2010 by former President’s member of the JSC, Aishath Velezinee.

According to local media, during the first hearing of the suit filed by Abdulla was conducted yesterday Abdulla Mohamed’s lawyer MP Ibrahim Riza claimed that DhiTV editor Midhath Adam and journalist Hidhayathulla’s statement had been taken by the JSC as testimonials to prove Abdulla’s misconduct.

Riza claimed that both Midhath and Hidhayathullah had since told JSC that broadcasted Abdulla’s statement out of context.

He said that at the time the alleged incident occurred the Judges Act was not passed, and thus the JSC could not take any action against Abdulla Mohamed.

In 2005, then Attorney General Dr Hassan Saeed forwarded to the President’s Office concerns about the conduct of Abdulla Mohamed after he requested that an underage victim of sexual abuse reenact her abuse for the court.

In 2009 following the election of the current government, those documents were sent to the JSC.

Velezinee told Minivan News last week that this was the first time the JSC had ever completed an investigation into a judge’s misconduct.

“There are many allegations against Abdulla Mohamed, but one is enough,” she said.

“If the JSC decides, all investigation reports, documents and oral statements will be submitted to parliament, which can then decide to remove him with a simple two-thirds majority.”

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Comment: Intravenous drug use raises AIDS spectre in Maldives

Thirty years since the first reported cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in 1981, the response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic has been unprecedented, especially in terms of global and national initiatives.

Substantial progress has been made, such as a 31 percent reduction in the number of new infections between 2001 and 2009 in South-East Asia. A revolutionary new approach to treatment endorsed by UNAIDS and WHO, which includes improved, lower-cost drugs, simplified HIV diagnostic technologies, improved delivery systems, and innovations  in prevention of HIV infection, give hope for achieving universal access to prevention, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS, even in resource-constrained settings.

Yet, the challenge is far from over. HIV still remains a formidable foe, affecting 33.3 million people globally, including 2.5 million children. Despite years of concerted global efforts and investments, there is still neither a cure nor an effective vaccine for the disease.

However, over time, the profile of the HIV epidemic is evolving from a life threatening to a chronic disease, thanks to availability of more effective drugs and efficacious service delivery models involving communities and people living with HIV/AIDS. With changing realities, it is time, then, to reflect and re-strategize in the long-drawn war against HIV/AIDS. Fundamental to success is acknowledging that HIV/AIDS is a social and developmental issue as much as a health one.

The impact on women and children is devastating. An estimated 1.3 million women aged 15 and above currently live with HIV in the WHO’s South-East Asia Region (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste).

The estimated number of children living with HIV has increased by 46 percent during 2001 – 2009. Of the 448 million cases of sexually transmitted infections that occur globally, 71 million are in South-East Asia. Due to low coverage of the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programme in the South-East Asia Region, a large number of babies born to HIV-positive mothers acquire HIV infection in the womb.

Despite considerable diversity in the HIV epidemic among the countries of the Region, unsafe sex and injecting drug use are the main drivers. Five countries -India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal and Thailand – account for a majority of the disease burden. Sexual transmission accounts for the majority of cases in Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste.  The HIV epidemic among people who inject drugs is significant in Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and some regions of India.

The Maldives has a growing threat of the HIV epidemic due to injecting drug use.

The evolution of the epidemic from life threatening to a chronic disease, with better drugs and better access to drugs, has resulted in prolonging survival and quality of care for people living with HIV/AIDS. This necessitates evolution of an HIV care model that is in line with chronic disease management, with primary care providers playing an important role.

The spectrum of HIV care needs to evolve into a comprehensive primary care model that has an integrated, patient-centered approach, and is linked to specialist care where and when needed. It also needs to address the various socio-cultural issues that take the response beyond the health sector into the families and communities.

Other key challenges include late diagnosis of HIV, stigma and discrimination faced by people with HIV and most-at-risk population; limited capacity of health systems; high prices of antiretroviral drugs especially the second line drugs, and lack of sustained finances.

The health sector can only overcome these challenges if it collaborates with other sectors in order to tackle the social, economic, cultural and environmental issues that shape the epidemic and access to health services.

WHO’s  Health Sector Strategy on HIV for South-East Asia has been endorsed by all the eleven Member States of the Region. It envisions “Zero new HIV infections, zero AIDS-related deaths and zero discrimination in a world where people living with HIV are able to live long, healthy lives.”

The four strategic directions to achieve the goal include: optimising HIV prevention, care and treatment outcomes; strengthening strategic information systems for HIV and research; strengthening health systems to ensure that the expanded response to HIV will build effective, efficient and comprehensive health systems in which HIV and other essential services are available, accessible and affordable; and fostering supportive environment to ensure equitable access to HIV services.

WHO continues to work with countries to achieve universal access to comprehensive HIV prevention, treatment and care and to contribute to health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly MDG 6 (combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases). Together, we hope to move closer to a world free of AIDS.

Dr. Samlee Plianbangchang is the Regional Director of the World Health Organisation for the South-East Asia Region.

<em>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]</em>

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