Category: News in Brief

Housing Ministry received 5000 applications for housing loan scheme

Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Dr Mohamed Muizzu has told parliament on Tuesday that the ministry had received over 5000 applications for a home construction loan scheme titled “Islamic Facility”.

Islamic Facility is a scheme under which the ministry in alliance with the Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) provides loans to home owners who are unable to construct housing on their land due to financial constraints.

Under the scheme, applicants will be given loans amounting from MVR 50,000 to MVR 4,000,000, to be paid back within a maximum period of 20 years. Thirty percent of all loans issued under the scheme will be given to persons who are between 18 and 34 years of age.

Muizzu revealed in parliament today that the ministry is currently undertaking the work of verifying the submitted application forms. He stated that they will begin issuing the loans in the next 45 days.

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Government proposes GST exemption for sale of flats under state-funded housing projects

Preliminary debate began at yesterday’s sitting of parliament on an amendment proposed by the government to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act to make the sale of flats under government housing projects exempt from the tax.

The amendment (Dhivehi) submitted on behalf of the government by Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MP Ahmed Rasheed also proposes reimbursing GST payments to persons who have purchased flats or housing units constructed under government housing projects.

The reimbursement is to be made within 30 days of ratification of the amendment by the president.

While real estate transactions were previously exempt from GST, the previous parliament passed an amendment in February this year reversing the exemption.

While all MPs were in favour of the proposal during yesterday’s debate, opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs criticised the government for reversing tax exemptions for sale of flats.

Several MPs also argued that tax exemptions should apply exclusively for social housing schemes and not for luxury flats.

While MP Ali Azim suggested a hidden agenda behind the move to reimburse tax payments, MP Ahmed Nashid noted that funds were not allocated for the expenditure in the 2014 state budget.

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MPs abolish 1990 law on MP renumeration

The People’s Majlis today passed an amendment bill submitted on behalf of the government to abolish an outdated 1990 law governing renumeration for MPs of the People’s Majlis and Special Majlis.

The bill was approved with unanimous consent of 70 MPs at today’s sitting of parliament following review by the economic affairs committee.

The Special Majlis was a plenary assembly last convened in June 2004 to revise the constitution. Article 102 of the constitution meanwhile stipulates that salaries and allowances of People’s Majlis MPs will be determined by the parliament.

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Man fined for attempting assault on a police officer

Ahmed Farrah of Evening Rose in Maafannu Ward of capital Malé City has been fined an amount of MVR 3000 for attempting assault on a police officer.

The Criminal Court sentenced Farrah to pay the fine to the court within a period of 30 days.

Local media reports that he was prosecuted for attempting to assault a police officer who tried to stop him at a checkpoint in 2012.

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MPs debate legislation on public referendums

Preliminary debate began at today’s sitting of parliament on legislation submitted by Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MP Abdulla Khaleel on legislation governing public referendums.

Presenting the bill (Dhivehi) on behalf of the government, the MP for Faafu Nilandhoo said the proposed law would specify circumstances whereby public referendums could be held as well as procedures to be followed by the Elections Commission (EC) in conducting polls.

Khaleel explained that the legislation stipulates that a public referendum must be held before approving an amendment either to chapter two of the constitution, which outlines fundamental rights and freedoms, or term limits of parliamentarians and the president and vice president.

The constitution authorises both the president and parliament to “hold public referendums on issues of national importance.” Parliament is also authorised to call for public referendums to override a presidential veto on a bill.

The bill defines matters of national importance as issues that parliament believes requires public approval before enactment as law, Khaleel noted.

The bill stipulates that parliament shall pass a resolution calling for a public referendum and provides details on how to conduct the poll, he continued, adding that the public must be informed of the pros and cons of the issue prior to voting.

The first public referendum following the adoption of the new constitution in August 2008 took place in October 2010, which saw small islands overwhelmingly reject a government proposal for administrative consolidation.

The bill on public referendums along with the special economic zones (SEZs) bill was accepted for consideration today and sent to committee for further review.

The SEZ bill was accepted with 46 votes in favour and 16 against.

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MJA urges Majlis to expedite Information Commissioner approval

The Maldives Journalists Association (MJA) has called on the Majlis to expedite the vetting and approval of the Information Commissioner.

The position was created by the landmark Right to Information Act (RTI) which came into force on July 12.

The MJA also called on state institutions to appoint information officers to all offices as soon as possible, and thanked the Maldives Police Services for being the first to appoint an information officer.

The government, state institutions and government officials must provide access to information without restrictions, the MJA said and warned the government that it would monitor the state’s actions.

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Office of the Information Commissioner established

President Abdulla Yameen has established the Office of the Information Commissioner as per the landmark Right to Information Act (RTI).

The Act, ratified in January, came into force on Saturday, July 12.

Yameen has nominated former Progressive Party of the Maldives MP Abdul Azeez Jamal Abu Bakr for the position in June.

According to the RTI Act, the People’s Majlis must approve an Information Commissioner within 30 days of the act’s enforcement.

The commissioner’s tenure is five years and has the power enforce a fine on information officers who deliberately refuse access to information. Such a fine may not exceed MVR5000 (US$324).

The commissioner may also fine any individual who destroys requested information, obstructs a public authority or the Information Officer’s from providing access to information. Such a fine may not exceed MVR25,000 (US$ 1621).

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Islamic Ministry to provide financial aid to private Quran classes

The Ministry of Islamic Affairs has announced that it will be accepting applications for financial aid from privately run Quran classes from next Monday.

Deputy Minister of Islamic Affairs Ali Waheed told local media that only three classes had applied for the when the program was previously announced.

The ministry has decided to provide financial assistance to 25 Quran classes this year from the Zakath fund.

They will be providing a monthly allowance of MVR 2000 (US$ 130) for each business that qualifies for the program.

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MNCCI issues laptops on installment to Iskandhar School teachers

The Maldives National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MNCCI) has issued ten laptops to Iskandhar School teachers on installment basis.

Teachers are expected to pay for the laptops under a scheme where they pay an amount of MVR 100 (US$ 6.48) per month. No interest will be added to the price of the laptops, the MNCCI said.

At an event held to hand over the laptops on Thursday, MNCCI Vice President Ismail Asif said program is being conducted under the chamber’s corporate social responsibility program.

“We are looking into ways in which we can help various field. We are focusing on two fields this year. That is the health and education sectors,” Asif told local media.

In addition to issuing laptops, MNCCI has also supplied the school with equipment needed for their science laboratory.

The MNCCI said they will run similar programs for other schools in the future as much as their budget allowed.

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