Category: News in Brief

Majlis Committee to seek public opinion on Maumoon Hameed

People’s Majlis’ Independent Institutinos Committee has decided to seek public opinion on Maumoon Hameed, President Abdulla Yameen’s nephew whose name he recently proposed for the post of Prosecutor General.

Speaking to local media, Chair of the Committee MP Ahmed Sameer said members of the public can give their views on Maumoon Hameed through the People’s Majlis website till 10:00 am next Monday. He said the parliament is currently working on technical details to make this possible and comments submitted will not be publicized to prevent it from being abused. The committee members will seek answers from Maumoon Hameed for comments made.

“PG has the power to prosecute or not prosecute, so the committee felt it is very important to know the publics opinion on such a person. Our objective is to carry out everything related to his position in the most transparent manner, because it is such a revered and exalted position.” MP Sameer was quoted as saying.

Hameed who is a lawyer by profession has to win parliamentary majority approval before he can be appointed to the position.

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Police arrest woman involved in seized drug network

Police have arrested a 28 year old woman for her alleged involvement in the local drug network that was seized on 16 December.

According to the police, the woman was arrested Sunday night (December 22) while she was inside Finifenjambuge in Maafannu ward in Male’, under an arrest warrant.

Local newspapers have reported that the woman was the wife of one of the main suspects arrested in connection with the case.

On 16 December, police conducted joint special operation with the police Intelligence Department and Drug Enforcement Department (DED) to seize a local drug network and raided Finifenjamuge where police officers discovered 243 grams of illegal drugs and large amounts of cash including foreign currency.

A 30 year-old man was arrested along with two other men who allegedly obstructed police duty during the raid.

According to local media, police officers discovered MVR142,000, 630 Indian Rupee, 2020 Srilankan Rupees, seven Malaysia Ringgits, 60 Thai Bahts and US$ 4 inside Finifenjambuge.

On December 5, police said they seized another drug network operating in the Maldives.

During the police operation conducted to smash the network police searched the premises of Henveiru Fahaageaage after obtaining a search warrant, finding drugs and money inside the house.

Police said that persons believed to be involved in the network were apprehended inside the house during the operation.

According to police, a total four persons were arrested in connection with the case including a Pakistani and a Sri Lankan national.

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Dr. Saud appointed Acting Secretary General of Jumhoori Party

Dr. Mohamed Saud has been appointed on Monday as the Acting General Secretary of business tycoon and 2013 election’s second runner-up candidate Gasim Ibrahim’s Jumhoori Party (JP).

“[JP General Secretary Hassan] Shah is now in a party slot as a state minister in this government. He must give time to government duties as well. There is a lot of ongoing work at the moment due to the two approaching elections. This means there is a lot of internal administrative work of the party that needs to be attended to,” Saud said in an interview to local news website SunOnline.

He stated that he will remain in the position until the party’s council decides otherwise.

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High Court overturns Magistrate Court ruling against Fulidhoo Council President

The High Court has overturned the island of Fulidhoo’s Magistrate Court ruling sentencing the island’s Council President Bushry Moosa to two months house arrest.

Bushry was sentenced to house arrest for his failure to be answerable to questions put forth by the Magistrate regarding a case against Fulidhoo Island Council.

After Bushry appealed the sentence at the High Court, the superior court overturned the Magistrate Court’s ruling on Sunday, stating that the case in question is not against Bushry as an individual, but against the council as an entity.

The High Court stated that although Bushry is the Council President, he cannot be answerable to the magistrate’s questions unless so mandated by law and regulation. It also noted that the sentence had been given after a letter had been submitted to the magistrate court informing that the council will notify them of a representative who will be answerable in the said case.

The superior court’s verdict further said that Bushry’s refusal to respond to the court’s queries cannot be considered contempt of court, or failure to abide by the judge’s orders.

It also said that if Bushry has been denied any remuneration or benefits due to the ongoing case, he has the right to submit it to the relevant court as a separate matter.

The superior court’s verdict was passed unanimously by the panel of three judges presiding on the case.

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Environment Ministry begins e-waste survey

The Ministry of Environment has on Saturday started conducting a survey – titled e-waste survey – to study waste material that does not decompose even over long periods of time, and to raise public awareness on the matter.

The survey, which is being conducted in capital city Male’, is carried out with the assistance of Center for Higher Secondary Education, Maldives National University, Maldivian Red Crescent, and individuals.

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Maldives Coastguard joins training with India and Sri Lanka counterparts

Maldives Coastguard, together with their counterparts in India and Sri Lanka, have held a training program in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan Defence Ministry is quoted in local media as having stated that the program – titled Trilateral Tabletop Exercise – included training on how to tackle security threats like piracy, environmental threats like oil spills and to conduct search and rescue missions.

According to them, the training programme began on Wednesday.

The training was organized after discussions held between the National Security Advisors of all three countries held in July, where it was agreed to hold similar programs biannually.

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BML to sell mortgaged property of former Defence Minister

Bank of Maldives (BML) has announced that it will be auctioning off the mortgaged land Araaroot Villa in Maafannu ward – a property owned by former Defence Minister Tholhath Ibrahim Kaleyfaan, and his brothers Ahmed Hashim, Mohamed Habeeb and Abdulla Shah Ibrahim Kaleyfaan.

The Bank stated that the property has been put up for sale due to the failure of Tholhath and his brother to pay back a loan of 6.6 million rufiya (USD 427740) taken from the bank.

The Civil Court ruled in September that BML can sell the mortgaged property if the loan is not paid back in a period of three months.

According to BML, proposals to purchase the property must be submitted before 1330hrs on January 5, 2014. The highest bidder, on condition that the price stays constant for 5 consecutive days of bidding, will then be given a period of 10 days to complete the payment.

Should the highest bidder fail to pay in the given period, BML has the authority to either rebid the property or sell it to the second highest bidder.

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Maldives – India mutual easing of visa restrictions expected with President’s visit

President Abdulla Yameen’s much anticipated visit to India will resolve delays in obtaining medical visas, reports ‘Haveeru’.

Referring to an unnamed source, Haveeru confirmed the arrangement will be announced during the visit in January.

Previously, Maldivians traveling to India for medical treatment were granted on-arrival tourist visa. However visa restrictions were imposed last year during strained diplomatic relations with India under President Dr. Mohamed Waheed’s administration.

Last week Indian High Commission relaxed the procedure for issuing medical visa, accepting applications directly till 12pm everyday, allowing people to submit their documents without staying in a queue with tokens. The High Commission also annoucned the visa processing duration will be also be shortened in a near future.

The issue of medical visa was dicussed with indian officials during Defense Miniister Nazim’s recent trip to India as well. Nazim also confirmed the issue will be further discussed druing the Pressident’s visit.

Meanwhile ‘The Economic Times’ had reported that Maldives might be relaxing consular and visa restrictions and amend foreign investment laws to encourage more investments from India

Earlier this year India issued a list of consular grievances that affected the India-Maldives relations. The issue of collecting visa fees from all Indians and high penalties for delays in visa renewal, and the requirement of a letter from Indian High Commission for granting dependent visa for elderly parents of Indian employees in Maldives were among them.

President Yameen’s first visit abroad was prompted by an invitation from Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

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President appoints new Financial Controller

President Abdulla Yameen has on Saturday appointed Khadheeja Hussain as the new Financial Controller.

The Financial Controller’s post is equivalent to that of a deputy minister. Khadheeja most recently held the position of Internal Auditor at the Parliament. Local media reports that she has years of experience in the financial sector.

Khadheeja was appointed to the post after the former Financial Controller Ahmed Mohamed – who has served in the post in the past three administrations under Presidents Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Mohamed Nasheed and Mohamed Waheed Hassan – was removed from his post on November 19, two days after President Yameen was sworn in.

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