Category: News in Brief

STO transparent, current MD tells press

The head of the Maldives State Trading Organisation (STO) has claimed that the company could not currently be involved in operating any “clandestine” businesses as news reports published this week allege that previous management may have been involved in shipping fraud relating to about US$800m worth of state oil, Miadhu has reported.

STO Managing Director Shahid Ali told the paper that the organisation was run very transparently and that STO Singapore – the subsidiary company linked in a news report for India-based publication The Week to the fraud allegations – was the only enterprise it runs abroad.

The claims were made after The Week magazine published an article on Friday that claimed  top-level officials from the former administration, including Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s half brother Abdulla Yameen, stood accused of personally profiting from selling subsidized oil on an international black market.  The allegations have been criticised as being “politically motivated”.

In discussing allegations of fraud that have been linked to previous company management, Shahid claimed that he was unable to provide any information on the Mocum Trading Company, which was alleged to have been set up by employees without the approval of the STO’s directors, as investigations were ongoing.

“Perhaps those employees were just used as rubber stamps to make that joint venture company. This will be only known after concluding the investigation,” he was reported as saying in Miadhu.  “The investigation is carried out by qualified parties. If the conclusion of the investigation necessitates any steps to be taken against any of the employees then it will be done so.”

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Former education minister will be first Chancellor of Maldives National University

Former Education Minister Dr Musthafa Luthfy has been appointed by President Mohamed Nasheed as the Chancellor of the first university to be opened in the Maldives, reports Haveeru.

The Maldives National University will be formally inaugrated at Dharubaaruge tomorrow morning.

President Nasheed and Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik will address the ceremony. President Nasheed will also present MNU’s seal to the new Chancellor.

Dr Luthfy was the Tourism Minister under the former administration and the Education Minister under the MDP government, until he resigned with seven other cabinet ministers due to a constitutional technicality on reappointments, and the opposition-majority parliament’s refusal to approve the reappointed ministers.

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Egypt’s revolution “as significant as the fall of the Berlin wall”

The Maldives government has praised the Egyptian demonstrators who succeeded in ousting President Hosni Mubarak after 30 years of autocratic rule.

Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamed Aslam said the Egyptian experience demonstrated that “a belief in democracy, freedom and human rights are not the possession of one country or civilisation, but are rather universal and inalienable values shared by all mankind”.

“We wake up today in a new world. It is no exaggeration to say that the events of the past few weeks are as significant as the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. We are witnessing the slow roll-back of dictatorships and autocracies, and their replacement by government based on consent and society based on tolerance and dignity for all.”

Aslam extended the Maldives’ full support to Egypt during the country’s transition to democracy, a process mirrored by the Maldives in 2008.

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Elections Commission recounting 15 constituencies

The Elections Commission is recounting the ballots for 15 constituences after opening the boxes yesterday in the presence of journalists and concerned candidates. The EC on Thursday began a clarification count of the ballots from Sri Lanka.

Areas being checked include: Dhaandhoo council, Kibindhoo constituency, Mundoo council, Villi-Maafannu constituency, Kaafu atoll Maafushi council, Laamu atoll Gan council, Gemanafushi constituency, Dhaandhoo constituency, Hebandhoo council, Naifaru council, Maaungoodhoo council, Thulusdhoo constituency, Maamingili constituency, Hulhu-Meedhoo constituency, Mid-Henveiru constituency

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MDP member claims hundreds of concerns raised over council election counts

Individuals within the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) are calling for fresh voting and recounts within some constituencies contested during last week’s local council elections due to claims that almost a thousand concerns have been raised over how polling was conducted in certain areas, according to news reports.

Miadhu today reported that MDP member Mohamed Imthiyaz has claimed that there are hundreds of issues relating to alleged discrepancies and inconsistencies in the voter registry and ballot papers used during voting. The report also alleged that the MDP had raised concerns over the “integrity” of the Elections Commission (EC) that oversaw the council polling.

In light of these alleged concerns, Imithiyaz was reported to have claimed that the party would now be calling for either vote recounts or fresh polling in certain constituencies.
However, criticisms over election campaigning have also been leveled at the governing party.

Rival opposition groups such as the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) and the People’s Alliance (PA) have attacked the MDP over allegations that it had used state funds to support its election campaigning as well as claims that the party had awarded itself disproportionate amounts of coverage to promote candidates on state television.

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Red Crescent to support Ville-Male orphanage

The Maldivian Red Crescent has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Health and Family to support the Ville-Male Children’s House orphanage.

Haveeru reported that under the one year agreement, the Red Crescent would identify assistance needed for the orphanage and provide it, raising grants through international organisations where necessary.

The MoU was signed at the Health Ministry by Minister Dr Aminath Jameel and Secretary General of the Maldivian Red Crescent, Rasheeda Ali.

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PG will take DRP council member for Villi-Maafannu to court

The Prosecutor General will take successful Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) candidate for Villi-Maafannu, Ahmed ‘Fly’ Hameed, to court for allegedly beating a police officer.

Haveeru reports that Hameed was being prosecuted for allegedly obstructing police attempts to control a crowd of 11,000 at Dr Zakir Naik’s sermon in May 2010, which became hostile after Ahmed Nazim questioned Naik over the penalty for apostasy.

Police confirmed a case was sent to the PG’s office on 22 August, 2010.

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Canadian firm to install sewerage infrastructure in upper south province

Ottawa-based Clearford Industries Inc. has signed an agreement with The Upper South Utilities Limited (USUL) of the Republic of Maldives to negotiate and enter into sewerage infrastructure projects for up to fifteen of the islands located in the country’s Upper South Province, using Clearford’s Small Bore Sewer system.

Canadian company Clearford Industries has signed an agreement with the Maldives’ Upper South Utilities Limited to install and service sewerage infrastructure on 15 islands.

Solid Waste and Recycling Magazine reported that the “good faith” agreement would enable the Maldives to pay Clearford over a 20 year period, in a deal worth an estimated US$40 million.

Sewers are currently installed on just 12 of the Maldives’ almost 200 inhabited islands.

Groundwater on islands without sewerage systems was frequently contaminated due to the porous coral and sand structures of the islands, the report stated.

“The Maldives has been one of the 10 priority countries for Clearford during the last year of international business development,” the magazine reported Bruce Linton, president and CEO of Clearford, as saying.

“We have interacted with and made proposals for servicing on some of the islands over this period. I am confident that we have a very knowledgeable customer and an optimal technical solution for their requirement.”

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Cabinet appoints sub-committee to implement local councils, teachers to be licensed

Cabinet yesterday decided to appoint a sub-committee to oversee the technical and administrative arrangements for establishing local councils, following the elections on Saturday.

Ministers acknowledged that there were also legal requirements that needed to be met before councils could commence their duties.

During Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, ministers also decided to register and license teachers working in the Maldives, after reviewing recommendations in a paper presented by the Ministry of Education.

When the decision comes into effect, all teachers teaching in pre-school to higher secondary levels, school principals, technical staff in these levels, and all those interested in teaching in schools of the Maldives will be required to register and acquire a license to teach.

Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed chaired the meeting as President Mohamed Nasheed is a four day holiday following the local council elections.

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