Category: News in Brief

Kuddoo fisheries makes Rf13 million profit

The Kuddoo Fisheries complex has reported an Rf 13 million (US$1 million) in profit over the last two months. It had faced a loss of Rf 80 (US$6.2 million) last year.

The turnaround means that by July, when new figures become available, the company might not be operating at a loss at all. Kuddoo fisheries complex was set up by the government in May as a separate company from the Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO).

Speaking to Haveeru, the company Managing Director Ismail Adam said its intake has increased in correlation to the increase in fish purchase value in the last few months.

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US Department of Justice delegation visits Maldives prisons

A delegation from the US Department of Justice has met with President Mohamed Nasheed to offer suggestions about improving the prison system in the Maldives.

After reviewing the country’s prisons, the team suggested the strengthening of prison operations, prison facilities, training and personnel development, and complying with international human rights standards.

The team included Department of Justice Assistant Director of Corrections Programs Mr Mike Pannek, Mr Jeffrey Woodworth of the Bureau of Prisons, and two officials based in the US Embassy in Colombo.

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Majlis should welcome Guantanamo Bay detainees as Muslim brethren: Shaheed

The Majlis should welcome Guantanamo Bay detainees to the Maldives, Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed has said.

One of the two detainees to be transferred to the Maldives from the United States run Guatanamo Bay prison is a Palestinian. Dr Shaheed noted that Maldivians have a profound love of Palestinians as their Muslim brethren.

He said as Muslims it is incumbent upon Maldivians to demonstrate their love by helping the detainees, reports Miadhu. Dr Shaheed was speaking at the Annual Coordination Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Member States of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 24 September 2010.

Various countries across the world have offered to take in detainees from Guantanamo Bay after President Barack Obama, shortly after taking office, closed the Guantanamo Bay prison established by his predecessor George W Bush as part of the ‘War on Terror’.

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Prison officers trained in human rights

Seventeen Maafushi prison officers have completed a human rights training programme designed to increase their awareness of the Constitution and the rights guaranteed by it.

The “Human Rights and Constitution Training for Prison Staff” was a project organised by the UNDP in conjunction with relevant state organisations.

UNDP Resident Coordinator Andrew Cox told graduates at the closing ceremony held in Maafushi today that their training would help ensure that prisons are “not just a dead end” but another step towards rehabilitation and reform of prisoners.

The training provided to prison officers was also a further achievement in ensuring that rights guaranteed under Article 2 of the Constitution are integrated throughout the entire judicial process.

Minister of Home Affairs Mohamed Shihab told the gathering that such training was essential for those engaged in such a high-pressure and high-risk profession as that of the prison officers. There have been occasions, he noted, when the repercussions of rapid decisions taken by prison officers working under pressure had been felt nation wide.

Addressing the ceremony on behalf of all participants, Trainee Prison Officer Abdul Qadir Ibrahim said the training had made them all aware that “the Constitution is as essential to life as water”.

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Maldives democracy sparked vicious political struggle

The establishment of a multi-party democracy in the Indian Ocean archipelago in 2008 ended a 30-year period of authoritarian rule under President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, writes New Delhi journalist Vishal Arora for Global Politician, but it started a vicious political struggle depriving the Maldivians of any sense of relief.

“Six months after former activist Mohamed Nasheed won the October 2008 presidential election, Gayoom’s Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) and its allies got a simple majority in the parliamentary election. When two rival parties became almost equally powerful, the clash was inevitable.

The tussle between the ruling coalition led by President Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and the conservative DRP and its ally People’s Alliance (PA) peaked in June 2010 when the education minister Dr. Mustahafa Luthfee’s planned to make Islam and national language Dhivehi optional in school curricula for senior students.

The Gayoom regime homogenised Sunni Islam by restricting people’s religious and cultural rights – the South Asian island nation claims to have a 100 percent Muslim population like in Saudi Arabia. Nasheed, on the other hand, is seen as a liberal Muslim.

The other bone of contention was the government’s move to privatise the Malé International Airport, which was a source of income for some opposition legislators.

In response, the opposition moved a bill in the parliament to amend the Public Finance Act to resist further privatisation of state property, and brought in a no-confidence motion against the education minister.

However, on June 29, President Nasheed’s cabinet resigned en masse alleging inability to carry out its constitutional duties. The government also arrested some opposition legislators – including the leader of the PA and Gayoom’s half-brother, Abdulla Yameen – on charges of bribing lawmakers to vote against the government in the parliament. The arrests led to violent street protests in which several people were injured.”

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World Heart Day marked in Maldives

World Heart Day is to be marked today for the first time in the Maldives, infant cardiovascular disease NGO Tiny Hearts of Maldives has announced.

The NGO, which has hosted several highly successful charity fundraising events such as celebrity football matches, said the theme of World Heart Day 2010 was ‘Take responsibility for your own heart health’.

Tiny Hearts stressed the importance of a healthy lifestyle to avoid heart diseases, particularly for young people.

“Healthy behavior must be adopted even in the workplace,” the NGO said. “Workplace-wellness programs such as improving health and productivity and reducing the risk of heart diseases and stroke will benefit both employees and employers.”

The NGO will hand out heart-shaped balloons as well as conduct walks, public education and a puppet show.

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MDP reschedules elections for Friday

MDP (Maldivian Democratic Party) has rescheduled its delayed constituency elections for Friday, October 1.

The elections were postponed after MDP encountered what it claimed were “technical problems” with its plans to allow voters to cast their votes in text messages. Voters who had not previously registered for SMS voting will now have to cast their votes on paper, reports Haveeru.

Haveeru also reported that MDP is seeking to verify how the technical problems arose but have not yet got to the root of the problem.

The elections on Friday will be held from 2:30 to 7:30 pm.

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Government to budget for sustainable flood prevention

Next year’s national budget will include funds for a sustainable flood prevention programme, President Mohamed Nasheed has said.

Addressing the nation in his weekly radio address, President Nasheed said some islands in the south were prone to flooding in the rainy season due to poor drainage and sewerage systems. Next year’s budget will allocate funds to tackle the issue, he said.

“In [Seenu] Feydhoo and [Gaaf Dhaal] Thinadhoo as well if we are unable to complete work on a drainage system and sewers sustainably with a long-term plan, we will see flooding every rainy season and features that we do not want to see among us,” he said. “Therefore, God willing, my aim is to try and find a permanent solution.”

Among accidents reported at sea during the past week, a safari vessel ran into a reef near Meemu Mulaku and a ferry from Thilafushi carrying tin capsized at the Male’ southwest harbour entrance.

Moreover, heavy flooding caused power blackouts and damages to property in Gaaf Dhaal Thinadhoo and Addu Atoll Hithadhoo.

According to the Department of Meteorology, the heavy rainfall of the southwest monsoon is set to continue to the end of the month.

Speaking on the subject of civil service reform, President Nasheed said discussions were still ongoing between the government and the Civil service Commission on restoring civil service salaries to previous levels, streamlining the civil service, and establishing administrative framework for local councils.

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