Category: News in Brief

Arabbiya School to teach grades 4-12 in Arabic

The Ministry of Education has held discussions on teaching grades four through 12 at the Arabbiya School in Malé in Arabic medium, reports newspaper Haveeru.

The government-run school currently teaches in both English and Arabic as the medium of instruction.

State Minister Adam Shareef Umar – who is also in charge of the national institute of education – told the local daily that meetings have been held to discuss the change.

If the decision is finalised, grades four to six would be taught exclusively in Arabic and with the exception of the English and Dhivehi subjects, all other subjects would taught in Arabic for grades seven through 12.

Students in grades one to three would be taught in both languages. The state minister explained that it would allow students to transfer to other schools after grade three if they choose without difficulties in transition.

An official from the school – which currently has about 900 students – said that teaching in two languages affected learning and grades.

The government is meanwhile planning to change two other schools – the Addu Nooraanee School and a designated school in the north – to the Arabic medium.

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Hope for Women launch workshops for woman councilors and Island Women’s Development Committees.

Women’s rights advocacy group Hope for Women (HFW) has launched a new initiative focusing on woman councillors and members of Island Women’s Development Committees, (IWDC) aiming to “increase their involvement in decision and policy making processes.”

In a press statement on Sunday, (August 14) HFW stated it will “facilitate a three day training workshop in 11 targeted islands for representatives from the IWDCs and training in Malé for the 59 newly elected women councilors.”

“These workshops will focus on identifying challenges and solutions to improve the performance of IWDCs in assisting island councilors to develop and implement an effective strategic action plan.”

IWDCs are a subcommittee of the island council and are responsible for fund raising and activities to empower women. Only women are eligible to vote for IWDC members.

The majority of local councilors are men, with women having relatively few decision making powers at island level. The People’s Majlis in 2010 rejected a provision to include a quota for women in local councils.

Earlier this year, the government proposed abolishing the committees as part of a streamlining of local governance.

A recent publication by European Union Election Observation Mission for the Majlis elections in March noted that “women have traditionally been relegated to the private rather than the public sphere of life.”

HFW, one of the few NGOs working solely on the rights of women, conducts various programmes aimed at empowering women and supporting victims of gender discrimination. It recently launched an initiative to provide legal counseling on family law and prevention of domestic violence law.

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MJA election indefinitely delayed

The Maldives Journalist Association (MJA)’s election of its executive committee has been indefinitely delayed. It was previously scheduled to be held on Sunday, September 21.

In a statement released today, the MJA explained that the delay in the election is due to numerous complaints received regarding recently submitted membership forms. It states that the currently serving executive committee decided unanimously to delay the election until the complaints are resolved.

The statement elaborated on the nature of complaints received, stating that many concerned the application for membership by individuals who are not journalists, and errors in the names submitted on forms.

The MJA has made three previous attempts to hold the elections, but it has been cancelled every time due to concerns raised by various members of the association.

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Malé-Hulhulé bridge will be opened in 2017, says tourism minister

Work on the proposed bridge linking capital Malé and Hulhulé is to begin next year with aims of opening the bridge in 2017, says Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb.

An MoU was signed yesterday between the Chinese and the Maldivian governments concerning the promotion of the bridge during the first ever presidential visit by a Chinese President to the Maldives.

Speaking to Haveeru, Adeeb said that President Abdulla Yameen plans for the bridge to be open in 2017.

The project is linked to President Yameen’s plans for a ‘youth city’ in Hulhumalé, which is reported to include youth-specific housing, international class sports facilities, a theme park, yacht marina, and a tourism district for a population of 50,000.

“President Yameen has a lot of ambitions for Youth City. Creating lots of job opportunities along with housing is amongst the aims President Yameen has for the city. All of this is connected via the bridge. So God willing, the bridge project will be completed,” said Adeeb.

Chinese President Xi Jinpeng suggested the name ‘China-Maldives Friendship Bridge’ to be given to the bridge in recognition to the strong diplomatic relations between the two states.

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Agreement with UNOPS for supply of medicine terminated

An agreement signed between the government and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in April last year to supply medicine and equipment to government hospitals and health centres has been terminated.

In a press release yesterday, UNOPS that the MVR67 million (US$4,370,544) agreement was canceled with mutual consent following discussions. The State Trading Organisation (STO) is reportedly set to take over procurements for the health sector.

Under the agreement, UNOPS said more than 200 pieces of equipment were provided to health centres and hospitals in 20 regions. While 146 types of pharmaceuticals were stored in warehouses when the agreement came into force, UNOPS said the figure has risen to 782 at present.

Medical supplies worth MVR37 million (US$2.3 million) had been provided under the agreement, the press release added.

The initial agreement with UNOPS had been modified following instructions by the Anti-Corruption Commission, which investigated complaints alleging violations of public finance regulations.

“Getting pharmaceuticals and equipment through a UN-agency like UNOPS will ensure quality, as they only buy high-quality, best-value goods from suppliers that meet their standards,” Health Ministry Director General Dr Sheeza Ali had told local media in May last year.

“An analysis we did before signing the agreement showed that the cost of obtaining pharmaceuticals and other equipment would decrease by 20-30 percent.”

The two year contract, signed on April 15, 2013, required the Maldives’ government to pay the UN agency on a twice yearly basis.

Meanwhile, former Health Minister Dr Mariyam Shakeela alleged last week that she was ousted in order to clear the way for corruption within the health sector.

Shakeela told newspaper Haveeru that political opponents intended to utilise the position to benefit from large scale corruption in the health sector.

“I am not talking about small amounts [of money]. For example, because of the state of disrepair of infrastructure, about MVR500,000 has to be spent at least to build even one place. In most places, it goes above a million,” she explained.

“So consider the profit people could make. They could give it to whoever they want. They could do whatever they want to purchase equipment. I tried to do it without allowing any of that.”

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Chinese Presidents departs after historic visit

Chinese President Xi Jinpeng has departed from the Maldives this morning after concluding a historic first ever visit to the Maldives by a Chinese President.

China and Maldives signed eight different MoUs during Xi’s one day visit, most notably the agreements on the development of Ibrahim International Airport (INIA) and promoting the construction of the Malé-Hulhulé Bridge.

Maldives also agreed to actively take part in the 21st century maritime silk road linking china to the east coast of Africa and to the Mediterranean further strengthening the diplomatic ties with the Chinese Government.

Other agreements include a Chinese funded and implemented Hulhumale housing project and a 15.1 kilometer link road in southern Laamu Atoll.

President Xi said he would encourage Chinese investment and promised financial support for further projects in the Maldives. He also encouraged more Maldivians to visit China and said that the two governments should encourage travel exchanges.

Xi is due to visit Sri Lanka today and India tomorrow as part of his South Asia tour.

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Health sector unprepared for potential HIV outbreak, warns HRCM

The health sector is unprepared for a potential outbreak of HIV in the Maldives in the absence of prevention programmes and specialised care for population groups at risk, the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) has warned.

“[The Health Protection Agency] mandated with HIV/AIDS prevention/control is not adequately funded and lacks capacity to lay down such a system,” reads the HRCM’s submission for the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review.

“There are no prevention services for high risk groups, increasing the risk of spreading HIV. High risk factors including sharing of needles to inject drugs, high sexual activity among adolescents and youth could contribute to an increased prevalence of HIV/AIDS. It is alarming that there is no screening system for HIV/AIDS and STI in the prison system; considering some of the identified HIV patients go in and out of prison as repeated offenders.”

In May, the health ministry issued new guidelines on preventing the transfer of HIV from mother to child while the Health Protection Agency warned of an HIV “time bomb.”

A series of protests over regional healthcare services occurred earlier this year after it was revealed that the state-run Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) had transfused HIV positive blood to a patient in February due to an alleged technical error.

The HRCM report also noted that health services were “not easily accessible and available in atolls and lack healthcare professionals such as gynaecologists and paediatricians.”

“Public has no trust in the healthcare system due to many avoidable health incidents and sensitive medical information of patients being leaked,” the report stated.

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Victim of Hulhumale’ accident flown abroad for medical treatment

The 15 year old male victim of a hit and run accident in Hulhumale’ last Thursday has been flown to Sri Lanka for further medical treatment.

The victim was a passenger on one of the two motorcycles that collided during the accident.

Local media reports that the victim was in critical condition even when flown to Sri Lanka, and that he was suffering from major head injuries.

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Government sends defrauded pilgrims to Mecca

The government has sent the 121 victims of the al-Fatuh Hajj and Umra group frauds on the Hajj pilgrimage under the care of the Hajj Corporation.

According to local media, the people sent today were those who had paid al-Fatuh and obtained their visas before the company pleaded bankruptcy to the Islamic Ministry explaining that it would not be able send the pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.

Haveeru reported that the government has spent MVR9 million (US$584,036) to cover the expenses of the defrauded pilgrims.

At a press conference on Friday, Islamic Minister Dr Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed said that the government was covering the expenses of the victims because the Saudi Arabian Government might reduce the quota to the Maldivians if the full quota is not fulfilled.

The 1000 pilgrims quota provided by the Saudi Arabian Government is split into two, with 500 reserved for the Hajj Corporation and the rest divided into private corporations chosen after a bidding process.

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