Category: News in Brief

MMA seeks design for new rufiyaa note for 50th anniversary of independence

The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has invited designs for a new rufiyaa note to commemorate the upcoming 50th anniversary of independence next year.

The new cash notes series named ‘Rann Dhiha Faheh’ would also have increased security features, the central bank said.

An award of MVR300,000 has been announced for the best concept and design submitted for the new notes.

A futher MVR50,000 is to be awarded to the best design submitted for the memorial and celebratory cash note to mark the ‘Minivan 50,’ the slogan for the 50th anniversary.

Information sessions with interested parties are due to take place on September 11 and 13 with registration required before 2pm next Tuesday.

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MVK agrees to resume ferry services in Addu City

MVK has agreed to resume stalled ferry services in Addu City following discussions with the Addu City Council and the Ministry of Economic Development this week.

MVK Maldives Pvt Ltd was contracted to provide ferry services in the southernmost atoll under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement signed by the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) government in 2009.

Officials from the company has previously told parliament’s government oversight committee that plots of land awarded under the agreement have not been handed over.

Addu City Deputy Mayor Abdulla Thoyyib told online news outlet CNM that the company has agreed to resume ferry services next week while the city council agreed to hand over the plots of land within a month.

However, the company requested until December to start ferry services to nearby Fuvahmulah, he said.

Last month, MDP MP for Addu Meedhoo, Rozaina Adam, described the government’s “indifference” to providing regular ferry services in Addu City as discriminatory.

While there have been no regular service for the past two years, Addu City Mayor Mayor Abdulla ‘Soabe’ Sodiq said at the time that many are forced to take expensive private boats, while in medical emergencies people usually hire a speed boat for approximately MVR2,500 – double that rate at night.

Hulhumeedhoo, with an estimated population of over six thousand, is disconnected from the rest of the inhabited islands of the city which are joined by the 14km Addu Link Road causeway.

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Security cameras at ferry terminals to be integrated with police network

Police have held discussions with the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) on Monday (September 1) about connecting security cameras at ferry terminals to the police camera network.

Police agreed to assist MTCC with installation of additional cameras and begin the integration process for monitoring ferry terminals, according to police media.

“The Maldives Police Services was represented at the meeting by the Head of the Central Operations Command, Chief Superintendent of Police Ismail Naveen, the Deputy Head of the Central Operations Command, Superintendent of Police, Abdulla Shareef and high ranking members from the Maafannu Galolhu, Villimalé and Hulhumalé Police Stations while the MTCC was represented by their General Manager, Ismail Adhuham and some of their senior members,” police said.

Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan Abdulla, who is believed to have been abducted outside his apartment building in Hulhumalé, was last seen on the Malé-Hulhumalé ferry.

While Rilwan was seen on CCTV footage at the ferry terminal in Malé, there were no security cameras at the ferry terminal in Hulhumalé.

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Man arrested on suspicion of abusing five-year-old child

Police arrested a 40-year-old man yesterday on suspicion of sexually abusing a five-year-old girl.

He was taken into custody with an arrest warrant after the case was reported to police on Monday (September 1).

Police did not reveal any further details. However, according to local media, the suspect was the father of the victim and the abuse was discovered after the mother left the girl in the care of another person.

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JP calls on government to speed up projects included in PSIP budget

The Jumhooree Party (JP) has called on the government to launch projects included in the public sector investment programme (PSIP) approved with the annual budget passed by parliament.

Following a meeting with Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad, JP MP Abdulla Riyaz told the press that a number of projects for which funds were allocated in the PSIP budget had yet to commence, some of which were planned for constituencies represented by the party’s MPs.

The former police commissioner said the party accepted that the government was facing difficulties managing the budget, assuring the JP’s cooperation for passing a supplementary budget to finance the development projects.

After criticising the government’s flagship special economic zone (SEZ) legislation in parliament, the JP reversed its stance and announced a three-line whip in favor of the bill.

The change in the party’s stance closely followed the government’s cancellation of various business agreements made with the JP leader Gasim Ibrahim’s Villa Group.

Following Gasim’s crucial decision to support President Abdulla Yameen’s 2013 presidential election bid, his party joined the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and its ally Maldivian Development Alliance in contesting the March parliamentary polls as part of the Progressive Coalition.

However, the PPM severed its coalition agreement with the JP in May after Gasim stood for post of Majlis speaker despite the PPM fielding its senior MP Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed.

Following the passage of the SEZ bill, the JP has sought reconciliation, whilst President Yameen has signalled that the government was willing to “work together” with the former coalition partner.

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Nine persons apply for vacant High Court judge post

Nine persons – six males and three females – have applied for the vacant post of Judge on the High Court bench.

The applicants are UNDP Resident Representative Aishath Rizna, Family Court Head Judge Hassan Saeed, Hulhumalé Court Marriage Registrar Hassan Ali, Criminal Court Judges Abdulla Didi, Muhuthaz Fahmy, and Civil Court Judges Aishath Sujoon, Mariyam Nihaayath, Hussain Mazeed, Abdulla Jameel Moosa.

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Journalist Haseen denies charges of obstructing police duty

Channel News Maldives (CNM) journalist Abdulla Haseen has denied charges raised against him of working with political figures to obstruct police duties.

At a hearing held at the Criminal Court today, Haseen is reported in local media as having said that he had attended political rallies only as a journalist with the intention of covering them for news pieces.

Haseen is accused of having removed police barricades and of speaking to police officers in obscene language along with Abdulla Idrees of Gulfaamuge in Laamu Maavah and former opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor.

The next hearing of the case has been scheduled to be held on September 28.

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Autism association launches training programme for teachers

The Maldives Autism Association (MAA) has launched a special programme to train teachers of children with special needs, reports newspaper Haveeru.

MAA Managing Director Ifham Hussan told the local daily that 40 teachers are participating in the four-day course at the social centre. Training is being conducted by two experts from Malaysia and Singapore, she added.

“We are not going to be covering modules on autism only in this programme, we will try and cover all the areas relative to children with all kinds of disabilities. By the time the training draws to a close, the participants will know how to manage such children within classrooms,” she was quoted as saying.

The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives’ ‘National Inquiry on Access to Education for Children with Disabilities’ earlier this year documented systemic failings in the education system.

The autism association is a founding member of the recently established Child Advocacy Network of Disability Organisations (CAN DO), designed to protect and promote the rights and well-being of children with disabilities.

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Three men arrested in Fuvahmulah for rape

Three men have been arrested in Fuvahmulah on suspicion of raping an 18-year-old woman, reports local media.

Police revealed that the three suspects – aged 21, 22 and 26 – were taken into custody on Monday (September 1) with arrest warrants issued after the rape was reported on Friday (August 29).

The incident occurred the night before and police are reportedly searching for two additional men suspected of involvement.

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