A woman was injured today after a falling branch hit her on the head near the national stadium on Majeedhee Magu in Malé, reports local media.
According to police, a branch fell off from a tree in Galolhu Heenaamage around 12:10pm due to strong winds. The woman was taken to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital for treatment of head injuries.
The fallen branch also damaged four parked motorcycles and a shop in the area.
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(0)Today’s sitting of parliament was adjourned by Speaker Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed amid vociferous protests by opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs over an amendment proposed to the parliamentary rules to require a vote ahead of debating bills and resolutions.
MDP MPs accused the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) of attempting to “silence the voice of the minority party” by blocking debate on resolutions.
The PPM together with the five MPs of coalition partner Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) have a combined 48 seats in the 85-member house.
Under the existing rules or standing orders, bills and resolutions submitted to the People’s Majlis have to be tabled in the agenda and debated on the floor ahead of a vote.
If MPs decide to accept a bill or resolution following preliminary debate, it would be sent to committee for further review ahead of a final vote.
Previously, motions without notice – which opens the floor for a one-hour debate on matters of urgent public importance – submitted by MDP MPs have been defeated by the majority party.
In July, pro-government MPs voted against a motion without notice submitted by MDP MP Imthiyaz Fahmy to debate the Judicial Service Commission’s (JSC) controversial decision to clear Supreme Court Justice Ali Hameed of misconduct over his appearance in a series of sex tapes.
Imthiyaz revealed to the press this week that Speaker Maseeh – a member of the PPM – had sent a letter on Saturday (August 16) to the general affairs committee requesting the revision.
Imthiyaz noted that a resolution he submitted in July calling for a parliamentary debate on the JSC decision regarding Justice Ali Hameed’s sex tapes has yet to be tabled in the agenda by the speaker.
Today’s sitting became disorderly during debate on a report (Dhivehi) compiled by the general affairs committee after evaluating the amendments proposed by the speaker.
The committee had rejected the amendment proposed to section 77(a) after MDA MP Ahmed Amir voted in favour of a proposal by Jumhooree Party (JP) MP Ahmed Mubeen to keep the section unchanged.
The proposal was passed with five votes after Amir voted with JP and MDP MPs on the committee.
However, PPM MP Jameel Usman proposed the same amendment during today’s debate, prompting MDP MPs to object with points of order.
Several MDP MPs also sprang from their seats and surrounded Usman while he was proposing the amendment. Under the rules, once an amendment is proposed to a committee report and seconded, the speaker must put it to a vote.
MDP and JP MPs accused the ruling party of attempting to overrule the committee decision by using their majority in the full house floor.
However, Usman reportedly said later that he was not in favour of requiring a vote ahead of preliminary debates for bills and resolutions, claiming that he was going to propose giving each party and independent MP five minutes during debates but was shouted down.
(0)Dislikes(0)Information Commissioner Abdul Azeez Jamal Abubakur has said that information commissioners in most government offices have been appointed “against the spirit” of the landmark Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Azeez told newspaper Haveeru yesterday that the RTI law stipulates that information officers must not be a high-ranking official.
However, most information officers at state institutions were senior officials, the commissioner noted.
As the law requires a review committee comprised of senior officials, Azeez said there could be conflicts of interest.
Moreover, there were some offices that have yet to appoint information officers, the former Progressive Party of Maldives MP said, noting that these were mostly various departments operating under ministries.
Azeez said he was in the process of hiring employees for the information commissioner’s office and expected to begin work in the near future. The office was established by President Abdulla Yameen in early July after the RTI law came into force.
The commissioner’s tenure is five years and he has the power enforce a fine on information officers who deliberately refuse access to information. Such a fine may not exceed MVR5,000 (US$324).
The commissioner may also fine any individual who destroys requested information, obstructs a public authority or the information officer’s from providing access to information. Such a fine may not exceed MVR25,000 (US$1621).
(0)Dislikes(0)Private broadcaster Raajje TV has secured financial assistance for three underprivileged families enduring hardship who were featured in a special programme called ‘Dreams’ aired during Ramadan.
The first show told the story of a woman from Kaafu Guraidhoo struggling to survive with a husband whose kidneys had failed. Her “dream” was to have medical care available without having to travel.
With the help of private sponsors, Raajje TV presented the family a fully-furnished apartment in Malé with rent paid for a year.
Additionally, Dhiraagu donated a mobile phone, free internet for a year, and a one-year worth prepaid voucher while Avid College pledged to provide one year’s tuition-free higher education for a child in the family.
Moreover, MVR14,500 (US$940) donated from various parties were also presented to the family. The financial assistance was presented to the three families at at a ceremony on Sunday night (August 17).
The second show of the programme told the story of a family on the island of Thinadhoo in Gaaf Dhaal atoll with four special needs children. The family’s hope was being able to move to an apartment in Hulhumalé provided by the state.
In addition to furniture for the apartment donated by sponsors, including a washing machine, television, notebook computer, Allied Medicals pledged to provide free medical care to the youngest child.
Raajje TV also raised MVR35,000 (US$2,270) to pay rent for the apartment and arranged for a monthly stipend of MVR2,000 (US$130).
The third programme featured a single mother in Raa Meedhoo caring for a child with special needs while raising her other children. Her hope was to be able to work from home and earn an income.
Well-wishers donated three sewing machines and a laptop while Avid College pledged to cover costs of a degree course for one of her children. Allied Medicals meanwhile sponsored healthcare costs of the child with special needs.
(0)Dislikes(0)The People’s Majlis’ general affairs committee yesterday rejected an amendment proposed to the parliamentary rules to require a vote ahead of debating bills and resolutions on the floor.
At a press conference on Sunday (August 17), opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Imthiyaz Fahmy revealed that Speaker Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed – a member of the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives – had sent a letter to the general affairs committee requesting the revision.
Under the existing rules or standing orders, a resolution submitted to parliament has to be debated on the floor ahead of a vote.
Imthiyaz contended that the move by the majority party – which holds a comfortable majority in the 85-member house – was intended to “silence” the minority.
According to opposition-aligned private broadcaster Raajje TV, Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) MP Ahmed Amir voted in favour of a proposal by Jumhooree Party (JP) MP Ahmed Mubeen to keep the section unchanged.
The proposal was approved despite PPM MPs voting against it after JP and MDP MPs voted in favour. Amir’s was the deciding vote.
The MDA is a coalition partner of the ruling party.
MP Imthiyaz had noted that a resolution he submitted in July calling for a parliamentary debate on a controversial decision by the Judicial Service Commission clearing Supreme Court Justice Ali Hameed of misconduct has yet to be tabled in the agenda by the speaker.
The resolution was submitted after pro-government MPs voted down a motion without notice submitted by the MDP for a parliamentary debate on the issue.
(0)Dislikes(0)Uninhabited islands leased for agriculture, fisheries or research purposes will be reclaimed if work is not being done in accordance with agreements, the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture has warned in a circular (Dhivehi) yesterday (August 17).
The ministry explained that the islands were leased after evaluating proposals and accompanying work plans while agreements signed with the lease holders are treated in line with the Contracts Act of 1991.
Work was not being conducted in most leased islands in accordance with the work plans, the circular stated, adding that reports were also not being submitted regularly as stipulated by the agreements.
Moreover, the ministry often faced difficulties sending documents to lease holders as some no longer resided in the given addresses, the circular noted.
If corrective measures were not taken within a 3-month period to carry out work in accordance with the submitted plan, the ministry warned that legal action would be taken under contract law.
Last week, the ministry decided not to renew the lease of Laamu Baresdhoo, an uninhabited island leased to Jumhooree Party Leader Gasim Ibrahim’s Villa company for agriculture.
Moreover, the fisheries ministry gave a 30-day notice to reclaim a plot of land in Gaaf Dhaal Hoadehdhoo leased to Gasim’s Horizons Fisheries.
According to the ministry, more than 60 islands were leased in the past for a period of 20 or 21 years.
At a press briefing yesterday, Deputy Minister Khursheed Thowfeek revealed that the ministry was in the process of formulating new rules for leasing uninhabited islands.
Khursheed also revealed that the decision not to renew the lease for Baresdhoo was made after the President’s Office informed the ministry that island has been designated for tourism development.
The ministry was in talks with Villa over extending the lease when a letter from the President’s Office was sent, he noted.
“So what we do? In truth, islands are only in our care for a very short period. When the Maldivian government decides that a particular ministry wants islands for a particular purpose, we have to hand over the islands,” he said.
(0)Dislikes(0)Education Minister Dr Aishath Shiham presented award letters to 258 recipients under a tertiary student loan scheme yesterday (August 17).
According to the Ministry of Education, 313 prospective students applied for the loans in March to seek higher education in the Maldives and overseas.
The scheme would provide loans to 750 students, the ministry said, and would be financed out of the state budget through a revolving fund created in 2012.
In January, the Anti-Corruption Commission had asked the ministry to reevaluate the vetting procedure for awarding points to applicants.
(0)Dislikes(0)“Down a narrow alley and up the stairs of an unglamorous building in the bustling island city of Malé, a slight-framed, bespectacled man sits alone at a polished boardroom table. His minute stature, reflected on the vast wooden surface under drab lighting, is accentuated,” writes Mary Boland for the Irish Times.
“It is a scene redolent both of the new political reality in which he is swamped and his preparedness, shirtsleeves rolled, to continue pushing a controversial agenda regardless of who comes or does not come to the table.
Mohamed Nasheed, the democracy campaigner, journalist and environmental activist who in 2008 became the first democratically elected president of the Maldives – and the darling of the climate change protest movement – is once again fighting for a political foothold.
“It’s not easy to overcome a dictatorship,” he says, his high-pitched voice rising often to a squeal, his body twitching with energy. “You can change the ruler, you can change the dictator, but it’s difficult to uproot it unless you have some time in between, and unless you have a fair amount of support from others also: from the international community, from international agencies, from NGOs, from everyone. We were not able to muster that kind of international support to nurture democracy in the Maldives.”
The saga of the rise and fall of Nasheed (47), the most popular politician in this south Asian resort archipelago of 1,192 tiny, precariously low-lying coral islands necklaced in the Indian Ocean, reads like a political thriller.”
(0)Dislikes(0)Buried ancient relics have been discovered on the island of Utheemu in Haa Alif atoll, reports newspaper Haveeru.
Utheemu Island Council Chair Asrar Adam told the local daily that the relics were discovered while the island’s football stadium was being flattened.
The relics included three pots and a number of cowries shells, which were used as currency in antiquity, Adam said, adding that glassware was also found inside the pots.
The items would be handed over to the heritage department, he said.
The relics were discovered about 250-feet from the palace of Boduthakurufaanu, a former sultan and national hero who hailed from Utheemu.
While there has been no dwellings in the football grounds area in living memory, Asrar said the council has learned that it might have been inhabited in the past.
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