Category: Politics

High Court rules against Alpha MVKB duty free shop

The High Court today backed the Civil Court ruling that GMR’s decision to terminate its contract with Alpha MVKB duty free shop at the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport in March was valid, and that MVK’s request to extend the notice until December 31 violated its contract with GMR.

According to the ruling, GMR had vacated the Alpha MVKB Duty Free Shop at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) legally and according to the agreement between both companies.

The High Court noted that GMR gave notice on March 1 and, as per the agreement, the contract terminated on March 31. As no party could extend the termination notice, the court concluded that MVK had no right to remain at the airport without approval from GMR.

Alpha MVKB was leased for 10 years under an agreement between MVK and Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL). The agreement requires the party wishing to terminate the agreement to give a one-month notice; the High Court stressed that both parties had that right.

The High Court also denied MVK’s request for a temporary order allowing them to run the duty free shop through December 31 on the basis that the case had been closed.

Airport shops contracted under Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) were allowed to remain in operation for one year after GMR took over airport management. As per the MACL contracts, all shop contracts will terminate on December 31 of this year.

GMR said it has given the required 90-day notice to all shops except Spice Island, which will remain in service. Plans for new shops are unclear, however GMR has said it welcomes any company offering a product appealing to locals and foreigners alike.

Minivan News made repeated calls to Alpha MVKB Managing Director Ibrahim Shafeeq, MVK  and Alpha MVKB offices, but had received no response at time of press.

GMR officials today said they could not issue a comment on the case until they received an official notice of the ruling.

Earlier this month, Customs officials intervened when GMR officials began dismantling a temporary wall outside of the Alpha shop and packing up goods.

“Duty-free goods are Customs’ responsibility, and we will be involved in the process of opening or closing duty-free shops,” said Customs Director Ismail Nashid. “As for the goods involved, there are several options for the shop owner to choose from including importing the stock to the Maldives or selling it internationally.”

GMR officials earlier said that action was taken against the shop after several notices for evacuation had been ignored, thereby complicating the airport renovation schedule.

The airport renovation is the single largest foreign investment in the Maldives at US$400 million. GMR is upgrading the old terminal ahead of completing construction of the new terminal in 2014, and will operate the airport for 25 years under a concession agreement signed last year with the government.

GMR has faced repeated legislative battles since it entered the contractual agreement.

Opposition Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) earlier filed a case challenging GMR’s right to collect a US$25 (Rf385.5) Airport Development Charge (ADC) and US$2 (Rf30.8) Insurance Charge commencing January 2012. The DQP had claimed that a pre-existing Airport Service Charge (ASC) of US$18 (Rf277.56) invalidates the ADC.

The Civil Court ruled against GMR on December 8 on the grounds that a clause in the concession agreement with GMR violated the Airport Service Charges Act of 1978, which was amended in 2009 to raise the charge to US$18 for foreign passengers and US$12 for Maldivians above two years of age.

The government has said it will likely appeal the lower court’s ruling, given its contractual obligation to GMR.

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“Kill me before you kill a fellow Maldivian”: President condemns calls for religious violence

“Kill me before you kill a fellow Maldivian,” President Mohamed Nasheed has said, after several slogans calling for the “slaughter of anyone against Islam” were published yesterday on a website calling for a religious protest on December 23.

The organisers of the protest yesterday removed the slogans calling for murder, attributing them to “a mistake on the technical teams’ side.”

The website, 23December.com, this morning appeared to have been targeted by hackers, replaced with green skulls and the statement “We’ll come out against you with machetes if you protest.”

The original site promoting the protest is now back up at the domain.

Speaking at a Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) rally last night, President Nasheed promised that should the protests target Maldivians, “The government and MDP will come out in defence of the people. We’ll not come out on the streets with the defence forces but with bare hands. No one can confront us on these streets,” Nasheed was reported as saying.

His statements followed an attack on Saturday against a group of ‘silent protesters’ on the Artificial Beach calling for religious tolerance. Several people were injured in the skirmish, including controversial blogger Ismail ‘Khilath’ Rasheed who’s website was last month blocked on the order of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.

That evening, Nasheed gave an address at a function marking International Human Rights Day, in which he said that “Islam stands for the dignity, honour, and nobility of mankind, on which Islamic Sharia is based”, and contended that those who claimed Sharia conflicts with fundamental human rights “are clearly unable to comprehend or accept Sharia verdicts.”

The explosive reaction against UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, following her recent call for a moratorium and debate on the practice of flogging for extramarital sex, and an amendment to the “discriminatory” constitutional provision that all Maldivians be Muslim, was a lost opportunity to showcase Sharia’s compatability with human rights, he said.

“Our scholars lost the chance by reacting in a provocative and ‘Jihadi’ manner, even calling to harm the High Commissioner,” Nasheed said.

Religious figures were yesterday quick to publicly condemn the calls for violence.

Speaking to Minivan News, Former State Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed said that the slogan calling for murder was “not good”, adding that “Islam is a religion of peace, not of violence”.

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Proposed switch to generic drugs would improve transparency of medical system, say doctors

A proposal currently under review would allow doctors to provide medication directly from health centers, bypassing the prescription process which often leads patients on a wild goose chase around Male’s pharmacies.

State Health Minister Ibrahim Waheed yesterday announced that the proposal is being discussed with health corporations, and that prescriptions could be ruled out by next June at the earliest.

He further suggested that a large pharmacy would be established in every atoll hospital, and would supply products to other health centers across the atolls.

Health Minister Aminath Jameel reportedly did not respond to most questions posed by MPs regarding health corporations at a committee meeting yesterday. Speaking to Minivan News today she said the proposal fell under the ministry’s remit but that she did not have the details and was unable to comment.

Other officials and offices at the Health Ministry had not responded to phone calls at time of press.

Generic drug-based systems which include hospital-centered distribution are commonly practiced in other countries, sources say.

The World Health Organisation supports the use of generic drugs, particularly in developing countries.

In a speech earlier this year, WHO Director General Dr. Margaret Chan said, “Generic products are considerably less expensive than originator products, and competition among generic manufacturers reduces prices even further. Generics serve the logic of the pocket. An affordable price encourages good patient compliance, which improves treatment outcome and also protects against the emergence of drug resistance.”

CEO of Indira Ghandi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) Cathy Waters said the hospital had not been officially informed of the proposal, but noted that pharmacies were generally not well-stocked and that there were multiple available brands.

Medical Director at Male’ Health Service Corporation Dr Robert Primhak said he “would welcome an improvement in pharmaceutical supply and prescribe system.”

According to Primhak, doctors currently prescribe drug brands rather than generic medications. Shifting to a generic drug-based system would mean that a list of nationally-approved drugs would be available for the first time in hospitals, clinics and pharmacies, a “major improvement” that would improve the medical system’s transparency.

However, such a shift would also require “robust quality control” and a centralised import and supply system, Primhak said.

These reforms could take the edge off of the medical import and supply business.

“There’s no business advantage in stocking medications that are not commonly used,” Primhak explained. “For example, a baby who is born with a heart problem needs a specific drug to keep a vessel open. We might get that case three times a year. But instead of stocking these specialised drugs which are only rarely used, the retailers prefer to stock common drugs and brands that will sell, because they know that they can get a turnover.

“The drugs that are imported are the ones they want to sell, not the ones we want to prescribe.”

MPs yesterday voiced concern that the proposed system would incur huge losses for pharmaceutical importers.

Minivan News asked Primhak if medical decisions in the Maldives were driven by business interests and ought to be re-directed towards serving the people. “Yes, to both points,” he said.

Chief Operating Officer at ADK Hospital and former head of the Center for Community Health and Disease Control (CCHDC), Ahmed Jamsheed, believes the proposed change would engender a stronger monitoring system by default.

“The new system would move towards generic drugs which would make it easier to monitor drug quality and standards, and bring down the price,” he said.

It would also improve patient convenience. “Now, a medication prescribed by a doctor in ADK may not be available in the hospital pharmacy, so the patient has to hop around to different pharmacies to get the prescription filled.”

Jamsheed believes the change would benefit the Maldives’ medical system but agrees that the focus should be on people, not corporations.

“Currently, there is a big network of pharmacies, most of which are privately owned. It is known that most pharmacies are poorly monitored, and the authorities are unable to control them. Many prescription-only drugs not meant for over-the-counter sale are actually available to anyone who asks. That carries a huge risk for the patient community.”

Usually, Jamsheed said, a small country like Maldives only needs one or two sources for importing the drugs. But he said the MPs have a point: standardised markets don’t foster high profit margins. “But at the end of the day, the government has to consider whether the system is best for the country and its people,” he observed.

Under the proposed 2012 state budget, Rf2 billion is allocated to the health sector; Rf638 million of that amount is to be used for developing mechanisms providing easy access to health care. Another Rf543 million is designated to developing atoll health centres under Public Private Partnership.

The budget also allots R720 million to the universal health insurance scheme, due to take effect in January 2012, while Rf100 million is to be spent on health corporations’ capital investments, which are made to improve their services.

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Government expresses concern over protest’s call for “slaughter and murder”

A coalition of religious NGOs and opposition parties organising a religious protest on December 23 have launched a social media campaign and website, which this morning contained a list objectives including to “fight against all un-Islamic ideas” and to “slaughter anyone against Islam”.

The website, 23December.com, was launched by the President of the Adhaalath Party Imran Abdullah and includes news updates on the protest and religious articles aimed at promoting the event.

The list of slogans published on the site initially included statements such as: “Today’s law is to slaughter anyone against Islam”, and a call to “take the life” of anyone who challenged Islam “regardless of their party affiliation”.

The calls for violence were subsequently removed from the website, but not before the government expressed “deep concern” that “some people are using religion as a tool to call for murder and violence.”

“They are calling for slaughter and murder,” said President Mohamed Nasheesd’s Press Secretary, Mohamed Zuhair, urging “relevant authorities” to take action.

The organisers of the protest have accused the government of conducting many activities “with the motive of erasing Islam from the country”, claiming that they were “left with no other choice but to protest to protect Islam.”

The coalition claims that 100,000 people will join the December 23 protest “to protect Islam”, and called on “all Maldivians to take part”.

The website includes a list of grievances concerning the government’s religious credentials.

Zuhair meanwhile rejected the accusations and said that the government had no intention of erasing Islam or introducing other religions to the Maldives.

He noted that it was Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) that had introduced the concept of freedom of assembly to the Maldives, and that the government will always “welcome the people to gather and raise their voices on matters that concern them”.

“But I am being informed this particular demonstration has been called for political purposes with a hidden agenda to topple the government,” Zuhair said.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam told Minivan News that police had received a complaint about the slogan on the website calling for murder. However, he did not comfirm whether police were investigating it.

He did not reveal whether police intended to take any special security measures during the protest.

Protest organisers said today that the slogans were uploaded “by mistake”, and insisted that the protest itself would be non-violent.

“It was a mistake on the technical teams’ side. We will take every [measure] to ensure the security during the protest and I assure that there will be no violence propagated by our side. It will be a peaceful protest,” Minivan News was informed.

Speaking to Minivan News, Former State Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed said that the slogan calling for murder was “not good”, adding that “Islam is a religion of peace, not of violence”.

He acknowledged that “There are things I do not agree with when it comes to the government’s religious policies,”  however said that he believed the President Nasheed would correct matters if the public called for change.

He noted that he was not playing a lead role in organising the protest, but said he always supported peaceful assembly to voice the concerns of the people. He added that people must only speak of religion based on the Quran and Prophet’s Sunnah.

The Maldives has recently come under increasing international scrutiny following an apparent rise in religious intolerance.

Police investigating a violent attack on a ‘silent protest’ calling for religious tolerance, held at the Artificial Beach to mark Human Rights Day on December 10.

Several monuments gifted to the Maldives by other SAARC countries during the recent summit in Addu have been defaced or stolen on the grounds that they were idolatrous. Islamic Minister Dr Abdul Majeed Abdul Bari has condemned the monuments while the opposition has hailed the vandals as “national heroes”.

Protests also erupted last month after UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay spoke in parliament calling for the government and the judiciary to issue a moratorium and debate on flogging as a punishment for extra-marital sex.

“This practice constitutes one of the most inhumane and degrading forms of violence against women and should have no place in the legal framework of a democratic country,” Pillay said.

“The issue needs to be examined, and therefore I called for a countrywide discussion. It is much better if the issue is transparent and debated.”

Pillay also stated that requirement under the Maldivian constitution that all Maldivians be Muslim ”is discriminatory, and does not comply with international standards. I would urge a debate again on the issue to open up entrance of the constitution to all.”

The following day protesters gathered outside the UN building, carrying placards stating “Islam is not a toy”, “Ban UN” and “Flog Pillay”, and called on authorities to arrest the UN High Commissioner.

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Maldives must “better assist those who live under repressive regimes”: Ambassador to the EU tells ‘Freedom Online’ conference

Maldives Ambassador to Belgium and the European Union, Ali Hussain Didi, has attended the Freedom Online Conference at The Hague, Netherlands.

Representatives from Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Estonia, Ghana, Indonesia, the Republic of Ireland, Kenya, Mexico, Mongolia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Sweden, the European Commission, UNDP, NGO’s, cyber activists and internet companies attended the event.

US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton delivered a keynote speech at the opening session of the conference, hosted by Google and Free Press Unlimited.

“This is an urgent task. It is most urgent, of course, for those around the world whose words are now censored, who are imprisoned because of what they or others have written online, who are blocked from accessing entire categories of internet content, or who are being tracked by governments seeking to keep them from connecting with one another,” Clinton said.

Ambassador Didi spoke on behalf of Maldives Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Naseem, stating that “it is up to us as representatives of the international community to step up our efforts to remind all governments of their responsibilities, under international law, to protect human rights on-line.”

At the same time, the Communications Authority of the Maldives (CAM) last month blocked the website of controversial Maldivian blogger Ismail ‘Hilath’ Rasheed on the order of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs. The Ministry made the request on the grounds that the site contained anti-Islamic material.

CAM Director Abdulla Nafeeg Pasha told Minivan News in November that the Islamic Ministry had the power to regulate website content in the Maldives.

“If the ministry tells us to shut it down, that’s what we do. We do not make the decision,” Pasha said.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) subsequently issued a statement urging the government “not to give in to the fanatical minority” and to do “all it can to ensure the media are free to tackle any subjects they choose.”

“The increase in acts of religious intolerance is a threat to the Maldives’ young democracy”, RSF said, requesting the “immediate reopening of [Hilath’s] blog.”

RSF noted that there were harsh penalties for blasphemy under Maldivian law following new regulations enforcing the 1994 Religious Unity Act, which bans the media from circulating any material that “humiliates Allah, his prophets, the Koran, the Sunnah or the Islamic faith”.

Incidents involving media workers were rare in the Maldives, RSF observed, “but that is only because most of them prefer to censor themselves and stay away from subjects relating to Islam, unlike Ismail Khilath Rasheed.”

Speaking at the Freedom Online Conference, Ambassador Didi stated that “it is also beholden on us to better assist those who live under repressive regimes and who are trying to use the internet to spread the word about their plight, to mobilise support and to engender change.”

Rasheed was hospitalised with head injuries on Saturday after a ‘silent protest’ against religious intolerance was attacked by a group on men armed with stones.

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Comment: SAARC promises regional economic integration

With the ‘Addu Declaration’ issued at the conclusion of the 17th SAARC Summit in Maldives, resolving to take the maritime and rail linkages among member-nations forward and with tangible goals set for the present, there is promise of SAARC moving forward to integrate South Asian economies.

The decision for India, Maldives and Sri Lanka to cooperate in building maritime connectivity and for India, Bangladesh and Nepal to develop railway links will go a long way in bringing SAARC goals nearer to achievement full 25 years after the concept of South Asian cooperation was given some practical shape. Each of these components need to be expanded to cover other nations in the region. Bringing Afghanistan and Pakistan, into this process of building maritime and rail-road linkages in South Asia acquires importance, if the current initiative were not to be lost.

The success of SAARC depends on a variety of factors, both internal and external. First, there is the question of political resolve in member-nations to implement all the various declarations and decisions of SAARC summits. Differences between India and Pakistan have hampered the speedy completion of the SAARC agenda from the beginning. The inclusion of Afghanistan as a full-fledged SAARC member has brought in both opportunities as well as challenges.

Earlier the focus was on India-Pakistan differences as obstacles to progress. Now it is for Pakistan to address issues pertaining to fundamentalism and terrorism which affect the region and sort out the problems in its relations with Afghanistan. Pakistan will also have to shed its perceived security concerns related to Afghanistan and also facilitate over-land connectivity and two-way movement of goods between India and Afghanistan.

The India-Pakistan differences are really not as insurmountable as they might appear. Mutual trust will help to resolve them in course of time. Unfortunately, terrorism sponsored from Pakistan territory has continued to make neighbouring India look at Islamabad with suspicion.

There seems to be some realisation in Pakistan’s political circles about the need for working closely with Afghanistan and India even to eradicate terrorism from its soil. Pakistan-based terror groups, often assisted by the ISI, have also been using the territory of other SAARC nations, particularly Nepal and Bangladesh, to target India, which has give cause for concern to these countries also. Apprehensions now exist even in Maldives and Sri Lanka.

India’s role and responsibility

SAARC has taken 25 long years to reach where it is today. The growth of Indian economy during this period, and the opportunities that it offers to India’s South Asian neighbours, jointly and severally, were not there when SAARC was founded. India’s place in the global economy has given New Delhi a certain leverage and confidence to look at SAARC, and indeed at the world beyond, in full awareness of its responsibilities and role in contributing to their economic advancement.

South Asia’s economic integration will help India’s growth as much as the economic growth in its SAARC neighbours. Given the fact that the global economic turmoil has left very few nations, regions and groupings unaffected, for India to sustain its own economic growth it should help to develop the markets in South Asian countries and, at the same time, open up its own vast market to them. India’s economic success has contributed to a new awareness in these countries of their larger neighbour being more of a source of support and cooperation than of irritation. There are indications of fairly common desire to sort out the differences and irritants that their countries may have with India.

In the new environment of a fast globalising world, cooperation for a better future takes precedence over political confrontation and contention left over by history. In an environment of cooperation, willing neighbours will find India open-mined and generous in dealing with them. Even as efforts must continue to peacefully resolve lingering bilateral problems, SAARC countries must work together for the larger goal of peace, progress and prosperity of their people.

Common currency for SAARC?

Though SAARC’s founders had contemplated the EU model for it, the Association has been reluctant even to consider measures such as a SAARC passport for greater freedom of movement and unhindered trade, not to speak of open borders and single currency for the region’s integration. The Addu Summit was characterised by the usual timidity in this regard. The Summit Declaration chose not even to mention a forward-looking suggestion by the Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, for a ‘South Asian currency’.

However, Maldives has taken the initiative to begin discussions with India and Sri Lanka about direct exchange of its rufiya against the currencies of the other two nations. For Maldives, in particular, the measure would yield immediate benefit. India and Sri Lanka are its major trading partners and earning US dollars to pay for imports has been a major problem for the country. The solution should lie in balancing the books between SAARC members in terms of dollars and expanding the experiment to cover bilateral arrangements among all SAARC members. Common SAARC currency is an idea the adoption of which may become unavoidable, after a time, when there is greater integration of SAARC economies, including on the labour front.

Migrations in search of employment in the region are a problem and varying restrictive visa regimes are a part of it. India’s neighbours are complaining about the non-availability of the facility of visa-on-arrival regime in India. Maldives offers this facility to all nations owing to its needs as a global tourist destination. Sri Lanka, which used to be open, has begun to review the position: it has decided that the facility has to be bilateral. India has genuine concerns in regard to security and unauthorised movement of individuals.

Experience, however, has shown that ban on travel movement has not made the security situation any less worrisome. For Sri Lanka, the source of apprehension is different: Colombo is reluctant to enter into a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) because of its fears about Indian professionals and skilled labour flooding its market. India could have similar apprehensions, and a via media needs to be found at the SAARC-level. Issues remain between India and Bangladesh, on the labour front.

SAARC needs to evolve a common economic and fiscal policy for an effective free trade area. The Indian decision announced at Addu, to prune the ‘Sensitive List’ from 425 tariff-lines to 25, is a big positive step in the direction of economic integration of the SAARC countries. Moving in slow and halting steps, SAARC has, nevertheless, gathered some strength. The setting up of the SAARC University in New Delhi will create greater awareness among the young of the region of their common heritage, shared interests and help promote common standards in higher education.

The harmony and the spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation witnessed at the Addu Summit should, one hopes, lead to SAARC countries speaking with one voice on important issues in international arenas regardless of bilateral difference such as those between India and Pakistan. Complex bilateral problems are best left to be resolved through bilateral negotiations. The SAARC mandate rightly prohibits raising of such issues in the group’s meetings at different levels.

Perhaps, the most important feature of the 17th SAARC Summit was the one pertaining to the promotion of maritime and rail connectivity among three of the region’s eight countries. Much improved connectivity – maritime and on-land, duly extended to cover all member countries, will lead to reintegration of the region, which was, not-so long also, one single whole.

<strong>The writer is a Senior Fellow at the <a href=”http://www.orfonline.org/” target=”_blank”>Observer Research Foundation</a></strong>
<em>All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]</em>
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Durban “road map” points to 2020

Delegates at Durban have reached a legally-binding agreement after the longest debate period in two decades of UN climate talks. It is the first time that leading emitters China, India and the US have jointly signed a climate agreement.

No reform targets have been agreed to, however, and negotiations towards a more explicit emissions-cutting agreement await the 2012 conference in Quatar.

“The Durban Platform for Enhanced Action” is primarily “a road map” to further negotiations for another agreement in 2015, Environment Minister Mohamed Aslam has said, and differences between leading emitters remain on the table.

“What people had hoped for was to look at the Kyoto Protocol and make revisions so it would be more effectively applied, especially by those powers that didn’t ratify it initially. But that couldn’t be finalised, and differences remain among some of the world powers,” Aslam explained. Instead, the Kyoto Protocol was extended for another five years while member countries deliberate a “global, legally-binding instrument” to be voted on in 2015 and, if approved, ratified in 2020.

The agreement will aim to lower the global temperature to 2 degrees Celsius or less, with 1.5 degrees Celsius as a target temperature.

“Those numbers will be maintained unless a scientific report by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), to be released in 2014, finds that the numbers do not accurately reflect the situation,” Aslam said.

Meanwhile, the newly-founded Green Climate Fun intends to help poor nations address issues relevant to global warming such as drought, disease and erosion.

Speaking broadly about the efficiency of discussing climate change at an international level, Aslam said “further action is obviously required” and “more needs to be done internally.

“Countries have been saying that they support reformative action for climate change, and I think countries should start taking these actions.” Aslam pointed out that although the Maldives has consistently said it has “no problem with a legally binding agreement to cut emissions,” it lacks internal legislation in support of that goal.

“I plan to push for legislation to be passed through the Majlis stating our emissions targets. I believe it would be an example for the rest of the world,” Aslam said.

Aslam added that the current pledge-and-review process for evaluating climate deals bore no guarantee that reforms would be met.

Conference officials have issued positive statements about the outcome of the Durban talks, however small states and environmental groups were disappointed that the results were not bolder.

“We came here with plan A, and we have concluded this meeting with plan A to save one planet for the future of our children and our grandchildren to come,” South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said.

Britain’s Energy and Climate Secretary Chris Huhne said the result was “a great success for European diplomacy.”

“We’ve managed to bring the major emitters like the U.S., India and China into a roadmap which will secure an overarching global deal,” he said.

EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard also spoke in favor of the big picture. “The big thing is that all big economies, now all parties have to commit in the future in a legal way and that’s what we came here for.” The EU is credited for pushing China and the US to commit to a legally-binding agreement.

“In the end, it ended up quite well,” said U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern. “We got the kind of symmetry that we had been focused on since the beginning of the Obama administration. This had all the elements that we were looking for.”

India and island countries were more reluctant to hail the outcome as a success.

India’s Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan, who earlier criticised developed countries for not stepping up to the plate but asking developing countries to commit to climate reform, said her country had only reluctantly agreed to the accord.

“We’ve had very intense discussions. We were not happy with reopening the text but in the spirit of flexibility and accommodation shown by all, we have shown our flexibility… we agree to adopt it,” she said.

Local NGO BluePeace Director Ahmed Ikram said the group could not comment on the agreement because “since Copenhagen we have stopped attending these conferences, we doubt anything meaningful will come out of this.

Durban was the scene of protests during the conference, notably by young people calling the talks a “conference of polluters.” Minivan asked Minister Aslam whether the youth were the new face of climate change.

“I’ve always believed the issue of climate change cannot be resolved by politicians,” he said. “It has to be driven by the people. It is everyone’s issue and everyone should be involved. There are no better people to do this than the youth, especially since it is their future we are trying to protect.”

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Sri Lankan men sentenced for illegally importing alcohol in Reeko Moosa’s car

Three Sri Lankan nationals involved in the case concerning the discovery of hundreds of bottles of cheap alcohol in a car belonging to Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Parliamentary Group leader ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik, have been sentenced to one year in jail.

The Criminal Court identified the three men as Isru Priyankara Disilva Nufehevage, Niroshan Don and Muhaidhee Mohamed.

The four  men were arrested in February last year, while loading 168 bottles of whiskey and menthol gin into a car registered to Moosa, on the same day controversial liquor licensing regulations were unveiled by the Ministry of Economic Development.

Moosa, who was in Singapore at the time of the incident, has maintained that his driver was bribed and the bottles were planted in his car to attack him politically.

Moosa observed at the time that television station DhiTV “has been showing the incident non-stop for 24 hours.”

“The last time I was in an advertisement for a liquid was with my brother in a television ad for Sun-Up,” he said, suggesting that he should now be paid royalties for every bottle sold.

According to the Sunday’s ruling, the expats – including Reeko Moosa’s driver – told the court that the alcohol bottles were “gifts” and that some other people were involved. However, the ruling stated that they were unable provide any evidence to back their story.

Deliberating on the evidence submitted to the court by Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO), the court charged the three men for illegally importing alcohol to Maldives and sentenced each if them to one year imprisonment.

According to the Criminal Court, importing alcohol without a license from the Ministry of Economic Development is prohibited under article 5(b) of Contraband Act of 1975.

Although three men were convicted, the main suspect identified as the leader of the group fled during the police investigation.

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Greenpeace leader expelled as Durban talks overtime

Greenpeace International Executive Leader Kumi Naidoo was peacefully expelled from discussions along with several dozen protestors calling for decisive action at the United Nations’ Climate Change conference at Durban, which extended into overtime today.

Naidoo had led an occupation of the hallway outside the convention center’s plenary room; the center was officially deemed UN territory for the duration of the talks.

The occupation began several hours prior to Naidoo’s removal when the Maldives’ Environmental Minister Mohamed Aslam joined Naidoo and approximately 100 youth calling for immediate action on climate change.

According to a rush transcript issued by website democracynow.org, Aslam addressed the crowd with the following words during a call-and-response demonstration:

“You need to save us. The islands can’t sink. We have our rights. We have a right to live. We have a right for home. You can’t decide our destiny. We will have to be saved.”

Minivan News was unable to reach the minister at time of press.

Speaking to journalists after being removed from the area, Naidoo said the talks were heading towards a “completely unacceptable” outcome.

“What we see here are baby steps. Baby steps is not what the situation calls for — it calls for fundamental change,” he told AFP reporters.

In an interview with CCTV News’ James Chau, Aslam and Naidoo were asked to comment on the conference’s progress.

“We’re nowhere there yet,” said Aslam, while Naidoo added more emphatically, “we are sleepwalking into a crisis of epic proportions.”

When asked about critics who oppose the reality of climate change, Aslam offered an invitation: “Come to the Maldives, have a look yourself.”

Naidoo said he wasn’t surprised at the developed world’s hesitancy to approve a new agreement.

“When you look at the amount of money that the fossil fuel companies in the US put into contaminating the global public conversation, it’s much much more than the GDP of Maldives,” he said.

Offering motivation, Naidoo said that many groups are lobbying in favor of climate change and that the issue would supercede other concerns, such as economic recession, in the long run. “The only race that will matter is not the space race or the arms race, its the green race.”

One of the leading debates at the conference has been whether developing nations should be held to the same standards as developed nations in cutting carbon emissions.

India, China and the USA have lately been viewed as roadblocks to the adoption of the European Union’s legally binding treaty on cutting carbon emissions, which would be signed by 2015 and come into force by 2020.

The treaty is designed to build on earlier agreements under the Kyoto Protocol, due to expire at the end of 2012.

India’s environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan today criticised developed countries for resisting binding agreements while pressuring developing nations to address climate change.

“I was astonished and disturbed by the comments of my colleague from Canada who was pointing at us as to why we are against the roadmap,” she was reported saying by the Press Trust of India. “I am disturbed to find that a legally binding protocol to the Convention, negotiated just 14 years ago is now being junked in a cavalier manner.

“Countries which had signed and ratified it are walking away without even a polite goodbye,” she said. “And yet, pointing at others.”

EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard has expressed concern over the prolonged discussions, but said there was still a chance of an agreement.

“Now it’s not the first time in a COP that [by] Thursday night you’d not have the deal,” she told Voice of America. “So that is why I emphasise there still is time to move and I must say there have been a lot of constructive talks.”

The EU has issued a joint statement with a grouping of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and the Association of Small Island States in support of the EU proposal and requesting ambitious action from other countries.

The conference, which began on November 28 and was scheduled through December 3, is attended by 194 nations.

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