Day: November 27, 2013

No labourer permits for those who retain passports, warns immigration department

The immigration department has warned that permits allowing employers to bring expatriate workers into the country could be withheld if they are found to be forcefully retained.

Local media has reported the department as noting that the practice remains common, as does the practice of some employees demanding money before passports are released.

Such methods appeared on a list of grievances compiled by the Indian High Commission in Male’ early this year. Indian authorities said at the time that tightened restrictions over providing medical visas to Maldivians were a “signal” for the country’s government to address a number of concerns about the nation’s treatment of migrant workers.

The immigration department’s warning comes as the incoming government attempts to improve relations with the Indian government, with the Indian Prime Minister today extending an invitation to new President Abdulla Yameen.

Bangladesh recently lifted a ban on worker migration to the Maldives after a government delegation was sent to investigate allegations of fraudulent recruitment, forced labour and migrant unemployment.

The country had temporarily blocked its nationals from migrating to the Maldives in September – an action described by one key local employer as a response to decades of failure by Maldivian authorities to deal with “human trafficking” and labour management.

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Man dressed in niqab arrested for burglaries

A man in Hulhumale’ has been arrested for allegedly attempting a string of robberies whilst wearing a Niqab – the full face veil worn by some Muslim women.

Local media reported that the 40 year-old man was arrested for robbery and possession of pornography.

No further details of this case have as yet emerged.

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Indian Prime Minister extends invitation to President Yameen

India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has invited President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom for an official visit.

The invitation comes in reply to a letter by Yameen to the prime minister in which he assured Singh of his administration’s desire for enhanced bilateral ties and urged Singh to pay an official visit to the Maldives as soon as it was mutually convenient to do so.

President’s Office Spokesperson Ibrahim Muaz Ali said Yameen has accepted the invitation, but a date has not yet been decided for the visit.

Meanwhile, the Indian High Commissioner Rajiv Shahare paid a visit on the new Vice President Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, describing Indo-Maldivian ties as “privileged”.

The President’s Office noted that Jameel and Shahare took the opportunity to discuss the easing consular and visa restrictions for travelers between the two countries, as well as healthcare, defense cooperation, and human resource development.

Writing to  Singh, the President’s Office website reported Yameen as emphasising that “diverse Indo-Maldives people-to-people contact offers avenues for further cooperation”.

The Maldives’ traditionally close ties with India came under increasing strain under the previous government – of which the PPM was a prominent partner. The cancellation of a deal to develop Ibrahim Nasir International Airport in December 2012 was a particularly contentious issue.

The government’s sudden eviction of the Indian investor was quickly followed by visa restrictions and a list of 11 grievances handed to all senior Maldivian reporters by the Indian High Commission in January this year.

India has extended budget support aid to the Maldives on several occasions, most recently extending a Standby Credit Facility of US$ 100 million in 2008 and 2011 during President Mohamed Nasheed’s tenure.

Minivan News understands the Government of Maldives is currently in discussion with India to secure further budget support to plug the 2014 budget deficit.

Yameen has said the Maldives economy is in a “deep pit” and has pledged to reduce state expenditure.

During a visit to India in June, former President and PPM leader Maumoon Abdul Gayoom told the Indian PM of his disappointment that the Maldives’ relationship with India had been impacted upon by the then-government’s decision to evict GMR from the country with seven days notice.

“This was a mistake. Had he consulted all political parties, the public would not have formed the impression that corruption had taken place,” Gayoom was reported as saying in the Hindu.

The cancellation of the project is currently being investigated in a Singapore court of arbitration, with the Indian infrastructure company seeking US$1.4 billion in compensation – more than the Maldives’ annual budget.

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MNDF to establish TV channel, day care centre, open access to military hospital

The Maldives National Defense Forces (MNDF) will establish a TV channel and a day-care centre as well as providing public access to the military hospital within 100 days of government.

Recently reappointed Defense Minister Mohamed Nazim unveiled the raft of new initiatives during a ceremony held to reveal the MNDF’s new strategic action plan on Monday.

The Addana TV (Shield TV) will first be established solely for the MNDF, but will later be registered and broadcast for public viewing, MNDF Spokesperson Major Hussein Ali told Minivan News.

The military hospital Senahiya will be upgraded to provide MRI and CT scan services and will enlist specialised doctors. The 25 bed hospital currently caters to security forces and civil aviation staff but will be open for the public, Hussein said.

The day care center is an initiative of the Military Family Association and will ensure “soldier’s children are looked after in a compassionate and loving environment when their parents are at work,” Hussein said.

A new building with 72 new flats is also to be built in Bandeyri Koshi in Malé and the MNDF will build additional housing for soldiers in the MNDF headquarters.

Defense Minister Nazim said the key policies of the new Strategic Action Plan are strengthening of the national security framework, establishing a welfare system that does not rely on the state budget, developing infrastructure to enhance soldier’s living and working conditions and expanding education and training facilities to further professionalize the army.

Speaking to Channel News Maldives today, Nazim said the development of Senahiya will be sourced from foreign aid and not through the state budget.

The military will also buy a new hovercraft and a helicopter within 100 days of government, Nazim said.

Within 100 days of government, the MNDF will also submit a military discipline bill to parliament and establish military courts to ensure equality and justice within the military, he said.

The MNDF had established a joint venture “MNDF welfare company” in August 2012 to invest in various businesses, including the tourism industry.

The company is 10 percent government owned and 90 percent owned by Sifco, the MNDF’s cooperative society.

Soon afterwards, the MNDF said it would develop the military training island Thamburudhoo as a “boutique surf resort” in order to generate income to fund welfare services and training facilities

The move has garnered opposition from Maldivian surfers who started a campaign called “Save Thamburudhoo” claiming the resort will kill surf tourism in the Malé atoll.

The new initiatives come in the wake of dissent within the military ranks following the cancellation, delay and annulment of 2013 presidential polls.

A letter signed by 17 high ranking soldiers expressing concern over politicization of the military and possible repercussions should a president-elect not be determined by the end of the presidential term.

In November, an appeal signed by 73 mid-ranking soldiers, calling on fellow soldiers not to obey any “unlawful” orders issues by former President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan was leaked on social media.

The MNDF has also amended its regulations to punish officers who promoted “upheaval and chaos” in the military.

Six soldiers including Brigadier General Ahmed Nilam were dismissed from service on Monday.

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Turning the clock back: Frontline

“The political crisis in Maldives over the presidential run-off ends with the surprise victory of a close relative of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and the shock defeat of Mohamed Nasheed,” writes R.K. Radhakrishnan for India’s Frontline  magazine.

“Change, sometimes, seems like a closed loop. The more things appear to change, the more they remain the same. This is so very true in respect of Maldives, an archipelago nation with a population of over 300,000 people, which is normally in the news for climate change issues and its idyllic upmarket beaches.

On November 16, Maldivians queued up to elect a new President in a run-off round. The results shocked international observers. Five years after the country held its first multiparty presidential election, Maldivians chose to turn the clock back. They brought back to power a close relative of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ruled the country with an iron hand for about three decades.

Abdullah Yaameen Abdul Gayoom, the presidential candidate of the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), a party Gayoom founded after he returned to Maldives a few years ago, was elected to the top post, with an astonishing 51.39 per cent of the vote polled (111,203 votes). He defeated the former President and Amnesty International’s Prisoner of Conscience, Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldivian Democratic Party. Nasheed got 48.61 per cent of the votes (105,181 votes). The polling percentage, at 91.41 per cent, was unbelievably high. A total of 218,621 of the 239,165 eligible voters exercised their franchise.”

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Majlis approves US$11,122,700 loan for Fuvahmulah water and sewerage

The People’s Majlis has approved a loan worth US$11,122.,700 to establish a water and sewerage system on Fuvahmulah Island.

The Kuwait fund provided loan has a grace period of four years and is to be repaid over 24 years.

Fuvahmulah Island located in southern Maldives has a population of 11,140 people.

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