Day: December 5, 2013

Maldives wins WTA’s “World’s Leading Island Destination 2013”

The Maldives has been awarded the title of “World’s Leading Island Destination” at the 2013 World Travel Awards (WTA) Grand Finale hosted at the La Cigale Hotel in Doha, Qatar last week.

This is the third time the Maldives has won the prestigious travel award. The WTA is hailed as the “Oscars of the Travel Industry.”

The Maldives competed against Bali in Indonesia, Barbados, Cook Islands, Crete in Greece, Jamaica, the Madeira Islands, Mauritius, the Seychelles, Sicily in Italy, St. Lucia, and Zanzibar in Tanzania this year.

Maldivian resorts also scooped a number of awards in various categories with Hulhule Island Hotel winning the World’s Leading Airport Resort 2013, and Conrad Maldives Rangali Island winning the World’s Leading Water Villa Resort 2013.

Baros Maldives won recognition as the World’s Most Romantic Resort 2013 and World’s Leading Island Villas 2013.

The Maldives Marketing and PR Corporation (MMPRC) said the awards highlight the “uniqueness” of Maldives and recognizes the Maldives as a world-class luxury destination.

On November 25, the Maldives reached one million tourist arrivals for the first time in a calendar year. Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb said the “victory had been made possible amidst boycott campaigns and other such obstacles.”

The political turmoil following the controversial transfer of power in February 2012 had caused growth in the tourism industry to stall, but growth is expected to pick up this year.

Maldivian pro-democracy activists previously made headlines around the world after hijacking the MMPRC’s official hashtag and slogan “Sunny Side of Life” in 2012 and the official hashtag of London’s World Travel Market in November this year to call attention to police brutality in the Maldives.

The Maldives dominated this year’s Indian Ocean World Travel Awards (WTA) event held in May, scooping a number of prizes including ‘Indian Ocean’s Leading Green Resort 2013′ and the ‘Indian Ocean’s Most Romantic Resort 2013′.

World Travel Awards celebrates its 20th Anniversary this year.

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Police raids beauty salon, arresting three women and five men

Police last night raided ‘Herbal Beauty Salon’ in Male’,  arresting three Thai women and five Maldivian men for allegedly conducting sexual activities.

A joint special operation with the police’s intelligence department and serious and organized crime department was conducted after police received reports of the offences.

According to the police, when offices raided the premises of the beauty salon some individuals inside the rooms were naked.

A large amount of Maldivian rufiyaa and tools used for sexual activities were found inside the place, the police said.

In August this year, the Criminal Court sentenced the owner of Sondo Born Beauty Care Salon – 64 year-old Abdul Latheef Ali of Henveiru Philadelphi in Male’ – to four years in prison after finding him guilty of running a brothel and forcing three Thai women into prostitution.

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President Yameen appoints four state ministers and three deputy ministers

President Abdulla Yameen has appointed four state ministers and three deputy ministers.

The three state ministers appointed are: Zahaa Waheed as minister of state for fisheries and agriculture, Aminath Athifa as minister of state for housing and infrastructure, and Ahmed Musthafa Mohamed as minister of state for tourism, arts, and culture.

Mohamed Zuhair was also appointed as the head of the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) – a position equivalent to minister of state.

Of the new four state ministers, Zahaa Waheed is a relative of President Yameen and Aminath Athifa is the current registrar of President Yameen’s Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM). Meanwhile, Ahmed Musthafa Mohamed was the former deputy minister at the Ministry of Environment and Energy.

Three deputy ministers appointed are, Adam Thaufeeq as the deputy minister for economic development, Abdulla Fayaz as the deputy minister housing and infrastructure, and Ali Waheed as the deputy minister for Islamic affairs.

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Submission of revised budget delayed for fourth time

Amendments to the 2014 state budget could not be submitted as scheduled today, Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad has stated, delaying the submission process for the fourth time.

The budget – submitted by the outgoing administration of President Dr Mohamed Waheed – has been undergoing amendments in accordance with the aims of the new government of President Abdulla Yameen.

Jihad – finance minister under both presidents – told local media today that although the final draft cannot be submitted to parliament today, the majority of the work had been completed.

He stated that the main reason for the delay was that the government had so far not provided enough details about some projects they wished to include in the budget.

Jihad asserted that a final draft of the budget with all the required amendments will be ready for submission by Sunday, December 8.

The Finance Ministry has stated that issues such as decreasing overtime allowances and non-profit allowances, and revising conditions for the provision of subsidies will be reviewed when submitting the newly amended budget.

President Yameen has expressed concern over the economic vulnerability of the Maldives and pledged to reduce state expenditure by MVR1 billion (US$64.9million).

“State debt is sky high. The state budget’s expenses are extremely high. Hence, we have to prioritise reducing state expenditure. I will start work very soon to reduce budget expenses,” Yameen said during his inauguration speech.

The Maldives Monetary Authorities’ (MMA) most recent quarterly review noted that Government finances had “further deteriorated in the first six months of 2013” due to a sizeable shortfall in expected revenue coupled with a marked increase in recurrent expenditure.

While the delay has brought the work of Parliament’s budget committee to a temporary halt, Speaker of Parliament Abdulla Shahid has instructed the committee to submit its final review report on the budget to the Parliament floor by December 15.

Elsewhere, the Public Accounts Committee has today passed a proposal for the government to obtain a US$29million loan from the Bank of Ceylon as annual budget support and submitted it to the parliament.

The loan request was submitted by the Waheed administration in September.

The Public Accounts Committee report outlines that the loan is to be paid back by the government in a period of six years. The loan has a grace period of one year, after which a monthly payment of US$490,000 has to be paid to the Bank of Ceylon.

The committee has passed the proposal for the loan despite it having an 8% interest rate – the parliament had previously decided that any loans taken by the government must have an interest rate of no higher than 7%.

Earlier this week Indian media reported that the country would soon be releasing a further installment of the US$100million standby credit facility.

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53 year-old man stabbed in Hoarafushi

A group of men last night stabbed a 53 year-old man on the island of Hoarafushi in Haa Alifu Atoll.

Police said that the incident occurred last night at about 3:30am, while the old man was on his way to go fishing.

According to the police he was stabbed twice in his back and is currently being treated at Dhidhoo Hospital in Haa Alifu Atoll.

The police said that the assailants were covering their faces using masks and they fled after the attack. However, police have brought in three suspects.

The three men aged 21, 22 and 27 were arrested at about 4:15am this morning, according to police.

Police said Hoarafushi Police Station is investigating the case.

Local media identified the old man as Abdul Baary of Finihiyaage in Hoarafushi, Haa Alifu Atoll.

In September 2010, Hussein Mohamed Manik, 61, a prominent businessman and seller of oil and hardware products was found dead inside an abandoned house on Hoarafushi in Haa Alifu Atoll.

Local media at the time reported that Manik’s hands were tied behind his back with rope, and that the body was lying on the ground in a prone position when discovered.

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Education Ministry pledges to introduce Arabic to more schools

The Ministry of Education has pledged to introduce Arabic to more schools in the next academic year.

Speaking to the press today, Minister of Education Dr Aishath Shiham said Arabic will be available at “many” schools throughout the Maldives next year.

In addition to Arabic, the Education Ministry intends to expand civic education in the curriculum and introduce Like Skills Education as a separate subject to educate students on life skills such as conflict resolution and responsible citizenship.

The government intends to equip five schools in Malé with facilities to educate children with special needs and establish two centers in the atolls to train children with special needs, Shiham said.

The Education Ministry is still seeking 74 Quran teachers in order to ensure that all schools are able to offer Quran as a subject, Shiham also said.

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Depiction of Supreme Court Judge in sex-tape remains an uncertainty, says police

The Maldives Police Service has said that it still cannot ascertain that the sex-tapes allegedly depicting Supreme Court Judge Ali Hameed are genuine.

Despite the claims made by police regarding the haziness of the characters seen in the videos, both social media networks and local media have pointed the finger at Judge Hameed when reporting on the videos.

The accusations towards Hameed were supported by an earlier film – apparently taken in the same hotel room as that of the sex videos – in which he was seen discussing the ‘politicization of the Maldivian judiciary’ with a local businessman whom the media identified as Mohamed ‘Golden Lane’ Saeed.

During a press conference held by the police yesterday (December 4) evening, Superintendent Abdulla Nawaz told the press that the police have put huge efforts in identifying the characters seen in the video by utilizing on several forensic tests.

However Nawaz admitted that efforts had not been fruitful in determining the participants, let alone whether it was Hameed seen fornicating with multiple foreign women inside the hotel room.

“Nevertheless, some work regarding the investigation of this case is still proceeding. Also, we would like to inform that work will be done in the future to ensure the investigation leads to success,” Nawaz told the press.

The Superintendent also said that the police had sought “assistance from a country” – that had some relevance to the case – in the investigation process and that it was awaiting reception of some key information regarding the videos that would prove central to their investigations.

“We believe once we get this information [from abroad], more doors will be opened and more clues to the case will be revealed, to enhance our investigations,” Nawaz said.

Although Nawaz did not mention the name of the country, nor what part of the investigation in which assistance had been sought, it has been reported that the video-footage showed a hotel room in Cinnamon Grand Hotel located in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Given the large number of Maldivians traveling to Sri Lanka, it has been widely speculated that many get involved in prostitution and gambling.

Police determined to prosecute

Last August, a photograph leaked on social media showed the former Deputy Minister of Transport Ibrahim Nazim inside a casino playing roulette. The photograph clearly showed a television screen behind Nazim displaying the words “welcome to Bellagio”, suggesting the location to have been one of the Bellagio franchise casinos in Colombo.

Meanwhile, Nawaz said that the case primarily involved two criminal offences. The first offence was fornication – which under the Maldivian penal law is punishable by 100 lashes and banishment. The second was the use of video for blackmail.

Last June police arrested Ahmed Faiz – a council member of former President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s Gaumee Ihthihaad Party (GIP) and the then-Project Advisor at the Housing Ministry – on  blackmail charges while he was allegedly trying to sell a sex-tape of the judge.

Yesterday, local newspaper Haveeru reported that police had been unable to proceed with the investigations, due to Criminal Court’s failure to provide two key court warrants requested three months ago.

Quoting an official from the Judicial Service Commission – constitutionally mandated to oversee the judiciary – the paper claimed police had sent a letter to the commission informing it of the Criminal Court’s failure to provide the required warrants. Neither the police nor the Criminal Court confirmed the claim.

However, Nawaz implicitly denied Haveeru’s account, telling the press yesterday that police had not come across major barriers in proceeding with the investigations. He maintained that in an investigative perspective the enhancement and analysis of video and audio never was an easy thing to do.

He also reiterated that the police were committed and determined to ensuring the investigation still succeeds, and that they wished to successfully prosecute all those involved in the videos as soon as possible.

Although fornication and adultery remains a criminal offence under the Maldivian law, a successful conviction only arises from either a confession or evidence given by four male eyewitnesses, as prescribed under Islamic Sharia’.

Videos and photographs will only amount to circumstantial evidence and would not suffice a conviction.

Subsequently, regardless of the public circulation of the videos, all parties seen in the video will remain ‘innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt’, as per the article 51(h) of the constitution.

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EU pledges further €4million for climate change adaptation

The European Union has today revealed it is to release an additional €4million to address climate change in the Maldives.

“Climate change is one of the most pressing development issues that we need to address in today’s world,” said EU Ambassador and Head of Delegation to Sri Lanka and the Maldives H.E. Mr David Daly Tin a press release today.

“The EU has always been at the forefront of concrete action against climate change, while Maldives has through its commitment to Carbon Neutrality and more recent pledge to become a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve at the Rio Summit, led the world by example,” he continued.

The EU press release today noted that this latest climate change grant to the Maldives brings the organisation’s overall contribution to €38million over the past four years.

Granting €6.5 million to the Climate Change Trust Fund in 2009, the EU became the first body to give funds to the scheme intended to assist the Maldives in its pledge to become carbon neutral by 2020.

The initiative was agreed between the EU, the World Bank and the administration of President Mohamed Nasheed – whose efforts to raise awareness of climate change brought international acclaim, most notably at the 2009 Climate Change Forum in Copenhagen.

In a recent report titled ‘Turn Down The Heat’, the World Bank reasserted the urgent need for concerted efforts to support the Maldives in adapting to climate change, due to a projected sea level rise of 115 centimetres by 2090.

The new EU funds will go towards replicating previous projects with a particular focus on the country’s two southernmost atolls – Addu and Fuvahmulah – which will also receive capacity building assistance for local government structures.

Local NGO Transparency Maldives has in the past noted the potential for corruption due to institutional weaknesses in the Maldives’ climate governance structures.

“The current projects, being implemented by the World Bank in partnership with the Government of Maldives, focuses specifically on renewable energy solutions, wetlands conservation, rainwater harvesting, coral reef monitoring and solid waste management,” stated the EU today.

A further 22,000 inhabitants are expected to benefit from the new projects in Fuvamulah, Addu, and parts of North Ari Atoll.

“It will enable the Government in implementing a clear strategy for wetland and drainage management, ecotourism and community rainwater harvesting. The project also aims at partnering with tourist resorts for coral reef monitoring and demonstrates the manner in which efficient monitoring can be used as a tool to support decision-making, particularly in the context of coral reef protection and conservation,” read the release.

During the summer, the United States also pledged US$7.2 million for global climate change adaptation project, also including local level capacity building and exploration of further avenues for cooperation on climate change.

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