Day: March 19, 2014

Three Maldivian students charged in Malaysia

Three Maldivian students who were arrested at a music festival in Malaysia have been charged with drug related offences.

Local media Sun Online reported that the three students – named by the local Malaysian press as Fazal Mohamed, 24, Hassan Ibrahim Hayyan, 20, Ahmed Hayyan Majeed, 19 – were arrested along with 22 others.

The arrests came after 6 people died at the Future Music Festival Asia (FMFA) on March 14. The third day of the music festival was subsequently cancelled.

According to the FMFA press statement the organisers are “deeply saddened by the reported loss of lives,” and “thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of those affected.”

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President promises Hithadhoo hospital construction

President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has stated that the construction of a new 100-bed hospital in Hithadhoo, Addu City will be begin this year, according to local media Sun Online.

The announcement was made at a Progressive Party of Maldives event in Hithadhoo last night (March 18).

Sun Online quoted President Yameen as saying “Construction of a 100-bed hospital in Hithadhoo will also begin, God willing, within this year.” According to their report the new hospital will be funded by aid from a foreign government.

According to the report, President Yameen also highlighted a number of other construction projects underway, including a new operation theatre in Hithadhoo Regional Hospital.

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High Court rules Miladhoo Council election need not be annulled

In response to a case submitted to the High Court by a candidate alleging irregularities in Noonu Atoll Miladhoo’s council election, the superior court has ruled that there is no reason why the election needs to be annulled.

Accepting that there were problems in the first election held on January 18, the Elections Commission held a revote in Miladhoo on February 15.

Ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) candidate Mohamed Ali from Bahaaruge of Miladhoo island then filed a case in the High Court asking for the revote to be annulled too.

The High Court maintains that there are no issues with the second vote which call for an annulment.

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Coalition leaders campaigning for independent candidates

Leaders of the ruling coalition are campaigning for independent candidates in constituencies where the parties in the Progressive Coalition have fielded candidates, online news outlet CNM reports.

Former President Dr Mohamed Waheed – who joined the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) in December – has participated in campaign activities for his sister-in-law, Ifham Hussain, who is contesting as an independent candidate for the Hanimadhoo constituency.

The official coalition candidate for the Hanimadhoo constituency is Hussain Shahudhy from the Jumhooree Party (JP).

A JP campaign official expressed concern with Dr Waheed’s campaigning for a rival candidate, alleging that the former president drove around the island with the independent candidate last night in government vehicles.

Waheed has also been campaigning for the Adhaalath Party’s candidate for Haa Dhaal Nolhivram, former State Minister for Home Affairs Abdulla Mohamed.

The Nolhivaram constituency was reserved for the JP in the coalition’s seat allocation deal.

Aneesa Ahmed, a PPM council member, has meanwhile been campaigning for Adhaalath Party candidate Anara Naeem in Haa Dhaal Makunudhoo, another constituency assigned for the JP.

JP Secretary General Dr Mohamed Saud however told CNM that the party was not concerned with Dr Waheed or Aneesa’s campaigning.

“The head of the coalition is President Maumoon [Abdul Gayoom]. So it is President Maumoon who will talk on behalf of the coalition as its most senior leader. I don’t know the reason why they are acting contrary to how President Maumoon says,” he was quoted as saying.

Neither Dr Waheed nor Aneesa was available for comment.

Leaders of the coalition parties have meanwhile been urging independent candidates to withdraw and endorse coalition candidates.

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MH370 sightings in Maldives are not true, reports Malaysian Defence Minister

Malaysian Minister of Defence Hishamuddin Hussein has been informed by Maldivian authorities that rumoured sightings of Malaysian flight MH370 over Kudahuvadhoo are false.

“Regarding reports that the plane was sighted in the Maldives, I can confirm that the Malaysian Chief of the Defence Force has contacted his counterpart in the Maldives, who has confirmed that these reports are not true,” Hishamuddin told the press today.

The defence minister’s comments come after eyewitness reports emerged yesterday of a low-flying aircraft in Dhaal atoll just hours after the Malaysian jet’s disappearance on March 8.

“I saw a flight flying very low and it had a red straight line in the middle of it. The flight was traveling north-west to south-east,” Adam Saeed, a teacher at Kudahuvadhoo school, told Minivan News.

Maldivian authorities have acknowledged the reports, with police taking the lead in investigating the sightings – though both the Maldives Airports Company (MACL) and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) have maintained that no irregular radar activity has been noted.

“The Maldives National Defence Force has been monitoring Maldivian territory with special attention since the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines’ MH370 airplane,” read an MNDF press release last night.

“In the search so far, no military radar has seen the flight. And the MH370 airplane has not been seen from the photos and information of radars established in Maldivian airports.”

“The Maldives National Defence Force has been providing all necessary cooperation to the efforts of the Maldives Police Service as well as international agencies concerning [the disappearance of the flight],” concluded the statement.

Police have announced the start of their investigations, with Kudahuvadhoo officer Mohamed Imad confirming that a team of investigators was being dispatched from the capital Malé to assist with the ongoing local investigations.

A spokesman for the MACL yesterday said that there had been no “credible” sightings or radar evidence of the missing flight, while some witnesses interviews by Minivan News expressed skepticism over the veracity of their neighbours claims.

Local news outlet Haveeru – which broke the story yesterday – said that similar reports had been received as early as March 9, but had been dismissed as lacking credibility.

Regarding communications with Malaysian authorities, Minivan News was unable to obtain a response from either the MNDF or the Ministry of Defence at the time of press.

Yesterday’s reports all described a low-flying plane, heading in a south-easterly direction between 6:15am and 8am (Maldives time).

Malaysian Defence Minister Hishamuddin has today confirmed, however, that the search will continue to focus on the two previously identified corridors.

The two arcs – one stretching between Thailand and Kazakhstan, the other south between Indonesia and the southern Indian Ocean – have been determined by locational ‘pings’ detected by a satellite revealing the flight’s last known location at 8:11am Malaysian time (5:11am Maldives time).

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Malé City Council to bring back 24 hour shops and cafes

Malé City Council has decided to bring back the 24 hour service at cafes and shops, seventeen months after it was banned by Dr Mohamed Waheed’s government.

The proposition was passed unanimously by nine members present at yesterday’s council meeting (March 18), though the government has suggested that it does not have the authority to make such decisions.

Councilman Shamau Shareef said that the council decision came in response to a number of request from Malé City residents.

“This is what the people want. The former government discontinued the permissions to operate such places citing criminal activity and instability in the city. But now we have an elected government, and we think it should be reconsidered now,” said Shamau.

He noted that council have now been tasked with issuing trade permits for the city and it is in the council’s mandate under the Decentralisation Act to address this issue.

But the Ministry of Economic Development has today said that the issuing of trade permits was delegated to the council under a memorandum of understand with the ministry, which does not allow issuing 24 hour license.

“The government decided to end the running of 24 hour businesses. From that point the procedure for issuing trade permits were changed. City council have been tasked with issuing permits under those procedures,” the ministry’s Director General Usman Shakir was quoted as saying in Haveeru.

Shakir said that the government has not yet changed it’s position on allowing 24 hour businesses, and warned that the ministry will take action if any such permission is issued.

Responding to the ministry’s statement Councilman Shamau said that there are “some barriers” in implementing the decision, but the council is willing to overcome these issues by discussing it with the ministry.

“We will do whatever it takes. This is the capital city, and there are 24 hours ferries operating, people coming from other islands, people are working round the clock. There should be some way for them to eat or buy things they need. We are talking about basic necessities of the people,” he said.

President Mohamed Nasheed’s government decided to issue permits for 24 hour businesses in December 2010. After the change in government, Dr Mohamed Waheed’s administration in October 2012 decided to put an end to these opening hours.

The ministry’s official reason for decision was national security concerns. There was a high level of concern about increasing rates at the time, particularly with political instability and the murder of MP Dr Afrasheem Ali within the same month.

While it is not known whether the decision had any positive impact in reducing crime rates, the parliamentary national security committee at the time suggested impact it had was negative.

Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party at the time described the decision as an attack against small and medium businesses which ‘left thousands of people unemployed’. Resuming the permits was an election pledge of the party’s presidential candidate Mohamed Nasheed in 2013.

Ruling Progressive Party of Maldives was at the time a coalition member of the government, and President Abdulla Yameen was elected as president, the party has maintained support for the ban on 24 hours businesses.

When the permits were revoked in 2012 there were forty four businesses with permit in Malé city, now all shops have to be closed at 11pm and all cafes at 1am.

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MDP takes action against the party’s Villimalé Deputy Leader for campaigning against party

Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s Disciplinary Committee has taken action against the party’s VilliMale’ Consituency Deputy President Fathimath Yumna on charges of campaigning for their political opponent Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).

In a letter of the Disciplinary Committee sent to the party’s Chairperson ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik, and shared with media, the committee claims that the verdict is in response to a complaint submitted to the committee alleging that instead of supporting the parliamentary candidate selected through MDP’s primaries, Yumna has been observed to be campaigning against the MDP and in favour of the ruling PPM affiliated candidate.

The Disciplinary Committee has hence decided to take three actions against Yumna. Firstly, she will need to apologise to all existing party members before rejoining the MDP.

Next, she is to submit forms of 50 new members if she wishes to sign up to be a member of the party again.

She is also suspended from contesting for any elected posts within the party, or in any party primaries, for a period of five years.

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State broadcaster refuses to air campaign ad depicting police brutality

The Maldives Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) has refused to air a campaign ad from opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Imthiyaz Fahmy allegedly on the grounds that it depicted police brutality.

The MDP issued a press statement today strongly condemning the move, contending that state broadcaster’s refusal was a deliberate obstruction of both Imthiyaz’s campaign and the right to free expression as well as an attempt to hide police brutality and silence voices against brutality.

The party also expressed surprise with the MBC’s decision as one of the photos featured in the campaign ad showed police pepper spraying a cameraman, noting that the Maldives has dropped in international press freedom indexes.

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STO sells BML shares worth MVR33 million to Champa Brothers

The State Trading Organisation (STO) has sold its Bank of Maldives Plc (BML) shares worth MVR33 million (US$2.1 million) to Champa Brothers Pvt Ltd through the Maldives stock exchange.

STO MD Adam Azim told Sun Online that the shares – reportedly worth 30 percent of BML – were sold in a bid to improve the state-owned company’s finances.

“The shares were sold through the stock exchange on the open market. It was carried out in a way that anybody who wanted to buy the shares had the chance,” he was quoted as saying.

Sun Online reported back in December 2012 that Champa Brothers had purchased treasury bills worth US$11 million. The amount currently owed by the government to the company remains unclear.

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