Day: April 20, 2014

Police investigating threatening phone call from MP Siyam to sacked resort worker

Police have begun investigating a threatening phone call from MP Ahmed Siyam to a former employee at his Vilu Reef resort who was sacked last month.

The ex-resort worker, Hussan Yousuf, submitted the case to police last week with an audio recording of the phone conversation.

In the approximately three-minute long clip shared with local media, the resort tycoon – owner of the Sun Travels & Tours group and leader of the government-aligned Maldives Development Alliance – is heard threatening to “destroy” Yousuf, claiming that he was out to harm Siyam’s business interests.

“Is it because you want to go to jail that you’re trying to destroy my business?” a voice that appears to be Siyam’s is heard saying.

A punishment from God such as paralysis could befall Yousuf as a result of challenging or confronting Siyam, he suggests.

In response, Yousuf tells the resort magnate that he was seeking his rights and refers to a petition signed by over 150 staff listing their grievances.

“Let me tell you, you don’t have any rights, [Vilu Reef] is not your place,” Siyam replies, claiming that Yousuf begged for a job at the resort.

Siyam further warned the dismissed employee that he could exercise the power of the government to incarcerate Yousuf.

“If you keep pestering me like this I can send my team to really pester you. If you try to harm my business I will destroy you. [God] will not even give any money in this life to an evil devil like you. Woe on you, evil devil,” Siyam is heard saying before hanging up the phone.

Yousuf meanwhile told opposition-aligned private broadcaster Raajje TV that Siyam’s threats have caused psychological distress to him and his family.

Police told Yousuf that the threats would be investigated as a serious case, he said.

The MP for Dhaal Meedhoo – reelected in the March 22 parliamentary polls – is also currently on trial for alcohol smuggling and possession after a liquor bottle was discovered by customs officers at the airport upon his return from an overseas trip in March 2012.

At the last hearing of the case in March, Siyam denied the charges at the Criminal Court.

Meanwhile, following the presentation of the staff petition to the Vilu Reef management last month, 18 employees were fired and given an hour to leave the island.

Tourism Employees Association of Maldives (TEAM) Secretary General Mauroof Zakir told Minivan News that the association would assist the staff in taking the case to the Employment Tribunal, though he felt there would be “no hope” for a fair case.

“Shiyam is very strong here,” he noted, “one of the partners of the government.”

“Since 2012 the decisions are against international standards and international best practice,” he added. “It’s all corrupt judiciary, and High Court decisions against employment cases are one of the key factors.”

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All 79 suspects arrested from Anbaraa festival tested positive for drugs, police reveal

All 79 suspects taken into police custody from the island of Anbaraa in Vaavu atoll tested positive for drugs, police have revealed.

Briefing the press today, Chief Inspector Abdulla Satheeh explained that police received intelligence information suggesting that alcohol and drugs were being used and sold at the two-day music festival held on the uninhabited island.

Police raided the island with a court order at midnight on Friday night (April 18), he noted.

The Drug Enforcement Department, Specialist Operations, police intelligence department, and the forensic department conducted the operation, Satheeh said.

Upon searching the island as well as the 198 partygoers, Satheeh said police discovered different types of drugs and more than MVR90,000 (US$5,836) in cash.

In addition to beer cans, the drugs confiscated from the island included pills, LSD stickers, and hash oil joints as well as rubber packets, cellophane packets, and film canisters containing cannabis, Satheeh said.

The drugs, beer cans, and cash were displayed in a video presentation at the press briefing.

While all 198 persons on the island were held and searched, the chief inspector noted that the 79 individuals were arrested after drugs were found either in their possession or at the scene.

Police revealed earlier that the 79 suspects included one female minor, 19 women and 59 men, including one foreign male.

While the remaining 119 were released without charge, Satheeh revealed that none of them were tested for drug use.

Arrangements were not in place to conduct drug tests on the island, he added.

The 79 persons taken into custody were arrested either with drugs in their possession or because police suspected they were under the influence of drugs, Satheeh noted.

Contrary to media reports claiming that a number of people were naked, Satheeh said individuals of both genders were “wearing revealing clothing” when police raided the island.

Asked about the organisers of the festival and lease holder of the uninhabited island, Satheeh said he could not disclose further details as the initial stage of the investigation.

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Islamic minister completes first official visit to India

After concluding his official visit to India – the first by a Maldivian Islamic minister – Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed has said that building a close relationship with the Indian Muslim community will be beneficial to the Maldives.

“I saw that the Indian Muslim community is a community of service. As per information I have received officially India has, after Indonesia, the second biggest Muslim population in the world. There are 140 million Muslims living there. So I think having a close relationship between the Indian Muslim community and Maldives will be a very good move.” He said.

Shaheem said that his trip had brought solutions were found for many concerns, particularly to “comments made by some people in the international community stating that there are Maldivians who support religious extremism”.

He said building relationships with countries with Muslim minorities will improve the image of the Maldives, and that neighboring countries will be relieved when the Islamic minister visits them and explains the policies of the ministry.

During the visit Shaheem met the Vice President of India Shri Mohamed Hamid Ansari, discussing ministry policies. Shaheem assured the vice president that the Maldives is a peace-loving nation and that there is no space for extremist ideologies within the Maldivian community.

During the trip, the Indian government assured that higher education scholarships would be made available for Maldivian scholars at Indian universities.

Islamic universities through which these scholarships will be provided include Delhi based Jamia Millia Islamia (National Islamic University), Osmania University in Hyderabad, and Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh.

Indian Imams who have by-hearted the whole Quran, will be visiting the Maldives to recite Quran at Taraweeh prayers during Ramadan, Saheem said.

Minister Shaheem also met the Union Minister of Minority Affairs Dr K. Rahman Khan – head of Central Waqf Council – along with leaders of the Indian Muslim community, discussing the management and development of Waqf properties, Zakat funds, and Hajj corporations.

Muslim leaders assured the minister that businessmen and members of India’s Muslim community will be interested building mosques as a service to the Maldives.

Islamic university

Shaheem said that both parties agreed on academic exchanges between the two countries, particularly in providing the assistance of Indian scholars’ with experience required to establish the Maldives’ Kulliyyathul Dhiraasathil Islamiyya (College of Islamic Studies) as an Islamic University.

“It is a government pledge included in the manifesto, so the government is working towards that goal now,”  said Shaheem – who is also the chair of the special committee on establishing the Islamic University formed by the cabinet’s Social Council.

He said the project would be implemented jointly by the Education Ministry, Islamic Ministry, President’s Office, and the Kulliyyaa.

“We have been talking about it [the establishment of the an] at all our trips. There are two ways in which we require assistance. One is technical assitance to change the Kulliyaa in to an Islamic University – things such maintaining the quality, number of faculties, development of the curriculum and strategic plan,” said Shaheem.

“The second form is financial assistance in improving the status the place.”

The International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) will take lead in the development of the curriculum and other technical support for the establishment of the University.

According to Shaheem, official communications have already started with IIUM, with all the necessary assistance to be provided.

“One of the main targets is to make this university in Maldives an institution which provides Islamic education for the entire region as well,” Shaheem said.

In the acquisition of financial assistance, Qatar and Kuwait have given a positive response after the Vice President Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed’s requests during his recent visits, and the issue will be raised again during his upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia, Shaheem revealed.

While a specific date has not been announced for the establishment of the university Jameel has said it will be established soon.

Speaking Kulliyyathul Dhiraasaathil Islamiyy’s graduation ceremony on Friday, Jameel said that the government believes that development and progress in the Maldives should come within Islamic principles and the Islamic code of conduct.

He said that in this regard the government has begun work to bring major reforms to the education system, under which arabic language and Islamic values will be introduced through the new curriculum next year.

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Police Commissioner to participate in INTERPA conference

Commissioner of Police Hussain Waheed has left to Malaysia to participate in the third conference of the International Association of Police Academies (INTERPA) – the association’s fourth council meeting, and sixth executive board meeting.

According to the official police website, the conference will be held from April 21 to 24 in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia. The theme of the conference is ‘Development of Teaching Staff in Police Academies’.

INTERPA has a wide membership, including police academies from Europe, Africa, North America, South America, the Middle East and Asia.

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Two persons arrested in Dhaandhoo for possession of narcotics

Police have arrested two individuals from the island of Dhaandhoo in Gaafu Alif in two separate cases concerning the possession of narcotics.

According to the police website, the arrestees are two local men aged 41 years and 37 years.

The 41-year-old was arrested on Saturday afternoon. While the investigation is pending, police have stated that they found rubber packets containing what they suspect to be illegal drugs in the man’s trouser pockets.

The 37-year-old man was arrested on the evening of the same day. He was found to be in possession of two packets containing what is suspected to be illegal drugs.

Police further stated that they are conducting a series of operations in the island of Dhaandhoo to further uncover cases of drug abuse and possession.

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‘Halal certificates’ awarded to three companies

Under an initiative of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs to categorise food products produced in the Maldives as ‘halal’, three companies have on Sunday been awarded the first ‘Halal certificates’.

After research into the manufacturing process, the Islamic Ministry today awarded five products of Felivaru Fisheries, 12 products of Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO), and three products of Horizon Fisheries with the certificate.

The certificates were awarded by Minister of Economic Development Mohamed Saeed at a ceremony held  in the Islamic Ministry on Sunday.

The new policy represents the government’s attempts to find alternative fish export markets, including the middle-eastern and the Malaysian market, after withdrawing its application for European Union (EU) duty-free status of imported fish from the country.

Last November, the EU declined to extend the duty-free status on Maldivian fish exports under its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program – a non-reciprocal trade agreement extended to developing countries – as the government had not ratified all 27 required international conventions.

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President appoints Dr Azeema Adam as MMA governor

President Abdulla Yameen has on Sunday appointed Dr Azeema Adam to the post of Governor at central bank Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA).

Dr Azeema received parliamentary approval last week after being nominated in February.

Azeema was previously filling the post of assistant governor and chief economist, monetary policy and statistics at the monetary authority, having worked there from May 1991.

She holds a PhD in Economics from Australian University of Canberra and a Masters Degree in International Development and Finance from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom.

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Maldives Military Veterans hold first executive meeting

The Maldives Military Veterans (MALVETS) – registered on April 18 to mark the anniversary of Maldives National Defence Force – has held its first executive meeting on Saturday.

The meeting was chaired by MALVETS Commander Major General (Retired) Mohamed Zahir and took place at Bandos Island Resort.

According to the official MNDF website, members of MALVETS held discussions on how to lay a strong foundation for the association, how to increase membership, as well as planning ways to establish easier means of communication between members and a website for the association.

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Negotiations to re-home slow loris continue

Negotiations for the re-homing of the slow loris are continuing after another offer for relocating the illegally imported animal appeared to have stalled.

After new inquiries from the UK regarding the possible re-homing of the endangered animal, the Ministry of Environment has revealed that communication with prospective new carers has broken down.

The mission to re-home the slow loris has proven difficult since the illegally trafficked animal – who was discovered in the Maldives during a drugs raid by police in January – has no formal paperwork or certified country of origin.

The Ministry of Environment subsequently considered euthanasia based on a number of factors which made re-homing the animal both difficult and costly.

The media coverage of this decision and an online petition drew further attention to the matter, resulting in various international partners expressing an interest in rehoming the endangered primate.

The Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN) had originally offered a home at the Slow Loris Rehabilitation Centre in Jakarta, though recent correspondence obtained by Minivan News has revealed that they are unable to repatriate the creature as it is not native to Indonesia.

More recently, an offer was received from the UK-based Monkey World Ape and Rescue Centre, who suggested that the Jim Cronin Memorial Fund for Primate Welfare & Conservation may be able to cover the costs if a location could be secured.

Correspondence between JAAN and the Maldives government had previously revealed that the country was unprepared to meet any of the costs for sending the animal abroad.

“We do not have loris at Monkey World, nor do we have empty facilities that could taken long-term,” wrote an official from Monkey World. “However we would be very happy to assist and I have already contacted colleagues in the zoo world to find out if there is a good home for this individual.”

“I am also happy to organise the paperwork on this end (if UK CITES authorities will give us an import licence) and we could possibly even do the quarantine period (4 months) here at the park if there is a permanent home in another location thereafter.”

Despite these initial positive emails exchanged, the Ministry of Environment has confirmed with Minivan News today that no further correspondence has since been received from Monkey World.

Meanwhile, the Maldives National Defence Force has denied reports that new parties have shown an interest in relocating the corocodile – or ‘Kinboo’ – currently under its care in Malé.

A protest took place last week outside the enclosure – in the children’s park – where the Kinboo has been kept since its discovery on the coast of a local island in 1998.

“Some groups have shown interest in the crocodile since the day it was caught, but it quickly faded away,” said MNDF Deputy Spokesman Captain Ali Ihusaan. “We have not received any new interest recently.”

The crocodile has attracted a number of protests, including one led by the Billabong International school in 2010, which drew attention to the small cage and bad conditions the animal has been kept in.

Speaking with Minivan News today, an official from the Ministry of Environment said that promises to rehome the Kinboo had repeatedly run into problems.

“In the past years there have been many unsuccessful attempts to send it abroad,” the source stated.

“One of the reason being that it needs to be air lifted by a specialised air craft which costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. Another reason again is that it is of unknown origin.”

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