Day: June 5, 2014

BML and Islamic Bank offer advise for Maldivians travelling abroad

The Maldives Islamic Bank has announce provisions to sell US dollars to Maldivians travellign abroad, while the Bank of Maldives (BML) has advised those journeying abroad not to carry cash.

A press release from the Islamic Bank said that, from today (June 5), customers with a valid air ticket and national ID could purchase up to US$500.

A heavy import-export imbalance in the Maldives results in a perennial foreign currency shortage, while a dominant tourism sector – which deals almost exclusively in US dollars – results in a weak local currency.

BML has meanwhile advised customers that using its debit and credit cards abroad is recommended.

BML has found that some customers become frustrated if their debit or credit card appears to have been declined when abroad. Cards will almost always be accepted if the amount being transacted is within the cardholder’s limit.

BML visa debit card holders can currently withdraw up to US$200 a day, while point of sale transactions have a US$400 limit, explained today’s press release.

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Maldivians in Ukraine taken to safety with Indian assistance

Eighteen Maldivians living in Luhansk, Ukraine were today transported to Kiev following escalated violence in the region, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said.

According to the ministry the transportation was carried out with assistance from the Indian government.

“Following the violence in Ukraine, Ministry of Foreign Affairs is closely monitoring the situation of Maldivians living there with a special attention to their safety, ” read a statement.

Speaking to ‘Haveeru‘ today, the Indian High Commissioner to the Maldives, Rajeev Shahare said that it was proof that “India is always prepared at every instance Maldives seek assistance”.

He told Haveeru that Indian Embassy in Ukraine has arranged accommodation for Maldivians and that if further assistance is required India will provide that as well.

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Hope for Women condemns “offensive” child abuse article

Hope for Women has expressed concern about the portrayal of domestic violence in Maldivian media, following the publication of a controversial article this week regarding the sexual abuse of minors.

“At a time where the epidemic of sexual abuse has thoroughly established its claws in the society of Maldives, we are currently witnessing a media determined to re-victimize the victims of this tragedy,” said the women’s rights NGO.

The article in question, published by online news outlet Sun Online, suggested that underaged girls were abusing elements of the Child Sex Abuse (Specials Provisions) Act in order to engage in prostitution.

“Even if the girl is addicted to sex in prostitution cases, no action is usually taken against her,” read the article, which then suggested that some girls engage in prostitution due to an addiction to sex.

“The girl who engages in prostitution should also be arrested and brought to justice in the same way the person who pays for it is,” it continued.

“And that girl should not be released back into the society after the case is taken to the court, until a verdict is reached. Otherwise it is possible to see many such cases from her before the initial case reaches a verdict.”

Quoting a criminal lawyer named Adam Asif, the article said that there are cases where some girls accuse their family members of child abuse when they disagree with her choice of boyfriend.

Hope for Women have described the article as “irresponsible journalism” and its tone “very offensive”.

“The article blames the victims and instead of getting a fair public opinion, it deprives the rights of these victims and demeans their prestige and reputation. By focusing on the perpetrator, the article failed to fathom the grievance of the actual matter,” said the NGO.

“Hope for Women harshly condemns all such reports on media re-victimizing the victims.”

Reports of child prostitution in the Maldives were aired publicly for the first time last year by the then Minister of Family, Gender, and Human Rights Azima Shukoor.

“The number of children facing abuse at one point in time in the Maldives is a number that is unreasonable for a country with such a small population,” said Azima.

Speaking with Minivan News shortly after this news, clinical psychologist Dr Aishath Ali Naaz explained that child prostitution had become so “common” in some parts of the country that the underage victims considered it “normal”.

The practice, believed by multiple sources interviewed by Minivan News to be prevalent across the Maldives, ranges from male benefactors grooming children with ‘gifts’, to parents actively selling the sexual services of their children – some as young as 12.

A former island chief explained to Minivan News that there have been cases of middle aged or elderly men providing financial support to young girls for basic necessities “and then taking advantage of the position [of benefactor].”

Reported cases typically involved low income families “with four or five children,” he said, with adolescent girls aged 16-17 often targeted.

Hope for Women concluded it’s statement by calling for responsible authorities to monitor sensitive media reporting in order to “enhance justice” for survivors of violence.

“Also, we call every individual and the relevant authorities to take all the measures to prevent all forms of reporting that are misleading and irresponsible written on domestic violence.”

“We reiterate the fact that we all have a critical role to play, governments, independent institutions, civil society, young people, the media, religious groups and the corporate sector and most importantly, individuals for zero tolerance to domestic violence,” said Hope for Women.

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Nasheed announces candidacy for MDP presidency

Former President Mohamed Nasheed yesterday announced his candidacy for the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) presidency – vacant since the national council removed former party president Dr Ibrahim Didi in April 2012.

Nasheed, who represented MDP in the 2013 presidential elections, is currently the interim president of the party after the National Council appointed him to the post on April 1.

Meanwhile, former party chair MP Moosa ‘Reeko’ Manik reiterated calls for young leaders to come through the ranks, while refuting reports that he hoped Nasheed would not again stand for office.

Speaking with Minivan News today, Moosa – recently elected as Majlis deputy speaker – expressed the need for a “young and new” leadership in MDP.

“Deciding who will become the [permanent] President is in the hands of party members. I think is time for us, who have been in the leadership before to make way for a young leadership and step aside.”

Recently quoted in Haveeru as saying he hoped Nasheed would not compete in future presidential elections in order to make way for young leaders, Moosa told Minivan News that his words had been misunderstood.

The Hulhuhenveiru MP clarified that, since Nasheed is working to bring a parliamentary system, it would mean the most powerful position would be that of prime minister, and that Nasheed would not be then be running for president.

Time for young leaders

However, Moosa added that – though he still supports the parliamentary system “as the MDP has always done” – he felt that Nasheed’s calls to bring about the change immediately were premature.

“We were demanding a legitimate elected government in the Maldives, and we have one now. So I think we should give time for the people to breath and for economic and financial stability. The government should also be given an opportunity,” said Moosa.

“We saw what happened during our government, we should see how things go for this government instead of trying to destabilise the political environment.” Moosa said.

“The problem is less about the system of governance and more to do with powers of the state stepping into each other’s boundaries”.

He added that he would also be against anything done in cooperation with President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, referring to Nasheed’s suggestion that he would gladly work alongside the 30-year ruler to bring about the necessary constitutional changes.

Moosa said the appointment of Nasheed as the interim president could be a good move as he is an experienced politician, adding that his calls for a young leadership was inspired by Nasheed’s post-Majlis election statement calling for a new leadership and internal reform.

“I want new people to come forward to run the party. But I will not go away from the party, I will always remain in doing party work,” Nasheed said at the time.

Noting that there were capable and experienced candidates for future leadership, Moosa gave the example of former MP Ali Waheed.

“There was a similar thinking before back when Maumoon was in power. People though that no one else have the capability of ruling the country. And again later when Maumoon founded PPM, a young leadership came out of the party and are still holding posts. MDP have much more capable people,” said Moosa.

Nasheed and the MDP

President Nasheed – also a founding member of the party – acted as its chairperson from December 2005 until he won the primary for presidential elections in April 2008.

After winning the first ever democratic presidential elections in October 2008, he automatically remained leader of the party until his dramatic resignation in February 2012. According to internal regulations, when the party is not in power the highest authority of the party will be its president.

While Nasheed is the only candidate who has thus far announced candidacy, the official date for applications is Jun 15 – 25, with elections for president and chairperson of the party on August 29.

The MDP has also called for a National Congress – a gathering which includes representatives from all organs of the party across the country.

Initially planned to be held this weekend (June 6-7), the congress was today delayed due to difficulties in arranging a venue.

According to the party, discussions at this congress will include the restructuring of the party and proposals made by the members regarding the issue.

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Rock Paper Scissors are ‘Mindfunck’d’

Rising stars Rock Paper Scissors have shown that through a combination of talent and hard work just about anything is possible, as they officially launched their first album ‘Mindfunck’d’ last night (Wednesday).

The album launch ceremony at Breakwater café in Male’ was attended by the band’s fans, friends and family as well as special guest dignitaries including former President Mohamed Nasheed, and Villimalé MP Ahmed Nihan – who bought a CD and gifted it to Nasheed before buying CDs for everyone else attending the album launch.

The band consists of some of the Maldives’ brightest new talent, fighting to make a name for themselves on an incipient local music scene –  Akif Rafeeq, Ismail Adil, Munavvaru Ibrahim, and Yasbiq Ismail.

Rock Paper Scissors first received recognition when they were declared winners of the 2009 Maldives Breakout Festival which led to several gigs not just on home turf but also internationally – including a showcase at the O2 Arena in London, England, and as the headline act at the Malaysia Breakout Festival 2010, spurring on the band to follow their dream of creating an album.

Many musicians struggle to get this far in a country with no recording contracts or multi-million dollar advance cheques. And it certainly hasn’t all been plain sailing for the band, which has been playing together since 2008.

They persevered to release their first album and through a combination of hard work, dedication, and the support of sponsors including Hussein Hilmy, Mohamed Waheed Deen, Ahmed Shamah Rasheed and Ali Waseem, the band has finally launched ‘Mind Funck’d’, produced by famous Maldivian guitarist Ahmed Faseeh ‘Fasy’. It follows hot on the heels of the release of their electrifying new five-minute video for the song ‘Lose Control’.

“I’d describe our sound as progressive rock” says band member Akif Rafeeq. “We all listen to different types of music and what we create is a combination of all of it coming together. ‘Lose Control’ is the one that everyone recognises us by and ‘You’ve Got It’ is the one we all love playing a lot of.

“This experience of getting the album done was a hell of a journey; the songs didn’t take too long to write but the whole process of making the album has taken us two years. We owe some special thanks to our sponsors and also to our family for supporting us,” he added.

Since the exciting video for ‘Lose Control’ was released last month it’s already been played several times on national television and has had thousands of hits on YouTube. It features cutting-edge black and white videography and psychedelic UV effects.

Band Manager, Mazin Rafeeq, said: “We really appreciate former President Mohamed Nasheed turning up to the official album launch and showing his support for the band as well as all the other dignitaries and the media. We’d like to give special thanks to Breakwater, Popjoy and our sales partner, Le Cute.”

Rock Paper Scissors is planning to perform at a concert soon after Ramazan; details are yet to be announced. Mind Funck’d is available from Le Cute.

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Police defiant in the face of taunts from jihadi group

The Maldives Police Service is investigating remarks made by Bilad Al Sham Media (BASM) in response to its investigation into the jihadist group.

“Whether threats are issued from within the Maldives or from outside, the police will remain confident in fulfilling our legal obligations,” police told CNM.

Responding to police attempts to locate the group, which recently reported the deaths of two Maldivians in Syria, a post on BASM’s Facebook page said they could be found at the Jabhat al-Nusra base in Idlib, northwestern Syria.

“Now lets see whether they can bring us back,” read the post.

“We will throw out the map and you shall go step by step just the way we want until you land in that pit of doom which you are headed to right now.”

Meanwhile, a former senior police officer questioned both the capacity and the desire or authorities to prosecute such activities.

The former officer pointed to the lack of comprehensive anti-terror laws in the country, as well as questioning the decision to have controversial Sheikh Adam Shameem speak at the police’s recent master parade.

“For the police to invite these people validates the accusations made by some that police and the security services are quite supportive of extremist elements and extremism in general,” said the former officer.

The jihadist BASM group’s members have claimed to be fighting with Jabhat al-Nusra – the Al Qaeda-affiliated group designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN and a number of leading western countries since its creation in 2012.

Investigations into the two men reported by BASM as having been killed – identified as Hassan Shifaz and Ali Adam from Malé and Shaviyani Feydhoo, respectively – also brought criticism from the group.

“When the Maldivian Police heard of the Maldivians being martyred in Syria, those half female creatures made sure they go enter upon their houses and question their women,” said BASM.

“If the Maldivian Police are investigating about us, then let them know that we too are investigating.”

“We cannot have another Sultan Park”

The former senior police officer, who spoke with Minivan News on condition of anonymity, suggested that current events represented the mismanagement of several governments.

“This situation has been getting bigger and bigger everyday since the incidents in Sultan Park and Himandhoo island.”

Twelve tourists were among those injured in the September 2007 blast, which was followed by violent confrontations between authorities and a radical congregation on the island of Himandhoo during the police investigation.

In addition to “fast tracked” legislation, the source called for more serious efforts to analyse the root causes for the radicalisation of Maldivians – a problem he argues can no longer be denied.

“Our terrorism act  – the legislation we have on terrorism, is from 1990 I think – is really irrelevant to the new age of violent extremist acts.”

“I think just mere investigation into something that has already happened will not do any good. There has to be some serious efforts to analyse this problem – what actually causes this problem.”

“In 2012 the government denied that Maldivians were involved in any level in violent extremism. Now the very people involved in it are very openly admitting to it,” he explained.

Identifying those involved in the financing, recruitment, and transportation of Maldivian extremists is relatively simple, he explained, while the preventive aspect is more difficult.

The officer believed that the neglect of the problem could perhaps be explained by preoccupation with the country’s turbulent domestic politics – suggesting that Sheikh Shameem’s “provocative” invitation to the Martyr’s Day parade may have been another symptom of this.

“The police have become very politicised, they make everything political,” the source told Minivan News today.

“Because someone whom they do not support – someone whom they hate – had openly claimed that Maldives is faced with this problem with violent extremism, people don’t like it.”

Sheikh Shameem told officers they should always possess the will to be martyred when defending the people and the nation. He also recently prayed for the acceptance of the martyrdom of Maldivians killed in Syria.

Shameem first came to public attention following his ‘mega-lecture’ ‘Andalus‘ last year, which was interrupted by authorities for violating state broadcaster’s guideline.

Last month, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) suggested that extremist ideologies were prevalent within the security services – accusations described as “baseless and untrue” by the MNDF.

The MDP also condemned Shameem’s ‘Andalus’ lecture last year, accusing him of inciting hatred in order to sway the electorate.

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Development and environment protection should go together, says President Yameen

Economic development and protection of the environment should go in tandem to ensure sustainable development, President Abdulla Yameen has said.

In a message on the occasion of World Environment Day, President Yameen said the Maldives’ environment and ecosystems have been adversely affected by some development efforts.

“Therefore, we have to pay more attention to this. And we have to ensure that development and protection and sustenance of the environment go together. That is how sustainable development can be achieved,” he said.

“Doubtless the development that all our citizens want is intertwined with this.”

The current administration has come under fire from local environmental groups following environmental damage caused by a US$37 million four-island reclamation project carried out by Royal Boskalis Westminster.

The Netherlands-based maritime infrastructure company was accused of mining sand from the country’s only UNESCO biosphere reserve in Baa Atoll as well as failing to build a barrier to prevent excess dredge soil from spilling onto the reef in Baa Atoll Eydhaushi Island.

In the two islands where reclamation was completed, houses and vegetation on the shorelines were also covered in fine mixture of sand and salt due to the use of the “rainbow technique” which propels soil into the air.

Climate change

President Yameen meanwhile referred to the findings of the second working group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and called for timely action to address climate change.

“The quantity and quality of water resources are being affected. Climate ‎change is negatively impacting crop yields as well. Impacts from recent climate-‎related extremes reveal significant vulnerabilities and expose some ecosystems ‎and many human systems to current climate vulnerability,” Yameen said.

“At the forefront of ‎those facing the effects of climate change are communities living in the world’s ‎low-lying regions and small island states.”

Referring to the theme of this year’s Environment Day – “Raise Your ‎Voice, Not the Sea Level” – President Yameen welcomed the special focus ‎which will be afforded to small island nation states such as the Maldives.

The president noted that the United Nations has designated 2014 as the ‎International Year of Small Island Developing States (SIDs). ‎

Yameen also paid tribute to the climate change advocacy efforts of of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who he said brought the threats posed by sea level rise to global attention in the late 1980s.

Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon also emphasised the need to take concrete action to avert climate catastrophe.

A Foreign Ministry press release today said that the minister expressed hope that key international conferences this year would successfully take into account the vulnerability of SIDs.

The Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States will be held in Samoa in September, while the negotiations of a new climate treaty at the Meetings of States Parties of the UNFCCC will also take place in 2014, detailed the release.

The press statement noted that the IPCC’s latest report has “proven that climate change is neither just an environmental issue nor a scientific thesis, but is of a question of the survival of each and every nation around the planet, irrespective of its size.”

“The minister also reiterated that the Maldives continues to be in the front line while refusing to remain a victim, and have been an agent of change in addressing environmental issues,” it added.

“The Maldives is currently in the process of developing a low carbon development strategy which paints a promising picture not only for the nation but the world. Internationally, the Maldives has led efforts to emphasise the links between human rights and climate change, as well as the plight of small states.”

In his message, Environment Minister Thoriq Ibrahim meanwhile noted that 23 percent of the Maldives’ GDP was spent on importing fossil fuels and stressed the importance of developing sources of renewable energy.

The Environment Ministry commenced its programme to mark the World Environment Day with a tree planting event in front of the Male’ Sports Complex.

Other events planned by the ministry include the publication of reports for energy saving in schools, a photography exhibition, a film festival, and a clean up event in Malé.

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Vice President to seek investors during China visit

Vice President Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed left on an official trip to China yesterday evening (June 4).

During the visit, Jameel will attend the 2nd China-South Asia Expo and the 9th China-South Asia Business Forum, revealed the President’s Office. Jameel is also scheduled to meet Vice Premier of China, H.E Wang Yang. ‎

Prior to his departure, Jameel told press that he would meet with members of the Chinese business community in order to find potential investors for his government’s proposed development projects.

President Abdulla Yameen has promised a number of ‘mega-projects’ during his term, pledging legislation to create a more welcoming investor climate, and organising a landmark investment forum in Singapore in April in order to find potential foreign investors.

The projects showcased in Singapore included the Ihavandhippolhu Integrated Development Project, the expansion of Ibrahim Nasir International Airport, the relocation and expansion of the existing central port, and exploration for oil and gas.

During his state visit to Japan in April, Yameen also met with prominent businessmen, economists, and industrialists.

Jameel will discuss the government’s plans with the Chinese Government, which was said to be keen to hear about the plans.

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