Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) has been awarded ‘Regulated Agent from a third country’ status (RA3) by the EU, meaning that it can continue to act as part of the supply chain for imports into the European Union.
RA3 three status means that INIA will be able to continue to receive air cargo en route to the EU after July 1st, when new regulations will require all EU cargo to be transported through an EU validated supply chain.
The new EU procedures follow the October 2010 attempt to sabotage two planes travelling to the EU from Yemen.
“This is a huge milestone achieved as Maldives exports tons of Cargo EU countries every month,” read an MACL press release.
A small ceremony was held at the cargo department today after a three day validation process. The official report was handed over to MACL Managing Director Ibrahim Saleem by the EU aviation validator Sander De Man.
“MACL has brought major infrastructure changes to the cargo facility and had done mandatory trainings to adhere to the EU required standard,” added today’s press release.
The Alliance Francais will hold its annual music festival – the ‘Fete de la Musique’ – in Malé this Saturday (June 21).
The free event, first held in 1982 both amateur and professional musicians to perform, is celebrate in over 100 countries around the world on the same day.
French indie pop duo Bel Plaine will be appearing alongside local artists Project Sasquatch, Scarlet Rite, and Mixmaster Iguana in Malé City Hall on Majeedhee Magu between 9pm and midnight.
President Yameen has today received the credentials of both the Thai and South Korean ambassadors.
New Thai Ambassador H.E. Nopporn Adchariyavanich discussed the furtherance of fisheries, agriculture, and trade ties between the two nations.
During his meeting with President Yameen, new South Korean Ambassador H. E. Chang Won-sam was told of the importance of South Korean investment in the Maldives.
The South Korean ambassador discussed enhancing, tourism, trade, and training ties with the Maldives, sending the good wishes of President Park Geun-hye.
The Civil Court has ordered Malé City Council to reinstate a beach-cleaning contract made with Save the Beach.
The council terminated the contract on September 23, 2013 on the Anti Corruption Commission’s (ACC) recommendations. The ACC claims undue advantages were conferred in awarding the contract to Save the Beach.
The commission has also asked the Prosecutor General to press corruption charges against two former Malé City Councilors and three council staff who were involved in vetting applications for the project.
However, the Civil Court today ruled the ACC does not have the power to order a contract be terminated as per a previous Supreme Court ruling.
Under the Vilimalé Safe Beach Project, Save the Beach won a contract to keep the Vilimalé beach area, jetty, and lagoon clean in exchange for two beachfront plots of land to establish businesses to sustain the project.
The UNDP’s second Human Development Index (HDI) report for the Maldives urges stakeholders to address regional inequalities which remain a “major challenge” towards human development.
“Where one is born within the Maldives determines many of the opportunities and choices available to a person,” reads the report.
“Remote islands with small populations have limited accessibility to services including schooling, healthcare, social services, job opportunities and face overall isolation.”
Since its first HDI report in 2001, the Maldives has graduated to middle income country status. Today’s report, however, noted that while the nation’s HDI score is 0.688 – placing it in UNDP’s medium development bracket – the regional analysis reveals stark inequalities.
While the atolls’ development was revealed to be 0.627 in 2012 – placing it in the mid-level HDI group, alongside countries such as South Africa and Indonesia – Malé’s HDI was 0.734, putting it in the high development bracket next to Azerbaijan and Mauritius.
Used as a measure to gauge people’s choices in life – accounting for access to education, nutrition, healthcare, security, political and cultural freedoms – Norway currently tops the Human Development Index (0.955), while Niger ranks last (0.304).
The global average HDI average is 0.694.
The Divide
‘Bridging the Divide’ notes that income and educational choices are the most notable of the inequalities faced by those born outside of the capital.
“A person living in Malé is likely to complete three years more of schooling than a person living in the atolls,” explained the report.
It was also noted that the average income for a person living in Malé – equivalent to US$4251.90 – is one and a half times that of a person living in the atolls.
The report noted that rapid internal migration to the capital Malé has itself become a cause of inequalities
“In-migration to Malé has led to a sharp increase in living costs, poor housing conditions, overcrowding, pollution and a general sense of frustration and impatience in the public.”
After categorising the Maldives into seven regions, the report showed regions 2 and 6 – containing Noonu, Raa, Baa, and Lhaviyani atolls in the north, and Gaafu atoll in the south – to be under performing.
The best performing region contained the central Meemu, Faafu, and Dhaalu atolls – reflecting the concentration of the tourism industry in the Malé area.
The HDI report recommends enhancing the benefits of of tourism – which has taken the Maldives from one of the world’s poorest nations in the 1970s to having South Asia’a highest GDP per capita today – to the wider population.
It was noted that the rich-poor divide was being exacerbated as the tourism industry “operates as a powerful oligarchy and has given rise to an elite class that owns much of the country’s wealth”.
While acknowledging the recent growth of the guest house industry, the report argues that the bulk of the luxury resort industry provides little opportunity for local small and medium enterprises.
Vulnerabilities
Core physical vulnerabilities identified in the report included the Maldives’ small land mass, lack of natural resources, while economic weaknesses focused on the heavy reliance on tourism and a high external dependence on imports.
Such vulnerabilities reduce the ability of institutions to address inequalities, with the report suggesting that solution lies in “building resilience through improved spatial planning, increasing targeting and effectiveness of social protection measures, restoring fiscal and macro-economic stability and diversifying the growth base.”
It was acknowledged that considerable improvements in poverty levels, life expectancy, and access to education had been assisted by “fiscal prudence” between the mid 90s to the mid 2000s which must return in order to continue the country’s HDI progress.
The effective targetting of vulnerable groups – those facing more than one impediment – is needed in order to design policies and programmes to address their development needs. The removal of blanket subsidies was one example of such a policy change.
The development of a hub and periphery model in the atolls – improving local services and relieving the pressure on the capital – was mooted alongside the completion of governmental decentralisation.
Finally, it was suggested that long-term thinking among political leaders – beyond a five-year election cycle – is key if human development is to be enhanced in the island nation.
“Political parties and political leaders need to start thinking beyond the ballot,” read the report. “With democratic transition, the country’s long-term development planning process has been side-lined.”
While noting that human developed requires a strong democracy, the report concluded by suggesting a reappraisal of the state’s “extraordinarily high costs”.
“For a small country like the Maldives, with mounting pressures, fiscal crisis and high debt distress, it is time that political parties, institutions, civil society and the public engage in debate; and agree to right-size the governance system, to make it more sustainable and to maximize the democratic dividend and enhance the freedoms and choices for the people.”
The Jumhooree Party (JP) is open to discussions with the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) as the party does not believe the coalition agreement has been terminated, JP Leader Gasim Ibrahim has said.
Speaking at a press conference at the JP headquarters in Malé yesterday (June 17), Gasim said he was pleased that President Abdulla Yameen had said that the parties could discuss problems with the coalition agreement, adding that the JP was ready to join discussions at a time and place of the PPM’s choosing.
“We are ready to go forward in the best interest’s of the nation’s peace and stability,” the business tycoon said.
Unlike other political arrangements, Gasim stressed that the coalition agreement between the parties was signed in the presence of witnesses with the signatories swearing by God to uphold the agreement.
“How can it be said that such an agreement has been dissolved without any just reason? I am certainly frightened that they decided that such an agreement has been dissolved,” the MP for Maamigili said, adding that he feared the “wrath of God” as a result of the PPM’s actions, which would affect “innocent people” as well.
He noted that former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom had signed the agreement on behalf of the PPM in his capacity as the party’s leader.
Gasim said that the JP has yet to be officially notified in writing of the termination of the coalition agreement.
Holding up the agreement and reading out clauses at the press conference, Gasim said that the PPM had so far not been able to explain which part of the agreement that the JP breached.
Gasim also contended that the PPM had violated the agreement by failing to either consult the coalition partner before nominating individuals to independent institutions – such as President Yameen’s nephew Maumoon Hameed for prosecutor general – or provide 33 percent of political posts in the executive as stipulated in the agreement.
Campaign trail
After initially announcing that the party would remain neutral, the JP’s council decided to endorse Yameen three days before the second round of the presidential polls on November 16 after JP candidate Gasim finished in third place in the first round with 23.37 percent of the vote.
Gasim claimed yesterday that he had spent MVR20 million on Yameen’s campaign ahead of the run-off polls on November 16 as the coalition agreement stated that the parties should support each other.
Gasim said he gave part of the money at the request of Yameen and his running mate Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed while the rest was spent for JP members to visit islands on campaign trips.
Moreover, Gasim claimed to have spent a further MVR20 million for the PPM during the parliamentary election campaign.
“I sent an amount no less than MVR20 million to President Maumoon and President Yameen,” he said.
Of the coalition candidates to whom Gasim provided financial assistance, the JP leader said former MP for Kinbidhoo, Moosa Zameer, was the only PPM candidate to have lost.
Gasim went on to criticise the two JP MPs – Milandhoo MP Hassan Mufeed Abdul Gadhir and Nolhivaram MP Hussain Afeef – who signed for the ruling party this week, noting that the pair had signed an agreement under oath to remain in the JP until the end of their five-year terms.
He noted that members of coalition partners switching parties was a violation of the agreement.
Gasim said he had heard that the pair were given MVR10 million each to switch allegiances as well as suggesting that the MPs had told him the government had threatened to cease development projects in their constituencies.
Environment Minister Thoriq Ibrahim and Economic Development Minister Mohamed Saeed had also told the JP leader that they decided to sign for PPM as they could not continue their work without doing so, Gasim said.
JP Deputy Leader Ilham Ahmed meanwhile argued that the ministers should have resigned from the cabinet before signing for the ruling party as the pair had been appointed to JP slots.
Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has asked the Maldives Police Services to investigate threats of violence made via Twitter against former President Mohamed Nasheed and MDP members.
The party issued a statement today claiming an individual called Ali Ahsan (@dhiislamAhsan) had threatened to attack Nasheed and MDP members via a Tweet on June 17.
“The MDP calls on the Maldives Police Services and relevant authorities to conduct a thorough criminal investigation and take immediate action,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, the police have said they are investigating an alleged attempt to murder Jumhooree Party (JP) Leader Gasim Ibrahim.
Speaking at a Majlis committee on Sunday, Gasim said the Maldivian National Defense Forces (MNDF) had failed to provide security despite death threats against him.
Threats of violence have become a norm in Maldivian cyberspace. Politicians, journalists, bloggers and social media users have reported being threatened for a range of reasons, from their support of a particular political party to advocacy of freedom of religion.
The police told Minivan News cyber crimes are difficult to investigate due to challenges in tracing those who issue threats, and have called for a law on cyber crimes to facilitate investigations.
Victims of attempted murder, including blogger Hilath Rasheed and Raajje TV journalist Asward Ibrahim Waheed, have urged the public to take cyber threats seriously.
Minivan News has learned threats of violence were issued online before a series of abductions in early June. The abductions were carried out as part of an effort to identify cyber activists professing atheism and advocating secularism in the Maldives.
“With the recent kidnappings of some Maldivians by an Islamist vigilant mob of about 40, on the pretext their victims are ‘laadheenee’ or ‘impious’, I will advise everyone to really be careful about any kinds of threats because now I believe they can turn real all too easily,” Hilath told Minivan News.
The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has also called on victims to report threats made via Facebook, Twitter, or comments on blog posts to the police.
Referring to the abductions, HRCM Vice President Ahmed Tholal said, “In light of recent events, at a time of high levels of intolerance, and increase in gang related violence, do not treat any form of cyber threat as an idle threat.”
An expatriate worker has been injured at Malé commercial harbour, local media have reported.
Police informed Sun Online that lorry driver was injured during an accident between his vehicle and container lifting machinery.
Two port workers were killed in April after a crane snapped while loading a container onto a ship.
The Ministry of Transport has announced an infrastructure and operations audit for of all commercial harbours in the the country after port workers claimed authorities had failed to address their safety concerns.
Maldives Airports Company Ltd (MACL) CEO Ibrahim ‘Bandhu’ Saleem has denied reports suggesting plans to sell the private jet terminal at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport.
“We are not aware that such discussions have taken place even. Our company has definitely not conferred on selling of the jet terminal or any other business with our share in it,” Saleem told Haveeru.
Saleem’s comments come in response to a press release from tour operators organisation MATATO earlier this month, expressing concern over rumoured plans to outsource both the terminal and aeronautical services facilities.
Saleem said he had no idea where the rumours had come from, though he told Haveeru that discussions at the government level were nothing to do with him.
MACL is a 100 percent state-owned company governed by a Board of Directors appointed by the president of the Maldives.
Prior to MATATO’s statement on June 11, Minivan News had learned that the cabinet’s economic council is currently discussing a deal with billionaire Thai businessman William Heinecke.
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