Month: September 2014

MMA seeks design for new rufiyaa note for 50th anniversary of independence

The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has invited designs for a new rufiyaa note to commemorate the upcoming 50th anniversary of independence next year.

The new cash notes series named ‘Rann Dhiha Faheh’ would also have increased security features, the central bank said.

An award of MVR300,000 has been announced for the best concept and design submitted for the new notes.

A futher MVR50,000 is to be awarded to the best design submitted for the memorial and celebratory cash note to mark the ‘Minivan 50,’ the slogan for the 50th anniversary.

Information sessions with interested parties are due to take place on September 11 and 13 with registration required before 2pm next Tuesday.

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MVK agrees to resume ferry services in Addu City

MVK has agreed to resume stalled ferry services in Addu City following discussions with the Addu City Council and the Ministry of Economic Development this week.

MVK Maldives Pvt Ltd was contracted to provide ferry services in the southernmost atoll under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement signed by the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) government in 2009.

Officials from the company has previously told parliament’s government oversight committee that plots of land awarded under the agreement have not been handed over.

Addu City Deputy Mayor Abdulla Thoyyib told online news outlet CNM that the company has agreed to resume ferry services next week while the city council agreed to hand over the plots of land within a month.

However, the company requested until December to start ferry services to nearby Fuvahmulah, he said.

Last month, MDP MP for Addu Meedhoo, Rozaina Adam, described the government’s “indifference” to providing regular ferry services in Addu City as discriminatory.

While there have been no regular service for the past two years, Addu City Mayor Mayor Abdulla ‘Soabe’ Sodiq said at the time that many are forced to take expensive private boats, while in medical emergencies people usually hire a speed boat for approximately MVR2,500 – double that rate at night.

Hulhumeedhoo, with an estimated population of over six thousand, is disconnected from the rest of the inhabited islands of the city which are joined by the 14km Addu Link Road causeway.

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Security cameras at ferry terminals to be integrated with police network

Police have held discussions with the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) on Monday (September 1) about connecting security cameras at ferry terminals to the police camera network.

Police agreed to assist MTCC with installation of additional cameras and begin the integration process for monitoring ferry terminals, according to police media.

“The Maldives Police Services was represented at the meeting by the Head of the Central Operations Command, Chief Superintendent of Police Ismail Naveen, the Deputy Head of the Central Operations Command, Superintendent of Police, Abdulla Shareef and high ranking members from the Maafannu Galolhu, Villimalé and Hulhumalé Police Stations while the MTCC was represented by their General Manager, Ismail Adhuham and some of their senior members,” police said.

Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan Abdulla, who is believed to have been abducted outside his apartment building in Hulhumalé, was last seen on the Malé-Hulhumalé ferry.

While Rilwan was seen on CCTV footage at the ferry terminal in Malé, there were no security cameras at the ferry terminal in Hulhumalé.

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Man arrested on suspicion of abusing five-year-old child

Police arrested a 40-year-old man yesterday on suspicion of sexually abusing a five-year-old girl.

He was taken into custody with an arrest warrant after the case was reported to police on Monday (September 1).

Police did not reveal any further details. However, according to local media, the suspect was the father of the victim and the abuse was discovered after the mother left the girl in the care of another person.

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HRCM uncertain as to state’s actions in Rilwan case

The Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) has again suggested that authorities are not doing enough in the search for missing Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan Abdulla.

After seeking updates on the case from both the the foreign minister and attorney general on August 19, the HRCM noted that it had not seen “any further efforts from the state following the appeal”.

“The commission brought Ahmed Rilwan Abdulla’s case to the attention of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of expression through the UN’s special procedures, and the commission has been monitoring the state’s actions in the case of [Rilwan’s] disappearance,” read today’s statement.

Today’s statement said that HCRM members had met with police on August 28, urging them to use all resources to expedite their investigation.

Before working for Minivan News, Rilwan had been an employee of the HRCM between 2010 and 2012.

Calls to speed up the search for Rilwan – last seen on the Malé-Hulhumalé ferry in the early hours of August 8 – have been echoed by numerous international groups, including the UN and Reporters Without Borders.

Neighbours reported seeing a man fitting Rilwan’s description being forced into a vehicle outside his apartment at around 2am on August 8.

The most recent update from police came last week when Police Commissioner Hussain Waheed explained that 80 statements had been taken after questioning nearly 200 people.

Waheed also explained that multiple locations around the capital had been searched, including the lagoon around Hulhumalé, while nearly 300 hours of CCTV were being analysed.

Minivan News also learned last week that the passports of four men were being held in relation to the disappearance.

Working ceaselessly

“As it has been 26 days since Ahmed Rilwan Abdulla disappeared without a trace, the commission has been ceaselessly doing all it can,” read today’s HRCM statement.

Friends and family of Rilwan, also known to his twitter followers as moyameehaa, have also been campaigning tirelessly for greater action on the part of authorities.

Rilwan’s mother has urged all families of victims of violent crime to work together to ensure justice, calling for meeting to be held for all those affected by such incidents in Malé City Hall tonight at 9pm.

“It is the Maldives Police Services tasked with protecting our children and us. It is the courts tasked with ensuring justice for us in times of injustice,” said Aminath Easa in an open letter this week.

“However, we have to work together to expedite their services and hold them accountable,” she continued.

After demonstrating against the People’s Majlis’ failure to adequately address the issue, campaigners have collected over 4000 signatures on a petition calling on relevant authorities to provide answers to question that remain outstanding due to perceived police negligence.

Media groups have also provided a united front in the search for Rilwan, coordinating closely with campaigners to raise awareness of the disappearance.

Additionally, journalists representing all private outlets have jointly expressed grave concern over what they believe to have been an abduction, calling for an end to the persistent intimidation of the press.

Raajje TV’s staff yesterday donned black and blurred presenter’s faces on news segments regarding the disappearance as a show of support for the #findmoyameehaa campaign

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Former President Gayoom calls for leadership of small island states in climate change

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has called upon leaders of developed nations to allow small island states to lead the world in efforts to combat climate change.

“We say to the leaders of the emitting countries, if you are not ready to lead the world on climate change, then give us the opportunity,” Gayoom appealed in a statement delivered at the 3rd International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in Apia, Samoa on Monday (September 1).

“SIDS are ready to lead. Don’t stand in our way.”

Despite challenges posed by the small size of SIDS, Gayoom said “size alone does not determine our destiny.”

“With the right policies and right choices we can become our own masters who will shape our future,” he said.

“To do that we need to establish partnerships; meaningful partnerships and enduring partnerships. Partnerships that are defined not by more aid, but by more opportunities. Opportunities that small states could seize to help themselves and to live their dreams.”

The former president is representing the Maldives at the four-day conference as a special envoy of President Abdulla Yameen along with Environment Minister Thoriq Ibrahim.

The objectives of the conference include “identifying new and emerging challenges and opportunities for the sustainable development of SIDS and means of addressing them” and “identifying priorities for the sustainable development of SIDS to be considered in the elaboration of the post-2015 UN development agenda.”

No progress

Despite “numerous pledges” at UN conferences where “ambitious action plans” were adopted, Gayoom noted that there was “very little to show in terms of real progress.”

“Global CO2 emissions continue unabated. Our fragile ecosystems face increasing threats. Sustainable and innovative solutions we initiate remain unrealised because of lack of international support,” he said.

“It is deeply disappointing to the Maldives, and to the people of all small island developing states to observe the lack of action, particularly by the industrialised economies.”

The objective of SIDS as a separate category was “to help small states in coping with vulnerability,” he added, as well as to coordinate policy decisions “instead of defining these states in terms of what they are not.”

Climate change should be the “core issue of concern” for both SIDS and the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), Gayoom said.

While the Maldives was considered a beautiful and exotic tourist destination, Gayoom said the country was threatened by rising sea temperatures, unpredictable weather patterns, coral bleaching, increased salination of fresh water, accelerated beach erosion, and erratic migration of fish stocks.

The Maldives along with other SIDS have “consistently called for genuine action for climate change, to not bury it in the political manoeuvring that is a reality of today’s international diplomacy, to not wait until it is too late,” he said.

Despite vulnerability of small states, Gayoom said SIDS were also “valuable contributors in proposing common solutions to common problems.”

In the past four decades, the Maldives has shown that small states are both viable and “have extraordinary ability to survive and even thrive in the turbulent global political arena.”

He referred to the Maldives drawing international attention to sea level rise and security threats for small states in 1987.

Gayoom suggested that the declaration of the conference – the ‘Samoa Pathway’ – could “change the course of history in climate change and sustainable development negotiations.”

The declaration could help small states build resilience and develop economies driven by innovation and new technologies, he continued, which would “encourage free enterprise and individual initiative.”

Following today’s session of the conference, Gayoom tweeted,

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JP calls on government to speed up projects included in PSIP budget

The Jumhooree Party (JP) has called on the government to launch projects included in the public sector investment programme (PSIP) approved with the annual budget passed by parliament.

Following a meeting with Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad, JP MP Abdulla Riyaz told the press that a number of projects for which funds were allocated in the PSIP budget had yet to commence, some of which were planned for constituencies represented by the party’s MPs.

The former police commissioner said the party accepted that the government was facing difficulties managing the budget, assuring the JP’s cooperation for passing a supplementary budget to finance the development projects.

After criticising the government’s flagship special economic zone (SEZ) legislation in parliament, the JP reversed its stance and announced a three-line whip in favor of the bill.

The change in the party’s stance closely followed the government’s cancellation of various business agreements made with the JP leader Gasim Ibrahim’s Villa Group.

Following Gasim’s crucial decision to support President Abdulla Yameen’s 2013 presidential election bid, his party joined the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and its ally Maldivian Development Alliance in contesting the March parliamentary polls as part of the Progressive Coalition.

However, the PPM severed its coalition agreement with the JP in May after Gasim stood for post of Majlis speaker despite the PPM fielding its senior MP Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed.

Following the passage of the SEZ bill, the JP has sought reconciliation, whilst President Yameen has signalled that the government was willing to “work together” with the former coalition partner.

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Drug kingpin Shafaz appeals conviction at High Court

Convicted drug trafficker Ibrahim Shafaz Abdul Razzak has appealed his drug trafficking charges at the High Court, reports local media.

At the first hearing yesterday, Shafaz’s lawyer argued that the trial at the Criminal Court was conducted in a prejudiced and unfair manner.

The defence attorney, Aminath Shezleen, noted that the verdict did not specify the type of drugs Shafaz was accused of trafficking with reference to the appendix of the Drugs Act.

While the conviction was based on a phone call recording, Shezleen said the audio was submitted as evidence without a chain of custody report from police as required by regulations.

The state attorney, however, defended the validity of the report and noted that both sides were allowed to question experts at the trial concerning the analysis report of the phone recording, adding that Shafaz had not denied that it was his voice in the incriminating audio.

Concluding the hearing, the three-judge panel asked for submission of both the chain of custody report and the recording of the phone conversation.

The judges announced that a second hearing would be held after considering the evidence.

The Criminal Court had sentenced the 30-year-old to 18 years in prison in November 2013 and levied a fine of MVR75,000 (US$4,860) for drug trafficking.

In February, Shafaz was temporarily released for three months to seek medical treatment said to be unavailable in the Maldives.

However, following media reports suggesting the Maldives Correctional Services (MCS) violated procedures in authorising his release, Shafaz was caught in Colombo in May and brought back to the Maldives to serve his sentence.

Shafaz was arrested on June 24, 2011, with 896 grams of heroin from a rented apartment in a building owned by ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives MP Ahmed ‘Redwave’ Saleem.

Former head of the Drug Enforcement Department, Superintendent Mohamed Jinah, told the press at the time that police had raided Henveiru Fashan based on intelligence information gathered in the two-year long ‘Operation Challenge’.

Jinah labeled Shafaz a high-profile drug dealer suspected of smuggling and supplying drugs since 2006.

He claimed that the network had smuggled drugs worth MVR1.3 million (US$84,306) to the Maldives between February and April 2011.

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Government expenditure rose 58 percent in June, reveals MMA

Government spending in June rose 58 percent compared to the same period in 2013, the Maldives Monetary Authority’s (MMA) monthly economic review for July 2014 has revealed.

Total expenditure, excluding net lending, “amounted to MVR1.6 billion (US$103 million) in June 2014,” stated the report released on Sunday (August 31).

Total government revenue, excluding grants, meanwhile rose four percent in annual terms and reached MVR0.9 billion (US$58 million).

“The increase in total revenue during June 2014 was largely due to the 57 percent growth in import duty and the 9 percent increase in total goods and services tax,” the central bank explained.

“Meanwhile, non-tax revenue registered a decline owing to the 18 percent decline in resort lease rent. As for the increase in expenditure, it was mainly due to the 30 percent increase in current expenditure.”

Budget deficit

In early August, Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad revealed that the government was facing “great difficulty in managing the budget deficit” due to shortfalls in revenue.

The ballooning budget deficit – which Jihad warned could reach MVR4 billion (US$260 million) or 10.6 percent of GDP – could affect the government’s ability to pay civil servants, he said.

A fiscal deficit of MVR1.3 million (US$84,306) had been projected in the record MVR17.96 billion (US$1.1 billion) budget approved by parliament.

The budget was inclusive of proposed revenue raising measures – many of which had failed to materialise during the previous administration – amounting to MVR3.4 billion (US$220 million), or 19 percent of the budget.

“Expenses keep on increasing, even as we don’t receive any revenue. We did not get the expected revenue this year either,” Jihad said last month.

Despite parliament passing the measures in February – including tax and import duty hikes – Jihad predicted at the time that the anticipated revenue might not be realised in full due to compromises.

“We try to make regular salary payments even if we have to take loans in order to do so,” Jihad said.

The monthly review revealed that the total outstanding stock of government securities – treasury bills and bonds – increased 18 percent in July compared to the corresponding period last year, reaching MVR13.7 billion (US$888 million).

“The annual growth in government securities was contributed by the increase in the amount of T-bills issued by the government to manage its growing cash flow requirements,” the review explained.

The MMA had previously warned that shortfalls in revenue and overruns in expenditure could jeopardise the country’s debt sustainability.

In May, MMA Governor Dr Azeema Adam called for “bold decisions” to ensure macroeconomic stability by reducing expenditure – “especially the untargeted subsidies” – and increasing revenue.

Tourism, fisheries and inflation

Tourist arrivals in July increased 20 percent from the previous month and 14 percent compared to July 2013, reaching 100,191 visitors, the review noted.

While bednights rose by nine percent in annual terms, the report noted that average duration of stay declined from 6.0 days in July last year to 5.7 days this year.

“With the increase in bednights, the occupancy rate also rose to 69 percent in July 2014 from 66 percent in the same period last year,” the review stated.

Fish purchases meanwhile declined by 44 percent to 2,124.7 metric tonnes compared to July 2013, the report revealed.

While the volume of fish exports fell by 54 percent, earnings on fish exports declined by 41 percent, which was “contributed mainly by the fall in export of frozen yellow fin tuna.”

The rate of inflation in the capital decreased to 2.4 percent from 3.5 percent in July 2013 and 3.6 percent the previous year, the review found, which was due to “the slower growth of food prices, especially fish, and the moderation in the growth in prices charged for rent and health services.”

The review noted that the trade deficit widened by 38 percent in July compared to the same period last year “due to the 27 percent increase in imports and the 34 percent decline in exports.”

Gross international reserves rose four percent from the previous month and 42 percent in annual terms, the review stated, amounting to US$497.6 million at the end of July.

“This mainly reflects the temporary increase in foreign currency transfers by the commercial banks in the review period,” the central bank explained.

“As for reserves in terms of months of imports, it also increased in both monthly and annual terms and stood at 3.2 months during the review month.”

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