Day: December 22, 2014

Police Special Constabulary charged with security at Hulhumalé Hospital

The Maldives Police Services’ private security provider Special Constabulary Forces are now in charge of providing security at Hulhumalé Hospital.

“This move will give customers additional satisfaction and establish a safer environment,” the Hulhumalé Development Corporation’s Managing Director Suhail Ahmed said at a ceremony this morning.

Police’s Special Constabulary are also in charge of security at the Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital and the Youth Center in Malé.

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3G services must be available to all islands next year, says CAM

The Communication Authority of Maldives (CAM) has said that that all inhabited islands in the Maldives must have access to 3G internet services.

While universal coverage was previously optional for the country’s two telecommunications providers – Dhiraagu and Ooredoo – the regulator has said that new policies make 3G mandatory in all 196 inhabited islands.

Source: Haveeru; Sun Online

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Maldives backs new Chinese investment bank, pursues free trade deal

The Maldives is to back a Chinese-initiated international finance institution to be called the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) while ministers have confirmed a free trade agreement is being pursued.

At a press conference today, the economic council revealed that the Maldives had asked to be included as a founding member of the proposed bank alongside the existing 21 countries, which includes both China and India.

Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture Dr Mohamed Shainee also revealed that China was to become the Maldives first free trade partner, demonstrating the pair’s excellent bilateral relations.

The requests were put forward during a recent visit to China by the Economic Council where discussions were held on proceeding with Chinese-assisted projects, while the Maldives officially signed up to the Maritime Silk Road project.

The AIIB, which is to start up with a proposed US$100 billion capital, is purposed with financing infrastructure projects in the Asia Pacific region.

The bank has been described by some media outlets as having been set up with the intentions of increasing Chinese influence in Asia at the expense of the IMF, ADB, and the World Bank.

The economic council today confirmed that the Maldives has officially agreed to participate in China’s silk road trade route – the third country to do so, although Chinese state media has reported more than 50 states as expressing interest.

The two countries have also agreed to engage upon free trade in the future, explained the council.

“The biggest advantage of the free trade will go towards fishermen. With free trade and the 12 percent export duty will be gone, thus the 12 percent becomes profit for fishermen,” said Shainee.

When questioned about the potential economic disadvantages which might occur because of a free trade agreement, Minister at the President’s office Mohamed Shareef said that both governments will make sure that the agreement leads to a ‘win-win’ for the countries.

“I want to mention that the free trade talks were initiated by the Maldives,” said Shareef. “China is willing to give us a lot of leeway into how we structure the agreement.”

Shareef also said – citing Chinese sources – that the Maldives is the number one South Asian destination for Chinese tourists at the moment. Chinese tourists currently make up around one third of all tourist arrivals to the Maldives.

The economic council also stated that work on the proposed new terminal at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) is to begin in the next six to seven months and that the request for the loan to finance the project has been submitted to the Chinese Exim bank.

The council members also reiterated the importance of the proposed Malé-Hulhulé Bridge, saying that there is good progress and that the government is aiming to open it by the year 2017.


Related to this story

Silk road deal to be concluded in China-Maldives economic committee

Chinese President Xi Jinping calls for Maldives involvement in 21st century maritime silk road

President Yameen slams “Western colonial powers,” declares foreign policy shift to East

Agreements on bridge and airport penned during Chinese president’s visit

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Government transfers paralysed Indian woman to Guraidhoo Special Needs Home

The Ministry of Law and Gender has temporarily transferred an Indian woman suffering from paralysis below the waist to the Home for People with Special Needs on Guraidhoo Island.

The woman had married a Maldivian man 23 years ago, but her husband died two months ago, leaving her in the care of her husband’s niece, local media have reported

She had been living alone in a rented room, but her landlord had told her she must leave by Thursday as she could no longer afford rent.

Speaking to Haveeru, Deputy Minister of Gender Mohamed Zahid said the ministry is in discussions with the Foreign Ministry and the Indian High Commission to transport the woman to her family in India.

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MDP expels MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) disciplinary committee has today expelled MP and Deputy Speaker of parliament ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik for breaching the party parliamentary group’s three-line whip in three Majlis votes.

The MDP’s National Executive Council last week asked the committee to penalise Moosa within seven days along with five others after their absence from a Majlis vote to dismiss former Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz and Justice Muthasim Adnan.

Others absent from the vote were Vaikaradhoo MP Mohamed Nazim, Velidhoo MP Abdulla Yamin Rasheed, Mulaku MP Ibrahim Naseer, Felidhoo MP Ahmed Marzooq, and Kurendhoo MP Abdul Bari Abdulla.

Disciplinary committee Chair Mohamed Shifaz said Moosa had failed to answer summons to answer charges, forcing the committee to levy harsher penalties.

The remaining five MPs have been ordered to issue a public apology as they breached the party’s three-line whip only once.

Shifaz said that if Moosa wished to rejoin the party, he must publicly apologise and gain 50 new members. However, he will not be allowed to contest in any party primary or stand for a leadership position in the next five years.

Moosa – who had announced he would contest the MDP’s presidential primaries in 2018 – is reported to be signing for the ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) tomorrow.

Opposition aligned Raajje TV has meanwhile reported that the government has awarded Moosa’s Heavy Load Pvt Ltd three islands for resort development following the termination of an agreement to reclaim land in Hulhumalé.

The five other MPs will be dismissed from any elected or appointed posts within the party and from chair or deputy chair positions in any People’s Majlis committees.

If the MPs breach a whip-line again, they will be suspended from contesting party primaries or leadership positions for five years.

Nazim is to be suspended from participating in National Executive Council or Parliamentary Group votes for three months, while Yamin, Bari, Marzooq, and Naseer are to be suspended for six months.

Nazim is also to be dismissed from party committees for three months, and suspended from contesting party primaries or standing for leadership positions for the next two years.

Yamin, Bari, Marzooq, and Naseer are to be dismissed from party committees for six months, and barred from contesting party primaries or standing for leadership positions for the next three years.

Shifaz said he believes the party must also penalise MP Ibrahim ‘Mavota’ Shareef for submitting amendments to the Judicature Act that resulted in the dismissal of Faiz and Muthasim.

The MDP rejected the proposal immediately and Shareef voted against amending the Judicature Act and the dismissal of the two judges.

Shareef was expelled from the MDP in 2007 for refusing to cooperate with an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment. He went on to join the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) before rejoining the MDP in 2013 when the DRP decided to back Nasheed during November’s presidential polls.

MDP has said the sudden removal of the two Supreme Court Judges is an attempt to stack the judiciary in President Abdulla Yameen’s favour.

Commonwealth groups have described the judges’ removal as unconstitutional, saying it constituted a clear breach of the Commonwealth Principles to which the government of Maldives has subscribed.

“As a result the independence of the judiciary and the Rule of Law have been “severely jeopardised”.

The International Commission of Jurists said the Maldivian parliament and executive “have effectively decapitated the country’s judiciary and trampled on the fundamental principles of the rule of law and separation of powers in a democratic State.”


Related to this story

MDP calls on six MPs absent from Supreme Court vote to answer disciplinary charges

MDP votes to discipline MPs absent from Supreme Court vote

Abdulla Saeed appointed as new Chief Justice, dismissed Justice Faiz laments “black day”

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BML to sell Reethi Beach Resort and Mahandhoo island

The Bank of Maldives Plc Ltd (BML) has made an announcement seeking buyers for the Reethi Beach Resort and the island of Mahandhoo.

BML had seized the 120-bed Reethi Beach Resort and 87-bed Gaaf Alif Mahandhoo – currently under development as a resort – following non-payment of loans by Mahandhoo Investments and Kabalifaru Investments.

Both companies have ties to former Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali.

The Civil Court had authorised the bank to sell the mortgaged properties in October 2009 and the rulings were subsequently upheld by the High Court upon appeal.

While the High Court decision was appealed at the Supreme Court, the parties reached an out-of-court settlement in June 2013.

BML has reportedly assigned Singapore-based Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL) to oversee the bidding process.

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Southern atolls sign pact to defend decentralisation

The Maldives’ southernmost atoll councils have signed a joint declaration calling upon the government to protect the country’s decentralised authorities.

Atoll councils from Gaaf Dhaalu, Gaaf Alifu, and Fuvahmulah, joined with Addu City Council to sign the Medheaari Declaration yesterday (December 21).

The pact, which includes measures to secure fiscal autonomy, comes after repeated moves by the central government to remove powers granted to Malé City Council under the 2010 Decentralisation Act.

“What happened in Malé, will it be repeated in the atolls?” asked Addu City Council Mayor Abdulla Sodig.

“We always have the fear that the government will come after Addu City Council after it deals with Malé City Council.”

Representatives of the four councils met in Addu City Hall yesterday to sign the six point declaration, which Sodig described as “historic”.

As part of the arrangement, the councils passed a resolution vowing that all fees collected by local authorities should be deposited in council bank accounts.

Despite provisions in the 2010 act allowing for revenue raising measures, amendments to financial legislation have yet to be introduced, meaning that fees raised by local authorities are still sent to the capital Malé.

The 2014 UNDP Human Development Report has pointed out that harmonising laws remains a key challenge facing the decentralisation transition, as well as suggesting a pressing need to reduce the size of government at all levels.

While the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority has recently established an office in Addu, the city council has refused to allow it to begin operations until it pledges not to interfere with local fee collection.

Sodig explained that Addu City Council does not currently send its local fees to the capital, though the neighbouring atoll councils still do.

The President’s Office has declined to comment on the Medheaari Declaration.

An additional point contained in the document includes sending a letter to to the Majlis saying that any amendments to the Decentralisation Act must be brought in line with the spirit of the country’s decentralisation laws.

Recently proposed amendments to decentralisation – from pro-government MP Riyaz Rasheed – called for a reduced number of local councils and to cut the salaries of all councillors except the council’s president.

At yesterday’s meeting, the councils also agreed to write to all government institutions requesting that they respect the Decentralisation Act and uphold the powers of the constitution, and its specific provisions on local governance.

The removal last week of further lands originally granted to Malé City Council prompted the capital’s mayor to condemn what he called the government’s systematic abrogation of the council’s powers.

“We are now only in charge of facilitating construction in Malé, issuing death and birth certificates and cleaning mosques. But the constitution clearly states the Maldives must be administered through decentralised councils,” said Mayor Mohamed Shihab at the time.

The southern atolls yesterday also pledged to meet annually as well as to sign a joint MoU on February 24, agreeing to work together on socio-economic issues.

The southern atolls have traditionally supported the current opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) – as is Malé City Council, which has labelled the government’s removal of its authority an attempt to destroy decentralisation.

All of Addu City’s 6 councillors are MDP members, while the party won just over 40 percent of island, atoll, and city council seats nationwide in January’s local elections. The elections commission was unable to provide information on the current distribution of councillors in Fuvahmulah, Gaaf Alifu, and Gaaf Dhaalu at the time of publication.

Previous comments from government officials have suggested that political decentralisation must follow economic development throughout the atolls.

“Land, labour, and capital – the central government and the regional governments are fighting for it as we don’t have enough resources even for the existing government to cover the budget deficits,” Minister of Tourism Ahmed Adeeb has explained.

“I believe when there’s enough economic activity we can give more powers to the councils.”

Analysts have suggested that political wrangling over the implementation of decentralised governance – which included wholesale revisions to the original act proposed by the MDP government – has left the atolls’ populations less empowered than ever.

Addu, Fuvahmulah, and Huvadhoo (containing Gaaf Alif and Gaaf Dhaalu atoll councils) currently contain 14 percent of the Maldives population.

The same three atolls declared independence from the central government in 1959, forming the short-lived United Suvadive Republic before government forces regained control in 1963.


Related to this story

Malé City Council helpless as housing ministry takes over all land, public services staff

Can decentralisation take root in the Maldives?

Addu City condemns government’s “obstruction” of guesthouse venture

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PPM parliamentary group leader Nihan criticises US for comments on judiciary

Ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) parliamentary group leader Ahmed Nihan has suggested the United States should look closer to home before passing comment on the Maldives’ judiciary.

While speaking at a ceremony in Gaaf Dhaalu Thinadhoo yesterday, Nihan said the majority of the countries issuing statements on the Maldivian judiciary do so without considering their domestic circumstances.

“They are afraid to talk about their own courthouses and the rights of their citizens. For example America, one of the biggest critics, is at the verge of killing black people on sight,” Haveeru has reported Nihan as saying.

“The countries which remain quiet, even as Israel continues to kill off people in the Middle East, Al-Quddus area – they are pointing their fingers at others,” he continued.

Speaking with Minivan News today, the Villimalé MP has suggested his words had been taken out of context by local media, though he defended them as being based upon facts, defending his right to freedom of expression.

Nihan’s comments appeared to refer to two recent incidents in the US in which individuals died at the hands of police officers, prompting nationwide civil rights protests.

During a visit to the Maldives this week US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal said that judicial independence is still an issue in the Maldives, despite the young democracy’s accomplishments.

The comments came just days after the removal of two Supreme Court judges by the People’s Majlis, in a move condemned as unconstitutional by both local and international civil society groups, as well as the Maldives’ Civil Court.

Numerous Commonwealth organisations said the move had “severely jeopardised” the independence of the judiciary, while the International Commission of Jurists said the “astonishingly arbitrary” decision had “effectively decapitated the country’s judiciary”.

Nihan told Minivan News today that there was no reason why the Maldives should act upon “planned and political” statements from European countries either.

The government, and President Yameen in particular, has heavily criticised the EU for what it regards as interference in the internal affairs of the country, suggesting it had prompted the Maldives to look increasingly to China as a development partner.

When asked about the impact of his comments on diplomatic relations, Nihan said that he believed that there should be no impact as Maldives has the right to defend itself from its critics in the international arena.

Meanwhile, a PPM press release on Thursday (December 18) had slammed what it termed attempts to bring the Maldives into disrepute by Jumhooree Party (JP) leader Ibrahim Gasim, who suggested that Maldives was facing international censure over the removal of Supreme Court judges.

“We’re giving a bad signal. [We are] talking about comments made about the Maldives looking at statements from America and the commonwealth,” the business tycoon was quoted as saying in local media.

Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz and Justice Muthasim Adnan were removed following the passage of government-sponsored amendments to the Judicature Act, which proposed reducing the number of judges on the apex court from seven to five.

Following ratification of the amendments by President Abdulla Yameen, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) promptly recommended the dismissal of Faiz and Adnan, which was approved by parliament on December 14 with 53 votes in favour and 21 against.


Related to this story

PPM accuses JP of misleading public, bringing government into disrepute

ICJ says Majlis has “decapitated the country’s judiciary”

Judicial independence still an issue in Maldives, says US assistant secretary of state

Judicial independence, rule of law “severely jeopardised” in the Maldives, says Commonwealth organisations

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Health sector a top priority for 2015, says President Yameen

The 2015 budget will improve health care services in the Maldives, President Abdulla Yameen has said at the inauguration of a new wing of the regional hospital on Raa Atoll Ungoofaaru.

Identifying a lack of adequate health services on all islands as a top grievance, Yameen said his administration will not discriminate between islands or atolls in providing quality health care and will improve the country’s “severely deteriorated health sector”.

According to the 2015 budget, MVR3.4 billion (US$220 million) of the record MVR24.3 billion (US$1.5 billion) budget would be spent on health care. Of this amount, MVR3.1 billion (US$201 million) amounts to recurrent expenditure.

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has criticised the lack of funds in the 2015 budget for the ruling Progressive Party of the Madlives’ (PPM) main healthcare pledges – the ‘doctor for every family’ and the sea ambulance in every atoll schemes.

The party has also highlighted the reduction of funds for medical care abroad from MVR31.3 million (US$2 million) in 2014 to MVR10.5 million (US$680,000) in 2015. The domestic health care budget was also reduced from MVR9.3 million (US$603,000) in 2014 to MVR6.5 million (US$421,000) in 2015, the party said.

Yameen said the government has now established sea ambulance services in seven atolls and employed a gynecologist in all atoll hospitals except Vaavu Atoll. He praised the availability of unlimited healthcare under the Aasandha national health insurance scheme.

On December 15, Defense Minister and acting health minister Mohamed Nazim met with Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Special Commissioner Major General Kung Lee to discuss the technical expertise needed to establish sea ambulance services in the Maldives.

Yameen said the government’s priority is to establish a pharmacy through the state wholesaler State Trading Organization (STO) on every island. 57 pharmacies have been established this year alone, the president noted.

“If there is a pharmacy in every atoll, I find it easy to sleep at night. The government will provide the essential medicines. I am assured that citizens would get their required medicine at controlled prices,” Yameen said.

Former Health Minister Dr Mariyam Shakeela has previously highlighted the abundance of of counterfeit pharmaceutical products in the country as a challenge to the health sector.

Yameen last night said the Raa Atoll Regional Hospital, which caters to 15,000 people, will provide similar level of services available in capital Malé,

The hospital now has 12 specialist doctors as well as dentistry and dialysis units, explained Nazim.

President Yameen also criticised MDP’s rejection of the 2015 budget as “irresponsible,” and noted that Raa Atoll Alifushi MP Mohamed Rasheed had voted against the budget despite several development projects budgeted for his constituency.

“I would like to note, the MP rejected the budget despite development projects being budgeted for [the Alifushi] constituency. Citizens must know this,” said Yameen.

The MPs’ rejection of the entire budget is an indication they do not want development for their constituencies, Yameen said.

The MDP rejected the budget after the PPM had failed to back the party’s budget recommendations including allocating MVR100 million (US$6.4 million) and MVR75 million (US$4.8 million) respectively to provide subsidies for fishermen and farmers.

Other proposals included adding persons with disabilities and single parents as categories eligible for government subsidies to the poor and requiring the finance ministry to submit quarterly reports to parliament concerning the implementation of the budget.

The PPM did, however, scrap plans to impose a 10 percent import duty on staple foodstuffs and oil as advocated by opposition party.

Yameen last night said the government has built a harbour, and established complementary solar panel systems and a waste management system on Ungoofaaru this year.

In 2015, the government will establish a rainwater harvesting and storage system, build roads, renovate the football field, construct a sports arena on the island, and establish a new police station on the island, the president added.


Related to this story

STO hands over biomedical equipment worth US$900,000 to the health ministry

MDP criticises proposed 2015 state budget as “aimless”

Parliament approves state budget for 2015 with 60 votes in favour

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