Day: April 1, 2015

Tourists stranded in Maldives in liveaboard scams

Dozens of tourists are stranded each year in the Maldives by scams involving liveaboards, harming the country’s reputation among visitors, boat owners say.

Scammers use fraudulent websites to collect payments on liveaboards without the owner’s knowledge, leaving tourists stranded at the airport.

Others sell holidays on luxury cruisers, but when tourists arrive in the Maldives, transfer them to low-grade boats.

Boat owners are speaking out about the problem for the first time, saying they decided to do so out of frustration over a lack of action against the fraudsters.

Some 81 liveaboards — boats on which tourists stay for several nights, also known as safari boats — operate in the Maldives, offering surfing and diving trips, some with luxury accommodation.

A safari boat owner, who asked not to be named, said an Indian dive tour operator alerted him on March 19 to a Maldivian company selling a holiday on his boat without his knowledge.

He told Minivan News the government has failed to take action on scammers.

“This is very destructive and tarnishes the Maldives’ image,” he said, calling on the ministry to suspend licenses and blacklist fraudulent tour operators.

Amir Mansoor, the owner of the luxury liveaboard Carpe Diem, also said that liveaboard scams are frequent.

“This is very concerning, even if it’s two or fifty tourists a year, and affects the Maldives’ image,” he said.

Deputy tourism minister Hussain Lirar, however, denied any knowledge of fraud, but said the government would take action through law enforcement agencies against scammers.

The anonymous liveaboard owner said that at least 88 Russian and German tourists were stranded in November 2013 after a scam, and said he had rescued some tourists from the group.

The Liveaboard Association of Maldives (LAM) this week said it had received complaints from foreign tour operators, mostly in India and Hong Kong, involving fake bookings and operators collecting payments without offering a service.

“The scams involve fraudulent websites claiming to be authorized travel agents offering cheap liveaboards,” the organization said, following the March 19 alert from the Indian tour operator.

In the email obtained by Minivan News, the Indian company said it had been saved from fraud by its contacts in the Maldives and urged LAM to take action to ensure “those advertising as Maldivian agents do not defraud gullible tourists.”

LAM subsequently advised holidaymakers and tour operators to be wary of rock bottom prices in the Maldives and to book through agents listed on its website or reputable travel companies listed by the Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators.

There are currently 1,367 beds available on safari boats in the Maldives, often costing hundreds of dollars a night.

A Hong Kong-based tour operator, which says it sends 2000 guests to the Maldives every year, said a tour operator called Poseidon Tours in 2012 stranded several guests “desperately in Malé without any excuse,” according to leaked emails.

Although the tourism ministry denied knowledge of scams, the emails show the operator wrote to the ministry and LAM throughout 2012 and 2013 asking them to penalise the scammer. The company threatened to go public with the scandal and asked for a response “before I do something that might hurt all of us.”

“It was the not the first case to our company and on and off we heard that other agents/guests were having similar experiences. I don’t think that this is a good reputation to your country,” the operator said.

The operator reimbursed its clients, but Minivan News was unable to confirm whether the government had taken action against Poseidon Tours.

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Family to sue police over ‘home invasion’

A family in Malé are planning to sue police for entering their residence without permission or a court warrant to arrest two young men accused of assaulting officers.

Residents of Galolhu Sheen told Minivan News that more than 10 police officers barged into the house around 10:50pm on Monday night and “brutally” arrested two brothers, aged 17 and 19, who were not from the house but were friends of the family.

As well as submitting a complaint to the Police Integrity Commission, the family plan to sue the police for unlawful entry and damages over “psychological harm” suffered by young children who witnessed the incident.

The constitution bars entry to homes under most conditions, with article 47(b) reading: “Residential property shall be inviolable, and shall not be entered without the consent of the resident, except to prevent immediate and serious harm to life or property, or under the express authorisation of an order of the court.”

A police media official told Minivan News that a court order was not needed when a person “commits a criminal offence and flees from police”.

The official added that under those circumstances, the residence was considered part of the “crime scene”.

Scuffle

The incident occurred after scuffles between patrolling police and army officers and a group of young men talking outside Galolhu Sheen.

Police and army officers have been patrolling the streets of Malé as part of a joint security operation launched following a spate of violent assaults in the capital that saw a 29-year-old man murdered on March 29.

Three army officers and one police officer approached the group and told them to leave, one of the young men – a resident of Sheen – told Minivan News on the condition of anonymity.

“The police officer in dark blue uniform didn’t have a name tag,” he said.

The group of friends told the security services personnel that they would leave in a moment, he said, but were repeatedly ordered to leave immediately.

When two of the young men complained about the officers addressing them with obscene language, the security officials became angered and tried to arrest the pair, he said.

An officer grabbed one of them and twisted his arm, he continued, which prompted his brother to intervene.

He alleged that one of the soldiers punched the 17-year-old and the police officer started pepper spraying the pair in the face.

The situation calmed down in about five minutes, he added.

“I said there’s no need to fight, you can take them if you want. I told [the officers] to wait, I’m going to take them inside to wash their faces,” he said.

The officers did not respond or prevent them going inside, he stressed.

About 14 police officers then entered the residence through the main door, which leads to a narrow corridor with family quarters on the side.

Three or four police officers then barged into the room where the pair were washing their faces and dragged the older brother out after allegedly punching him.

Police pepper also sprayed him at close range, after which another group of officers entered the room and dragged out the younger brother.

He stressed that the door was open and the officers did not seek permission or ask the pair to come out.

Police said in a statement yesterday that an 18-year-old and 19-year-old were arrested for assaulting a police officer. The officer did not sustain injuries, the statement added.

However, sources who spoke to Minivan News insist that the younger of the two teenagers involved is 17 years of age.

The criminal court yesterday extended the remand detention of the minor to five days in police custody and placed the older brother under house arrest for five days.

“Bad police”

The owner of the home told Minivan News that she gave a statement to police today about the incident.

She arrived home while police were entering and asked for an explanation, she said, but police did not respond. Upon arriving in the area, she was immediately affected by the pepper spray in the air.

While police were dragging out the older brother – who was on the ground and apparently crying in pain – she grabbed his shirt and asked police why they were arresting him.

“They said ‘he spoke to us with filthy language, he can be taken, we’re taking him,'” she recalled.

A woman who was inside Galolhu Sheen wears a face veil and noted that the officers could have caught her without the veil when they entered her quarters without permission.

Her seven-year-old, ten-year-old, and 17-year-old were woken up when police entered, and witnessed the incident from upstairs.

She said the brothers frequently visited the house for sleepovers. The younger boy had been a vice captain at his school.

After seeing police beating the pair inside their apartment, the children ran and hid inside a wardrobe, she said, and could not sleep later that night.

“We hear from people that [police] are brutal, but now we’ve seen with our own eyes,” she said.

“The seven-year-old also saw how they treated [the pair]. He didn’t want to go to her Quran class last night. He said, ‘I can’t go anywhere at night, mommy, the bad police will come.'”

Her children were traumatised by the incident, she said, and one of them today that she “wished we had an iron gate.”

Photo: police officers stop and search suspects last week 

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IPU to send ‘urgent’ mission over MP death threats, arrests

The Inter-Parliamentary Union will send an urgent mission to the Maldives during the upcoming months to investigate death threats, attacks and arrests of MPs in the country.

The union, which represents parliaments around the world, said they are investigating reports that 30 former and current MPs have been victims of human rights abuses, including one MP who was murdered and another who was stabbed.

After the 132nd Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) assembly this week in Hanoi, the organization said political polarisation and heightened tensions in the Maldives “necessitated an urgent on-site mission” by the IPU’s human rights wing to gather first-hand information.

“The organisation is deeply concerned by the serious and repeated death threats allegedly made against opposition MPs in the Maldives since last year,” an IPU statement said.

Tensions are high across the country after the conviction of former President Mohamed Nasheed on terrorism charges this month, with opposition parties holding daily protests.

IPU also called on law enforcement agencies to show restraint, and to abide by international and national human rights laws and standards when handling protests.

Meanwhile, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) complains that the speaker of parliament has been excluding the party from the Maldives’ delegations to IPU.

Mohamed Rasheed, secretary general of the MDP parliamentary group, said the delegation is selected in a “petty” manner without including the main opposition party.

One MDP MP was present in Hanoi, but fellow members of his party said that he was “hand-picked”, whereas in the past, the party has sent two MPs of its choice.

Eva Abdulla, an MDP parliamentarian, has been excluded from recent delegations despite being an elected representative for all female South Asian MPs at the IPU.

Threats

Eva told Minivan News that opposition lawmakers have been receiving death threats “every other day” since the disappearance of Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan last August. Rilwan has still not been found.

She said opposition MPs have been receiving phone calls and text messages, and sometimes stalked.

“We filed complaints at the police and with the Majlis itself. However the speaker has not even condemned the threats in public or privately,” she said.

Threats against opposition parliamentarians have caused the IPU to classify the Maldives as one of the most dangerous countries to be an MP, noted Eva.

Several opposition MPs have been arrested at anti-government protests.

Most recently, MP Ahmed Mahloof, formerly of the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives, was arrested at a protest last week and detained for five days.

When his detention ended, the criminal court placed him on further five days of house arrest after he refused the court’s condition to not participate in further protests for 60 days.

Similarly, MDP MP Ismail Fayyaz was given 15 days’ detention after he refused to accept release under the same conditions.

Eva said police had been slow to investigate a forced entry into Mahloof’s apartment last month, although they were handed CCTV footage of the incident.

The IPU’s list of Maldivian cases includes that of the late PPM MP Dr Afrasheem Ali, who was murdered outside of his home in October 2012, and the stabbing last year of MP Alhan Fahmy, who narrowly avoided paralysis as a result.

PPM MPs and the speaker of parliament had not responded to requests for comment at the time of going to press.

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Overseas workers banned from cashier jobs

A ban on foreigners working as cashiers took effect today in an attempt to boost employment among local young people, almost a third of whom are jobless.

However, overseas workers were still seen working as cashiers, while some employers said they had trouble finding young Maldivians to fill the roles.

The Ministry of Economic Development changed the regulation on migrant workers earlier this year to bar foreigners from working as cashiers in cafés, restaurants and shops.

The ministry also began free training programs in collaboration with businesses for Maldivians wishing to be cashiers, but some businesses remain unprepared for the change.

“My boss came today because I can’t work behind the counter anymore,” said an migrant worker who was previously a cashier at Mariyam Café in Malé.

He is still employed at the cafe but will take on a different role.

Although the new regulation aims to increase employment among young Maldivians, some businesses have experienced problems with younger local staff.

“I employed three or four [Maldivian] youths before. But I can’t manage the business with them because they do not come to work regularly,” said Mohamed Sanah, who runs Laasany, a family-run shop on Orchid Road in the capital.

Ali jaleel, owner of a local goods shop, praised the change in the rules.

“I’m the one who is always behind this counter,” he said. “I see a lot of foreigners working as cashiers.

“It would be a good change for Maldivians to do the job instead of them. At least the money wouldn’t go outside the country then.”

Some 26.5 per cent of Maldivians aged 15 to 24 are unemployed, according to World Bank figures from 2013, the most recent figures available.

Government figures place the number of overseas workers in the Maldives at 58,000, but other estimates place as high as twice that figure. Most are in the construction industry.

The Ministry of Economic Development and Youth Ministry were unavailable for comment at the time of going to press.

President Abdulla Yameen pledged to create 95,000 jobs in his five-year term. He claimed 17,000 jobs were created within his first year, and claimed credit, but did not provide details.

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Designs for six-lane airport bridge underway

Designs for a six-lane bridge connecting the capital and the airport are expected to be completed by the end of June this year, the government has announced.

Construction of the Malé–Hulhulé Bridge, first slated to begin in 2014, will now start by the end of this year, tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb said today.

China has previously said it would ‘favorably consider financing’ the bridge if the design proves feasible, while President Xi Jinping said he hoped the government would call the bridge “the China-Maldives friendship bridge”.

Adeeb said the total cost of the project will only be known after the design is completed. China and Maldives will then consider options for financing and open a bidding process.

According to the government, a team of 60 people is working on the design. The six mile bridge is to connect the eastern edge of Malé to the western corner of Hulhule, where the airport is located. Land may have to be reclaimed in Hulhulé for the bridge, Adeeb said.

The bridge, a key campaign pledge of President Abdulla Yameen, will also connect Malé to its suburb Hulhumalé, an artificial island located behind Hulhulé and connected by a short causeway.

In March, 227 hectares of land were reclaimed in Hulhumalé for a planned ‘Youth City.’

In February 2014, the economic development ministry announced 19 parties had expressed interest in an initial tender for the bridge, but the tender was cancelled after China expressed interest in the project following a visit by President Yameen in August last year.

The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party had also planned a series of bridges in Male’ atoll when it was in power.

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Hundreds queue for cigarettes as import duty hiked

Hundreds of people queued up to buy cigarettes before import duties were hiked on a range of goods today.

Block-long queues formed outside tobacco shops The Root and OCC last night, with smokers in what OCC managing director Mohamed Mumthaz described as a “state of panic”.

From today, import duty on tobacco is 200 percent (up from 150 percent) . Some shops have already raised prices from MVR38 (US $2.47) to MVR47 ($3.05) a pack.

Mumthaz believes the public is afraid that big businesses will take advantage of the hike in import duties and hoard cigarettes in order to reduce the supply in the market, so that they can sell at an inflated price.

OCC has resorted to rationing cigarette sales, Mumthaz said. The Root is also rationing, selling only one carton each to individuals and two to retailers.

Some 42 per cent of Maldivians smoke, according to World Bank data.

Meanwhile, a 10 percent duty has also been introduced on petroleum products. About 30 percent of the Maldives’ GDP is spent on importing fossil fuels.

In 2012, US$486 million was spent on oil imports, and the figure is estimated to rise to US$ 700 million by 2020.

Among other items, custom duties for luxury cosmetics and perfume have increased from zero to 20 percent.

Duties on liquor and pork were raised to 50 percent, while duty will be doubled to 200 percent on land vehicles such as cars, jeeps, and vans.

The government previously had plans to raise import duties on staple foods like rice, flour and sugar, but it reversed the decision after criticism from the public.

Retail shop owner Ali Jaleel said that his shop has not increased any prices, but estimates that prices will go up with the next shipment of goods.

“Rising prices is inevitable but necessary for the government to keep on going like this. I do not think it is a problem,” he said.

Parliament approved the import duty hikes in December 2014 as part of revenue-raising measures proposed with the 2015 state budget. The government anticipated MVR533 million (US$34.5 million) in additional income from import duties.

Along with raising import duties, the government has decided to implement a new “green tax”, and estimates that it will receive US$ 100 million as acquisition fees for the newly developed Special Economic Zones by August this year.

However, on Monday (March 30), just two days before the implementing date of the hikes, Economic Development Minister Mohamed Saeed announced that the government has decided not to increase duty on garments or motorcycles.

“We are doing this to make it easier on the people because they are necessities,” Saeed told Haveeru.

During the parliamentary budget debate, opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs strongly criticised the proposed tax hikes, contending that the burden of higher prices would be borne by the public.

The current administration’s economic policies – such as waiving import duties for construction material imported for resort development and luxury yachts – benefit the rich at the expense of the poor, MDP MPs argued.

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Parliament cancelled for second day

The sitting of the People’s Majlis (parliament) was cancelled on Wednesday for the second day running without explanation, although parliamentary procedures require Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday sittings.

The secretariat did not give a reason for the cancellation, both opposition and pro-government MPs told Minivan News.

An unnamed MP from the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives suggested to online CNM that the cancellation might be down to the absence of Speaker Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed, who is overseas at a meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

However, Monday’s sitting was held with Deputy Speaker ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik presiding.

Since parliament returned from recess earlier this month, opposition Maldivian Democratic Party MPs have been protesting on the Majlis floor with sirens, whistles and megaphones, calling for the release of former President Mohamed Nasheed.

However, Speaker Maseeh has been continuing proceedings despite the disorder in chamber.

Parliament also ceased providing a live feed of the sittings to television stations whilst debate on bills is inaudible to the viewing gallery.

At Monday’s sitting of parliament, 44 MPs voted in favour of extending the lifespan of 39 regulations under the General Regulations Act until April 2016.

The law was passed in late 2008 as a parent legislation for over 80 regulations without a statutory basis when the new constitution was adopted.

Article 271 of the constitution states: “Regulations derive their authority from laws passed by the People’s Majlis pursuant to which they are enacted and are enforceable pursuant to such lawful authority.”

The parent act prolonged the lifespan of the regulations – which did not derive authority from an act of parliament – until new legislation such as a Criminal Procedures Act, Evidence Act and laws dealing with the health sector could be passed.

Parliament has been periodically extending the General Regulations Act since 2009.

Prior to the latest extension, three regulations were removed from the law – concerning business registration and procedures for requesting information – following the passage of new legislation on those areas.

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‘Leaked letter’ revives claims over Afrasheem murder

A leaked letter apparently written by the now home minister has surfaced on social media repeating claims that President Abdulla Yameen was linked to the 2012 murder of MP and cleric Afrasheem Ali.

The letter – apparently from Umar Naseer, who went on to become home minister in 2013 – is addressed to ex-president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and asks him to refrain from supporting Yameen because Naseer has concrete evidence linking Yameen to Afrasheem’s murder.

However, Naseer tweeted on Wednesday: “A forged letter in my name is being distributed on social media”, and claimed that the signature on the letter was different from his own.

Naseer has a history of making such claims against Yameen, but retracted them when he joined the government in 2013. Yameen denies allegations from the opposition of corruption and affiliation with criminal groups.

The letter received dozens of retweets, with many social media users linking it with previous public comments by Naseer making accusations against Yameen – although one Twitter user labelled it an “April fool”.

At a 2013 rally, Naseer accused Yameen of having illicit connections with gangs, the drug trade and the murder of Afrasheem. His comments followed his defeat by Yameen in the ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives  presidential primaries.

Naseer said he had witnessed a visit to Yameen at the PPM’s office by a suspect who was arrested and questioned by police over Afrasheem’s murder.

Naseer was subsequently dismissed from the party and went on to back Jumhooree Party (JP) candidate Gasim Ibrahim. He was appointed home minister when the JP joined the ruling party in a coalition, but after that coalition later broke up, he stayed in government and rejoined the PPM.

In an exclusive interview with Minivan News in January 2014, Naseer described his allegations against Yameen as merely “political rhetoric”.

“We were repeating MDP’s lines. What happens in presidential primaries is that you are competing for the top position of the nation, so you use every tool you have. I am now the home minister, but I do not see any indication of [Yameen] being involved in such acts,” said Naseer.

Afrasheem, an MP for the PPM representing Ungoofaaru constituency in Raa Atoll and also a moderate religious scholar, was stabbed to death outside his home on the night of October 1, 2012. Police said the killing was politically motivated.

He was known for taking relatively liberal positions on some religious issues, which had prompted criticism from other clerics. On a TV talk show on the night of his death, Afrasheem had apologised for “misunderstandings” over some of his religious views.

A 2012 UNDP study of the Maldives’ gang culture found that “political and business elites” exploit gangs to carry out illegal activities including the suppression of opponents and carrying out tasks to help maintain popularity or divert media attention from political issues.

There have also been growing links between gangs and religious extremists, with a series of secularist bloggers apparently targeted because of their views.

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Victim of accident in Addu City dies of injuries

viber-image

A 16-year-old victim of an accident in Addu City died of injuries yesterday while undergoing treatment at the regional hospital.

According to police, an 18-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl also sustained injuries after two motorcycles collided in the Hithadhoo link road around 5:55pm yesterday.

Both cycles were also damaged beyond repair. The 16-year-old boy was driving one motorcycle while the 18-year-old was driving the second vehicle.

Police said the 18-year-old was flown to Malé for treatment last night whilst the 16-year-old girl was undergoing treatment at the Hithadhoo regional hospital.

Several fatal accidents have occurred on the Addu City link road, which connects three interlinked islands in the southernmost atoll.

In November, a 33-year-old man died following a motorcycle accident whilst two men died in September after their motorcycle collided with a pickup.

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