Category: News in Brief

President Nasheed attending climate change conference in Italy

President Nasheed is attending a climate change conference in Italy, as well as an investment forum, and conducting more negotiations concerning Bikoka University’s proposed extension in the Maldives, according to the President’s Office press secretary Mohamed Zuhair.

Miadhu Daily reports that the cost of President’s visit is being covered by the organisers of the meeting – Italy’s Centre for a Sustainable Future and the Italian government.

President Nasheed will also call on the President of Italy and hold discussions with senior officials of the Italian tourism sector.

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Fatwas for new and emerging Islamic issues – Act on Religious Unity amendments proposed by DRP

The DRP has submitted amendments to the Act on Religious Unity for Majlis consideration. The amendments are designed to “strengthen the Shafi sect Islam in the country, strengthen the Islamic foundation of the country through Islamic education at all academic levels and to prevent Maldivians from studying religions other than Islam,” according to Dr. Afraasheem Ali, MP for Ungoofaaru and chairperson of the DRP’s religious cell.

The bill stipulates that Islam and Dhivehi shall be taught as compulsory subjects from grade 1 to 12 in the Maldives.

It criminalises any action in the Maldives school system to promote religions other than Islam and bans the teaching of those religions.

The bill also makes the Shafi sect the basis of Islam in Maldives.

The bill also calls for the establishment of an independent Fiqh Academy which would issue fatwas on new and emerging issues on Islam and on those issues where there is disagreement among scholars.

Of 72 MPs present and voting, 70 MPs supported accepting the bill for preliminary debate.

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MP for Kaashidhoo to be summoned to Court over corruption case

MP for Kaashidhoo is to be summoned to Court over a corruption case involving a vessel he purchased while working at Male Municipality during the previous administration.

The court has ruled that the case of the State against Ismail Abdul Hameed, MP for Kaashidhoo, can be heard. The ruling was made in response to a procedural motion by his lawyers that the case cannot be
tried.

The judge also asked Ismail Abdul Hameed to be present for the next hearing. Hameed was previously a DRP member at the time of the alleged crime, then joined the MDP, but he is now an independent MP.

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Guantanamo Bay detainees not a threat to Maldives national security: Zuhair

Bringing two former detainees from the Guantanamo Bay facility to Maldives is not a threat to the country’s national security, said President’s Office Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair in a statement to Miadhu Daily.

The Maldives security forces are well equipped to manage the detainees, according to Zuhair who also said there is no date set for the arrival of the detainees.

The cost of hosting the detainees in the Maldives would be borne by the US government, Zuhair told Miadhu, and the US government would confirm the detainees are innocent and provide travel documents.

While staying in the Maldives they would obtain legal visas, he said.

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Tourist arrivals to the Maldives up 20 percent on same period last year

Tourist arrivals at Maldives have increased by nearly 20 percent in the first five months of 2010 compared to last year, according to the Tourism Ministry.

338,582 tourists visited Maldives between January and May, compared to 282,518 tourists during that period last year, an increase of 56,064 tourists according to Department of Immigration figures.

Tourist numbers increased by over 35 percent for the month of May, from 43,154 in 2009, to 58,324 this year.

Tourist arrivals for first five months of this year are over seven percent higher than for the same period during the boom year of 2008.

Maldives’ 91 resorts had a steady occupancy rate of 82.3 percent.

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Five men arrested for assault on Hithadhu in Seenu Atoll

Five men have been arrested on Hithadhu in Seenu Atoll for attacking another group of men while they were watching world cup inside an abandoned house, reported SunFM.

SunFM reported that three men were injured during the incident.

One of the three men was seriously injured and was treated in the Intensive Care Unit of the local hospital.

Police are further investigating the case.

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Dead man found floating in sea near Thimarafushi

A dead man was found dead floating in the sea of Thimarafushi in Thaa Atoll, reported SunFMlive.

The Radio Station identified the man as Isthiyaz Mohamed, 29, of Raastha on Thimarafushi.

Police said the cause of death was yet to be determined and there were no injuries found outside his body.

SunFM reported that the doctor had said the cause of the death was “not due to drowning.”

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Five men arrested for using suspected narcotics

Police have arrested five men with suspected narcotics in Addu Atoll, report police.

Police reported that four of the five men were arrested while they were using suspected narcotics inside a house in the forest on Hithadhoo in Addu Atoll.

The other man was arrested for allegedly being drunk, reported police.

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Government cannot be complacent on economic reform: Nasheed

President Mohamed Nasheed has said the government cannot be complacent in implementing economic reform, following the release of the IMF’s Country Report on the Maldives.

Speaking in his weekly radio address, President Nasheed said while the report had lauded certain financial achievements, including “painful expenditure-reducing measures including public sector wage cuts and reducing electricity subsidies,” as well as increasing the airport tax rate and proposing the draft bill on goods and services on tourism.

However although the IMF report had noted that the economy stabilised, the IMF “urges to continue with the cost cutting measures”.

The IMF had said that failure to do so would result in “large fiscal imbalances and macroeconomic instability”, Nasheed said.

The President noted that IMF’s November 2009 Public Financial Management Performance (PEFA) report had identified several failures in financial management in the previous government.

The President, pointed out that according to the IMF report, there were “significant variations between the estimated budget figures and actual revenues” leading to an unsustainable fiscal situation.

Meanwhile, he said, government debts had trebled standing at 54 percent of GDP in 2008.

Wages would increase as a result of the government’s cost-cutting measures and efforts to address failures in financial management, he explained.

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