Category: News in Brief

Maldives will back creation of Palestinian state on 1967 lines: Foreign Minister

The Maldives will back the creation of a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders at the next UN Human Rights Council meeting, Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem said on his return from visiting Israel and Palestine.

“We’ll do everything we can to establish a sovereign Palestinian state,” Naseem said, at a press conference today.

Naseem met Palestinian President Abbas during his trip, who accepted an invitation from the foreign minister to visit the Maldives.

While in Israel, Naseem met Israeli President Shimon Peres and the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Liberman.

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Maldives a carbon technology lab for the world: Sunday Times

The Maldives, aiming to be a zero-carbon nation by 2020 ahead of any other country, is like a ‘lab’ of technology for the world where future ways of reducing carbon into the atmosphere is developed here before being implementing across the world, writes Feizal Samath for Sri Lanka’s Sunday Times.

A two-day technology road-show in Male, the capital on May 9-10 which brought industry, technocrats and government officials from 22 countries including the five largest economies in the world – US, China, Japan, India and Germany, showcasing technological advances and knowledge.

President Mohamed Nasheed and Environment Minister Mohamed Aslam attended the event with Miss Universe 2005, Natalie Glebova.

According to Tourism Minister, Mariyam Zulfa, the Ministry recently signed a MoU with Swiss-based myclimate to prepare a strategy for voluntary carbon offsetting measures. “We will be looking at things like developing a model eco island as a resort of the future. We are working on the carbon footprint. While the airlines will look after themselves, the resorts are also looking at renewable energy for most of their needs,” she said adding however that the biggest challenge is the diesel that goes into generators which are used by all resorts.

If in 2010 it was worry about islands sinking, then this year the climate change-savvy country says there are much more serious issues.

“Sea level is rising but that’s not our main challenge,” noted Aslam, adding that shifting of islands when the sea level rises is a more complex issue.

“The islands are a dynamic feature and when sea level rises there would be changes. If you look at the morphology (structure of organism) these islands sit within a reef system. As the water level rises the hydrodynamics within the reef system will also change.

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Maldives Organisation for Elderly People receives US$40,000 UAE Health Award

The Maldives Organisation for Elderly People has been presented with the UAE Health Award during the World Health Organisation (WHO) meeting in Geneva, reports Gulf Today.

UAE minister of health Dr Hanif Hassan Ali Al Qassim, presented US$40,000 to the winning organisations, which also included the Society for Progress Association in Chad.

The award is annually granted to those individuals or organisations that provide various services in the medical and health development.

The Maldives Organisation for Elderly People provides a number of psychiatric and social services to the elderly in addition to health awareness programmes, physical education training sessions, yoga and physiotherapy either at home or at the centre.

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Expatriate slashed with machete

An expatriate man was badly injured after he was attacked with a machete in Henveiru Park in Male’ yesterday evening, reports Haveeru.

Police said they had no leads on the attack on the man, who was reportedly a food cart worker.

SunFM reported that a group of men asked the expatriate for a cigarette, and attacked him when he refused.

The injured man was taken to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in a police car.

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Maldives will starve in three months: future Adhaalath head

Potential future President of the religious Adhaalath Party Sheikh Imran Abdulla has reportedly claimed that the Maldives will starve once the country exhausts its foreign reserve in three months.

Sheikh Abdulla told press that the party had been informed of this during a meeting with the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA).

Sheikh Abdulla made the claims during an event at Kalaafanu school to announce that the party would be competing in the 2013 Presidential elections. He is currently running unopposed for leadership of the party, which is in coalition with the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

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President talks business tax increases as part of economic reform plans

President Mohamed Nasheed has pledged further economic reforms including the planned implementation of a general business profit tax in July and the possible increase of the Tourism Goods and Services Tax (GST) from six percent to 3.5 percent.

Speaking yesterday during his weekly radio address, the president claimed that serious reorganisation of state finances was needed as the Maldives graduates from the UN’s list of nations with Least Developed Country status.

This reorganization strategy includes a managed float of the rufiyaa to effectively devalue the currency against the US dollar .  The move was designed to try and allow the local currency to be traded within 20 percent of the pegged rate of Rf12.85 – a decision that has led to ongoing protests in Male’, said by organisers to be focused on escalating living costs.

“Reducing public expenditure and increasing state revenue to reduce budget deficit; stopping money printing to prevent devaluation of currency due to increased  supply; and corporatising government services to increase participation of efficient private parties,” were outlined by the president  as the government’s key aims for the economy.

In order to meet these goals, Nasheed claimed that the government would look to begin collecting business profit tax from the private sector on July 18 as well as trying to impose a minimum wage for local people.

In addition, the president also claimed that he was considering increasing the Tourism Goods and Services Tax, which was first implemented as of January 1 this year, to six percent from the introductory rate of 3.5 percent.

Criticising national spending policies under former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Nasheed claimed that his government had reduced a budget deficit that stood at about 30 percent of the nation’s GDP back in 2008 to just above 10 percent at present.

While generally supporting initiatives to reduce costs that have led to ongoing public protests in the country, the Treasurer of The Maldives National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MNCCI), Ahmed Adheeb Abdul Gafoor, said that the the planned addition of a minimum wage and a Goods and Services Tax (GST) on all enterprises operating in the country needed to be gradually implemented.

Speaking earlier this month, Abdul Gafoor claimed that gradual introduction of taxes would be vital to ensure the nation’s fledgling economy can cope with any potential changes.

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Maldivian Red Crescent raises US$33,296 in donations for Japanese tsunami victims

The Maldivian Red Crescent has presented US$33,296 in donations from Maldivians to the Red Cross Society of Japan for victims of the tsunami and earthquake in March this year.

Donations would be used for search and rescue operations, and for providing aid to rescued victims, the MRC stated.

Funds were handed over by the Maldives Ambassador to Japan, Ahmed Haleel.

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