Israel trains Maldives in mass casualty management

A team of experts from the Israeli Foreign Ministry are training 35 Maldivian officials in emergency preparedness, with a focus on the management of mass casualties.

The experts from the ministry’s Agency for International Development Cooperation arrived on 27 January to run a two week course drawing on Israel’s experience with emergency response.

“Israel is one of the best in the field when it comes to emergency response,” said Abdulla Shahid, chief coordinator of the Maldives’ National Disaster Management Centre.

Many aid agencies had conducted disaster-response training in the Maldives after the “wake up” call of the 2004 tsunami, Shahid said, “but much of it was ad hoc and it wasn’t run under a proper department until this government came into power.”

He acknowledged while that there was little the Maldives could do to prevent a tsunami, it was possible to prepare for them; “things such as monitoring how you alter the environment and construct buildings. Artificial – reclaimed – islands were the worst hit and suffered the most number of casualties. Male’ is more than half artificial,” he noted.

Earthquakes were also a concern, especially because of the country’s “very poor building and construction standards – God forbid if anything happened.”

“On 15 July 2003 there was an earthquake 270 miles southwest of Addu measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale, which shook the whole of the southern Maldives. So we cannot say we are not an earthquake-prone country,” Shahid said.

“Since the earthquake in Haiti we’ve had to rethink [our approach]. A lot of warning was given by Haiti’s neighbours, particularly by the US Geological Survey. But they were not taken very seriously.”

Shahid also observed that “a quarter of the world’s crude oil travels within 20 miles of the north of the Maldives.”

Terrorist incidents, “especially given the state of the world at the moment”, were not being discounted either, Shahid said.

“In fact, mass casualty scenarios were the main focus of the Israeli training,” he said.

Politics

Working with Israel on aid projects was not politically difficult, Shahid said, despite parliament’s no-confidence motion against Foreign Minister Ahmed Shaheed after he said at a press conference on 15 September 2009 that the the government was in the process of establishing ties with Israel, and he did not see any reason not to pursue it.

Shaheed narrowly survived the no-confidence voting with 37 MPs voting in favour, two short of the majority needed to remove the foreign minister.

Vice president of the Adaalath party Asim Mohamed said the Maldives “should collaborate with anyone willing to help us in our development.”

Shahid meanwhile noted that “we were working with Israel throughout the no-confidence motion.” The issue, he said, “had nothing to do with Israel and 100 per cent with local politics.”

The Israeli trainers had travelled to 18 islands across the country without incident, he explained, “and received warm welcomes and typical island hospitality.”

The government was exploring further training projects with Israel around developing paramedics and agriculture, “two areas in which Israel is state of the art.”

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PA claims government was warned about Maafushi protest

The People’s Alliance (PA) has claimed the government was aware of a possible protest in Maafushi jail over prison conditions, but did not take any action.

Last year on 13 October inmates set fire on some of the cells and caused serious damage to the jail. Two staff jail were badly injured during the protest, along with several inmates.

Because of the damage to the jail caused by the inmates parts of the jail were no longer usable, and after the incident some of the inmates were transferred to a makeshift ‘cage’ prison at Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) base at Gan in Addu atoll. The temporary arrangement recently drew criticism for its use of military personnel to handle civilian prisoners.

PA MP Abdul Azeez Jamal Abubakur claimed the government was aware of the situation at Maafushi jail after it was sent a letter by Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM), warning of a possible incident, but chose to ignore it.

”I’m saying this based on a report published by HRCM,” he said, claiming the letter was sent on 30 December following a visit to the jail by the commission.

”We cannot do anything more than inform people about these things,” he said, adding that he was not sure why the government had ignored the warning.

”It seems as though there are people more powerful than the president in this government,” he said.

However press secretary for president’s office Mohamed Zuhair disputed Jamal’s claims.

Zuhair said the government had been watching the jails very closely, and ”if we had received information that such a thing was going to happen, would you believe we would wait without taking any action?” he replied.

”These are just people trying to gain fame in politics,” he said.

Jamal said he does not believe Zuhair, saying “he would not know what he is talking about.”

President of HRCM Ahmed Saleem said Jamal’s claims might be in a report, “but I cannot say whether they are true or not.”

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Dubai hotel group Jumeirah will open Maldives resort

Luxury hotel group Jumeirah, owned by the ruler of Dubai, has signed an agreement with Xanadu Holdings to manage a new five star resort on Meradhoo in south Male atoll.

The 36-villa resort will include 16 water villas separate from the island by a kilometre of reef. It will also feature three restaurants, a dive centre and a Talise spa.

Jumeirah said it was committed to global expansion despite the downturn, and hoped to have 60 properties either in operation or under development by 2012.

The group is currently managing 42 properties worldwide.

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HRCM delegation obstructed by Fuah Mulah residents

A four-person HRCM delegation sent to Fuah Mulah to consult with locals regarding the UN’s Universal Periodic Review has been delayed at the harbour by local residents, Miadhu reports.

President of HRCM Ahmed Saleem said the locals were under the misconception that the delegation were attempting to free suspects in a gang attack, currently in custody.

“People tend to believe that what HRCM does is to help releasing prisoners but that is not true,” Saleem told Miadhu.

The delay had meant that feedback from the island could not be included in the report, Saleem said.

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Indian army chief to visit Maldives

The Indian Army’s Chief of Staff General Deepak Kapoor will visit the Maldives for four days to meet with senior government ministers.

He will discuss the recent defense agreements the Maldives has signed with India and the training of MNDF personnel.

General Kapoor will also visit the new Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) headquarters in the south, and pay respects at the Indian soldier’s memorial on Gan.

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DRP denies rumours of internal dispute over primaries

Reports of internal disputes in the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party over whether to hold primaries in the run up to the party’s congress are incorrect, the party has claimed.

Despite a court case the between DRP leader elect Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and coalition partner People’s Alliance (PA) leader Abdulla Yameen, and earnest debate over whether the party will hold primaries rather than automatically put its leader forward as a presidential candidate, the DRP insists the party is united.

DRP spokesman Ibrahim Shareef said ongoing rumours over splits in the party were untrue.

”People think the party is dividing because these are the days before our elections, so we are competing with each other – that’s why some people think we are having internal disputes,” Shareef said.

Shareef said in reality there were no internal disputes in the party.

However former president of the Islamic Democratic Party (IDP) and DRP member Umar Naseer claimed that among the DRP MPs there are MDP supporters ”who wear blue T-shirts and pretend to be DRP supporters but actual fact are MDP supporters.”

Umar said it would be “very beneficial” for the party if the amendment of to hold a primary election was approved, as ”everyone must have the right to run for the presidential election.”

He said that he had not yet decided whether to do so himself.

Spokesman for the former president Ibrahim ‘Mundhu’ Sharef said rumours of internal strife within the DRP were being spread to encourage people to dislike the party.

Mundhu said ”the DRP is a democratic political party, and we solve all our problems peacefully.”

He claimed the DRP’s large membership base supported the party because of the love they have for former president Gayoom “and not for money or by force.”

In contrast, only 18 per cent of the population supported MDP “according to several polls we took.”

MDP spokesman Ahmed Haleem claimed that disputes were occurring within the opposition party naturally “as it changes into a democratic party. This happens in the early stage of any democracy,” he said.

“The DRP was largely based around former president Gayoom,” he said, “and their disputes over whether to elect a presidential candidate through a primary is due to the number of undemocratic people in the party.”

“Hopefully the DRP will become a democratic party very soon,” he added.

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President offers clemency to Himandhoo protesters

Senior members of the Maldivian government yesterday met with 16 people arrested and sentenced for a violent protest against police at Himandhoo in North Ari Atoll in 2007, to discuss a reduction in their sentences under new clemency laws.

The inmates, currently imprisoned at Maafushi on sentences ranging from nine to 11 years, donned red motorcycle helmets and armed themselves with batons and knives to defend the Dhar al Khuir mosque on 6 October 2007. Police and soldiers were searching for suspects in the Maldives’ first Islamic terror investigation following a bomb blast in Sultan Park that injured 12 tourists.

The president’s Political Advisor Hassan Afeef, together with Special Envoy Ibrahim Hussain Zaki, Legal Affairs Secretary Hisaan Hussain and State Minister of Islamic Affairs Mohamed Saeed Ali Shaheem travelled to Maafushi jail to meet with the inmates to inform them that the president had made the decision to lessen their sentences.

Afeef said the government was unconvinced the group had received a fair trial under the former government, “and we don’t want anyone to undergo punishment for which they are not deserving.”

A still from the video found on an Al Qaeda forum that contained footage of inside the Dhar-al-khuir mosque of Himandhoo moments before it was raided by police.
A still from the video found on an Al Qaeda forum that contained footage of inside the Dhar-al-khuir mosque of Himandhoo moments before it was raided by police.

“The president wanted the inmates to know that people were going to criticise him over the decision, and for them to understand that their behaviour must be in line with the views of society when they are released,” Afeef said.

The conditions of their release had yet to be set, Afeef added. “That will come when the president gives the order,” he said, emphasising that “the government doesn’t take these decisions blindly. It studies the information and consults intelligence services, police and security forces.”

The president’s press secretary Mohamed Zuhair said the main reason leading to the stand off with police was not the terrorism investigation but the fact “they had started praying in their own mosque and their own homes”, an action not in line with the former government’s “single state Islam”.

“This government is against all froms of extremism religous or otherwise,” he said, claiming that the government’s “pluralist” approach and tolerance of other factions and preachers had led to better insight into the institutions operating in the Maldives.

“The president has always said that the way to avoid fundamentalism is more democracy,” Zuhair said, noting that “people join groups with good intentions.”

Pakistan dead

Earlier this week the government repatriated the remaining four of nine Maldivian nationals detained in Pakistan for alleged militant activities on the Pakistan border. The detainees were returned to their families as the Pakistan government placed no conditions on their release, although Foreign Minister Ahmed Shaheed announced yesterday the men would be kept under surveillance and their activities abroad investigated.

Zuhair also revealed that three other Maldivians, believed to have been part of the group, were killed while they were being transferred between facilities several weeks after their arrest following the Mumbai attacks in 2008.

“I believe they were being transferred from a facility when their convoy came under attack and the vehicle they were in hit a landmine,” Zuhair said.

“We had unconfirmed reports that they were the leaders of the Maldivian group, which may have been linked to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) currently waging war in Kashmir.”

Zuhair emphasised that the nine men who had returned had not been charged and were “innocent until proven guilty.”

“The political culture in the Maldives has changed,” he said. “Whereas before if the government was suspicious about someone they would be arrested and questioned, now people are innocent until proven guilty.

“I believe the government is keeping a close watch on these people,” he added.

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Government to launch polytechnic institution

Cabinet has approved the creation of a vocational higher-education institution with the stated aims of producing skilled workers, training young people and reducing the country’s reliance on expatriate workers.

With invention of the new institute, to be called ‘Maldives Polytechnic’, programs currently run by the Maldives Institute of Vocational Education Training (MIVET) and and the Faculty of Engineering Technology will be folded into the one institution.

Press secretary for the president’s office Mohamed Zuhair said the majority of workers in the Maldives with skills in specific fields, notably trades, are foreigners. He said the government intended to reduce the number of foreign workers by training skilled people locally.

”It will even make it easy for the government to provide services for people,” he said.

The new polytechnic would provide high-level jobs for trainers and educators, he added.

President of MIVET advisory council Shafeea Zubair said that the main aim of the Maldives Polytechnic was to involve young people in the country’s economy, helping unemployed youths to train and get jobs.

“The majority of young people are unemployed,” she said, “because they get their basic needs provided by their family. This is the culture of the country, and it needs to be stopped.”

She said when the polytechnic starts operating all the program conducted by Faculty of Engineering and MIVET would come under the institute to allow the Maldives College of Higher Education to evolve into a university.

The educational development would help diversify the economy beyond fishing and tourism, she said.

“The Maldivian economy is based on fishing and tourism, only a few prefer working in these fields,” she said.

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CSC takes finance ministry to civil court over salary issue

The Civil Service Commission (CSC) has filed a lawsuit against the finance ministry in the civil court, as it had previously threatened to do unless the ministry reinstated the reduced salaries.

The court confirmed the case was had been lodged and accepted, in an attempt “to cancel a decision taken by the ministry”. Yesterday the civil court returned a verdict in favour of the CSC in its attempt to overturn a decision made by the home ministry to cut the allowances of ‘responsible officers’ in atoll and island offices.

Spokesman for the CSC Mohamed Fahmy Hassan said the commission had informed the finance ministry that it was about to take the issue to court, and would not give out details of the case.

”The [finance ministry] said ‘hey, you decided to go to the courts, so lets see what the court says’,” Fahmy claimed.

Spokesman for the finance ministry Ismail Shafeeq said that the ministry would also not comment on the case now it had become a court matter.

”They are doing what’s right by them, so what shall we say about this?” he asked. ”The ministry can’t stop someone from going to the court”.

Press secretary for the president’s office Mohamed Zuhair said he still believed that the problem could be solved by negotiations.

”The government always wants to talk and solve the problem, and we still can talk and it even though there’s a court case,” he said.

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