Work has begun on expanding the harbour at Faadhipolhu Hinnavaru.
TVM reported that under the tsunami development project, Amin Construction has taken over the project. The harbour expansion is expected to be complete after one year.
The existing 300 foot harbour currently does not meet the requirements of the people of Hinnavaru, TVM reported.
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(0)President Mohamed Nasheed has said the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) will not stand by while the opposition scuttles legislation intended to devolve decision-making powers to the people.
Addressing supporters last night at the MDP haruge (headquarters), Nasheed said the MDP did not contest the presidential election out of “greed for power” but to empower the people.
“We can only have good governance in this country when we devolve real powers of governance to the atolls,” he said. “We cannot achieve the development we want any other way. We cannot make the change we hoped for.”
MDP’s hopes for good governance rests upon its policy of creating “seven Males symbolised by the seven provinces”, he said, adding the government’s development projects were planned within the framework of the province model.
While the government began offering services available in the capital at the province offices, he continued, it has not been very efficient due to the lack of enabling legislation.
The president said he “knew very well” the efforts of a certain group to make sure that the powers of government remain concentrated in Male’.
“In my view, it would not be wise for our party to stand by while powers and benefits that are owed to the people are obstructed,” he said.
Since the legislation was formulated to hand over 40 per cent of an atoll’s resources to its people, he said, that was what the DRP was actually opposing.
Speaking at the rally, Attorney General Husnu Suood said DRP should not be allowed to adulterate or block an agenda the people had endorsed when they voted for the MDP and its manifesto.
Deadlock
Parliament remains deadlocked on the government’s bill on decentralised administration, with MDP MPs arguing the opposition dominated committee had amended the legislation so that it no longer resembles the original bill.
A total of 765 amendments have been tabled to reverse the changes made by the committee, most notably to scrap provinces.
Economies of scale would not be possible without grouping three or four atolls into provinces, MDP MPs have said, since an atoll was too small a unit to be decentralised.
The opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) maintains dividing 21 administrative areas into seven provinces was unconstitutional, as the constitution requires devolving power to the existing 21 areas.
DRP also argued that the bill would have given undue powers to provincial state ministers and the local government authority (LGA) over elected councils, including powers to dismiss and dissolve island and atoll councils.
The 11-member ad hoc committee chosen to review the legislation voted 6 to 5 to remove provinces from the bill.
Parliament sittings have been cancelled over two consecutive days after MPs clashed and the third and final reading of the bill could not be continued.
MDP MPs accused the committee of violating Majlis rules of procedure in its review and negating the purpose of the legislation, calling on the speaker to send the amended bill back to committee.
Following last night’s cancellation, MDP supporters protested outside parliament as well as the residence of Speaker Abdullah Shahid.
After originally being pushed back to 4pm, today’s sitting has been rescheduled for tomorrow morning.
Negotiations are currently ongoing between the two main parties to reach a compromise on the issue.
(0)Dislikes(0)Fishing has always been a huge part of Maldivian life. Ever since people settled here, fishing has provided a source of food and income. Even after the industrialisation of the fishing sector in 1979, the Maldives maintained a strict policy ensuring sustainable fishing.
The main methods used are pole and line and hand line fishing. These methods ensure that the resource is not over utilised.
However there have always been illegal fishing activities conducted in the Maldivian economic exclusive zone (EEZ), an area of nearly a million square kilometres recognised internationally as Maldivian fishing territory.
The most recent case was reported October 2009, when two Iranian fishing vessels were apprehended by the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) coast guard. These two vessels carried a total of almost 60 tonnes of fish.
Currently all illegal fishermen apprehended by the MNDF are handed over to police for processing and fined between Rf100,000 to 1 million, according to Hussain Sinaan from the ministry of fisheries and agriculture.
The coast guard are left with the problem of what to do with the confiscated fish, he said, which can include high-value product such as shark fin.
“The MNDF will hold an auction to sell the fish, if they believe the fish will go bad,” he said, adding that the auctions are usually announced and open to the public.
The coast guard did not respond to enquiries from Minivan News as to how much confiscated fish has been sold at these auctions, whether the cargo is inspected for protected species, or where the proceeds go.
Recent regulations passed by the EU requires the licensing of vessels catching fish for the European export market, intended to reduce the amount of illegal fishing.
(0)Dislikes(0)Nepalese magazine Milan Weekly has presented President Nasheed its special issue during the 15th SAARC Summit.
Chief editor and publisher of the magazine Rekha Kyastha Bhandari presented the president with the special issue.
The presentation took place at the presidents office. Nasheed said that SAARC needed to have a broader role in regional issues.
Since the third SAARC summit in 1987, Milan Weekly have published special issues to commemorate the summits.
(0)Dislikes(0)VB sports continued its spending spree by signing three new players.
Valencia striker Ahmed Thoriq ( Tom), Victory defender Ahmed Saeed (Amatty), New Radient Akram Abdul Ghanee and All Youth Linkage, AYL, Suadullah Kamaal have all agreed terms with the club.
VB have started practicing under Turkish coach Can Vanli.
In preparation for next years AFC cup, VB have signed a total of seven new players.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Voice of Maldives (VOM) celebrates its 47th anniversary today.
As part of the celebrations, VOM are holding an open day from 2pm to 6 pm, inviting to the general public to witness the operation of the radio station. A special function will also be held tonight.
VOM was opened on 29 December 1962.
(0)Dislikes(0)The passenger on the motorbike involved in the accident on the Seenu Hithadhoo link road has died.
Of the three people involved in the accident, Rukshaan is the second person to die including the driver of the car, Moosa Didi.
The passenger, 19 year-old Rukshaan Ali, died while receiving emergency treatment at IGMH.
According to Haveeru, Rukshaan sustained many broken bones including his hips and legs.
(0)Dislikes(0)Finance Minister Ali Hashim failed to appear before parliament’s internal affairs committee today, after he was called to clarify the manner in which independent institutions in the Maldives are funded.
Hashim was asked to appear after institutions including the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM), the Election Commission (EC) and the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) complained to parliament that they lacked financial independence and must “beg” for funds from the Finance Ministry.
“He left the country,” said independent MP Mohamed Nasheed, the committee’s chair. “He said he was preoccupied during the first time we set, so we sent him a formal letter rescheduling the meeting for this morning at 11:15am. He didn’t respond and we learned he had left the country.”
Nasheed said the committee had instead asked the State Finance Minister Ahmed Assad to appear, “but he said he was in another meeting. I said he should give this one priority, so he sent two junior officers.”
Nasheed said the committee had decided to invoke article 99 of the constitution and force Hashim to attend the next committee meeting after 9 January. That article allows: “the People’s Majlis or any of its committees the power to summon any person to appear before it to give evidence under oath, or produce documents.”
“If he doesn’t appear, we’ll make a report to parliament questioning his confidence,” Nasheed warned. “He’s being irresponsible and it’s so unnecessary and uncalled for.”
Hashim was unavailable when Minivan News attempted to contact him.
A question of independence
Independent institutions are currently required to seek approval from the Finance Ministry for all funding, a situation they argue undermines their ability to function independently of the executive.
“It is actually a problem,” explained Deputy Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem. “We haven’t had financial independence and we have to seek approval from the finance ministry to run programs. The money has already been budgeted and there is no need for us to be overseen by the finance ministry.”
During a meeting between the parliamentary committee and the heads of independent institutions, HRCM President Ahmed Saleem complained that the process undermined the commission’s integrity by leaving it unable to pay bills on time.
“We just got the money yesterday to pay for an invoice received two to three months ago,” he said. “This undermines our credibility.”
Saleem noted that while the PGO had yet to have a request for its money denied, the EC had not been so lucky.
“97 per cent of the finances we had allocated for training this year are still untouched and it is already December,” complained Mohamed Farooq from the EC.
“We don’t get any finance for our programs unless the Finance Ministry approves it. They are the ones who decide if we should conduct training programs.”
The prosecutor general, HRCM, EC and ACC “are all reading from the same script on this issue,” Nasheed said.
“Even when their budgets have been approved they still have to ask for permission, because the money is not physically transferred to a separate account.”
Furthermore, he said, the ministry’s decision to reduce the salaries of staff in independent institutions by 15 to 20 per cent “was made in violation of the laws used to create those institutions.”
The finance minister had previously suggested a percentage of the institution’s budgets might be made available, “but that still doesn’t solve the issue,” Nasheed argued.
“They see this as encroaching on their independence. If there is less money available then the budgets of these institutions should be subject to quarterly review and adjusted by parliament.”
(0)Dislikes(0)Parliament was cancelled barely an hour into today’s sitting after MPs clashed over the committee report on the decentralisation bill proposed by the government, leading to pandemonium and disorder in the chamber.
MPs of the ruling Maldiivan Democratic Party (MDP) accused the opposition-dominated committee of coming under external influences and violating Majlis rules of procedure in completing its review, calling on the speaker to send the bill back to committee.
The opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) majority on the committee passed an amendment to scrap provinces in the legislation.
DRP MPs accused the MDP of failing to respect democracy and the will of the majority and attempting to block local council elections, which could only take place when the legislation was passed.
“I would like to first inform the honourable members that the Majlis secretariat received 765 amendments for this agenda item at 2.30pm yesterday,” said Speaker Abdullah Shahid, beginning the third and final reading of the bill.
Shahid urged MPs to merge similar amendments to save time and have unofficial discussions among political parties to speed up the process.
Point of order
In a series of points of order that followed, Vilufushi MP Riyaz Rasheed reminded MPs that the constitutional deadline for local elections had elapsed while the legislation was still pending.
Hulhu-Henveiru MP “Reeko” Moosa Manik, parliamentary group leader of the MDP, claimed the committee report “came from outside”.
“Proposing amendments to the decentralisation bill in the thousands shows they do not accept democracy,” responded Thohdhoo MP Ali Waheed. “We have no problem spending the whole day here – we’ll be here.”
Dhidhoo MP Ahmed Sameer of the MDP argued the committee did not follow the rules of procedure as all of the amendments were made by the DRP.
Presenting the report, Hanimaadhoo MP Mohamed Mujthaz of the DRP, chairman of the committee, said the committee faced many obstacles in reviewing the legislation due to serious disagreements between MDP and DRP MPs.
The bill was submitted by the government in June.
“Among the views expressed by members at the Majlis, the most disputed issue was provinces or dividing administrative areas into provinces,” he said.
A vote at the committee to scrap provinces in the legislation was passed with 6 to 5 in favour, Mujthaz said.
Raising further points of order, MDP MPs attacked the committee for changing the “safari vessel” presented by the government into “a bokkura (dinghy)”.
Hulhumeedhoo MP Ilyas Labeeb said the report should be sent back as the chairman had admitted the amendments were made by DRP instead of reflecting the views of MPs as required by the rules.
Meanwhile, Sameer further argued the amendments were in violations of the rules as changes could not be made to negate the purpose of the legislation.
DRP MPs defended the report, attacking the MDP for “failing to digest” whenever things did not go their way.
Ali Waheed accused the MDP of blocking the legislation to prolong the tenure of its “unelected” councillors.
Cancellation
After 30 minutes of points of order, Shahid said he would not allow any more in the interest of speeding up the proceedings.
But, the first MP to present amendments, Maavashu MP Abdul Azeez Jamal Abubakuru, was shouted down by MDP MPs insisting on points of order.
“I condemn these efforts against democracy at a time when we’re trying to consolidate it,” Abdul Azeez said over the din.
When Shahid relented and allowed points of order, Mid-Fuahmulah MP Shifaq Mufeed objected to the committee not including reservations of MDP MPs.
The sitting became heated when Mujthaz defended the committee report; MPs sprang out of their seats and acrimonious arguments broke out.
After his repeated appeals for MPs to take their seats went unheeded, the speaker canceled the sitting.
The sitting has been pushed back to 8.30pm tonight, when MPs will begin proposing the 765 amendments.
The 11-member ad hoc committee comprised of Moosa Manik, Bilendhoo MP Ahmed Hamza, Henveiru South MP Hamid Abdul Gafoor and Hithadhoo North MP Mohamed Aslam of the MDP; Mohamed Mujthaz, Mid-Henveiru MP Ali Azim, Fonadhoo MP Ali Saleem, Thohdhoo MP Ali Waheed and Thulusdhoo MP Rozaina Adam from the DRP; and independents Eydhafushi MP Ahmed “Redwave” Saleem and Kudahuvadhoo MP Ahmed Amir.
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