The Maldives Food and Drug Authority (MFDA) has closed seven eateries commonly patronised by expatriate workers, Miadhu reports.
Health inspectors said several eateries were being operated without registration while others had low levels of hygiene.
Three of the eateries complied and closed shop, while four had to be closed with police assistance, the
MFDA said. The managers of these establishments were also taken into custody.
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(0)A suspected drug smuggler attacked police in an attempt to escape, crashing his motorcycle into several officers, Haveeru reports.
Police claimed 22 year-old Ismail Saeed of Feydhoo Suvaasaage was attempting to smuggle drugs to Seenu atoll Feydhoo when he was stopped by Gan police. Saeed allegedly accelerated, colliding with an officer and injuring both parties.
A search discovered 14 small packets and seven foil packages containing suspicious substances, police said.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Electoral Commission has fined nine parties for failing to submit reports in line with 2005 political party regulations, reports Miadhu.
The People’s Party (PP) , Maldivian Social Democratic Party (MSDP), Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), Adhalat Party (AP), National Alliance (NA), Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and Jumhooree Party (JP) were issued fines of Rf20,000.
The Islamic Democratic Party (IDP) and Maldivian National Congress (MNC) were fined Rf30,000.
The EC also revealed that of the fines it has previously issued, only the People’s Alliance paid on time.
(0)Dislikes(0)A sustained recruitment campaign in the atolls has led to a surge in the number of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) members.
The party welcomed 5,000 members in the last few months, taking its total membership to 28,995 as of 10 December 2009. At such a pace the party will soon overtake the 30,215 tally of its rival, the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), which recorded a slight decline according to President of the Elections Commission Fuad Thaufeeq.
The grassroots MDP campaign involved establishing network coordinators for every atoll and enlisting existing members to recruit others, explained MDP registrar general Ahmed Shahid.
“We’re not going to stop until we’re on top,” Shahid said. “We have a further 600-800 applications currently processing, and there are many more coming in from the atolls. However the weather has been bad over the last few months and we’ve had some trouble collecting the applications.”
Despite the overall gain the party had also lost some members, he admitted.
Dr. Mohamed Mausoom, Secretary-General of DRP, questioned the recruitment tactics of the MDP.
“They have appointed island councillors to recruit members, paid for by the state. But despite this they’ve only gained 5000 members,” he said.
Mausoom suggested that the number of new “sincere” MDP recruits was no more “than about 2,000.”
“The rest of them – although they are yellow on the outside, their heart is blue,” he speculated, suggesting that in some cases people were being pressured to join the party in order to keep their jobs.
“There’s no direct instruction, but [in the case of some government workers] it can be ‘sign up [to the MDP], or quit,'” he alleged. “This is the type of environment people are working in. I really can’t say what the MDP is up to anymore, but we have noticed many of their members signing up with us.”
The MDP’s gain was irrelevant, Mausoom said, because “as a proportion of the voting population, political membership numbers are not significant in the country.”
If the MDP overtakes the DRP, “it will be a joke”, he added. “The Maldivian population are among the most politically educated in the world; if you walk around Male and you’ll find hardly anyone who voted for MDP.”
In the May parliamentary elections, MDP won a total of 48,000 votes or 31 per cent of the vote, while the DRP and its coalition partner People’s Alliance won a combined total of 47,400 votes.
DRP won a total of 39,000 votes or 25 per cent.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Health Ministry has warned of the spread of AIDS in the Maldives after an expatriate prostitute tested positive for HIV.
At a press conference yesterday, Dr Ahmed Jamsheed Mohamed, senior medical officer at the centre for community health and disease control, said prostitutes from neighbouring countries were working in the Maldives on tourist visas.
“We have some evidence now that expatriate women who came to the Maldives without a work permit on a tourist visa are involved in prostitution,” he said. “We learned that one of them was HIV positive.”
While the authorities required medical checkups for expatriates who apply for work permits, he said, foreigners on tourist visas were not tested.
246 foreigners on work permits have been sent out of the country after testing positive since 1995, an average of 15 a day.
He added the authorities discovered the expatriate prostitute was HIV positive when she applied for a work permit.
Jamsheed said it was likely that there were more prostitutes with HIV who work at massage parlours and appealed to the public to be aware of the risks of visiting local brothels.
Prostitutes from China and Russia working in Sri Lanka often come to the Maldives when their tourist visa expires, he continued, while prostitutes in the Maldives visit Sri Lanka to re-enter the country on a new tourist visa.
“There’s a rotating group between Ceylon and Maldives,” he said. “We believe there must be a lot of HIV positive people among them.”
If AIDS begins to spread in the country, he added, there was no reason to believe it could be controlled.
Jamsheed said HIV in the Maldives was like a ticking time bomb: “Everything necessary for the disease to spread exists among us.”
A recent survey on AIDS revealed all the behavioural risks contributing to the spread of HIV, such as promiscuity, prostitution, homosexuality, rape, child abuse and sharing needles, were “widespread” in the country.
Jamsheed said responsibility had to be taken at an individual, societal and government level to avoid the country “reaching that critical stage”.
Although the survey was based on a small sample of the population, since its release one Maldivian had been found HIV positive and it was likely that more would be discovered. There are over 30 Maldivians with HIV, according to estimates said Dr Jamsheed.
Of the 14 people with AIDS known to the authorities ten have passed away, three are undergoing treatment while the others’ condition had not deteriorated to require treatment.
Asked whether recommendations in the study, such promoting the use of condoms and making clean disposal syringes available to drug addicts could be implemented in the Maldives, Jamsheed said both strategies have been successfully deployed overseas.
“The question is whether they can be brought in to our society with our Islamic principles and values,” he said, adding that the National AIDS Council had to discuss the issues.
Dr Ali Nazeem, in charge of treating HIV patients, said more voluntary counselling and testing centres (VTCs) would be established in the near future, while testing was already available in regional hospitals.
Testing is currently available at ADK hospital and the police VTC.
He added the centres will maintain anonymity and the test results would be confidential.
Earlier this week, drugs NGO Journey opened a VTC with more than 20 volunteers to offer counselling.
(0)Dislikes(0)His locks of white hair and casual dressing – shorts, sandals, shirt – make 68 year-old Philippe Laurella, a distinct figure on the streets of Male.
His many years in the Maldives, have earned him a spot in folklore, and most Maldivians know him as the white guy who married a Maldivian and settled here.
“When I first came to Maldives there was a certain charm to Maldives,” says Philippe.
In May 1978, the country was as different as it could be from his native France. There was no electricity, no telephone, no television, but Philippe says “life was nice, contact with Maldivians was good, and back then they didn’t have the same preoccupations as now.”
Arriving in Maldives
Philippe left France in 1978 in a vehicle called the ‘magic bus’ with no plans to visit the Maldives.
“I had vaguely heard of the Maldives back then, but most people used to confuse it with some islands located near Argentina.”
A keen traveler, he spent time in Amsterdam, Greece, Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan before ending up in India where he met a French couple. “They said: ‘Why not come with us to Maldives?’”
His plan to stay for 15 days ended as 18 months: “I was struck by the beauty and the simplicity of the place,” he says.
Procuring a boat in Noonu Atoll Velidhoo, the place he would later call home, he built a deck and a cabin and set sail to see Maldives, travelling from Haa Alifu to Laamu.
At the end of his voyage, Philippe continued on and toured India, Sri Lanka, Burma and Singapore before returning to France. Barely a month later was he back in Velidho: “I kept thinking about this country.”
Philippe designed his first safari boat, ‘Baraabaru,’ which “was the start of tourism in the country. Most safari boats didn’t have cabins back then.”
He takes pride in the fact that Velidhoo is now famous for safari boats, and most islanders own one.
A printer by profession, Philippe learnt the art of building boats and incorporated his own ideas. With a Maldivian crew, he set about organizing safari trips. Sailing for six months a year, he took the rest of the six month off in Velidhoo. He even designed and built his house, complete with thatched roof.
One day a crew member pointed to his wife’s sister, and asked Philippe, “shall we arrange something?”
In true Maldivian style, within a month Philippe married Fathimath Adam.
“She said yes and her family said yes,” he says, smiling. He was so accustomed to the Maldivian way of life he didn’t find it strange. “I did like her, and we fell in love. We spent 25 years together and had three kids.”
Problems occurred the first year as Philippe’s smattering of Dhivehi words was the only way they could communicate. Food also was a problem as he disliked hikimas (dry fish).
“Kirugarudhiya (a type of curry) with hikimas and cold rice is the worst,” he said.
Fathimath proved to be a great cook and with the limited resources available made simple and delicious meals, he says.
Sadly, she passed away in 2005 after falling ill with kidney failure. The entire family moved to Male in 2003 from their peaceful existence in Velidhoo to be with her during her treatment.
Painting and living in modern Maldives
Despite coming from a family of artists – Philippe’s mother is a painter as his older brother, while the younger one is a musician and writer and his sister a classical dancer – Philippe was never interested in painting. However boredom on a rainy day in Male in 1999 led him to try, and when a Swiss friend liked and bought his work it became the catalyst for becoming a painter.
His paintings are mostly of fish; a swirl of tiny blue fish, giving a peek into orange fishes that are passing behind. Or one of his most recognisable paintings: the long legs of a stork and its head peering back into the painting amid multi-colored fishes swimming by. The colours are striking; the paintings uplift your spirits, while showcasing the beauty of fishes.
He stays true to his first medium, watercolour. His paintings were exhibited in Esjehi Gallery in 2000 as well as two years ago in an exhibition held by Association Franco-Maldivienne.
“Youngsters often stop me on the street and ask me if I could teach them painting,” he says. His lack of formal training makes him hesitate, though he is not averse to the idea.
“It’s not easy for a painter in Male to be inspired and to come up with ideas,” he muses.
Most painters paint in rooms in their houses; there are no studios which limits the process of imagination. He would love to diversify and paint aspects of island life, “but most of my clients want fish paintings.”
Philippe sells his paintings mostly to tourists, with a few rich Maldivians also part of his clientele. He feels the art scene in Maldives still needs to develop, and says he likes painters like Eagan who have produced some exceptional paintings of Maldivian life.
As for his life here, “I’m not sure I would stay if I arrived to Maldives now.”
Modernity is a double edged sword, he says.
“Before you could go fishing and nobody could get in touch with you, now mobile phones are a necessity everywhere.”
Even landing in Velidhoo was subject to nature, as they had to wait for high tide to get the boat close to the island: “Life was complicated, but still there was charm and serenity.”
He laughingly recounts how when initially Maizan Adam Manik spoke to him about Pyrard De Laval, the famous French navigator, he ended up thinking Pyrard was in Male. “I asked him: how can I meet him, and Adam Manik said you can’t, he lived here 300 years ago.”
He has seen three presidents rule the country, and is now fluent in Dhivehi.
“My stay here just happened. This could be a 32 year stopover – I could still continue my voyage.”
(5)Dislikes(0)A man who was hunting for lobsters in the lagoon of Gaafu Alifu atoll Kooddoo died shortly after surfacing from a dive, Haveera reports.
Ali Shareef of Abadah Fehi surfaced from the dive and climbed aboard the boat clutching his chest and with white liquid coming out of his nose and mouth, police said.
The 41 year old was dead by the time he reached Gaafu Alifu atoll hospital, leaving behind a wife and two children.
Police claimed Shareef had not been adequately trained in diving and the boat was not equipped with proper safety equipment.
(0)Dislikes(0)Funds allocated to the abolished Island Development Committees (IDCs) will pass to the control of Island Councillors, Haveeru reports.
Cabinet decided to dismantle the elected IDCs after the institutions were determined to be no longer legally viable under the new constitution.
The move caused uproar among many islanders and opposition MPs, particularly the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), who called it “a mockery of the public and the Constitution,” and “more a feature of autocratic rule than democracy.”
Haveeru reported that some islands were still waiting for official confirmation of the decision from the government.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Poverty Alleviating Party has changed its name to the Maldivian Labour Party, according to the Elections Commission.
The party’s vice president is Ahmed Saleem, who is an independent member of parliament for Baa Eydhafushi.
Haveeru reports that several former MDP members have joined the rebranded party.
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