Thulusdhoo murder suspect sentenced to death

The Criminal Court has sentenced Mohamed Niyaz of Kaaf Thulusdhoo Redrose to death after he was found guilty of murdering 35-year-old Ali Shiham at Thulusdhoo on the night of July 31.

The Criminal Court sentence (Dhivehi) read that Niyaz was proven guilty based on his confession to investigators and his refusal to defend himself from the evidence provided to the court by the prosecutors.

Niyaz voluntarily handed himself over to the local police department after fatally stabbing Shiham in what the police have described as an act of vengeance after Shiham accused Niyaz of stealing from a construction site under the supervision of the victim.

The sentence was issued after Shiham’s four heirs – his wife, two children and grandmother – demanded qisas at the court. The decision of children was made by Shiham’s wife.

While speaking to the press at the time, Chief Inspector Abdulla Satheeh said that Niyaz had been arrested 10 times previously for theft and drug-related crimes.

The government has made moves this year to end the country’s 60-year moratorium on the death penalty, introducing regulations in April to oversee the process.

While speaking at a Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) rally this month, President Abdulla Yameen reiterated the government’s resolve to implement the death penalty for the sake of human rights and dignity.

“I want to say tonight as well in your presence, this government will have no mercy at all for those who slaughter Maldivian citizens with no mercy,” said Yameen at the ‘Successful 365 Days’ event held in Malé on November 21.

Home Minister Umar Naseer said in April that death penalty can be implemented in Maldives from April 27 after the procedural regulations were published on the government’s gazette on that day.

“We are not one to shy away from implementing the death penalty by showing various excuses. Nothing will stop us from implementing the death penalty as planned,” said Naseer told the media.

The last person executed in the Maldives was Hakim Didi, found guilty of practicing black magic in 1953. The common practice has since been for the president to commute all death sentences to life imprisonment through powers vested in him by Clemency Act.

With the new regulation, the president will no longer have this authority if a person is sentenced to death for murder by the Supreme Court.

The decision to re-implement the death penalty has received a mixed response at home and abroad, with some questioning the current state of the judiciary, while others claimed that the Islamic Sharia dictates a willful murderer should be put to death if there is sufficient evidence.


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Emirates to add third daily flight from Malé

Emirates airlines is to add a third daily flight between Malé and Dubai International Airport, starting from December 1.

Emirates flight EK656 will depart Dubai at 02:10 to arrive in Malé at 07:15. The return leg, EK657, will depart Ibrahim Nasir International Airport at 08:45 and arrive in Dubai at 11:55.

“The Maldives has proven to be a strong market for leisure and family travel. With a wide range of luxury hotel chains, romantic beaches and adventurous water sports activities; it certainly has something for everyone,” said Ahmed Khoory, a senior vice president at Emirates.

“The increased cargo capacity on the route will also help facilitate business between the Maldives and its key trading markets,” he added.

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President Yameen meets with Indian and Pakistani prime minsters

President Abdulla Yameen has met with both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the 18th SAARC summit in Kathmandu.

Yameen expressed gratitude for India’s continued for support and assistance, and discussed opportunities to increase Indian assistance towards the Maldives health sector.

During his meeting with the Pakistani prime minister, Yameen discussed expanding relations, particularly in the fields of trade, commerce, and human resources. Yameen and Nawaz also exchanged views on making SAARC a more powerful regional bloc.

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Police discover buried bones at Henveiru Adi Park

The Maldives Police Services (MPS) has discovered buried bones at Henveiru Adi Park this morning while setting up the area for a police event held tomorrow.

A police media official told Minivan Mews that the Serious and Organised Crime and Forensics team investigated the bones on the scene, taking them for further investigation.

The official also said that the police have not yet confirmed whether the bones belonged to humans, saying that tests are being undertaken to determine the origin of the bones.

However, local media reported that the bones were that of humans while also stating that the area used to be a small cemetery.

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16-year-old boys dies after fall from building

A 16-year-old boy died last night while being treated at Haa Dhaalu Kulhudhuhfushi regional hospital after he fell down from the roof of a building under construction.

Local media has identified the boy as Ahmed Visham of Vinares, Haa Dhaalu NeyKurendhoo.

While speaking to Raaje.mv, Neykurendhoo Council President Mohamed Sizan said that the incident occurred at around 6.30pm and that the boy fell down a distance of about 25 feet.

Visham was taken to the Kulhudhuhfushi where he was treated at the ICU before he passed away at 1.15am.

The fall reportedly broke bones in his calf area and arms while also causing several injuries to his head and face.

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Fully solar powered Maldives resort sets new standard in green tourism

Arriving at Gasfinolhu Island, the eye is greeted by solar panels, thatch roofs, white sand and turquoise water. Solar panels shade the long walkway onto the island and cover the roofs of all the utility buildings.

The sparsely vegetated sandbank, approximately 40 minutes from Malé, is the first 100 percent solar-powered luxury resort in the world.

Standing inside the resort’s silent powerhouse, Gasfinolhu owner ‘Champa’ Hussain Afeef said, “The happiest moments are when I can see that the lights are still functioning after all the diesel generators have been switched off.”

Gasfinolhu’s 6,500 square meters of solar panel are capable of producing 1100 Kilowatts at power peak. The island at full occupancy only requires 600 Kilowatts at peak load.

Afeef, one of the pioneers of tourism in the Maldives, said he had first thought of the project in 2009 when Maldives announced it would become the world’s first carbon neutral country in 2020.

“We wanted to do something different. I believe renewable energy is not just the future for tourism, but for all other industries as well,” he said.

Pioneers

Praising the project, Environmental Consultant Ahmed Shaig, says Gasfinolhu sets very high standards for the tourism sector.

The resort’s power system is entirely automated, with computers programmed to switch between direct solar power, battery power, or diesel generators, as required.

Excess power generated during the day is stored in an extensive battery system, capable of powering the resort throughout the night. Three diesel generators are also on standby in case there are successive days of rain and the batteries run out.

In addition to the solar power system, Gasfinolhu also relies on a centralised chiller system that uses chilled water to cool air for air-conditioning.  Its harbor is set close to the reef’s edge to facilitate the shifting of sand in the lagoon with the monsoon, thereby minimising beach erosion.

A zero waste management system will also be installed on the island in the future, Shaig said.

Debunking myths

According to Ibrahim Nashid, the chairman of Renewable Energy Maldives Pvt Ltd, Gasfinolhu demonstrates that “it is possible to provide power from indigenous energy sources without compromising luxury comfort.”

The project also debunks several myths on the use of solar energy in the Maldives, Nashid said, stating that critics believe solar power is not suitable in the Maldives due to lack of space and its salty environment.

“They also say that it would deter from aesthetics on a luxury resort, but Gasfinolhu destroys all of these myths. Its architecture is beautiful, some have said it’s the solar paneled spaces on the island that are the most beautiful,” he said.

The Maldives’ 109 resorts use 49 percent of the US$470 million diesel imported into the country annually. The figure amounts to over a third of the country’s GDP. The capital Malé uses 90 percent of the inhabited islands’ energy consumption.

If the resorts and Malé transition to renewable energy, it frees up state funds for health and education, and increases the country’s energy security, Nashid said.

“Others will follow”

According to Afeef, Gasfinolhu will recover the US$8 million spent on the solar system within six to seven years.

Without solar power, Gasfinolhu would spend over US$1.5 million for fuel to power its 22 rooms on the beach front and 30 water bungalows. A typical resort with 200 or 300 beds would spend over US$4million fuel a year, he said.

“I hope this initiative will turn out to be a success. And I hope to see more and more resort developers employing such technologies in the future,” he said.

However, he noted already existing resorts would not find it cost-effective to transition to solar power all at once.

The transition would have to come gradually, by redesigning and converting facilities that consume electricity most such as laundry, desalination plant and kitchen to solar power first, he said.

“Everything is a risk. Someone has to do it first. Then, others will follow.”

The resort, developed by Global Pvt Ltd will be operated by Club Med and will open for business in January 2015.


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Maldivian journalists told that China will not interfere with Maldives’ sovereignty

Maldivian journalists in China have been told that the country will not interfere in the domestic affairs of the Maldives.

Meeting with Maldivian journalists, Director of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Asian Department Xin Wang said that a lot had been planned between the two nations.

“China is just helping the Maldives pull itself up. It will be Maldives that makes the final decision on everything relevant to this development,” Haveeru reported Xin as saying.

President Abdulla Yameen announced earlier this month that increased ties with China were part of a policy of looking east. Criticising the interference of “Western colonial powers”, Yameen noted that working with China does not bring the same challenges.

Source: Haveeru

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Malé City Council close to shut-down after police confiscate documents and server system

Nearly all services at Malé City Council have come to a halt after police confiscated important documents and several hard drives, including the server system necessary for daily operation.

Police searched and confiscated the council’s office last night (November 26) after a search warrant was issued by the Criminal Court on request from the Maldives Police Service regarding a corruption case against council staff members.

The warrant, signed by the Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed, said that “some council staff had shared and gained unlawful advantages from some PDF files sent to the council by Maldives Land and Survey Authority.”

The survey authority and the land registration project fall under the authority of the Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure.

The council has denied receiving any such files from the ministry or any other authority, stating that the council had previously provided information to the housing ministry and if any information had been sent back it would have originated from the council.

Council members told the media today that it was concerns it would be unable to prepare Friday prayer sermons, and that the waste management section might come to a halt as a direct result of the Police confiscating the server.

Deputy Mayor Shifa Mohamed said the council is now unable to receive any payments, expressing fears that human resources would be unable to pay the council’s 1000 employees this month.

Malé City Mayor Mohamed Shahib said that the MPS also confiscated information gathered by the council to write up a study on providing alternative methods to solve the housing issue faced by the city.

Council vs government

Maafannu Hulhangu constituency councillor Shamau Shareef said the incident is one of many intended to intimidate the council and to prevent it from providing the services to the people of Malé.

Shifa has previously suggested that the government was plotting to ‘destroy decentralisation’ after the housing ministry seized numerous plots of land from the council including two parks, artificial beach, carnival area, south harbour area, Usfasgandu, Dharubaaruge, and land near the T-Jetty.

Last month, she complained that poor allocation of funds for road development projects under the council as one of the main reasons behind the severe floodings on the western side of the capital island during heavy downpours.

Shamau said today that the council had no choice but to resort to “begging” the Maldives Water and Sewerage Company (MWSC) to assist it setting up flood control pumps which promise a temporary solution to the problem.

October also saw masked individuals wielding machetes uprooting over thirty council owned areca palm trees on the sides of the capital’s main thoroughfare road Majeedhee Magu.

Following a further disagreement over the replanting of the vandalised trees, the cabinet announced it had removed the council’s jurisdiction over the city’s roads.

The roads are now under the control of the housing ministry and the Maldives Road Development Corporation (MRDC) which has started cleaning the drains, bringing some alleviation to the flooding.

Former President Mohamed Nasheed alleged police involvement in the chopping down of the palm trees while naming several Special Operations (SO) officers after the MCC requested the public to submit any information about the issue.

Shamau also stressed the poor fund allocation towards the road development projects in Malé which only has a mere MVR 3.4 million (US$ 220,00) while pointing out that a new elevator at the president’s office has been budgeted MVR 3 million (US$ 200,000).



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President Yameen calls on SAARC to make its voice heard

President Abdulla Yameen has called upon the SAARC nations to “walk the talk” and make their voice heard on the international stage.

“As a region, SAARC has the right, and surely has the might, to make it one of the most powerful regions in the world. Yet we continue to be led, rather than lead,” Yameen told the inaugural session of the 18th SAARC Summit in Kathmandu.

“This region accounts for one-quarter of the world’s population, yet as a region we hold limited sway, have limited say and we have not been heard enough, in the power rooms of the world.”

Despite the association’s charter calling for meetings at least once a year, the two-day summit is the first to be convened since 2011, when the Maldives hosted the event in Addu City.

Following the meeting of SAARC leaders at the inauguration of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May – dubbed the ‘mini SAARC summit’ by the Indian media – led to the reactivation  of the meetings.

Since assuming office, Modi has actively pursued regional cooperation, with his ‘neighbourhood first’ policy being applauded by President Yameen today.

“We are inspired, Excellency, by your various initiatives, in this short period of time, towards strengthening regional relationships including the ‘neighbourhood first’ policy. These are steps in the right direction, a signal of the renewed activism with which India is facing SAARC,” said Yameen.

Other initiatives of the Modi government have included a firmer commitment to improving ties within Asia – dubbed the ‘Look East’ policy.

At home, President Yameen has also recently declared a foreign policy shift to the East after accusing “Western colonial powers” of attempting to interfere with the sovereignty of the Maldives.

During the same speech on Republic Day (November 11) Yameen noted that the rapidly growing ties with China did not involve “any such compulsion”.

China’s increased involvement in the region appears to have invoked the concern of India, who reacted firmly to rebut suggestions made by the Maldives’ foreign minister this month that India had discussed joining China’s New Silk Road project.

India was also reported to have rebuffed suggestions from Pakistan during this week’s summit to promote China from its current observer status within SAARC.

“As far as we are concerned, we need to first deepen cooperation among Saarc (members) before we try and move horizontally,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told media.

Continuing his speech this morning, President Yameen repeated his view that trade and commerce were the key to peace and prosperity within the region.

“SAARC must attune itself to the realities of the day and seize the opportunities that are presented to us. We must not be left behind.”

Yameen also stated that, despite being one of the regions to be worst affected by climate change, “we continue to be complacent in taking action as a group”.

He pointed out that, as the next chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, the Maldives would expect support from its friends.

“I ask you, should we not demand for what we want? Should we not stand up for what we believe? Dare we not speak up for what is right for our people? Is it not time, Excellencies, that we stand up to receive our share, raise our voice, in the international arena?”


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