Four arrested in connection with the death of 79 year-old man in Thinadhoo

Police have arrested four persons in connection with the death of Ali Rasheed,79, who was found dead inside his house last Friday (April 4).

Police have told local media that three Maldivians, including a woman and a male expatriate, had been arrested in connection with the case.

Ali Rasheed was found dead lying on the floor of his room. He was living alone following the death of his wife some years earlier.

A source from the island told online newspaper Sun that Rasheed had a six-inch laceration on his head and a swollen left eye.

Police said the death was being investigated as they suspected foul play. An investigation team has been dispatched to the southern island.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Tourist arrivals rose six percent in February

Tourist arrivals in February increased by five percent from the previous month and six percent in annual terms, according to the Maldives Monetary Authority’s (MMA) latest monthly economic review.

“The annual increase was due to the rise in the number of arrivals from Asia and Europe,” the central bank’s monthly report noted.

While total bed nights in February rose five percent compared to the same period last year, the occupancy rate rose three percent from February 2013 to 89 percent this year.

The average duration of stay however “declined marginally in annual terms during the review period,” the report stated.

The MMA had previously revealed that tourist arrivals rose 17 percent in 2013 compared to the previous year “mainly due to the large increase in tourist arrivals from China, coupled with a slight growth in arrivals from Europe.”

Statistics from the Tourism Ministry show that 331,719 Chinese tourists visited the Maldives last year, which was a 44.5 percent increase from the previous year.

Chinese tourists accounted for 29.5 percent of all tourist arrivals in 2013.

In November 2013, the Finance Ministry revealed that the tourism industry’s GDP growth in 2012 declined by 0.1 percent following 15.8 percent growth in 2010 and 9.2 percent in 2011.

Despite negative growth in 2012, the Finance Ministry estimated that the industry would have expanded 5.5 percent in 2013 and forecast a growth rate of 5.2 percent for this year.

The average duration of stay has however fallen from 8.6 days in 2009 to 6.7 days in 2012, and 6.3 days in 2013.

According to the annual tourism yearbook published by the Tourism Ministry, the average occupancy rate of all tourist establishments in 2012 was 2.5 percent below the previous year at 70.6 percent.

The Maldivian economy is largely dependent on tourism, which accounted for 28 percent of GDP on average in the past five years, and generated 38 percent of government revenue in 2012.

Meanwhile, in the second largest industry, the volume of fish exports increased by nine percent in February compared to the previous year “largely contributed by the increase in the volume of fresh, chilled or frozen tuna exports.”

“However, earnings from fish exports declined by 25 percent during the same period, due to the fall in both the volume and earnings from canned or pouched tuna exports,” the review revealed.

“Additionally, earnings from yellow fin tuna exports also declined during this period compared to 2013.”

The rate of inflation – measured by the annual percentage change in the consumer price index in Malé – rose to 3.4 percent in February from 2.6 percent in January.

“This was largely due to the increase in fish prices,” the report explained.

“Similarly, the rate of inflation increased in monthly terms during February 2014, which was also due to the rise in fish prices.”

Public finance

The economic review noted that government expenditure “more than doubled” in January to MVR1.9 billion compared to the same period last year.

Total revenue fell by 11 percent to MVR1 billion “largely due to the 27 percent decline in business profit tax (BPT) [receipts].”

“Additionally, non-tax revenue also fell, owing to the significant decline in resort lease rent. As for the increase in expenditure, it was mainly due to the increase in subsidy payments,” the report stated.

As a result of “increased investments in T-bills by commercial banks, other financial corporations and public non-financial corporations,” the review noted that the total outstanding stock of government securities – treasury bills and bonds – rose nine percent in annual terms and 10 percent in monthly terms during February.

The trade deficit meanwhile narrowed by 29 percent during February compared to the previous year.

“This was due to the significant decline of 26 percent in imports which off set the 16 percent decline in exports. The decline in imports was contributed by the fall in petroleum products,” the report explained.

“Gross international reserves increased in both monthly and annual terms by 2 percent and 13 percent respectively and reached US$391.1 million at the end of February 2014. Reserves in terms of months of imports also rose in both monthly and annual terms to 2.7 months at the end of the same period.”

Likes(1)Dislikes(0)

Week in review: March 30 – April 5

This week saw continued reverberations from the Majlis elections, with further switches to the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) swelling the Progressive Coalition’s number of seats to 57.

With the defection of Thimarafushi MP-elect Mohamed Musthafa, the Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) numbers dropped to 25, whilst three of the five successful independent candidates have now moved to the PPM.

The MDP this week accused the coalition parties of bribery and corruption during the Majlis polls, urging further investigations by relevant stakeholders.

The changes promised by the opposition party in the wake of their disappointing performance began with the resignation of party Chair ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik.

At the conclusion of the party’s national council meeting – during which former President Mohamed Nasheed became acting party president – Reeko urged fellow party leaders to follow his lead.

After seeing the official confirmation of its electoral success, the government announced the details of its fisherman’s allowance – beginning last Tuesday (April 1) – with up to MVR10,000 pledged for lean months.

President Yameen’s largesse was also felt by 169 convicted prisoners granted clemency, as well as prospective foreign investors who were promised they would be made to feel at home.

“We are going to open up the Maldives in a huge way to foreign investors. Our thirst cannot be quenched. The opportunity to foreign investors is going to be enormous,” he told those present at the launch of a new housing project in the proposed “youth village” of Hulhumalé.

The government’s inherited plans for the mandatory enrollment of foreigners on the pension scheme were delayed this week, however, after an amendment was introduced in the Majlis to make involvement voluntary.

A shortage of government funds was cited this week as reason for the closure of the Maldives’ High Commission in Bangladesh, while plans to reduce state expenditure also resulted in proposals to disband local Women’s Development Committees.

The State Trading Organisation’s plans to tap into the tourism market in order to secure a steady stream of dollars look set to come to fruition early next year with the completion of their Hulhumalé hotel.

The outgoing members of parliament appeared intent on finishing the session productively, passing legislation on anti-money laundering as well as extending the General Regulations Act.

After having rejected a near-identical penal code draft in December, a more amenable quorum this week passed a replacement for the current 1960s version – more than four years after it was first introduced to the legislature.

In the committee room, approval was given for the new governor of the monetary authority and member of the police watchdog, though consent for the long-awaited new prosecutor general was withheld.

The PG’s Office meanwhile revealed that the Criminal Court – with whom it has quarreled over the Majlis failure to approve the new nominee – had used numerous excuses to turn away 30 percent of cases forwarded to it in the past three months.

The offices workload looks set to be added to by the Anti Corruption Commission’s recommendation that charges be filed against former Malé City councilors in relation to the contract for last year’s night market.

The Civil Court this week received a case from local businessmen seeking money owed by the State Bank of India, while the Juvenile Court received reluctant members of the Human Rights Commission as their dispute over an allegedly misleading report continued.

Eighteen months after the murder of PPM MP Dr Afrasheem Ali, the Criminal Court heard revealing testimony in the trial of Ali Shan – accused alongside the already-sentenced Hussain Humam.

The activities of police – under-resourced, according to the commissioner – in the confiscation of a record 24kg of heroin were revealed this week, while President Yameen took advantage of the force’s 81st anniversary to warn officers to use the current calm to prepare for future challenges.

Finally, Minivan News this week heard from local environmental NGOs about the plight of local turtle species as well as the difficulty in raising awareness of climate-change among the country’s young people.

Likes(2)Dislikes(0)

The Maldives’ first 24 hour Hackathon promotes talented Maldivian developers

The Maldives’ first ever Hackathon, organised by local not for profit Kickstart, has concluded today in Malé City Hall.

A Hackathon is an event that brings together web developers from the local community to create new software or applications. The Hackathon hopes to inspire participants to develop products that could have a high social impact, or ‘kickstart’ a viable business.

The 24 hour event – which has attracted 40 local developers – started on April 4 2014 at 4pm and concluded today at 4pm. Software developers have come together at the event to work on a variety of interesting and inspiring projects – competing with each other to win a set of prizes sponsored by numerous partners.

Starting in the mid to late 2000s, Hackathons have become significantly more widespread worldwide, being held as a means to quickly develop new software technologies, promote local software developers and to locate new areas for innovation and funding.

According to the event website, the Hackathon enables people to “give back to the community, solve a problem, change lives, and contribute to the open-source world.”

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony on Friday, one of the organisers Ahmed Riyaz ‘Dadi’ Mohamed said that there is no industry for software and application development in the Maldives, but there are very talented Maldivians at it, reported local media Haveeru.

According to the rules, participants may work on any type of project and are free to use any tools, programming languages, architecture and hardware of their choice.

Projects so far range from an app to facilitate traffic police and immigration authority work, to an app for checking hospital and clinic queue numbers and announcements

Vnews’ creative editor Mohamed Afzal is developing an app to facilitate the transport system. Afzal said that ferry schedules will be made available with the app.

“When guesthouse businesses are expanding at such a fast rate, such an app would really help the many tourists that come to the Maldives. With this app they will not have to roam around lost and aimless,” he explained to Haveeru.

Any software and systems developed at the hackathon will remain the property of the respective developer. Developers may choose to release their project as open-source software with a license of their liking, or keep their project private or may offer it for sale.

The winners of first and second  and third prize will be awarded MVR15,000, MVR10,000 and MVR 5,000, respectively. The National Centre for Information Technology has decided to award two special prizes of MVR8,000 to a participant below the age of 21 and to a female developer.

Winners will be selected through peer voting after the presentations at the end of the event.

Likes(1)Dislikes(0)

Elderly man found dead in Thinadhoo

A 79-year-old man was found dead in the island of Thinadhoo in Gaaf Dhaalu atoll on Friday night, local media reports.

Ali Rasheed was found dead lying on the floor of his room. He was living alone following the death of his wife some years earlier.

A source from the island told Sun Online that Rasheed had a six-inch laceration on his head and a swollen left eye.

Police said the death was being investigated as they suspected foul play. An investigation team has been dispatched to the southern island.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

MDP seeking public opinion over party reform

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has invited its members and the general public to submit suggestions and ideas for reforming and restructuring the party in the wake of electoral defeats in the presidential and parliamentary elections.

The party’s national council last week voted to form a three-member committee to study a reform paper (Dhivehi) submitted by a group of members and collect opinions and ideas for reform.

At a press conference on Thursday, the committee – comprised of MDP Youth Wing Leader Aminath Shauna along with Ali Niyaz and Ahmed Mujthaba – announced that it would be accepting suggestions for a two-week period.

Party members were invited to submit a form (Dhivehi) either to the party office or [email protected].

Alternately, members could use the #tellmdp hashtag of social media or visit the secretariat office in Malé between 11:00pm and 1:00pm and 3:00pm and 4:00pm on weekdays to share their views in person.

Speaking at Thursday’s press conference, Youth Wing Leader Shauna assured members that the committee would not censor or amend any suggestions.

At the end of the two-week period, she said, the committee would compile a report and submit it to the national council.

Shauna noted that the committee also welcomed opinions and ideas from members of the general public who were not registered MDP members.

Niyaz explained that while some suggestions could be approved by the national council by adopting resolutions, other reforms would have to be passed at the next national congress.

The national council decided last week to hold the party’s congress on June 6 and 7. The last congress took place in October 2010.

Among the ideas shared on social media so far, supporters have suggested clearly delineating the role of the chairperson and president or abolishing one of the posts, strengthening the administration of internal elections and primaries to ensure fairness and transparency, improving engagement with the media and increasing involvement of youth.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Alleged drug lord released from custody after police were late to court

A man has been released from police custody yesterday (April 2) after being taken to the Criminal Court seven minutes past his legally allowed period of detention.

Local media reported that the police had arrested the individual on a drug case, and that he was allegedly one of the drug barons arrested earlier this year.

When authorities realised his detention period had expired, the man was released by police without charge.

According to the constitution, any person detained must be presented before a judge within 24 hours.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Thirty percent of cases rejected by Criminal Court in past three months

The Prosecutor General’s Office has revealed that the Criminal Court has rejected 120 out of 383 cases submitted over the past three months.

At a press conference held on today (April 3), Deputy Prosecutor General (PG) Hussain Shameem stated that the total number of cases rejected and returned by the Criminal Court had now reached 435.

The Criminal Court had previously refused to accept new cases from the PG’s office, citing the Majis’s failure to approve a new candidate within the constitutionally stated period after or Ahmed Muiz’s November 2013 resignation.

The backlog of cases pending at the PG’s Office reached 533 as a result of the Criminal Court’s stance, before the court resumed acceptance of cases after a Supreme Court intervention.

Shameem stated today that the Criminal Court has still returned 120 cases since that time.

After the Criminal Court introduced new regulations governing the procedures for submitting cases in February, it subsequently rejected 60 cases forwarded from the PG’s Office, prompting Shameem to accuse the court of usurping powers reserved by the Supreme Court.

Shameem today revealed that one of the justifications given by the court when returning cases is that the accused is not originally from the capital city Malé where the court is located, claiming that hence the jurisdiction therefore falls to the relevant island magistrate court.

Shameem claimed that the Criminal Court can indeed preside over these cases as the crimes were committed in Malé and also because referring the cases to island magistrate courts would five rise to further administrative complications.

“The objective of the law is also to provide services conveniently. This is why the law is in such a way that allows superior courts to preside over all types of cases,” said Shameem.

“However, things are currently not proceeding in a way that fulfills the objective of this law,” Shameem claimed.

He further added that the PG’s Office has again appealed to the Supreme Court to assist in finding a solution to the matter.

According to Shameem, another reason the courts have used in returning cases is the state’s failure to appoint interpreters in cases where there are foreign witnesses.

Shameem explained today that the law states the provision of interpreters to fall under the mandate of the court presiding over the particular case in question.

After disputes with court staff over unpaid overtime, local media reported the court had been forced to curtail working hours due to budgetary restraints.

The deputy PG stated that police had sent 829 cases in the past three months to his office after completion of investigation.

He further revealed that the office had sent 932 cases to various courts in the past three months, adding that 356 other cases were currently prepared to be forwarded to a court after the prosecution’s work has been completed.

According to Shameem, the cases recently submitted include 383 cases forwarded to the Criminal Court, 210 cases submitted to the Drug Court, 22 cases submitted to the Juvenile Court, and 317 cases submitted to various magistrate courts around the country.

Likes(1)Dislikes(0)

Police reveal details of record drugs seizure

Police have released detailed information of the special operation conducted to seize 24kgs of heroin smuggled into the Maldives using an Iranian vessel last month.

A police officer implicated in the crime as well as the 11 Pakistani nationals on the Iranian vessel were among the 18 persons arrested in connection with the case.

In the statement the police said that officers involved in the operation experienced things that they had never experienced before, and it was noted that the police officers aboard the speedboat were not carrying any weapons.

Police said that officers involved in the operation first followed two Maldivians who went to Villimalé on March 4 where the Maldivian boat the ‘Violet’ was prepared to set sail to meet an Iranian vessel which had journeyed from Chahabar, Iran.

When the two Maldivians reached the boat docked in Villimalé harbour, the boat captain and three expats working on board had already made all preparations to set sail towards North Ari atoll at around 3:30pm.

Police officers were assigned to follow the ‘Violet’ on a gulf craft speedboat as it left Malé with intercepted communications revealing that the Maldivian boat planned to meet with the Iranian craft at 11pm that evening.

The boat reached North Ari atoll at 6:15pm, stopping in the ocean between Rasdhoo and Mathiveri, before making its first trip to meet the Iranian vessel at 3:30am in the morning.

According to police, the meeting point of the Iranian vessel and the ‘Violet’ was 30 nautical miles north of North Ari atoll. The Maldivian boat travelled outside the EEZ of the Maldives in heavy rain and rough seas with the police speedboat following throughout.

When the ‘Violet’ reached the meeting point, its crew was informed that the Iranian ship was still 450 miles away from the meeting point, and that they will take 56 hours to get there. The ‘Violet’ subsequently returned to North Ari atoll.

Police said the two men police originally followed subsequently returned to Malé, contacting their agent in Iran at 11:30pm to get details regarding the next attempted rendezvous.

The following day, as the ‘Violet’ refueled in preparation for its second trip to meet the Iranian vessel, the two Maldivians suspects attempted to transfer money to agents in Iran.

Police have revealed that the money was transferred by a member of the Maldives Police Service who has subsequently been arrested in connection with the case.

The next day ‘Violet’ travelled on the same route as before, again stopping between Ukulhas and Mathiveri, before being contacted at 12:45am by the Iranian ship which explained that it was 200 miles from the meeting point.

After receiving this news, the Maldivian boat travelled towards Baa Atoll – outside Maldivian territorial waters – and waited there until the Iranian vessel informed the crew that the drugs were hidden inside a small dingy in the Iranian vessel.

The following day (March 9) the Maldivian vessel reached the meeting point, but again had to wait for the Iranian vessel to get there the next morning.

When the two boats met the the Maldivian boat took a small dingy released by the Iranian vessel and began its trip back to Malé late in the afternoon of March 10, the police statement said.

Upon their arrival in Hulhumale’ that evening, all aboard ‘Violet’ were arrested and the drugs seized.

After collecting enough information to begin the operation, police assigned 16 officers to follow ‘Violet’: five intelligence officers were based in Mathiveri Island, a surveillance team consisting on seven officers was created.

Eight intelligence officers were assigned as a ground analysis team, and a further five were assigned as ground technical team. Three intelligence officers were assigned as covert team and two others were used to trace communications, the police statement revealed.

Likes(3)Dislikes(0)