Category: Society & Culture

School children lured to guest houses and sexually abused, warn police

School children are being lured to guest houses by adults and sexually abused, police have claimed.

Head of the police Family and Child Protection Unit (FCPU), Chief Inspector Ahmed Shujau, told the press that school children between the ages of 14 to 18 were being sexually abused after being lured to guest houses during school hours.

Shujau said that police had learned that the minors were usually befriended or seduced through the internet.

While school children were found to visit guest houses with children of the same age, he continued, there had been incidents where children were being taken by adults.

According to Shujau, 27 such cases were recently reported to the FCPU, 16 of which involved child sexual abuse while 11 cases were forced sexual assaults on women.

Shujau told revealed that the perpetrators included adult males and females as well.

The Chief Inspector advised parents to nurture closer relationship with their children and to always be aware of their child’s whereabouts.

The age of consent in the Maldives is 18 years and above. Unless proven otherwise, sexual relations with a minor is considered non-consensual under existing Maldivian laws.

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Behind-the-scenes at COP15: Oscar-winning film company to release documentary on Maldives’ efforts

An Oscar and Emmy-winning film production company based in San Franscisco, Actual Films, has produced a 90 minute documentary charting the Maldives’ efforts to raise awareness of climate change in the lead up to the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Change Summit.

The Maldivian government was approached by Actual Films in early 2009 seeking behind-the-scenes access to President Mohamed Nasheed and cabinet ministers.

After two years, US$1.5 million, 140 hours of footage and a soundtrack by Radiohead, the company has produced a 90 minute documentary ‘The Island President’, to be released in cinemas later this year.

The film was entirely funded by the US Ford Foundation, American Corporation for Public Broadcasting, MacArthur Foundation, Atlantic Foundation and the Sundance Institute.

The Maldivian government insists it had no editorial input into the film, which was left completely to Actual Films and Emmy-winning Director Jon Shenk.

“It felt a bit weird for the first two hours but after that the ministers seemed to forget the cameras were there,” said a senior government source.

“It is unprecedented for a documentary maker to be given round-the-clock access to a head of state, probably for very good reason.”

The source, who was shown a pre-release version of the film, described it as “somewhat like a real-life episode of the West Wing”; giving a unique perspective on the high-level machinations of world powers that would make it of interest to politics buffs as well as environmental activists, “and it will probably do wonders for tourism.”

“Everyone who’s seen it so far says it’s made them proud to be Maldivian,” the source said, adding that it was the first time a film about the Maldives was to be shown at international film festivals.

The film will be released in US cinemas later this year and aired in the Maldives in early 2012.

A trailer for the film can be seem at http://theislandpresident.com/

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Convicted criminals brought before judges on fresh charges

A person previously sentenced to life imprisonment for drug trafficking has appeared before the criminal court charged with vandalising a shop and assaulting the shopkeeper, the Criminal Court has said in a statement.

The Criminal Court in a statement said that Ismail Waheed of Galolhu Sundance had been handed to the Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services (DPRS) to implement the verdict of life imprisonment, and was under the impression he was behind bars until he was brought before the court by police on fresh charges.

Waheed was found guilty of drug trafficking and sentenced to life imprisonment after 25 packets of illegal drugs were discovered on him.

The Criminal Court said police had been ordered to keep Waheed in custody and hand him over to the DPRS within 15 days.

DPRS Director General Mohamed Rasheed told local media that Waheed escaped prison when he was brought Male’ for medical treatment, and had been at large as a fugitive.

According to Rasheed, Waheed’s family requested he be taken abroad for medical treatment and he was brought to Male’ prior to the journey.

On March 18 police brought a person to the Criminal Court who had previously been sentenced to 45 years imprisonment after he was found guilty of theft, objection to order and three drug related charges, said the Criminal Court.

A second person was also brought before the court who had been sentenced 10 times on different charges and was supposed to be serving 27 years imprisonment, after he was found guilty of five robbery cases, two cases of objection to order, two cases of driving without a license and one case of possession and use of drugs.

”The court’s documents show that those two persons were handed over to the concerned authorities to implement the verdict,” the court said at the time. ”But Ttey were brought before the judges on March 18 on charges of robbery after being arrested during a police special operation to curb violence in Male’.”

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Government income must be doubled, says President

Government income has to be doubled to create fiscal space for increased capital expenditure and investment for development opportunities, President Mohamed Nasheed said in his radio address yesterday.

Speaking on the cabinet decision last week to incentivise voluntary redundancy in the civil service, President Nasheed reiterated that facilitating more attractive and higher paying employment opportunities for civil servants and government employees remains “a major goal for the government.”

“Development opportunities are going to be very limited if a large part of state revenue is recurrent expenditure,” he said. “We have to increase capital expenditure. The best way is to exponentially increase government income.”

While revenue was increasing year by year, Nasheed continued, current levels of annual income have to be “doubled” to make fiscal space for capital investments.

“It will take time for the state to reach that level,” he added. “It is necessary for the government to maintain recurrent expenditure at a certain level to reach [the goal]…The government’s purpose, or objective, is to find ways for employees to improve their standard of living.”

Under the scheme launched by cabinet on Tuesday, civil servants and government employees will be eligible for one of four retirement incentive packages: no assistance, a one time payment of Rf150,000 (US$11,700), a payment of Rf150,000 and priority in the small and medium enterprises loan scheme (for those 18-50 years of age), or a lump sum of Rf 200,000 (US$15,600) and priority in government training and scholarship programmes (for those 18-40 years of age).

Government employees above the age of 55 who retire voluntarily will be given the same benefits as those released by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) at the mandatory retirement age of 65.

The deadline to apply for the programme with the Finance Ministry is May 31, 2011.

Austerity battles

In August 2009, the government’s decision to implement austerity measures to alleviate the crippling budget deficit – including unpopular pay cuts of up to 15 percent for civil servants – was met with protests and fierce resistance from opposition parties and the CSC.

President Nasheed announced at the time that the government planned to halve the 32,000-strong civil service by 2011 through redundancies and transfer of employees to corporations.

While the President stated that the civil service should be composed of no more than 18,000 well-paid and qualified staff, CSC Chair Mohamed Fahmy told Minivan News last week that the commission currently has 19,000 permanent staff.

At the height of a protracted legal dispute between the CSC and government last year, the parliament-appointed independent commission was accused of attempting to topple the government and “plunge the Maldives into chaos.”

International organisations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank meanwhile insist that reckless expansionary fiscal policies from 2004 onward that saw doubling expenditure on salaries between 2007-2009 crippled the economy.

“The Maldives faces the most challenging macroeconomic situation of all democratic transitions that have occurred since 1956,” read a World Bank report in March 2010.

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HRCM, Gender Department condemn sexual violence “atrocities”

The Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) and the Department of Gender and Family Protection Services have strongly condemned the recent “atrocities” of sexual violence against minors, women and persons with special needs.

In a press release today, HRCM notes that the prevalence of sexual violence against the most vulnerable members of society, such as the elderly, under-age children and the disabled has “reached worrying levels.”

“We call on the government, state institutions, political parties, civil society organisations and all citizens to work together with renewed courage to stop such inhumane actions, save the community and establish a secure environment,” reads the HRCM statement.

Calling on the authorities to swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice in its press statement yesterday, the Gender Department warned that the surge in sexual violence cases has created an atmosphere of fear and caused psychological distress to a number of families.

Some 14 cases of child sexual abuse have been reported to the department so far this year, including the case of a Jamaaludheen School teacher arrested for allegedly molesting deaf children under his care.

Eight men were arrested last week in Haa Dhaal Dhidhoo for alleged abuse of a 13-year-old girl while among those arrested in other cases include fathers, grandfathers and relatives of the under-age victims.

Chief Inspector Ali Shujau, head of the family and child protection unit, told press today that police investigations have revealed that school children aged 14 to 18 were being lured to guest houses by adults.

Police found that minors were sexually abused at guest houses after being lured through the internet, he said.

In the first three weeks of April, said Shujau, 27 sexual violence cases were reported to police, including 16 child sexual abuse cases and 11 sexual assault cases.

Meanwhile the Health Ministry in collaboration with local NGOs ‘Hope for Women’ and the ‘Manfaa’ centre has announced a protest march in Male’ tomorrow to urge the authorities to take action, reports Sun Online.

The march is to begin at 4pm near the Social Centre and wind down at the artificial beach.

In Addu City, the Family and Child Service Centre in Seenu Hithadhoo together with local NGOs has planned a vehicle round from 4.30pm to 6pm Friday after a 74-year-old woman was brutally raped on Sunday.

According to Haveeru, the victim’s injuries were serious enough that she had to undergo surgery at the Hithadhoo Regional Hospital. A 19-year-old suspect has since been taken into police custody.

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MNBC journalist suffers gash to hand in knife attack

A journalist with the Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation (MNBC) has been released from hospital after suffering a two-inch gash on his hand in a knife attack early this morning.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam told Minivan News that Mohamed Sodiq was attacked by two men on a motorcycle.

“We received a report that he was being treated and the attack was not serious, Shiyam said, adding that police were currently unable to say whether the attack was connected with Sodiq’s work, gang-related, or a random assault.

Minivan News understands that Sodiq works primarily as a sports reporter.

Head of the Maldives Journalists Association (MJA), Ahmed ‘Hiriga’ Zahir, said that Sodiq was attacked after leaving his office at 3:30am in the morning, while on his way home.

“We have met with the police commissioner and voiced our concern, not only about the safety of journalists but people in society as a whole,” Hiriga said, adding that a lack of security would affect the work of journalists.

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Civil servants to receive Rf150,000, scholarships, SME loans for voluntary redundancy

Cabinet yesterday launched a program to encourage civil servants to leave the government and enter the private sector or further their education.

Under the scheme, civil servants and government employees will be eligible for one of four retirement incentive packages: no assistance, a one time payment of Rf 150,000 (US$11,700), a payment of Rf 150,000 and priority in the small and medium enterprises loan scheme (for those 18-50 years of age), or a lump sum of Rf 200,000 (US$15,600) and priority in government training and scholarship programmes (for those 18-40 years of age).

In addition, government employees above the age of 55 who retire voluntarily will be given the same benefits as those released by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) at the mandatory retirement age of 65.

The deadline to apply for the program with the Ministry of Finance is May 31, 2011.

The move is likely to win the government further favour with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), following its managed float of the rufiya and passing of several tax bills through parliament, including the tourism goods and services tax (TGST) and business profit tax.

However international financial organisations such as the World bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have regarded the country’s bloated public wage bill as the key contributor to its 20-21 percent budget deficit, arguing that the country must reduce its expenditure as well as increase its revenue.

The deficit exploded on the back of a 400 percent increase in the government’s wage bill between 2004 and 2009, with tremendous growth between 2007 and 2009. On paper, the government increased average salaries from Rf3000 to Rf11,000 and boosted the size of the civil service from 24,000 to 32,000 people – 11 percent of the total population of the country – doubling government spending from 35 percent of GDP to 60 percent from 2004 to 2006.

Political maneuverings by the opposition last year forced the government to rescind pay cuts of 15 percent, leading the IMF to comment that “significant policy slippages” were threatening the country’s economic sustainability.

Several political skirmishes over pay cuts between the Finance Ministry and Civil Service Commission (CSC) ended in court last year, with permanent secretaries of Ministries at one stage submitting multiple wage forms in an effort to appease both sides.

Head of the CSC Mohamed Fahmy told Minivan News that the commission was “very positive” about the voluntary redundancy program.

“This is an opportunity particularly for young people to advance their studies and skills,” he suggested.

“We can’t yet say how people will react, but definitely the package for people 55 years and over is very good. I think this is positive encouragement – scholarships are hard to come by, and many parents are not in a position to fund their children’s education.”

The President’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair claimed that the potential short term costs of the scheme “are not relatively high compared to the benefits in the long term.”

“We need to trim down the civil service to reduce state expenditure and have a healthier private sector,” he said. “Few other countries apart from North Korea employ such a high percentage of their population in government.”

Zuhair dismissed the possibility that such an incentive program would lead to a ministerial ‘brain drain’, as talented staff with prospects outside government rushed to leave the civil service.

“The civil service will continue to provide benefits such as long term security and upward mobility – I don’t think there will be a rush,” he predicted.

Political appointees would also be eligible for the program, he added, however following the replacement of government-appointed island councillors by elected representatives, “there are not more than about 170 appointees”.

In comparison, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) has 21,000 staff under its mandate, including 19,000 permanent staff and 2000 contractors.

The remaining public sector employers fall under an assortment of 100 percent government-owned corporations, particularly prevalent in the medical, education and media sectors, a loophole that allows the government to hire-and-fire staff without being subject to the jurisdiction of the CSC.

“Staff of the corporations are no longer civil servants but are still uniformed servants of the state,” Zuhair explained.

Yesterday’s move to incentivise the departure of civil servants is likely to draw further support from the IMF, which has finished its Article IV consultation and may be weighing up the provision of further support.

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Criminal Court releases Gabbarey, ”a potential threat to the society” warn police

The Criminal Court has released Ibrahim Abdulla ‘Gabbarey’, who was arrested and kept in pre-trial detention for conspiracy to conduct assault and battery and disrupt the peace.

He was arrested along with 49 others during a special operation police conducted to avoid potential clashes between gangs after the murder of 21 year-old Ahusan Basheer.

The Criminal Court cited Ibrahim’s medical condition and lack of evidence as reasons for his release.

A police spokesperson said that Ibrahim was potential threat to the society if he was at large.

”But the Criminal Court has today released him,” he added. ”He is on our list of the nine most dangerous criminals.”

Ibrahim was recently attacked with a machete and barely survived after suffering a major head injury. He was taken abroad for further treatment.

Police statistics show that Ibrahim was arrested 14 times for allegedly committing several offenses.

Ahusan Basheer, 21 died last month after a group of assailants stabbed him near NC Park in the Galolhu district of Male’.

”He was stabbed four times in the back and three times in the chest,” police said in a statement.

Police arrested Ibrahim Shahum, who was recently charged in a murder case and released by the court after being kept in detention for six months, in connection with the case. He is currently being held in pre-trial detention.

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Locals complain of being charged tourism GST

To celebrate her son’s eighth birthday, Aishath Niyasha* decided to take him and his friends to the swimming pool at Hulhule Island Hotel.

On arrival she was asked to provide a copy of her ID and told that it was a new rule of the hotel. As the kids splashed around in the pool, Niyasha ordered some juice and asked the waiter to bring her the bill for the usage of the pool as well as for the drinks.

Surprised to see Goods and Services Tax (GST) included in both bills, Niyasha told the cashier that since she was a Maldivian she should be exempt from it. His reply albeit in a joking manner was “talk to the esteemed parliamentary members, they are making us do this.”

Scenes like this are played all over the country as confusion has risen between local customers and service providers since the implementation of Tourism GST of 3.5 percent at the start of this year.

Maldivians and work permit holders voice their right to be exempt from GST, which by law is only applicable to holders of a tourist visa, while some service providers charge GST to all their customers.

Confusion

David Jones*, who has lived in Maldives for over 10 years and holds a work permit, says he is frequently asked to pay GST.

“Showing them my work permit and saying a bit forcefully that I am not obliged to pay GST works most of the time.”

He says it’s just a matter of principal, as the amount of GST at 3.5 percent is very low. He finds that most of the time the management, and the supervisory level staff in resorts and hotels are well informed and aware of how it should work. “Though seems in a lot of places the junior level staff are not well briefed.”

HIH duty manager Shafeeg says the hotel’s policy is “when a copy of the ID is provided, the client would not be charged GST.” Shafeeg says that all the staff at HIH have been informed and expressed surprise when informed of Niyasha’s poolside incident. He pointed out that HIH has a notice plastered near the cashier asking clients who are eligible to be exempt from GST to give a copy of their IDs.

Likewise Bandos Island Resort and Spa, one of the oldest resorts in Maldives, and one that is frequented by both tourists, locals and a large number of expatriates, says it follows the law to the letter.

“We do exactly as the law requires us to do, we only charge tourists GST” says Thoha Ali, Sales Manager of Bandos. “All the concerned staff has been briefed.”

Ali admits when GST was first introduced there was confusion. “We outsource our system, so it’s a ready-made programmed for billing; hence it took a while to modify it to suit the requirements.”
Niyasha, who ended up paying the GST, says she would be less bothered if she could be sure that the amount she paid is handed over to Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) and not pocketed by the hotel.

Informing MIRA

“MIRA will audit all the establishments from time to time,” says Fathimath Rasheeda, director Tax Payer education and Facilitation at MIRA, to ensure that nobody can take advantage of the system. Since the implementation of GST at the start of the year, MIRA had collected US$7.2 million in January and US$6.6 million in February.

“We did get a lot of complaints from Maldivians, especially at the onset of the GST implementation” says Rasheeda. To counter this problem MIRA issued a notice in January informing all Maldivians and work permit holders not to pay GST, and to inform them of any establishment that does so.

“Unless the public informs us we will not be aware of which establishments charges non-tourists, as it would be impossible to tell from the bill who the customer is.”

Hotels in turn have complained to MIRA that customers at times do not provide the paper work that would make them exempt from paying GST. Rasheeda says “MIRA require documented proof, so it’s always better if an ID or work permit card is provided.”

This in turn leads to the question, who will do the photocopying? Some hotels and service providers seem to find it a time-consuming bother to check the ID of clients and to make exemptions for clients not to pay GST.

While some hotels complain that photocopying IDs and work permits is an unnecessary expanse, HIH staff told Niyasha “we will photocopy your ID just this once, but make sure you bring a copy with you next time.”

So it appears that the onus is on the clients to carry around photocopies of their IDs or work permits if they want to be exempt from paying GST. Given the high price of photocopying in Male’, it might be just cheaper to pay the 3.5%.

*Names changed on request.

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