Tag: alcohol

Government plans to sell alcohol at Fuvahmulah city hotel, claims Adhaalath

The government has declared two areas of Fuvahmulah uninhabited islands for airport and tourism development in order to allow the sale of alcohol at a city hotel, yet to be opened on the island, the religiously conservative Adhaalath party has alleged.

President Mohamed Nasheed signed decrees on Friday declaring the “Bilhifeyshi” and “Thoon’du” areas of Fuvahmulah – two strips on opposite ends of the island – as uninhabited islands to be utilised for tourism purposes.

At a press conference yesterday, Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed, Adhaalath Party spokesperson, said that the decrees were part of a “Satanic plot” to sidestep legal prohibitions to selling alcohol in inhabited islands.

“We are not opposed at all to building a city hotel for the development of Fuvahmulah,” he said. “But you don’t have to sell alcohol at every city hotel. Adhaalath party sees the declaration of uninhabited islands within Fuvahmulah as an absurd move, as an act of madness.”

The decision was “disrespectful” in light of the public’s opposition to the sale of alcohol in inhabited islands, Shaheem continued, referring to a large demonstration in February 2010 that forced the government to withdraw controversial new regulations that would have allowed sale of alcohol to non-Muslims from city hotels.

Fuvahmulah“If the government wants us to let them hear the voice of the people again, we are ready to do it,” Shaheem said, calling on citizens of Fuvahmulah and the public to “raise your voices against this decision by the government.”

President’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair however dismissed Adhaalath’s allegations today as intended to “seek political recognition and cast the government in a bad light.”

Zuhair said the Adhaalath’s claims were “very insincere” as the party did not make any inquiries, request a meeting with the President to express concerns or “even sent a letter to relevant authorities before giving a press conference and making these claims in the media.”

The remarks by Adhaalath leaders were “regrettable,” Zuhair added, as the party remains a coalition partner of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and its senior members included the Minister and State Minister for Islamic Affairs.

Meanwhile at yesterday’s press conference, Adhaalath Party Vice President Dr Mauroof Hussein claimed President Nasheed “pressured” Fuvahmulah councillors to approve a resolution for developing the city hotel.

Dr Mauroof argued that the President’s decree set a disturbing precedent: “Tomorrow they can announce that President Nasheed has decreed the inner walls of Holiday Inn [now Trader’s Hotel] is an uninhabited island. Or the plot west of the army headquarters is an uninhabited island and demolish the Islamic Centre to build a bar there,” he said.

The government was pursuing an agenda to “spread irreligious activities” in the Maldives, Dr Mauroof warned.

Economies of scale

Speaking at a function in Fuvahmulah on Friday, President Nasheed expressed confidence that the construction of an airport in the island would be completed by November 10.

Nasheed said that the government understood the people’s longstanding desire for an airport but insisted that the investment should be sustainable.

In addition to operating costs, said Nasheed, about Rf500,000 would have to be spent “on interest [payments] alone.”

“It is not clear to me that we can recover this money with about 30 people flying to Fuvahmulah from Male’ every week,” he explained. “With development, especially national development, we have to consider that every project has to be sustainable, well-rounded and feasible.”

In order to ensure financial sustainability for the airport, he continued, the government intends to build a tourist hotel in Fuvahmulah in collaboration with a business partner.

“We don’t want to criticise, meddle and try to profit [from the hotel] in Male’,” he said. “When the facilities are used for your development, the whole population of the Maldives will benefit from it. A number of things that can be done to ensure feasibility of the airport can be seen in the environment of Fuvahmulah, in its natural resources.”

President Nasheed said the decision to declare the two areas non-inhabited was made following deliberations by the cabinet and consultation with Fuvahmulah councillors.

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Man arrested in Addu for brewing alcohol

A 46-year-old man was arrested for brewing alcohol in the bathroom of a house on Hulhudhoo in the Addu Atoll.

Police allegedly found ”brewing apparatus and a container with approximately 2.5 litres of liquid in it”, which was confiscated, according to Inspector Ibrahim Haneef of Addu Police.

He confirmed that the man was taken into custody at 12.35pm after recieving an anonymous tip off, according to Haveeru.

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Sri Lankan man’s passport held for over a year in Reeko’s bootleg booze case

A Sri Lankan national has appealed to the Criminal Court to release his passport, which has been held for over a year in relation to a case concerning the discovery of hundreds of bottles of cheap alcohol  in a car belonging to Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Parliamentary Group leader ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik.

The Court identified the expat as Muhaidhee Mohamed. Following his complaint the Court summoned the police investigator in charge of the case, Staff Sergeant Ali Faiz, who told the court the matter would be resent to the Prosecutor General this week.

Faiz told the Criminal Court that the leader of a group of expats involved in importing alcohol illegally to the Maldives had fled during the police investigation.

‘’We would like to note that it has been one year, two months and 10 days from the day he was arrested,’’ said the Criminal Court. ‘’He was released by the Criminal Court after he was kept in detention for two months.”

In February last year police arrested four expatriate men loading 168 bottles of whiskey and menthol gin into a car registered to Moosa, on the same day controversial liquor licensing regulations were unveiled by the Ministry of Economic Development.

Main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party Vice President Ibrahim Shareef then said he doubted the case “would go very far”, noting that “in the worst case scenario Reeko’s driver will be implicated and that will be the end of the story.”

The investigation into the case was concluded in October last year, and the case was sent to the Prosecutor General who rejected it and sent it back to police.

Police then said that the case was rejected because there was some necessary information was missing in the investigation.

Local media reported that during the court hearing during the investigation police told the judge that the main subject of the investigation was a person known only as  ‘Tin Tin’.

Moosa, who was in Singapore at the time of the incident, has maintained that his driver was bribed and the bottles were planted in his car to attack him politically.

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Minor arrested for allegedly brewing alcohol

A 17 year-old boy has been arrested on the island of Hithadhu in Laamu Atoll for allegedly brewing alcohol.

Police Sergent Abdul Muhusin told Minivan News that the minor had been now released after being questioned about the alleged incident.

”Police were informed that a group were brewing alcohol in a place, but when police officers attended the area nobody was  there,” he said. “However materials that were supposedly used to ferment alcohol were discovered in the area,”

Staff at the island office told Minivan News that it was the first case of brewing alcohol that was reported to have occurred in the island.

”I heard that some substances were added to an empty bottle and cooked,” he said. ”They did it in the forest in an area that is half a mile away from an area where people live.”

He said that group of islanders knew about the incident and reported it to police.

”They have a list of persons that are allegedly involved in brewing the alcohol – most of them minors,” he said.

Recently, police have reported a number of similar incidents where persons were arrested on suspicion that they were brewing alcohol.

Last December, police arrested two brothers in Gan of Laamu Atoll on suspicion that they were allegedly brewing alcohol inside a kitchen.

Materials that can be used to brew alcohol were discovered inside the kitchen, police claimed at the time.

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Three police officers injured in drug bust

Three police officers were injured in an special operation conducted last night to arrest an alleged drug dealer.

“Police went to Henveiru Kahafathi with a court warrant after receiving information that suspected narcotics were hidden inside the house,’’ said Sub-Inspector Mohamed Dawood. “A person named Mohamed Ahmed attempted to obstruct the duty of the police and attacked three police officers using two knives.”

The acting head of the Drug Enforcement Department (DED) said that police discovered 18 bullet-sized packets of suspected heroin worth of Rf65,000 (US$5,058) hidden inside the bathroom of the house.

‘’I presume he attacked the police to protect his illegal drugs,’’ he added.

The suspect trafficker is now in police custody.

‘’In another operation conducted this week, police seized eight cases of vodka inside a dhoni (traditional boat) docked at Male’,” he said. “Police checked the dhoni in the presence of an expat working in the Dhoni and he is now under arrest.’’

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Lithuanian company reveals plans to open ‘Island of Blondes’ in the Maldives

A Lithuanian company has unveiled plans to build an ‘Island of Blondes’ in the Maldives, a resort it claims will be staffed exclusively with “beautiful blonde young women”, featuring “entertainments”, spa centres and an education centre “which will teach female guests to always be perfect and look great.”

The resort will be constructed under the Lithuanian brand Olialia, managed by the small European country’s largest newspaper, Vakaro Žinios. The company also operates a pizzeria, payment card, limo and bus service, and sells ice-cream, soft drinks, chips, and computers decorated with Swarovski crystals, and runs parties at popular Lithuanian nightclubs.

Local tourism industry website Maldives Traveller revealed that the project was expected to open in 2015 and would be funded by investors from Lithuania, Russia, UK, Germany, United Arab Emirates and an undisclosed Maldivian travel company.

In an interview with Maldives Traveller, Olialia’s Giedre Pukiene told the website that the company was already in negotiations “with the owners of several atolls, who are ready to cooperate in the creation of the island of blondes.”

The working title of the resort is to be ‘Olialia Paradise’, Pukiene told Maldives Traveller, but noted that this was subject to change.

The project will also include the creation of an airline and yacht service for visitors to the island, both staffed exclusively by blondes.

“The pilots and stewardesses on the planes will also be blonde only,” Pukiene confirmed.

On paper, the project is likely to encounter logistical difficulties. Resorts in the Maldives are obligated to employ at least 50 percent Maldivian staff who naturally have dark hair. Olialia has not revealed whether local staff will be required to use bleach.

State Minister of Tourism Mamduh Waheed said he was unaware of the proposed project, but noted that the Ministry of Tourism had no involvement in negotiations between operators and leaseholders.

“The Ministry officially has no role to play in negotiations, and I think it would be out of line for us to do so, but we certainly facilitate and assist those operators seeking to acquire property,” Mamduh explained.

If it goes ahead, the project would take the country’s tourism industry in a different direction to that proposed in May by visiting Islamic speaker Dr Zakir Naik, who noted that investing in a resort profiting from the sale of alcohol was already technically haram (prohibited), and recommended the country encourage investment in halal (permitted) tourism.

Such resorts, he suggested, should be “exclusively halal, free of pork and alcohol, and with proper segregation and dress code – it will be a benefit.”

President of the Adhaalath Party and State Minister for Home Affairs, Sheikh Hussain Rasheed, said that even if a company attempted to open a resort as the one proposed by Olialia, ”nothing against the Tourism Act can be conducted in the Maldives.”

”Tourism is not bad itself, but it can also be conducted in a bad way,” he said. “Ever since the beginning of tourism in the country has become broader day to day, and the government has established the Tourism Act to maintain and organise the industry,” said Sheikh Rasheed, explaining that the employment of female staff was also regulated by the Tourism Act.

”There should also be a percentage of Maldivians in all the resorts, according to the Act,” Sheikh Rasheed explained. ”I don’t really think the Tourism Act allows such an island to be developed in this country.”

State Minister for Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohammed Shaheem Ali Saeed had not commented at time of press.
Head of the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI), Sim Mohamed Ibrahim, said he thought the idea was “beyond a gimmick” and “so totally spectacular and different a business model that it could very well succeed.”
Sim said he did not believe such a resort should encounter objections from the conservative establishment in the Maldives, “because if [the country] objects by singling out a physical characteristic, we’re not going to attract anybody.”
The ‘Island of Blondes’ is not the first ambitious resort development to be proposed in the Maldives.

In March the government signed an agreement with Dutch Docklands to develop a gigantic floating golf course, holding a signing ceremony in the President’s office.

”Golf has a good market in the world, and most of our resorts do not have a golf centre due to lack of space,” observed Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair at the time.

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DRP Noonu Atoll wing’s leader arrested with suspected bottle of alcohol

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Noonu Atoll wing leader Mohamed Abbas has been arrested with possession of a bottle suspected to contain alcohol.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said that three men were arrested for allegedly carrying alcohol in an empty water bottle.

”Two men have been released now,” said Shiyam. “The bottle will be brought to Male’ for the necessary examinations.”

Shiyam declined to reveal the identity of the person under arrest, however he confirmed that Abbas was one of the two persons released.

Alcohol in the Maldives is strictly controlled and restricted to ‘uninhabited’ resort islands. Maldivians, who are constitutionally-obligated to be Muslim, are prohibited from consuming it in accordance with Islamic practices.

Online newspaper based on Noonu Atoll, Velidhoo Online (VO), reported that three bottles of alcohol were discovered inside Abbas’s backpack.

VO reported that the bottles were discovered by police when they were checked following their arrival from the Ranveli Resort of Noonu Atoll.

The paper also said that people had gathered near Velidhoo police station and held demonstrations to express disapproval of Abbas.

Deputy leader of DRP, Umar Naseer, said Abbas was not the leader of DRP’s Noonu Atoll wing.

”He’s just a normal DRP member, an activist,” said Umar. ”I have idea how this happened, but I know he did not drink, because his breath-test results were negative to alcohol.”

Umar said there were no alcoholics in the opposition DRP, and claimed that there were only alcoholics in the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

”Police should investigate the case and take necessary actions against any person who violates the law, without referring to which party he is in or what his post is,” Umar added.

Police recently discovered bottles of alcohol inside the car of MDP parliamentary group leader and MP Moosa ‘Reeko’ Manik, however the government claimed the alcohol bust was a setup.

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Profits from resorts that serve alcohol are haram, explains Dr Zakir Naik

Visiting Islamic speaker Dr Zakir Naik clarified during a question and answer session this morning that profits generated from the sale of alcohol are haram (prohibited), and urged the Maldives to encourage investment in halal (permitted) tourism.

“In Islamic finance, you cannot involve in any business as the owner of that business if it is even one percent a haram activity,” Dr Naik said.

“As a main partner you cannot be involved. If you are investing as a pool and you are a small partner, then a little bit is permitted, but as a 100% owner I cannot say ‘fine, I will have a hotel that will allow alcohol, and that money I will give to charity.’ You cannot say that. Because you are involved in haram activity.”

It was permitted, Dr Naik explained, to invest in part in a mutual fund where a haram activity might be a small percentage of the investment, as “then I can give the small amount to charity, because I have no major say in the business. But if I am a bigger shareholder, I cannot allow even 0.1% of haram activity to take place.”

Under Islam the use, handling and sale of alcohol are considered haram to Muslims, a tenet that led to vigorous opposition against the government’s attempt in February to legalise the sale of alcohol to non-Muslims on inhabited islands. Critics of the regulations claimed they were unconstitutional, as Article 10(b) of the Maldives’ Constitution states that ‘no law contrary to any tenet of Islam shall be enacted in the Maldives..

However the country depends heavily on tourism for its economy, particularly resorts which profit from the sale of alcohol, many of which are owned by local businessmen.

Dr Naik, who is speaking tonight and tomorrow at Maafaanu Stadium, after being invited by the Ministry for Islamic Affairs, questioned why the Maldives had no resorts that were “100 percent halal.”

“Your country is so beautiful. I have visited many countries in the world and I have to profess, the islands in Maldives are par excellence. I’ve been to many parts of the world, been to many top resorts in the world, but the one where I am staying in the Maldives is par excellence. Allah has blessed you with such beauty, scenery and natural resources,” he said.

“I put forward the proposal that why don’t we have an Islamic resort? I’m aware the Maldives prohibits alcohol for citizens, but those people who come from outside the Maldives can have access to these things which are haram for Muslims.”

Such resorts, he suggested, should be “exclusively halal, free of pork and alcohol, and with proper segregation and dress code – it will be a benefit.”

Similar segregated, alcohol and pork free hotels in other parts of the world had proven very successful, he explained, “with revenue far more than other hotels. The same thing can be done here.”

“The income for people investing in such Islamic resorts will be much higher,” he suggested. “I have spoken to government officials about it, and they say Inshallah, they look forward to it. Believe me it will attract more tourists very soon, in the next couple of years, with better revenue and a better profit.”

State Minister for Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed has similarly argued for promotion of Islamic “cultural tourism” within the Maldives, noting that “a lot of hotels, such as the Intercontinental in Medina, are without alcohol. What about developing alcohol-free resorts; Islamic tourism, just like Islamic banking?”

Dr Zakir Naik is speaking at an event at Maafannu stadium tonight and tomorrow, at 8:45pm.

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Adhaalath slams Haveeru for publishing alcohol ad

The Adhaalath Party has attacked daily newspaper Haveeru for publishing an apparent advertisement for alcohol in its May 19 edition, calling on “concerned authorities” to investigate the matter.

The party claimed this act of Haveeru news violated article 27 of the Constitution, guaranteeing freedom of expression “subject to the tenets of Islam.”

” The ad consists of a label of a certain brand of whiskey and had no name or contact number associated with it,” the  Adhaalath Party said on its English-language website.

The party claimed it was “surprised and shocked” that as the Maldives is a 100 percent Muslim nation, such an act should not happen  “since all the ads published in the local newspapers are screened for conformity with the laws and regulations of the country.”

The party said the issue was “very serious” and warned it could “disrupt the peace and harmony of the country.”

Editor of Haveeru Moosa Latheef said the newspaper did not advertise alcohol.

”It was a notice sent to us by a whiskey-producing company,” Latheef said. ”The notice was to inform people that the usage of their brand name fraudulent and unauthorised.”

Latheef said that the newspaper had mistakenly failed to include the written notice and published only the whiskey picture.

”Yesterday we wrote that we missed the notice and it was a mistake,” Latheef said. ”We will not promote alcohol in the country.”

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