Tag: Arts and Culture

Civil Court issues injunction against termination of Palm Beach Resort and Spa management agreement

The Civil Court has issued an injunction temporarily blocking a decision by the head leaseholder of the Palm Beach Resort and Spa to terminate a sub-lease agreement with the property’s current management.

The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture has confirmed that the resort, based in Lhaviyani Atoll, is to remain under the management of Sun Sporting Holidays Limited until the conclusion of a court case to determine the legality of terminating the companty’s sub-lease agreement.

“Sun Sporting Holidays filed a case against the leaseholder and the court issued an order stating that the termination notice should be suspended until the court decided whether the termination is lawful of not,” Tourism Ministry Senior Legal Officer Faseeh Zahir explained to Minivan News.

“So, the ministry accordingly extended the temporary permit for resort operation to Sun Sporting Holidays,” he said.

No date has yet been set for the next hearing in the case, according to the ministry.

In a document (part 1, part 2, part 3) dated July 15, 2013,  Leaseholder Ibrahim Ali Maniku issued a notice of termination for the agreement between himself and Sun Sporting Holidays Limited to operate the Palm Beach Island Resort and Spa.

He wrote that the decision was based over concerns the company, as sub lessee, had failed to meet a number of safety standards and mandatory requirements set out by the Tourism Ministry and other local authorities.

Citing a Tourism Ministry report from April 11, 2013 – Number: 88­QAR/PRIV/2013/604 – the notice alleges that of 97 observations and violations noted by authorities at the time, 61 were considered serious and in need of immediate rectification.

According to the leaseholder, a maximum period of no more than three weeks from the publication of the report were provided for any short comings or violations raised by the ministry to be dealt with by management on the site.  The notice does not clarify if the required changes were made within the deadline.

The leaseholder however alleged that 14 “major violations” of the General Regulation for Food Establishment and Service of Maldives (2007/182/FSI) raised by the Tourism Ministry had not been corrected during a further inspection held a month later.

The notice claimed that Sun Sporting Holidays had also failed to register the property’s desalination plant with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as well as ensuring the resort’s power system was approved by the Maldives Energy Authority (MEA).

Concerns were also raised in the document over the EPA’s conclusions concerning the impact of severe erosion on the island’s coastline, which is claimed to have led to serious damage to the site’s ‘‘A la Carte’ restaurant as well as the loss of 17,953 square metres of land since the sub-lease agreement had come into force.

The notice claimed the sub lessee had additionally failed to comply with the EPA’s recommendations of relocating the resort’s reverse osmosis desalination) intake away from “the site where sewage is discharged”.

Sun Sporting Holidays was also accused by the leaseholder of failing to address recommendations by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) to repair the resort’s fire alarm and fire hydrant systems that had previously been found to be out of order, while also failing to prepare and practice drills as part of an emergency fire plan.

When contacted by Minivan News this week, Sun Sporting Holidays said Palm Beach Resort and Spa remained under its management and was being operated as normal.

However, the company declined to comment further on the termination notice sent by the island’s leaseholder while legal action into the matter was ongoing.

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Maldives minister slams “dubious” motives behind Avaaz boycott campaign

Deputy Tourism Minister Mohamed Maleeh Jamal has slammed what he calls the “dubious” motivations behind an Avaaz.org petition calling for tourists to boycott the Maldives in protest over the sentencing of a 15 year-old rape victim to flogging, alleging the campaign is “politically motivated”.

While accepting a need for “capacity building” in parliament and other institutions, Maleeh said tourism had been a key driver in ensuring national development and democratic reforms for the last 40 years, granting the industry “sacred” importance in the Maldives.

“People should not be doing anything to damage the industry. In Switzerland, you would not see a campaign designed to damage Swiss chocolate. Likewise you would not see a German campaign to damage their automobile industry,” he said.

The comments were made as over 1.7 million people worldwide have signed a petition on the Avaaz site aiming to target the “reputation” of the Maldives tourism industry and encourage the dropping of charges against the 15 year-old rape victim, as well as wider legal reforms to prevent similar cases.

The girl was sentenced on charges of fornication after confessing to having consensual sex with an unknown man during investigations into her alleged abuse by her stepfather. The girl is also alleged to have been abused by a number of unidentified men on her island dating back to 2009, according to sources on the local council.

The government of President Dr Mohamed Waheed has pledged to appeal the sentence given to the minor by the country’s Juvenile Court, while also reviewing local laws to enact potential reforms of the use of flogging. No time-line for such reforms has yet been set beyond the commitment to hold talks.

Democratic path

In an interview with Minivan News today, Deputy Minister Maleeh argued that over the last 40 years, the tourism industry has been an intrinsic part of not only relieving poverty nationally, but also driving the country’s democratic transition process – leading eventually to elections in 2008.

Presidential elections are now scheduled for later this year in a highly-polarised political environment that follows a controversial transfer of power in February 2012 that saw President Waheed come to power following a mutiny by sections of the police and military.

Former President Mohamed Nasheed and his opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) have alleged that his government was ousted in a “coup d’etat”.  Nasheed has maintained these claims despite the findings of a Commonwealth-backed Commission of National Inquiry (CNI).

“Chaos and anarchy”

Considering the present political landscape, Maleeh claimed Avaaz.org had been deliberately “misinformed” in a politically motivated attempt to destabilise the government and tourism industry through negative media headlines.

“By misinformed, I mean that I don’t think they have taken the government’s stand into account, the president has already spoke on the issue , as has the attorney general,” he said. “I think that in time, Avaaz will be informed of this and will even be our partners.”

Maleeh criticised the intentions behind the campaign, alleging the petition was being used for political gain, rather than focusing on the welfare of the 15 year-old girl at the centre of the sexual abuse allegations.

“I would say the motivation [behind the campaign] is dubious. The problem ultimately needs to be addressed by the judiciary and parliament, not the tourism ministry,” he said. “We are in the middle of a successful democratic transition. Killing the most important industry in the country will not give way for reforms, but chaos and anarchy.”

Maleeh claimed that when accounting for the economic significance and societal benefits of tourism to the Maldives, the industry was very fragile.

He added that the tourism industry has ensured continued national developments in “the right direction” that had helped to alleviate general poverty and improve the quality of life in the country. Maleeh pointed to the availability of consumer goods such as like branded coffees and other foods and produce as an example of the quality of life.

Maleeh added it had been tourism that helped drive democratic developments in the nation, with international parties encouraging former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who served as the country’s autocratic leader for 30 years, to undertake a path towards democratic reforms.

“In the last 40 years [since the introduction of tourism]. we have listened to groups like the World Bank and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO),” he said.

Pointing specifically to reforms that had brought a new constitution to the Maldives in 2008, Maleeh said that rather than seeking a damaging boycott, international partners like the EU, the US and Australia had in the past engaged in dialogue instead.

“We have western-educated people here. We know there are issues in parliament and with capacity building that needs to happen. But we cannot be compared to a Middle Eastern country for example,” he said. “ We are a successful transitional democracy.”

“Concerted effort”

Maleeh said that after facing the impact of negative international and domestic headlines following the controversial transfer of power last year, the country had undertaken a “concerted effort” to promote the Maldives.

“Negative news needs to be minimised as I believe that tourism should be sacred here in the Maldives. In recent years, the democratic system has helped tourism, so we encourage openness and are not afraid of media.  What we want to see is correct information being out there. There needs to be more accountability with stories proven with facts,” he said.

“As far as the tourism ministry is concerned we don’t discriminate against any media. It is only those channels who call to boycott [the industry] that we would hesitate to speak to.”

The government last year agreed a US$250,000 (MVR 3.8million) advertising deal to promote the country’s tourism industry on the BBC through sponsorship of its weather services, as well as signing a £93,000 per month (US$150,000) contract with public relations group Ruder Finn to try and improve the country’s image internationally.

For the coming year, Maleeh added that the Maldives was again seeking similar support from private groups to engage in high-profile marketing efforts with media organisations like CNN and the BBC to try and push the Maldives unique selling points – namely “sun, sea, sand and spa”.

He added that with the expected introduction of new high-profile hotel chains to the country’s resort industry, including Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH), there was strong potential for positive international headlines in the media.

With a reduced promotional budget available for the coming year, Maleeh added that regardless of the allegiance of the next government, consistency needed to be seen in the country’s promotional budget to better plan future campaigns.

Accepting the potential budgetary challenges ahead, Maleeh said he believed that the Maldives tourism industry had become adept at promoting itself even with limitations, pointing to the growing importance of social media services like Twitter and Facebook to destination marketing – especially in terms of photo sharing.

“The Maldives stands at an advantage in that no one can take a bad picture here,” he said.

Addendum: Avaaz Executive Director Ricken Patel sought to justify the organisation’s petition in a subsequent comment piece published in Minivan News.

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Maldives falls 40,000 short of million tourist target for 2012

The Maldivian government has narrowly failed to reach its target of one million tourist arrivals for 2012, according to figures released by Ministry of Tourism, after a year of political turmoil and an economic slump in key markets.

Despite arrivals falling short by roughly 42,000 tourists, figures released by the ministry have shown that overall arrivals rose 2.9 percent from 931,333 in 2011 to 958,027 in 2012.

Prior to the release of the figures, Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb predicted that while there may be a shortfall of roughly 20,000 in 2012, he was confident the ministry could achieve the one million mark in 2013.

“There were a lot of hiccups last year with the political turmoil that the country experienced. It is important that we do not compare ourselves to other destinations like Sri Lanka or Seychelles, as our tourism market is very different. We have a high-value tourism market.

“We will formulate a strategy to go forward this year and later this month [January] we are going to finalise the fourth master plan of tourism. I am sure we will get one million tourists in 2013. I can assure you of it,” Adheeb told Minivan News earlier this month.

Figures released by the  tourism ministry show that Europe, which accounted for 54 percent of all tourist arrivals in 2012, fell by 3.7 percent from 537,757 in 2011 to 517,809 in 2012. Arrivals from the United Kingdom – the second highest share of European arrivals to the Maldives this year – continued to fall from 104,508 in 2011 to 91,776 in 2012 – a 12.2 percent  drop.

Germany took over the UK in 2012 as having the largest share of European arrivals to the Maldives, growing by an extra 7,834 arrivals from 90,517 in 2011. The 8.7 percent increase in arrival numbers, meant that Germany was accountable for 10.3 percent of all tourist arrivals in 2012.

Italy, which had the second highest arrival share of European tourists in 2010, fell drastically in 2012 by 24.4 percent from 83,088 arrivals to 62,782.

Meanwhile, tourist arrivals from ‘Asia and Pacific’ regions continued year-on-year growth from 2010, increasing by 10.2 percent from 2011 and accounting for a 40.1 percent share in the overall market at 384,506 arrivals in 2012.

Shift to ‘low yield’ Chinese tourists

Chinese arrivals continued to grow in 2012, with a 15.6 percent increase from 198,655 in 2011 to 229,551 in 2012.

Chinese tourists now account for the largest share of arrivals from any nation in 2012 standing at 24 percent, a massive increase from Chinese arrival figures in 2009 which stood at 60,666.

Despite the high number of Chinese tourists, tourism experts stated back in 2010 that Chinese guests were relatively ‘low yield’ despite their high numbers.

Speaking to Minivan News in 2010, the now former Secretary General Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI), Sim Mohamed Ibrahim, said Chinese tourists tended to spend less than their European counterparts.

“The Chinese who come do not come for the sun and the beach – they come because the Maldives is a novelty, a safe destination, and because of their new-found freedom to travel. Resorts are saying there are not many repeat visitors from China,” he said at at he time.

Tourism growth slowed to less than one percent in 2012

Tourism growth meanwhile slowed to less than one percent in 2012. While the tourism industry grew by 15.8 percent in 2010 and 9.1 percent in 2011, the industry’s growth in 2012 was expected to be 0.7 percent.

The two main reasons cited by the Finance Ministry for the anaemic growth were “the political turmoil the country faced in February” and a decline in the average number of nights tourists spend in the country “as a result of a decline in the average number of days a tourist spent in the Maldives.”

On average, tourism accounted for 28 percent of GDP during the past 10 years.

Despite the widely reported Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) dispute between the Indian infrastructure giant GMR and the Maldivian Government in December last year – as well as claims of anti-India sentiment within the country – arrivals from India  increased by 34 percent in December compared to the same month in 2011.

The largest increase in tourist arrivals compared to 2011 was from the Middle East, which saw close to a 50 percent rise in arrivals for 2012 at 21,843 from 14,570 in 2011.

Arrivals from United Arab Emirates grew the highest in percentage from 2011 by 76.6 percent. Despite the high percentage growth however, the number of tourists was comparatively low to other countries standing at 4,047 in 2012.

MVR 70 million tourism marketing budget in 2012

The Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) was allocated a budget of MVR 70 million (US$4.5 million) in 2012 to conduct marketing activities for the year, almost double the 2011 budget of US$2.3 million, which saw the country receive 900,000 tourist arrivals.

Following February’s controversial transfer of power, the incoming government of President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan sought to utilise public relations groups and advertising to try and offset the impact of negative news headlines resulting from the controversial nature of the change in government.

That focus included a US$250,000 (MVR3.8million) advertising deal to promote the country’s tourism industry on the BBC through sponsorship of its weather services, as well as signing a £93,000 per month (US$150,000) contract with public relations group Ruder Finn to try and improve the country’s image internationally.

Maldives tourism authorities said back in October that they were confident the country would meet its one million visitor target, despite ongoing “political turmoil”.

Registered beds up, occupancy rates down

According to the 2012 statistics released by the Tourism Ministry, the average number of registered beds between resorts, hotels, guest houses and safari vessels stood at 27,702 in 2012 – an increase of 1,346 from 2011.

Despite the increases in tourism arrivals, bed nights fell from 6,529,200 in 2011 to 6,450,794 – a total drop of 1.2 percent – and the average days spent in the Maldives by tourists fell from 7.0 days in 2011 to 6.7 days in 2012.

Occupany rates also fell across all types of accommodation aside from a 1.9 percent increase on safari vessels. Altogether the occupancy rates fell from 73.1 in 2011 to 70.6 in 2012.

Maldives top five markets by visitor numbers (2012)

China: 229,551

Germany: 98,351

United Kingdom: 91,776

Russia: 66,378

Italy: 62,782

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Deputy Minister paid salary with no record of attendance, Tourism Ministry audit report reveals

A Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture was paid salary and allowances from April 2011 to January 2012 with no official records of attendance, the ministry’s audit report for 2011 has revealed.

The audit report (Dhivehi) made public on Tuesday stated that a total of MVR 343,351 (US$22,267) was paid to the senior official for 10 months while there was no documentation to show that he “ever attended either the ministry or any office functioning under the ministry.”

The Auditor General recommended recovering the funds and taking action against the responsible staff at the ministry.

While there was no specific regulation governing attendance of political appointees at the time, the Auditor General contended that paying salaries without attendance records was against “the spirit of the public finance regulations.”

In addition, the audit discovered that the ministry gave a temporary license or authorisation to a private company to operate a tourist hotel at the Laamu atoll Kadhdhoo airport in violation of the Tourism Act.

The audit found that the permission was given despite an inspection report finding that the facility did not meet the criteria for a tourist guesthouse in terms of quality of service.

A tourist hotel is ranked higher than a guesthouse, the audit report noted.

Under articles 4, 18 and 19 of the tourism law, the report explained, a tourist hotel could not be operated on the plot at the regional airport.

The hotel was however operated from May 24, 2011 to December 25, 2011 before official permission or a permanent license was sought, the audit report noted.

Local media reported yesterday (November 28) that the guesthouse or hotel was operated by Heavy Load Maldives, a family business of MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik, chairperson of the formerly ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

The Auditor General recommended submitting the case to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for further investigation.

Minivan News is seeking comment from former Tourism Minister Dr Mariyam Zulfa.

The audit report also noted that temporary authorisation or licenses for operating guesthouses were renewed “some times for over a year” while the facilities did not meet the requisite criteria.

Moreover, registration and licenses were provided to some dive centres and guesthouses without collecting registration and licensing fees.

In other cases highlighted in the report, the audit noted that documentation was not properly maintained for equipment such as camera and mobile phones purchased in 2010.

As a result, equipment provided for use by staff was not recovered when the employees left the office.

In addition, the Tourism Ministry did not maintain a detailed income registry with reference numbers and dates as required by the public finance regulations. The regulations require that the registry must be routinely shared with the Finance Ministry.

“However, inquiries for the Ministry of Tourism’s 2011 audit revealed that such a record [of income] was not prepared and maintained,” the audit report stated. “As a result, we note that it could not be confirmed whether the incomes due to the ministry was received in full.”

Offices and departments under the Tourism Ministry

The audit report noted that the Tourism Ministry’s audit for 2011 was conducted without any documentations or financial records from the Department of Information (DOI) operating under the ministry.

Repeated requests for documents from the department went unheeded, the report stated, adding that the financial statement of the DOI was not provided for the 2010 audit either.

On Monday (November 26), the President’s Office announced that the DOI has been abolished as new institutions formed by the 2008 constitutions carries out the functions previously performed by the department.

“Following this change, registration of media; formulating policies and facilitating the development of local media; creating the official Maldives’ calendar; maintaining the registry of journalists and writers; and, representing the Maldives internationally in the press field will be carried out by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture. Information to international media on local events will be given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” the President’s Office stated.

Meanwhile, concerning the other offices operating under the ministry, the audit found that employees of the Maldives Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) were paid overtime salaries in violation of the civil service regulations for calculating overtime.

The audit also noted that clothing allowance was paid to all employees in January 2011 in anticipation of overseas trips to attend tourism fairs. However, the allowance was not recovered from two staff at MTPB who did not travel abroad during the year.

An audit of the National Centre for the Arts (NCA) meanwhile revealed that MVR 24,735 (US$1,604) was spent out of the budget on tickets for a lecturer and his family for a “one-day creative writing workshop” on November 19, 2011.

However, an official agreement was not signed between the lecturer and the NCA and there was no documentation at the centre regarding the workshop.

The NCA also spent MVR 33,000 (US$2,140) during a ten-day period on food for 20 staff working on a “Male’ Art Festival” in excess of the approved rate in the public finance regulations. Catering was also arranged without a public announcement after seeking quotations from only two parties, the audit found.

A total of MVR 19,750 (US$1,280) was spent on catering for seven events organised by the NCA in 2010 without seeking quotations from more than one party.

The catering contract was awarded to a particular party at a rate of MVR 50 per person while the public finance regulations specify a rate of MVR 40 per person.

Aside from a note from NCA and catering bills, the audit report noted that no other documentation for the transactions could be found at the NCA.

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Addu grows roots with SAARC preparations

“This is the foundation of Addu’s development,” said Addu’s mayor Abdullah Sodiq, referring to the city’s SAARC preparations during a press conference held in Hithadhoo yesterday. He said the projects had been supported by “99 percent” of Addu residents.

Maldivian media was flown to Addu yesterday to observe preparations for the upcoming 17th annual SAARC Summit, scheduled for November 10-12. Festivities will be held in the area starting on the first of the month, in conjunction with the Muslim holiday of Eid.

“We are expecting a lot of traffic through here, and are confident that everything will be ready in time,” Sodiq said. “But this is only the beginning, and we have many more plans for development.”

Addu’s SAARC projects have been underway for six months, officials report. As the deadline approaches, construction teams are working round the clock to finish two harbors, a VVIP lounge, roads and the country’s largest convention center.

Sodiq said the harbors will renovate Addu’s commercial prospects, while the convention center provides new opportunities for locals, officials and foreigners alike.

Construction of Feydhoo harbor continues as the first deadline passes and another approaches.

“The harbor is a central place for Addu, there is demand for it even after SAARC and we have plans to generate more industry and shipping using these new resources,” said Sodiq.

New roads constructed around the convention center have made future road development less expensive for the council’s budget, he added.

Addu’s council also plans to use the Rf115 million convention center, a two-story building of glass, wood and marble with a capacity of 3000, to transform the atoll from a quiet place to a hub of business and tourism.

“We have some representatives talking to businesses in Singapore and Malaysia about hosting events here,” Sodiq told Minivan News. “We will be soliciting bids to find the right event manager to look after the convention center as well. I think there are people interested in what Addu has to offer, and I’m sure we can get a market for it.”

Officials and locals interviewed also hinted at hopes for musical events, theatrical performances, art exhibitions and holiday celebrations.

Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Assistant Director Ahmed Abeer Ismail said the centre’s origins were a sign of Addu’s potential. “That area began as a swamp, now it’s the biggest convention center in the country.” The swamp was heavily landscaped by MNDF and police forces, and now features a few scenic islands.

One of the Maldives’ most strategic atolls, Addu has been largely left to seed since the British withdrew its forces and influence in 1975. City councilor Ahmed Mirzad called SAARC the beginning of a new Addu.

“For 30 years we had Gayoom, and nothing was done in Addu. Then there was a new president, and unlike Gayoom he didn’t just look after Male’, he looked after the entire Maldives. For 30 years we didn’t even have one harbor that was working for Addu, but in the past six months, we have gotten everything,” said Mirzad.

Addu’s councilors were elected for the first time six months ago. Mirzad said the next three years will be a difficult but critical time for the council to prove itself to Addu’s people. Still, the timing is ideal.

“I don’t think, I know that this summit is the right starting point. Now, we will only keep going with our plans to grow,” he said.

Workers cross a newly-constructed road to continue landscaping across from the convention center.

One particular operation illustrates the grassroots motives behind the SAARC preparations. Selected from Maldives National University (MNU) Addu first-year students in hospitality, 24 Media Liaison Officers greeted Male’s press pack yesterday.

One young woman said the event was as much for the liaisons as for Male’ press.

“It’ll be challenging to handle foreigners and media personnel,” a group of students concurred. “But we are so happy to have this opportunity.”

“I was shocked to be asked to take part in SAARC, I never thought that I would get to work at something I’d heard so much about,” said another student. “And the certificate of reference that I’ll get afterwards will be really helpful for me when I’m looking for a job after graduation,” she added.

Liaisons have just completed a six-month management course and are attending seminars and briefings for SAARC. They will be divided into 11 teams of two to three officers and assigned to press pooles from different countries.

“The ministry was going to get people from Male’, but I suggested we use the local energy. They are good, they can do the job, and this is a key event, so why shouldn’t these students take part?” said Abeer.

Addu’s development isn’t only tailored to foreigners; Sodiq said part of the development plan is to bring Addu residents home.

“Unlike other islands, we have historical places to visit and our islands are connected, so tourists can actually see more than the sun, sand and sea. We will be constructing more lodgings as well, and our hospital and airport are going to be expanded. More business means more jobs, and part of the purpose of all this is to bring Addu citizens back after their migrations to Male’,” he said.

In Addu, infrastructure is a priority for community growth. Noting that education was key to development, Sodiq said that a Kangaroo school is scheduled to open next year, and a Billabong school is being considered.

For the moment, however, Addu’s mind is on SAARC.

With teams working around the clock to complete harbors in Gan and Feydhoo, and MNDF motorcades practicing their moves late into the night, Addu is a bustle of construction and security.

Both harbors were originally due for completion on October 25, yet concrete foundations have not yet been laid. However officials assure that they are 90 percent complete. When asked about setbacks, National Security Advisor Ameen Faisal said, “The weather. Due to heavy rains, many projects were delayed. It was unexpected and beyond our control, but we managed and we are on target.”

Inquiries of Addu’s appearance for SAARC yielded few details. “It’s a secret, we want it to be a surprise,” Faisal and Sodiq concurred.

Security, however, is highly detailed.

MNDF has delegated security teams to specific event components including media, medical, resort transport, and the airport. “Right now we are very confident in our security personnel and do not anticipate any problems during the SAARC summit,” said International Media Coordinator Ahmed Ibrahim.

Ibrahim added that “it will be helpful to have the extra security forces that other countries are providing because Addu is very big.” In addition to ground security, MNDF will be supported by the coast guard, which will establish multiple security layers around Addu’s marine perimeter, special task forces from Sri Lanka, and surveillance equipment from China, among others.

Summit guests include three of the world’s most controversial heads of state from India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Their reputations do not appear to cause anxiety to SAARC officials.

“They will not receive any special treatment, unless requested of course,” said MNDF Commander of SAARC Airport Security, Ahmed Shafeeq.

“There is no risk at all,” said Faisal. “We aren’t even bothered about it.”

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Internet expands opportunities for Maldivian artists

Opportunities for Maldivian artists have been expanded by the Maldivian Artists Directory, an internet platform for artists to share, showcase and market their talents and interests. The directory was developed by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture with the support of the United Nations Development Project (UNDP) Male office and the National Centre for the Arts (NCA).

Artists who meet directory criteria may register on-line with a resume and contact information. Criteria vary by artistic category, and may include publication to an internet forum and community involvement. Artistic categories are performing, music, literary, visual and traditional.

“We believe the Directory will also provide opportunities for artists to better market themselves and their products as well as seek interested audiences and those wishing to commission artworks or invest in arts projects,” the ministry said in a press release.

The ministry intends for the directory to “help in defining a distinct Maldivian identity as manifest in the arts practices and traditions of the Maldives, both old and contemporary,” while making these cultural aspects more accessible to tourists.

The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture recently joined International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACC), a network connection arts councils and ministries worldwide.

In June this year, the Arts Development Fund was set up by the Ministry of Finance and Treasury. Criteria to award funding and other support was also set up, and the ministry will be helping local artists organize fund raisers.

Plans for an arts council are underway, however the ministry has delayed submitting the act stipulating these plans to Parliament “because of the present climate which we foresee as more conducive later in the year.”

The ministry has asked President Mohamed Nasheed to appoint a council with the minister’s advice. Of the appointments, however, those for theatre and drama, film making, literature, visual arts, music and crafts will be appointed independently.

Applications for the directory are available on-line.

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