A group of people attacked an expatriate near the artificial beach area in Male on Monday night.
‘’When we went to the area the assailants had fled,’’ said Police Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef.
“The victim suffered minor injuries and police provided him with assistance. The victim said the group had tried to rob the victim,’’ Haneef said.
Haneef said no arrests have been made and did not disclose the nationality of the victim.
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(0)The Finance Ministry has not been working to recover lost funds from the state, Auditor General Niyaz Ibrahim has alleged.
Speaking to local media, Niyaz said the state treasury has suffered huge losses due to incompetence from state employees.
Despite audit reports revealing where money has been wrongly spent, Finance Ministry has not been working to recover the funds, Niyaz told local media.
“We are sending a copy of the audit reports from each institution to the Finance Ministry. We recommend the finance ministry to take action against them in which the ministry is involved.
“However there has not been enough work towards taking action against them, especially in the cases where the incompetence of some employees and other loss,” Niyaz was quoted as saying in local newspaper Haveeru.
The Auditor General said that transactions made against the state finance act and violations of travel procedures in government offices were common issues repeated in the audit reports.
Niyaz added that as some offices are repeating these mistakes, there will be a period of three months whereby the offices have to improve prior to an assessment at the end of the time period.
Cases of incompetence or deliberate acts of fraud resulting in losses of state funds are also being submitted to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) by the Auditor General, according to local media.
(0)Dislikes(0)President Mohamed Waheed’s Gaumee Ittihad Party (GIP) will launch a party camp to attract more supporters at Waheed’s wife’s home, local media has reported.
Waheed has declared he will compete in upcoming presidential elections, but said he was undecided as to whether he would compete as an individual or form a coalition with another party, GIP Deputy President Mohamed ‘Nazaki’ Zaki told local media.
The party’s first camp to attract more supporters will open in Male’ next Wednesday at First Lady Ilhama Ahmed’s family residence, local media reported.
According to Zaki, the party campaign to increase members had so far been a success and a second camp is expected to open later this month on Feydhoo in Seenu Atoll.
(0)Dislikes(0)Sea Sports and Maldives Surf Entertainment have signed a contract to commence the ‘Bohfathi Raalhu Training Program’, a program to teach surfing to children between 8 to 15 years.
‘’Bohfathi Raalhu Training is sponsored by the popular surf brand “VOLCOM” which is solely distributed and sold by Sea Sports and is scheduled to start on 13 February 2013,’’ Maldives Surf Entertainment said in a statement.
‘’The training will focus on kids aged between 8 to 15 years, who will be given a basic introduction to surfing.‘’
The statement said that during the program the participants will be taught the history of surfing, surfing skills, surf etiquette, health and fitness, awareness about surf culture and ocean safety.
‘’The purpose of the training is to take surfing to new levels in the country, to develop local talent and professional surfers within the local population and to provide students with the ability to enhance their opportunities and pursue long-term careers within the industry,’’ the statement said.
According to the statement the the first phase of the training program will cover most islands with adequate surf breaks in the southern atolls between Fuvahmulaku and Thulusdhoo north of Kaafu Atoll.
(0)Dislikes(0)Ferry companies failing to provide proper services in atolls across the Maldives are to have their contracts with the Transport Authority cancelled, local media has reported.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday (January 20), Acting Transport Minister Mohamed Nazim told members of the press that the companies assigned with providing a transport system in the Maldives are not the most suitable for the task.
“Presently, seven companies have been contracted under the project of connecting the islands of Maldives through a transport system. Out of them, services to some areas by some companies are poor and suspended,” Nazim was quoted as saying by local media.
Problems with the ferry system have resulted in numerous complaints by the public, according to Sun Online.
(0)Dislikes(0)Hanimaadhoo Airport in Haa Dhaalu Atoll is to begin operating international flights to Trivandrum in India as of February 2, the Transport Ministry has announced.
Acting Transport Minister Mohamed Nazim told local media that Island Aviation and the Indian High Commission have come to an agreement whereby the appropriate visa is available with the ticket.
“Island Aviation will open for the purchase of the tickets and announce the prices soon. It has been arranged that the forms, once filled out, can be submitted to the High Commission through Island Aviation,” Nazim was quoted by Sun Online.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Ministry of Gender, Family and Human Rights has rejected accusations by the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) that two minors were locked up in Maafushi prison, and has threatened legal action against the institution.
On January 17, HRCM issued a statement calling for the immediate release of two teenage girls living in Villingili orphanage, who were being held in Maafushi prison after being arrested by police.
Responding to the HRCM’s allegations, the Gender Ministry denied the two minors were kept in cells with other prisoners. The ministry also claimed that a HRCM team that went to meet the minors had forced one of the girls to speak about her past.
The statement added the Ministry was “very seriously” considering taking legal action against the HRCM for forcing one of the two minors to speak to the commission about her past. The Gender Ministry said it strongly condemned the HRCM’s conduct in the matter, which it claimed could undo its efforts to help the girls recover from their past issues.
‘’The HRCM officials asked one of the minors about her past and she first refused to talk about the matter in the absence of her case worker. The HRCM officials forced the minors to talk about it,’’ read the ministry statement.
The HRCM has responded to the Gender Ministry’s criticisms with its own statement, claiming that members of staff who met the minors were all highly qualified to do so.
The commission also denied allegations made by the ministry that it had forced the minors to speak about their past. It noted that no representatives from the Gender Ministry had met with the two minors since they were arrested.
The HRCM claimed that the commission was very concerned over the issue over the minors’ alleged detention, adding that two state institutions should not be disputing such a matter.
The commission also continued its calls for the two girls to be transferred to a safe place rather than keeping them in Maafushi prison.
Local media has alleged that the two girls, aged 15 and 16, were arrested on December 28, 2012, after escaping the orphanage in the middle of the night to fraternise with some boys.
A source familiar with Maafushi prison confirmed to Minivan News that the two minors were kept inside a cell in Unit 1 of the prison. According to the source, Unit 1 is the area designated for female inmates and contains women sentenced for all sorts of crimes.
(0)Dislikes(0)Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MP Ahmed Nihan Hussain Manik has claimed that as long as photos of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom exist PPM will never “break up”.
Speaking at the closing ceremony at PPM’s first congress, local media reported Nihan as proclaiming that “no one” has as much courage as Gayoom and that PPM would not end up like the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP).
“People have asked me during this election whether PPM is breaking up. There’s no way that PPM would break up as long as President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom is around and if he’s not around, as long as even a photo of him exists.
“There’s no chance of that happening. I’m telling you, there’s no one who has that much courage. Forget it,” Nihan was quoted as saying in local media.
(0)Dislikes(0)Former President Mohamed Nasheed’s Defence Minister has claimed Nasheed was not under duress when he resigned from office, local media reported.
Speaking to the Committee on Government Accountability at the People’s Majlis, Tholhath Ibrahim Kaleyfaanu said that he did not believe “anyone” could have posed a threat to Nasheed’s life while he was in the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) headquarters, local media reported.
The comments were made in relation to the Committee on Government Accountability’s study into the Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI).
“From the beginning till the end, Nasheed was under full protection of the security forces. When he walked to the President’s Office, he was given a timeline to announce his resignation, but such a timeline did not mean that he had to, or that he was forced to resign.
“He did not have to resign, the circumstances did not become so grave that he had no choice but to resign”, Kaleyfaanu was quoted as saying in Sun Online.
Kaleyfaanu claimed that the situation became worse on February 7 due to Nasheed’s handling of the situation. He further alleged that Nasheed had begun commanding ordinary officers of the security forces in violation of principles of command, local media reported.
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