Category: News in Brief

Mother of abandoned baby requests custody of child

A mother arrested this week after her baby was found abandoned on a pavement in Male’ has requested custody of the child, Police have said.

According to the Head of Family and Child Protection Hasssan Shifau, the mother of the abandoned baby is still in police custody.  Authorities have added that any decision to hand over the child would be made by the Gender Ministry.

State Gender Minister Aishath Rameela told local media on Friday (December 28) that a decision on whether to grant custody of the child to the mother had yet to be made.

Rameela stated that the ministry would have to find out if the mother had suffered any physical or psychological trauma before she abandoned the infant.

“Either way we will hold the woman responsible for negligence. So for the time being we will not handover the baby to her,” Rameela said.

According to local newspaper Haveeru the child is to be taken to a children’s shelter in Villimale after being released from hospital.

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Beckhams cut short Maldives holiday due to rain: The Sun

“The Beckhams have cut short their £250,000 Christmas break in paradise in the Maldives – because it would not stop raining,” reports UK-based newspaper, The Sun.

“After three days of downpours, David, 37, Victoria, 38, and their four kids decided enough was enough.

They boarded a private plane back to Male airport in the Indian Ocean island group on Boxing Day before heading to somewhere sunnier.

It was a major disappointment for the family who had arrived at the One&Only Reethi Rah resort last Sunday, hoping to stay for 11 days.

A source said: ‘It really is unfortunate for them, especially because it’s such a beautiful place.

But there was hardly anything for them to do except wait for the rain to stop. They arrived too late to leave in time to snatch Christmas Day somewhere sunny so they left on Wednesday.'”

To read more, click here.

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President Waheed departs on private visit to Malaysia

President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik and First Lady Ilham Hussain have departed on a private visit to Malaysia yesterday (December 28), the President’s Office has announced.

No further details about the trip have been provided at the time of press.

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Nexbis files court case over Maldives contract termination

Nexbis has filed a case with the Maldives Civil Court claiming that the People’s Majlis lacks the jurisdiction to order the government to terminate the IT company’s Border Control System (BCS) contract.

The lawyer representing the Malaysia-based mobile security provider, Ismail Wisham, revealed that the case was filed at Civil Court on Tuesday (December 25).

Wisham also stated that a request had been filed with the court to issue an order that the government delay parliament’s decision to cancel the contract until outstanding several ongoing trials in the country concerning the contract were resolved.

Earlier this week, parliament voted unanimously to instruct the government to terminate the border control project agreement with Nexbis.

All 74 MPs in attendance voted in favour of a Finance Committee recommendation following a probe into the potential financial burden placed on the state as a result of the deal.

Speaking to local media on Tuesday (December 25), Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed claimed the government would respect parliament’s unanimous decision to halt the BCS project agreement with Nexbis.

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MNDF assists in clearing Male’ flood waters

Fire crews from the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) have today been working to clear flood water from roads across Male’ following heavy showers.

The MNDF has said that several complaints were received by the department from citizens who had difficulties in walking and driving because of the flood water on some of the capital’s roads.

Fire crews placed had opted to use water pumps near Indira Gandi Memorial Hospital [IGMH], Ghiyasudeen School and the local garbage area, the MNDF said in a statement.

Local media reported that the flood waters had been caused by two hours of non-stop heavy rain this morning.

Flood waters were reported today to have affected Ameenee Magu, parts of Boduthakurufaanu Magu and some several other roads in Male’ City.

Meanwhile, the National Meteorological Department has said that the wet weather is expected to continue for the next two days.

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Pieces of metal allegedly found in MPs food

Parliament members have claimed that “pieces of metal” were found in a meal provided by a Male’-based catering service, according to local media.

Jumhooree Party (JP) MP Abdulla Abdul Raheem told Haveeru that the pieces of metal were found on the plates of Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MPs Abdulla Mausoom and Mohamed Ramiz during a lunch provided from the Kings Corner restaurant near to the parliament.

According to local media, Raheem said that Parliament’s general committee has decided to return to caterer South Beach, despite its service being stopped over a reported case of food poisoning.

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Mother of abandoned baby arrested in Male’

The mother of a baby discovered abandoned on a pavement in Male’ yesterday (December 26) has been arrested, police have announced.

Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz last night tweeted that the mother of the baby had been “found & arrested”.

The Maldives Police Service has not at present disclosed any more information regarding the case, although local media has reported that a woman believed to be the child’s mother was arrested from the second floor of a house called Release.

The baby was discovered at 5:45am on Wednesday (December 26) just outside of the same house in the Maafannu Ward of Male’, police confirmed yesterday.

Police Spokesperson Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef was not responding to calls at the time of press.

The woman who allegedly found the baby told local media that the umbilical cord had still been attached to the infant when she found it.

“I was on my way to the toilet at dawn when I heard a cry, so I came out to the balcony to see where the cry came from. The baby was on the doorstep then I immediately informed the police.

“This is a house with separate entrances. I am unaware that there are any pregnant ladies in this house or even in the neighbourhood. Hence, I believe that someone might have abandoned the baby here as the location is discreet,” she was quoted as saying in local newspaper Haveeru.

According to a police statement the child was found to be in a healthy condition by doctors at Indira Gandi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).

The Police Family and Child Protection Department is now investigating the case.

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Individuals participating in personal capacity: National Movement

Senior leaders of political parties are participating in rallies and activities organised by the self-titled “National Movement” in their personal capacity and have not been representing their parties, the movement’s steering committee has said.

At a press conference yesterday (December 25) following the decision of the government-aligned Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) to leave the movement, State Minister for Home Affairs Abdulla Mohamed stressed that there has been no document signed or transaction conducted for the campaign on behalf of political parties.

When the campaign dubbed “Maldivians’ Airport to Maldivians” was launched to “reclaim the airport” from the GMR-led consortium, said Abdulla, political parties were not involved in “any official capacity.”

He added that the movement was funded by individual well-wishers and not political parties.

Abdulla insisted that the movement would not be weakened by the PPM’s decision to withdraw support.

The steering committee of the national movement has decided to organise a vote nationwide on January 25 to “find out what the public thinks of the People’s Majlis.”

At yesterday’s sitting of parliament, PPM MPs strongly criticised the “national movement,” which had recently announced that its next campaign following the termination of the concession agreement with Indian infrastructure company GMR would be focused on “reforming” parliament.

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Amendments approved to parliamentary rules of procedure

Parliament on Tuesday approved changes to the house rules that would allow sittings to proceed even if the quorum of 20 MPs is lost.

Under the rules of procedure prior to the amendment passed yesterday (December 25), sittings must be immediately adjourned if the number of MPs in the chamber falls below 20, which is 25 percent of the 77 MPs in parliament.

The change was voted through with 69 MPs voting in favour, four MPs voting against and one abstaining.

A number of sittings of the People’s Majlis have been forced to a close due to loss of quorum. The amendment to the rules was reportedly proposed to address the recurring issue of loss of quorum.

Under the amended rules, the Speaker would be allowed to continue proceedings until a MP brings the loss of quorum to his or her attention.

However, a minimum of 20 MPs would still have to be in attendance to begin sittings while more than 39 MPs must be present for a vote to be called.

A second amendment to the rules of procedure was meanwhile passed 44-28 yesterday with two abstentions to allow sittings to be held during recess upon request by 26 MPs.

The amendment was proposed in a report by the General Affairs Committee.

MPs of the government-aligned Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) voted against the report. While PPM MPs voted for a proposal by MP Ibrahim Muttalib stating that no-confidence motions could not be voted on during sittings held in recess, the amendment was defeated 43-27 with four abstentions.

Under the approved changes to the house rules, a request by one-third of parliament or 26 MPs to hold a sitting during recess must be accommodated within 14 days including weekends and public holidays.

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