Category: News in Brief

“No animosity” toward JP after voting in favour of secret votes: President’s Office

The government has no animosity towards Jumhoree Party (JP) despite its members voting in favour of taking secret votes, President’s Office Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza has said.

Although JP members voted in line with the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the government perceived it as JP’s policy, Abbas said.

Both MDP and JP party members voted in favour of taking secret votes on the no confidence motion against President Mohamed Waheed Hassan and cabinet members in parliament.

“As you know during the time of special parliament Gasim supported to take a secret ballot to elect a parliament speaker. That was in 2004. That is his view on the matter.

“The president says that the government has no animosity toward the way the leader of JP voted or MP’s voted,” Abbas said.

Abbas stressed that the transport minister’s portfolio is still reserved for JP, as the party is still part of the coalition government.

JP Vice President Ameen Ibrahim has been nominated for the post after Dr Ahmed Shamheed was dismissed from his transport minister position.

Human Rights Minister Dhiyana Saeed was also dismissed from her post yesterday.

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Case alleging corruption in parliament’s chamber automation project forwarded to ACC

A case submitted by the Auditor General alleging corruption in the Parliament Chamber Automation Project has been forwarded to the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC).

The audit report of the parliament for 2010 highlighted issues with the MVR 2.1 million (US$136,000) project to install touch screens on every desk inside the parliament chamber.

The case was forwarded to the ACC by parliament after Speaker Abdulla Shahid had informed the parliament secretariat to comply with the request of the Auditor General, a statement by parliament revealed.

The audit report alleges that sufficient assessment was not carried out for the project, despite it being required to have gone through the tender evaluation board.

This resulted in the company awarded the contract to allegedly reap excessive profits due to the oversight.

The project was installed to facilitate viewing documents and to create an almost ‘paperless environment’.

The audit report noted that the project was awarded to a Maldivian company for MVR 1.3 million (US$84,300) on March 25 2010.

Despite being given 37 days to complete the project, the company took a total of 81 days, costing an additional MVR 720,425 (US$46,720) to complete the work.

The report added that additional funds had to be spent on the project because the software requested by the Parliament Secretariat turned out to be incompatible with the hardware used in parliament.

The software, called Thin Client, also turned out to be incompatible with the touch screens and touch keyboards used in the project.

Despite MVR 24,000 (US$1550) being spent on obtaining expert advice, the consultant was not held responsible for the additional money spend on the project.

The mistake led to the 100 Thin Client touch pads being removed and replaced by Nettops.

A company was awarded MVR 830,000 (US$53,617) to provide Nettops after winning a bid to supply the hardware.

MVR 1.3 million (US$84,300) was then paid to the new company for the installation of six servers, eight server switches and 100 touch screens.

The audit report noted that the parliament secretariat had conferred undue advantage to the contractor.

The secretariat did not deduct liquidated damages following the contractor failing to complete the project before the agreed deadline, as required by the Finance Act.

It was instead stated in the contract that the secretariat can decide whether to deduct liquidated damages or not.

Several opinions were included in the report indicating that the project was undertaken without proper studies, and in a manner that was not beneficial to the parliament.

Despite one aim of the project being to create a ‘paperless environment’, the report noted that parliament expenditure on photocopying and toner cartridges had not gone down.

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Jabir responsible for items found in Hondaidhoo: Agriculture Ministry

Items found on Hondaidhoo island in Haa Dhaal Atoll during the police raid are MP Abdulla Jabir’s responsibility, the Agriculture Ministry has stated.

Ten people including Jabir were arrested for the alleged consumption of alcohol on Thursday during a police raid on the island. All but two suspects have been released by Kulhudhuhfushi Magistrate Court.

Speaking at a press conference held on Sunday (November 18) Jabir claimed that the island was being run by Hamdhan Zaki, son of Special Envoy to the former President Mohamed Nasheed, Ibrahim Hussain Zaki.

Despite this, Deputy State Agriculture Minister Ali Solih said that Jabir himself had signed on behalf of Yacht Tours – the company Jabir is Managing Director of – to lease the island for agricultural purposes with the Agriculture Ministry on January 30 2003.

“Hence anyone, including us, can only set foot on the island with Jabir’s consent. Jabir must be responsible for anything found on the island. Article 18 of the agreement states that there shall not be any activities which violates the Islamic Shariah and the Maldivian constitution.

“The bearer of the signature must be responsible in such a case. Jabir has said that some tourists from nearby resorts go to the island for picnics, however it is not an island leased for that purpose,” Solih added.

According to Solih, the party who leased the island is entitled to all the powers granted under the agreement, however in case of a violation of the agreement by the party; the article does not prevent the ministry from taking action against them.

“The island was not leased as a picnic island, hence the president or the home minister will not be held responsible for it. No one has to be held liable for something Jabir has to be responsible for,” Solih added.

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Thinahoo police station attack trial postponed due to suspect’s exams

Four suspects involved in the attack on the Thinadhoo police station in Gaaf Dhaal Atoll on February 8, 2012 are to have their trial postpone due to one suspect taking his GCE O’level exams.

A Juvenile Court official said that the trial has been postponed until 17 December.

The four suspects – all aged 17 – are accused of causing damage to  Thinadhoo police station and attacking police officers between 4:30pm and 8:30pm on February 8. They are also suspected of forcibly entering island’s Council Office on the same day.

They have been charged under article 6 (b), with reference to article 2 (f,g) of the Terrorism Prevention Act.

Article 6 (b) states that any person found guilty of the act of terrorism shall be sentenced between 10 and 15 years imprisonment or banishment.

Eighty-seven people have been charged with terrorism for torching government buildings and vehicles at the police station.

According to Media Official of the Criminal Court Ahmed Mohamed Manik, a trial for this case has not been scheduled.

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Man sentenced to 110 years in prison arrested over alcohol case

A man who was previously sentenced to 110 years in prison has been arrested in Fuvahmulah over an alcohol-related crime.

Ibrahim Usham, 23, of Greet, Fuvahmulah, was arrested at 11:15pm last night, together with a 15-year-old boy.

In an operation conducted by Fuvahmulah Police, the pair were arrested while producing alcohol in a vacant house in Hoadhandu district in Fuvamulah, police said.

Police found equipment used to produce alcohol at the house, including a 20-litre plastic barrel and a 1.5 litre coke bottle containing a substance suspected to be alcohol.

According to police, Usham had been serving his sentence under DPRS when he was handed over to the National Drug Agency upon the agency’s request in March 2011.

Police said that Usham was previously arrested on September 7 2012 in relation to a sexual misconduct case, at which time he also tested positive for drugs.

Further arrests were made at ‘chaka bin’ in Fuvamulah after four adults and two minors were found to be producing alcohol.

Police said that Usham was serving his sentence under DPRS when he was handed over to the National Drug Agency upon the Agency’s request in March 2011, for further treatment.

Police informed that Usham was also arrested on 7 September 2012 in relation to a sexual misconduct case, at which time he also tested positive for drugs.

Four adults and two minors were also arrested while producing alcohol at ‘chaka bin’ in Fuvahmulah yesterday evening.

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Nasheed requests intervention in Hulhumale Magistrate Court legitimacy case

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has requested the Supreme Court allow him to intervene in the case over the legitimacy of the Hulhumale Magistrate Court.

Nasheed is to face charges in the Hulhumale Court over the unconstitutional arrest and detention of Chief Criminal Judge Abdulla Mohamed.

Procedural points regarding the legitimacy of the Hulhumale Court had been raised by former president Mohamed Nasheed’s legal team, the claims over the courts legitimacy were however dismissed by the Hulhumale Magistrate Court.

The Supreme Court issued an order over the High Court to cease its cases regarding the legitimacy issue of the Hulhumale Magistrate Court, until a decision had been reached.

The Supreme Court has confirmed the request made by Nasheed to intervene in the Hulhumale Court legitimacy case, however it is yet to respond to the request, court said.

The first hearing of the case is scheduled for 2:00pm today at the Supreme Court.

The case is being tried at Supreme Court upon request from the Judicial Services Commission to take over the case from the lower court.

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Councils to receive more empowerment: President Waheed

The government has planned more work in cooperation with the Local Government Authority (LGA) to ensure further empowerment of councils, President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan has said.

Speaking to the people of Meedhoo in Raa Atoll last night, Waheed said that the main aim of decentralisation is to empower islands, and facilitate authority to councils to carry out their work.

According to Waheed, the authority for councils was withheld when several island council elections were won by parties other than the ruling party.

Instead of empowering councils, national offices were established, resulting in little progress being made in the process of the decentralisation of governance.

Waheed admitted that since he assumed the post of president he had not been able to assist with decentralisation issues to acceptable levels.

He did note however, that he had abolished national offices and empowered Atoll councils with the responsibilities of national offices.

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Island raid suspects who refused urine tests to be prosecuted: police

Individuals who refused to undergo a routine urine examination following their arrest on the island drug and alcohol raid could face prosecution.

The Thursday night raid carried out by police saw various members of parliament and senior politicians arrested on the island of Haa Dhaalu Hondaidhoo, for alleged alcohol and narcotic abuse.

Police Sub-Inspector and Media Official Hassan Hannef said police requested all persons arrested at Hondaidhoo to provide urine samples for a routine examination. However, only Hamdhaan Zaki, G Hilaalyge and three foreigners complied with the request.

MP for Kaashidhoo Constituency Abdullah Jabir, MP for Henveiru Dhekunu Constituency Haamid Abdul Ghafoor, former President Nasheed’s Press Secretary Mahomet Zuhair, his wife Mariyam Faaiza, and former President Nasheed’s Chief Advisor Ibrahim Hussain Zaki, allegedly refused to cooperate with police in the urine testing procedure.

According to the Drug Act, Sections 123(a), 161(a) and 161(b), any person arrested on suspicion of having abused alcohol or narcotics has an obligation to comply with police requests for routine urine examination by promptly providing urine samples, and failure to comply is a criminal offence punishable with a one-year jail sentence.

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Ameen proposed by JP council as replacement transport minister

The Jumhoree Party’s (JP) Vice President and Chairman of VTV, Ameen Ibrah, has been proposed by the JP council to replace Dr Ahmed Shameed as Transport Minister.

If accepted, Ameen will replace recently dismissed Dr Ahmed Shamheed.

Dr Shamheed – who is also a JP member – was removed from his cabinet post after he extended the Maamigili Airport lease to JP leader Gasim Ibrahim for 99 years.

JP Spokesperson Moosa Rameez said that 15 out of 22 members present at last night’s council meeting voted in favour of Ameen.

JP Secretary General Hassan Shah was also suggested, however he received no votes as Ameen’s name was passed by the council, Moosa said.

The coalition-aligned party asked the government earlier this week to reinstate Dr Ahmed Shamheed as Transport Minister, however this was rejected by the government.

Sun Online reported that reliable sources had said Ameen was passed by the council with strong backing from JP leader Gasim Ibrahim. This was later denied by the party spokesperson.

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