Category: News in Brief

Heavy rain damages agriculture fields in three atolls

Agriculture fields in Haa Alif Baarah, Gaaf Alif Nilandhoo and all islands of Laamu Atoll have been damaged in the heavy rainfall experienced across the country.

Local daily Haveeru reported today that 90 percent of farmland in Laamu Atoll was “destroyed” by the rain.

Laamu Atoll Council Chair Mohamed Rasheed told the newspaper that 80 percent of farmers in the atoll would cease to have a source of income. Farmers in the southern atoll earn a monthly average income of between MVR20,000 to MVR30,000, Rasheed said.

He added that the rain also damaged some homes, including 29 households in Fonadhoo.

Of the 11 inhabited islands in Laamu atoll, only three reported no damages, Rasheed said.

Moreover, as a result of damage to a sewerage pump in the island of Gan, waste was spreading into the island from two junctions.

The rains that started on Monday evening lasted non-stop until Tuesday night, he said.

Meanwhile, Nilandhoo Councillor Asif Mohamed told Sun Online that 280 fields in the island have been completely destroyed.

Heavy rains meanwhile flooded agriculture fields in Haa Alif Baarah.

Baarah Councillor Hussain Fahmy told Haveeru that floodwaters have not receded from the farmlands as of this afternoon. Heavy rains continued to fall last night, he said.

Damage to wooden stoves was also causing difficulties for islanders, the councilor added.

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Maldives turns full circle, writes Nasheed in FT

Most people know the Maldives for its luxurious honeymoon suites or “How to spend it” beach villas, writes former President Mohamed Nasheed for the UK’s Financial Times.

But I write this article having spent a night in an altogether different class of accommodation: a Maldivian jail cell. I am no stranger to these institutions, having spent much of my adult life in incarceration, punishment for advocating democracy in my country, an Indian Ocean archipelago of 1,192 islands.

Most recently I was jailed in 2006 when the Maldives was ruled by the dictator Maumoon Gayoom. I faced terrorism charges for giving a speech against corruption, which the regime claimed “terrorised” listeners. After 28 years in power, Mr Gayoom had finally consented to hold a multi-party presidential election and I feared I would be barred from standing. Under pressure from street demonstrations and international protest the regime relented, and I became my country’s first elected president in 2008.

Today things have turned full circle. Once again, I have been jailed. Once again, an authoritarian regime,effectively controlled by the old dictator, is pressing politically motivated charges against me. Once again, I may be prevented from competing in a presidential election, which must be held by the end of next year.

The Maldives, a youthful, Muslim country whose people rose up and shook off decades of authoritarian rule, provides an important lesson for democrats in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and other countries caught in the Arab uprisings. Even after the revolution, the old guard can linger on and suffocate fledgling democracy.

On Sunday I will face an extraordinary court, established especially to hear my case. I am to be tried for abuse of power, in particular for the arrest of a corrupt judge, who was an ally of Mr Gayoom. My conviction is a foregone conclusion. Mohamed Waheed, my former vice-president, may decide to pardon me, but only in a way that ensures I remain barred from seeking office next year. The Maldivian people are seeing their economy collapse and their election stolen from them. If the world is watching, it is seeing a young Muslim democracy fail.

I hope the international community pressures the Waheed regime to make good on its promises: to bring human rights abusers in the security forces to book; to cease the harassment of peaceful political activists; and to allow internationally monitored elections in which all candidates are allowed to stand.

Whether I win or lose is irrelevant. What is important is that a genuine election is held, and the will of the Maldivian people – not the military’s force of arms – is the final adjudicator of my nation’s future.

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Former Managing Director of Felivaru faces corruption charges

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has requested the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) press corruption charges against the former Managing Director of Felivaru Fisheries, Hamid Ahmed.

Newspaper Haveeru reported yesterday that Hamid was accused of abuse of authority in selling scrap material from the fish cannery without a bidding process in January this year.

While the agreement stipulated that the transaction should be made in US dollars, the ACC noted that payment was made in local currency.

Following the transfer of presidential power on February 7, Hamid was replaced by an appointee by President Dr Mohamed Waheed.

However, former Secretary General of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), Hassan Rasheed of G. Sherenade, was appointed Managing Director of Felivaru last week to replace former MD Ali Ahmed, who was sacked from the post after the ACC forwarded a corruption case against the senior official for prosecution.

Former Chairman of Felivaru, Mohamed Imthiyaz, a member of the government-aligned Jumhooree Party (JP), was also dismissed from his post on September 25 following allegations of corruption and misappropriation of funds.

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Court releases 15 suspects arrested in Jalapeno Restaurant

The Criminal Court has released 15 suspects arrested during a police raid on the Jalapeno Restaurant in Male’ last Thursday, reports Sun Online.

A police media official confirmed that the suspects were released by the Criminal Court when they were presented to court for extension of detention.

Three suspects however still remain in custody, the media official said.

The restaurant at the artificial beach area of the capital was temporarily closed down last week after police discovered a number of alcohol bottles under the tables on the second floor of the restaurant in addition to packets containing hashish oil and heroin.

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Parliament sitting cancelled over loss of quorum

Today’s sitting of parliament was cancelled by Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim – presiding in the absence of Speaker Abdulla Shahid – after the minimum number of MPs to hold the session failed to attend when the sitting restarted at 11:00am.

Quorum was first lost an hour into the sitting, which began at 9:00am. The sitting was called off when quorum was not met after an adjournment of 30 minutes.

Before the cancellation, preliminary debate continued on a resolution submitted by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ahmed Sameer calling for an inquiry into the government obtaining a MVR 300 million loan from the Bank of the Maldives in alleged violation of the Public Finance Act.

Debate also took place on a bill proposed by Independent MP for Kulhudhufushi South Mohamed ‘Kutti’ Nasheed specifying guidelines on exercising the right to remain silent.

Several MPs contended that the bill contravened constitutional clauses on the rights of the accused. However, other MPs argued that the law was necessary to combat rising crime rates.

MP Nasheed meanwhile explained that the legislation specifies circumstances where the right to remain silent could not be exercised.

Meanwhile, Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MP Ahmed Mahloof said on his Twitter account that a number of people were unable to travel to Male’ after the Eid holidays due to bad weather.

“We are stuck in Mulah,” he tweeted. A PPM team including a number of MPs were in Meemu atoll ahead of Monday’s by-election for a vacant atoll council seat from the Mulaku constituency.

The PPM for Galolhu South urged the government to declare Tuesday a public holiday.

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Deadline extended for companies to submit annual reports

Financial authorities have extended the deadline for private and public companies to submit their latest annual reports and audit figures until November 22, local media has reported.

With the previous deadline set by the Economic Ministry set to expire tomorrow, authorities have reportedly decided to offer companies an extension for submitting their reports to take into account the recent Eid al-Adha holiday period, according to Haveeru.

Failure to meet these revised deadlines will result in fines of MVR10,000 and MVR 30,000 being imposed on the managing directors of private and public companies respectively.

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Reconciliation out of question amid continuing instability: Eurasia Review

The CNI report absolving the present government, its security forces and the politicians of any wrong doing must have come as a big shock to former President Nasheed. It was unexpected and unreal. This should again prove to Nasheed that in politics idealism does not pay, writes Dr S Chandrasekharan for the Eurasia Review.

The immediate reaction of Nasheed was one of disbelief. He said that: “it left Maldives in a very awkward and in many ways a very comical situation when toppling the government by brute force is taken to be a very reasonable course of action.”

Nasheed’s hopes that elections will be held early will not be fulfilled when the present government under President Waheed and former president Gayoom who is the adviser from behind the scenes will ensure that Nasheed is prevented at any cost from contesting the next elections.

In this, it appears that the judiciary will also go against Nasheed with a vengeance. It is known that the judiciary in the current dispensation is the weakest link in Maldives. One should read in detail the book by Aishath Velezinee –“The Failed Silent Coup,” that describes how the judicial commission with outside help managed to make incompetent judges get permanent positions in the judicial system!

Nasheed made the biggest mistake in allowing this fraud to be perpetrated when he was in a justifiable position to take action. Instead he overreached subsequently in arresting the Chief Criminal Judge Abdulla which finally resulted in the coup.

Nasheed should take note of the following:

1. The present government is stacked with pro Gayoom people in important positions and will do everything to marginalise Nasheed and his MDP. One should look at the following list of people in important positions in the present government. They are all Gayoom’s people!

  • Dunya Maumoon – Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (Gayoom’s daughter)
  • Ghassan Maumoon- Minister of State for Human Resources (Gayoom’s son)
  • Abdul Samad Abdulla – Minister of Foreign Affairs (PPM member)
  • Abdulla Jihad – Minister of Finance and Treasury (Gayoom’s former Finance Minister)
  • Mohamed Waheed Deen – Vice President (Gayoom’s former Attorney General)
  • Azima Shakooru – Attorney General (former Attorney General under Gayoom in 2007)
  • Mohamed Husain Sharif Mundu – Minister of Youth Affairs (PPM Spokesperson)
  • Ismail Shafeeu – CoNI co-chair (Gayoom’s former Minister of Defence and National Security)
  • Ahmed Mujuthaba – Mediator in all-party talks (Gayoom’s former Minister of Tourism)

Waheed’s government will not go for any dialogue unless it is on their terms. There are pious hopes from analysts in India, the media and even some from the Indian establishment that dialogue is the best way forward to resolve the present crisis in Maldives. Soon after the CNI report, the MDP made an offer to join the present coalition government. This was summarily dismissed both by President Waheed who was outside the country and the government spokesman Abas Adil Riza who derisively rejected it with his comment that the “attempt of MDP to join the government lacked sincerity.”

Reconciliation is therefore out of question and there should concerns for continuing instability in Maldives. The brutal killing recently of PPM MP Dr Afrasheem, considered as an Islamic moderate, should be cause for concern.

Full story

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Garbage dump fire spreads smoke across Male’

Smoke continued to spread into Male’ city from a fire at the garbage dump behind the STO petrol shed three days after the fire broke out on Friday afternoon.

Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) Lieutenant Abdulla Ali told Sun Online on Sunday that despite continuous efforts to control the fire, the bottom of the garbage pile continued to burn.

The task was made harder as the waste pile contained substances that catch fire easily, the MNDF media official explained.

“We have controlled the fire. We have resumed extinguishing efforts after it started burning again today. But the area is filled with waste, making it difficult to put the fire out,” Ali was quoted as saying.

Residents in the Henveiru district near the waste disposal site have complained of the smoke and stench emanating from the garbage dump, Sun Online noted.

Meanwhile, the MNDF media official told private broadcaster Raajje TV today that the fire has been completely extinguished around 12:30pm and that smoke was no longer coming out of the bottom of the pile.

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80 percent of land vehicles insured

The Transport Ministry has revealed that 80 percent of land vehicles have been insured following an announcement of a requirement for third party insurance, reports Sun Online.

Transport Authority Chairman Abdul Rasheed Nafiz explained that 20 percent of registered land vehicles remained uninsured due to lack of documents.

Owners of uninsured vehicles are being fined MVR 750 under the current regulations, Nafiz said.

The insurance premiums are divided into four categories, based on the type of vehicle: MVR 150 for 50cc motorcycles; MVR 175 for 50Ccc to 250cc motorcycles; MVR400 for over 250cc motorcycles; MVR750 for private cars; MVR1,000 for taxis; MVR1,500 for leased vehicles; and MVR2,000 for vehicles used for other purposes.

Companies that provide third-party insurance in the Maldives are Ceylinco Insurance, Allied Insurance, Amana Takaful and Sri Lankan Insurance.

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