Category: News in Brief

Drug Court begins hearing cases

The Drug Court formed under the new Drugs Act began its first trial last week.

While the first preliminary hearings by the court were held on June 17, local media reported that the first trial commenced on August 15.

According to the Drug Court, 312 cases have already been filed and the court has ordered the National Drug Agency to draft indicative assessment reports for47 individuals to determine their level of drug addiction.

The Drug Court was established under the Drugs Act passed by parliament in 2011, which was intended to move away from a punitive approach against “small scale drug offences” to rehabilitating drug addicts.

In May, State Minister for Health and Family Lubna Zahir Hussein told Minivan News that the new law and court represented long-needed changes to drug policy.

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“The quality of services delivered by the judiciary remains disappointingly gloomy”: Home Minister

“Our judiciary has some bright minds, but that does not exempt it from scrutiny; judiciary in the Maldives, with the exception of few courts and judges, the judiciary as a whole has earned a deservedly bad reputation for its inconsistent judgments, lack of leadership, lack of competency and being out of touch with modern laws and views of the society.”

So says Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, the current Minister of Home Affairs, writing in Haveeru today.

“Holders of the judiciary were given security of tenure through the appointment of Magistrates and judges by an independent commission. Supreme Court justices recommended by Judicial Service Commission and nominated by the President were appointed by the Parliament.

Holders of the office of the judiciary were further secured with the provision that they could only be removed by a two third vote of the Parliament. The legislatures pinned their hopes of establishing an independent judiciary.

It was the desire of the nation to see not only an independent judiciary but also competent professionals leading it, and who are able to fulfill the expectation of a nation on the verge of embracing new found democracy, and whose inhabitants have over the years acquired knowledge and skills in various professions.”

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Utility companies owe us MVR 350 million: STO

The State Trading Organisation (STO) stated Thursday that the utility companies are close to MVR 350 million in debt to the state-owned company through the purchase of fuel using credit, reports local media.

In a press conference held in Velaanaage, Managing Director of STO Shahid Ali said that obtaining payments from the utility companies was a continuously problematic issue, but that he had observed it to be more difficult after December 2011.

Shahid also said that since the government held shares in STO, it required similar concessions as other government-owned companies.

Shahid said they are now undertaking discussions with relevant government authorities and the utility companies to settle the outstanding payments.

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Nominations open for Special Achievement award

Nominations for this year’s National Award for Special Achievement opened today and will close at 3:00pm on September 20.

The award is given by the President in recognition of those who achieve distinction for the country. Details of the award were provided during a press conference at the President’s Office today.

The awards’ technical committee comprises of Dr Hassan Hameed, Dr Abdul Muhsin Mohamed, Dr Ibrahim Zakariyya Moosa, Aminath Reena and Hussain Amir.

Nomination forms are available via the President’s Office website or can be collected in person during office hours.

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President to meet public on Eid

President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan will meet with members of the public at Muleeage on the morning of Eid-Ul-Fitr day.

The President’s Office website has announced that all members of the public are welcome as well as foreigners from diplomatic missions and international organisations.

Specific invitation is not required for attendance at the event which will be between 9:30am and 10:30am on Sunday.

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Eight islands experiencing water shortages

Emergency Operations Manager of National Disaster Management Centre, Mohamed Didi, has told Haveeru that eight islands in the country were currently experiencing water shortages.

Didi said that relief efforts were underway to provide drinking water to the islands from within their atolls although emergency reserve funds been severely depleted during the North East Monsoon season.

“MVR 4 million from the emergency relief fund for water shortages has almost been used up. Hence Finance ministry approval is required to spend over the allocated funds,” said Didi.

“A request will be sent tomorrow. There has been no water shortage during the South-West Monsoon within the last four years,” he said.

Surface fresh water is generally lacking in the Maldives due to increasingly variable rainfall patterns induced by climatic change and the management of saline groundwater.

Groundwater was previously used for drinking, however, following the 2004 tsunami, underground wells in most islands are contaminated by sewage, waste and salt-water.

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Waheed to address Organisation of Islamic Cooperation

President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan is to address the fourth extraordinary session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Mecca.

The session, which began on Tuesday night, will focus on the situation in Syria, issues faced by people in Palestine, the problems confronting the Muslim community in Burma, and the situation in Mali.

Before departing from Male’ on Sunday Waheed also stated his intention to secure funds for the Ministry of Islamic Affairs’ mosque fund.

Local media last week reported an Algerian businessman as having donated MVR3.1 ($US200,000) to the fund.

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MTCC blames city council for financial losses

The Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) has today announced its intention to take legal action against Male’ City Council (MCC), alleging that negative rumours spread about the company had cost the companies shareholders money.

In a statement, reported by Haveeru, the MTCC refuted the council’s claims that it had to pay MVR 2.6million (US$170,000) in land rent. It further alleged that rumours started by MCC had directly resulted in the halting of its MVR 213.6 million (US$14 million) project to develop a lot close to Villimale’ ferry terminal.

The company also stated that, contrary to warnings received from the MCC, the council did not have the authority to find an alternative provider for ferry services in the greater Male’ area.

In today’s statement, the MTCC argued that the services it was providing were in accordance with the agreement signed with the government. It stressed that it had made efforts to improve the service without raising prices in line with hikes in the local Goods and Services Tax (GST).

The company was forced to reconsider raising fares last September after large protests outside the Villimale’ terminal. In June, it was revealed that the MTCC had made a  loss of Rf 89 million (US$5.7 million) in 2011.

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Fisheries ministry to act against fishermen employing foreigners

The Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture has threatened action against anyone found guilty of involving foreign nationals in the fishing sector, report Sun Online.

A statement from the Ministry is said to have described reports of foreign nationals working as crew, as well as in other functions, on fishing operations undertaken within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

The Fisheries Act of the Maldives prohibits foreigners from fishing within the EEZ, defined as the area extending 75 miles from the outer reef of the atolls, even if they are working in conjunction with Maldivians.

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