Category: News in Brief

President appoints Aasandha Board

President Mohamed Nasheed has appointed the Board of Directors for Aasandha Private Limited, the joint venture company tasked with overseeing the government’s Universal Health Insurance Program.

Ali Arif has been appointed Board Chairman, while Mohamed Shifaz, representing Allied Insurance Company of the Maldives Pvt. Ltd., is the Managing Director of Aa Sandha Pvt. Ltd.

Aasandha is a public-private partnership with Allied Insurance. Under the agreement, Allied will split the scheme’s shared 60-40 with the government. The actual insurance premium will be paid by the government, while claims, billing and public awareness will be handled by the private partner.

The Aasandha program was officially signed at Artificial Beach on December 22 with hundreds of Maldivian citizens in attendance.

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Pakistanis and other released from detention

The police have confirmed some foreigners in Male’ were detained as a “security” measure, prior to the mass religious rally on December 23.

Violent outbreaks and confrontations were speculated to take place during a religious rally organised by NGO’s and opposition parties “to defend Islam” in the Maldives and another led by ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) to exhibit support for a “moderate Islam”.

Contrary to speculation, the protests proceeded peacefully.

Sub- Inspector of Police Ahmed Shiyam said the foreigners were arrested before the protest and were released afterwards.

Shiyam did not specify the number of foreigners arrested and their nationality.

“We brought them under police custody as part of security measures taken during the protest. All of them have now been released,” Shiyam said.

Minivan News has learned that the arrested foreigners included Pakistanis and people of two other nationalities who had arrived in the Maldives on tourist visas. They were detained on suspicion of participating in the religious rally, according to a source.

Controller for Immigration and Emigration Abdullah Shahid told Minivan News that “there was a high number of Pakistanis coming into the country at the time” of protest.

Shahid noted it was part of the security procedure to investigate inconsistencies in arrival rates.

Meanwhile, religious groups in Maldives have been accused of using funds from extremist groups in Pakistan to finance their activities locally.

India’s The Hindu reported last week that Maldives believed Pakistani money was helping extremists, according to a top source.

However spokesperson for the religious coalition, Abdullah Mohamed, rejected the accusations and said that they have not taken any money from foreign organisations.

“We are funding our activities through donations by our supporters,” he added.

He also added that he is unaware of any foreigners who came to Maldives to participate in the protest or their arrest.

According to him a few Maldivians living in Sri Lanka and India came to Male’ for the protests.

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12-year-old girl found pregnant after disappearance

A 12-year-old girl reported missing last week in capital Male has been found two months pregnant.

The girl was found severely dehydrated and taken to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH). Her family, however, took her home in spite of IGMH staff requests that she stay at the medical facility, reports Haveeru.

No information has been released regarding the girl’s disappearance or her pregnancy.

The case is expected to fall under the remit of the Health Ministry’s Gender Department.

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Tholal receives 87 points from parliamentary review committee

Ahmed Tholal has been recommended to the post of Deputy Human Rights Commissioner by a parliamentary review committee.

President Mohamed Nasheed recommended Tholal for the post on December 18. Parliament is now expected to vote on the nomination.

The review committee reports that Tholal received 87 points for his capability, experience, leadership, integrity and educational qualifications, Haveeru reports.

The committee includes Dhidhoo MP Ahmed Sameer, Machangoalhi-North MP Mohamed Rasheed, Madaveli MP Mohamed Nazim, Kela MP Dr Abdulla Mausoom, Hithadhoo-South MP Hassan Latheef, Velidhoo MP Ali Mohamed, and Maavashu MP Abdul Aziz Jamaal Abu Bakr.

The Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) has operated without a deputy commissioner for over one year, although one is required by the commission’s charter. The nomination of Jeehan Mahmoud  last year was rejected on the grounds that the commission leadership should exhibit a balance of genders following Mariyam Azra’s approval as HRCM President.

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Aasandha scheme doesn’t cover private clinics

The treatment from private clinics will not be covered in the universal health insurance scheme “Aasandha” commencing on January 1, 2012.

State Minister Ibrahim Waheed said the “Aasandha” scheme will not include private clinics as the government wants to establish a mechanism that would allow patients to receive all kinds of treatment from a single place, according to Haveeru.

“We haven’t planned to include private clinics in Aasandha in 2012. The government doesn’t want everyone to set up clinics in their houses but rather wants the people to be able to receive treatment from a single place,” he was quoted as saying in Haveeru.

According to Aasandha website, the scheme will initially cover treatment from IGMH, ADK Hospital, IMDC Hospital in Addu and other hospitals and health centers currently operated by state owned health corporations.

Under the parliament-approved scheme, all Maldivian citizens will receive government-sponsored coverage up to Rf100,000 (US$6,500) per year, including further provisions to citizens who require further financial assistance.

Expatriate workers are also eligible for coverage providing their employers pay an upfront fee of Rf1,000 (US$65).

The Aasandha program was officially signed at Artificial Beach on December 22 with hundreds of Maldivian citizens in attendance.

Aasandha is a public-private partnership with Allied Insurance. Under the agreement, Allied will split the scheme’s shared 60-40 with the government. The actual insurance premium will be paid by the government, while claims, billing and public awareness will be handled by the private partner.

The service will cover emergency treatment, including overseas if the treatment is not available locally, inpatient and outpatient services, domestic emergency evacuation, medicine under prescription, and diagnostic and therapeutic services.

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Ambassador Mohamed ‘Nazaki’ Zaki awarded Malaysia’s Dato’ title

Maldives’ Ambassador to Malaysia Mohamed ‘Nazaki’ Zaki was awarded the Dato’ title by Malaysia’s king Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah during a ceremony at the king’s palace on December 22.

Dato’ is the most common highly regarded title in Malaysia and is awarded to prominent figures who have made significant social contributions.

Zaki is the only Maldivian to have been awarded the title.

Expressing his gratitude, Zaki said he was awarded the title for his 23-year residency in Malaysia and his service as an Audit Committee member of the nation’s Islamic University.

Zaki also serves as the non-resident ambassador to Brunei, Indonesia and Thailand, according to Haveeru.

Zaki left the Maldives in the early 1990s due to political turmoil, returned in 1993, and received a life sentence in 2001 for his involvement in then-opposition newsletter ‘Sandhaanu,’ Haveeru reports.

Zaki was subsequently declared a prisoner of conscience. Faced with international pressure, the former government released him in 2005.

Zaki’s company, Nazaki Shipping, now operates in the Malaysia.

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MP Ali Waheed requests Addu to remove monuments

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Thoddu MP Ali Waheed has requested Addu Mayor Abdulla Sodiq to remove the monuments given by SAARC member countries during this year’s summit, held in Addu.

Of the seven monuments given in memoriam of the event four have been vandalised or stolen; only those from Bhutan, India and Bangladesh remain untouched.

Following the theft of Nepal’s monument, Sodig said the council was considering moving the remaining monuments to an enclosed, secure location.

Waheed’s request comes on the heels of a similar demand voiced by a coalition of religious groups and opposition parties at the “Defend Islam” protest on December 23.

Addu City Council Hussein Hilmee reported that a group of 20 to 30 individuals had gathered in Addu on Friday to watch the televised coverage of the protests in Male’.

The Islamic Ministry has also voiced concerns, and opposition Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) reported the Customs department to the police for allowing the monuments to enter the country.

Speaking in parliament today, Waheed said the demand has wide public support and that respecting it is not a defeat within democracy, reports Haveeru.

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MDP to hold rally at Haruge as government considers demands

Ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has cancelled its protest, announced during last night’s MDP rally, because no opposition parties have announced plans to hold similar demonstrations.

MDP will instead hold a rally at 8:30 at Haruge this evening.

The MDP protest was announced as party members rallied last night in response to the demands made by leaders of the protest to “Defend Islam”, held yesterday by a coalition of opposition parties and religious NGOs at the Tsunami Monument area.

Demands of the government included removing SAARC monuments in Addu, four of which have been vandalised or stolen; condemning UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay for her comments about flogging as a penal response to extra-marital sex; denying Israeli airlines permission to operate flights to the Maldives; closing down Male’ brothels and reversing the decision to declare of inhabited islands uninhabited in order to permit alcohol sales.

As the night drew to a close, MDP party members issued statements claiming that they would march against the “Defend Islam” protest if it did not end by midnight.

The statement was respected, and aside from one protestor who was hassled as he passed MDP headquarters at Haruge on his way home, no confrontations occurred.

President’s Office Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair has said that although the government is unclear on which legal grounds and by which exact group the demands were made, the large public demonstration in support for these demands has prompted to government to give them due consideration, reports Haveeru.

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Afghanistan’s monument sunk “for political reasons”: Addu councilor

Afghanistan’s monument, given to the Maldives in memorium of the 17th SAARC Summit held in Addu City this November, was broken from its mount and sunk in the sea on Thursday, December 22.

The vandalism was done a day before protests in defense of Islam and in support of moderate Islam were carried out in Male’ and other islands.

The statue has been retrieved, however it “has been broken and it cannot be repaired,” said Addu City Councilor Hussein Hilmee.

The statue was an image of Afghistan’s Jam minaret, which features Qur’anic phrases and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Hilmee was “100% positive” that the act had been done for political reasons tied to the December 23 rallies. “MDP wouldn’t do it,” he claimed.

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