The People’s Majlis has approved a loan worth US$11,122.,700 to establish a water and sewerage system on Fuvahmulah Island.
The Kuwait fund provided loan has a grace period of four years and is to be repaid over 24 years.
Fuvahmulah Island located in southern Maldives has a population of 11,140 people.
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(0)Police were summoned to investigate an alleged black magic doll after it was discovered at the Shaviyani Atoll School polling station during the presidential election vote counting.
The suspicious ‘fanditha’ (black magic) doll was first noticed on the school’s wall by an Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) election observer as well as polling station officials on Kanditheemu Island during the vote counting process Saturday (September 7). They contacted local police to investigate the suspicious doll.
“The police just checked whether the doll was real [fanditha],” MDP Kanditheemu Campaign Manager Mohamed ‘Mox’ Fahumee told Minivan News today (September 9). “They did not actually want to get involved in such [black magic related] things.”
After the police were called to the polling station they – and local islanders – asked community members, the Shaviyani Atoll School’s site supervisor, and Bangladeshi labourers working at the school to try and discover who made the doll and with what intention, explained Fahumee.
“One of the laborers told us he made it ‘just for fun’ to pass the time, since they do not have very much work to do,” said Fahumee. “He made the doll from wool, putty, and wall paint and then placed it on the wall to dry.”
The Maldives Police Service had not responded to enquiries at time of press.
Fanditha fear
“On this island [Kanditheemu] people always talk about black magic during elections. They claim that government aligned parties – the Political Party of the Maldives (PPM), Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), etc – practice fanditha to gain votes,” said Fahumee.
“When people talk about fanditha they become afraid,” noted Fahumee.
“Black magic might work, there are so many stories of people dying because of fanditha. During elections people talk about that and it spreads [around the island] very quickly, but they talk in secret,” he continued.
Swing voters who are not strongly in favor one candidate or political party versus another are particularly susceptible to fearing black magic will influence their vote, he explained.
“If they are finding it difficult to select a candidate and they are afraid [of black magic influence], they might vote for someone who does not represent their best interests,” he added.
Fahumee explained that while most island residents talk about possible incidents of fanditha, the discussions are conducted in secret, out of fear the island’s black magic practitioner will “come after” the person(s) talking about him.
Although not everyone believes in the power of fanditha, or “accepts those kinds of things”, it is still an issue – and precautions are taken – because it sows fear and uncertainty about the impartiality of the voting process, noted Fahumee.
More cursed coconuts
Concerns of black magic being used for election vote tampering have been raised on several islands in the Maldives.
MDP supporters on Guraidhoo Island in Kaafu Atoll reportedly began lining up to vote at 2:00pm Friday (September 6), after rumours began circulating of a black magic coconut buried at the front of the queue.
It is thought the candidate chosen by the first person in line standing over the coconut would then be the candidate picked by all remaining voters.
“We don’t believe in these things, but some MDP supporters waited just in case,” 25 year-old Guraidhoo resident Hussain Nadheef told Minivan News. “We will never let PPM [use black magic].”
Last week, police summoned a white magic practitioner to evaluate a young coconut believed to have been cursed by a black magic spell, after it was found near the Guraidhoo Island presidential election polling station.
Coconuts with black magic spells were allegedly being used to sway voters’ political party allegiance and incite confrontations between MDP supporters and police on Fuvahmulah, ahead of Saturday’s Presidential Election.
Given the widespread reporting of black magic election tampering and the cursed coconut issues on Guraidhoo and Fuvahmulah, Minivan News asked Elections Commission Vice Chair Ahmed Fayaz whether the issue was raised by any election observers.
Fayaz noted that he had not discussed the issue with any of the observers, and had first read about the story on the UK’s Guardian website.
Asked if he felt that the additional international media spotlight on the election triggered by the coconut may have had a positive impact on the election process, Fayaz laughed and said “maybe”.
(1)Dislikes(0)Additional reporting by Ahmed Nazeer
Coconuts with black magic spells are allegedly being used to sway voters’ political party allegiance and incite confrontations between Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) supporters and police on Fuvahmulah, ahead of Saturday’s Presidential Election.
A ‘kurumba’ (young coconut) suspected to have a ‘fanditha’ (black magic) curse, with Arabic writing and suspicious symbols burned into the husk, was found in the garden of a home located in Fuvahmulah’s Dhiguvaadu ward yesterday (September 4), a source from Dhiguvaadu ward told Minivan News today.
The woman who found the suspicious coconut in the early hours of the morning intended to inform the police, however the homeowners – “hard core” Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) supporters – told her not to do anything until an expert investigated the coconut first, said the source.
“Neighbors supporting President Mohamed Waheed’s Gaumee Ihthihad Party (GIP) live in the area, so they heard about the fanditha coconut and wanted to create problems, so they contacted the police,” the source continued.
“MDP and PPM have been running strong campaigns and have many supporters in the area, however GIP only has about 15 members,” the source noted.
“Since GIP has very few supporters, they are trying to redirect attention away from the other political parties to gain votes,” alleged the source. “GIP has told PPM that MDP planted the fanditha coconut, however they are telling MDP that PPM is responsible.”
“Neighbors a few houses away were awake around 3:00am that night and did not notice any suspicious activity,” said the source.
The source believes that GIP, PPM and Jumhoree Party (JP) supporters are trying incite unrest among MDP activists on Fuvahmulah – especially GIP by involving the police in the fanditha coconut incident.
MDP supporters on Fuvahmulah remain very upset about the violent police crackdown that happened after the controversial transition of power in February 2012, according to the source.
“When MDP activists see local police they are not good with them, they do not keep calm, there is always a huge scene, shouting, etc.,” the source explained.
“[However,] these days MDP [Island] Councilors are trying to the max to keep supporters calm,” the source continued.
“And the situation is very calm right now. It [the fanditha coconut incident] was nothing huge, just a very simple thing,” the source said. “There won’t be any impact on voting.”
Fuvahmulah police did not want to get involved in the black magic incident, instead they preferred to allow the family to take action independently, a police source told Minivan News today.
“If we get involved, it will turn into a big thing,” said the police source, in reference to inciting unrest among MDP supporters.
However, local media reported that police took possession of the black magic coconut.
The Maldives Police Service was not responding to calls at time of press.
Black magic sabotage
A black magic practitioner from Fuvahmulah allegedly cast spells on five yellow young coconuts – kurumba can also be green or orange – and gave them to another man to deliver to a specific key location, a Fuvahmulah island council source told Minivan News today.
The island council source alleged a person named *Easa cast a spell on five coconuts and gave them to *Moosa to deliver. However, Moosa left the coconuts on his bed covered with a sheet before going to work.
“Moosa’s wife was not told about the cursed coconuts, so she was shocked to find coconuts on their bed and called the police immediately,” said the island council source. “The police went over to the house and took the coconuts.”
“She thought MDP had cast the black magic spells because the coconuts were yellow,’’ the island council source explained. “Once Moosa found out what his wife had done, he told her it was very bad that she had reported it to police.’’
Moosa and his wife then went to get the cursed coconuts back from the police, but police refused to return them, according to the island council source.
The island council source noted that Easa made a typographical error when cursing the coconuts. The coconut curse says to “get rid of [PPM presidential candidate Abdulla] Yameen”, but was supposed to read “get benefits from Yameen”.
Furthermore, during the 2008 presidential election Easa also started practicing black magic a month before the election day, noted the island council source.
“Every day after dawn prayer he went to the beach and did black magic stuff. He also went near the polling station and threw cursed objects at people,’’ said the island council source. “[But] Easa’s spells did not work the last time.”
“This hasn’t been taken too seriously by the islanders, but the MDP supporters are very concerned,’’ the island council source said.
No arrests have been made in connection with the case, the source added.
Earlier this week, police summoned a white magic practitioner to evaluate a young coconut believed to have been cursed by a black magic spell, after it was found near the Guraidhoo Island presidential election polling station in Kaafu Atoll.
*Names have been changed
Spiritual healing
This is the second cursed coconut incident reported in as many days, related to the presidential election. To better understand this “very common practice”, Minivan News spoke with Spiritual Healers of the Maldives President and Exorcist, Ajnaadh Ali.
“During elections black magic is used to gain votes and make people ill,” explained Ali.
Ali suspects a spell was read over the Fuvahmulah fanditha coconut instead of inscribed, because the coconut reads “May Allah protect us from Abdulla Yameen”.
The black magic spell cast to influence voting “is a spell of separation. It’s the same idea as a love spell. It can either bring people together or split them apart,” Ali noted. “The black magic will attack them mentally, by demanding the individual think a certain way even if they would normally know something is bad. It makes them blind in the mind.”
“While any object can be used, because coconuts represent a life structure (like eggs) they use those objects to make the spell powerful, with the advice of the devil,” noted Ali.
“There is a long history of the practice in the Maldives, but it is still very common nowadays on every island,” he continued. “There is a lack of knowledge regarding the religion. Some people who do black magic think it’s right because the Quran is used.”
“In Dhivehi, fanditha means magic – black or white – but the way it is practiced is what makes it good or bad. Black magic is when people worship or invoke jins or devils to cause harm to others,” Ali explained.
“Black magic is practiced by misusing the Quran, chanting or writing verses and the names of devils or jins (spirits) to summon their help. It cannot be done unless someone has some disbelief of Allah,” he continued. “It it also disrespectful of the Quran.”
The best protection against black magic is reading Quranic verses, particularly the last two chapters of the Quran, said Ali. ‘Ruqyah’ is a form of white magic, specifically an Islamic exorcism where Quranic verses are read and prayers recited to heal.”
“Ruqyah will neutralise black magic to rid of the evil eye or any other spiritual matter, like jin possessions or mental illness,” he explained.
It can also be conducted for the benefit of worshipping Allah, he added.
“Any Muslim can practice ruqyah by themselves, however its more effective if they have knowledge of jins and the Quran. Also, they must be following the religion,” he noted.
The five pillars of Islam are prayer, fasting, alms for the poor, pilgrimage to Mecca, and declaring belief in one God, Allah.
A 1979 law requires persons wishing to practice fanditha to “write and seek approval from the Ministry of Health.”
(0)Dislikes(0)Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) presidential candidate Mohamed Nasheed has this week pledged to transform the island of Fuvahmulah into a city through the provision of 70 separate development projects.
Speaking during a campaign rally Monday (August 26), the former president said that a future MDP-led government would establish all the services required by a city in Fuvahmulah within five years time.
Geographically, Fuvahmulah is the only island located in Gnaviyani Atoll – the north of Addu City – making it the country’s only one-island atoll.
Nasheed added that, should the MDP win next month’s election, some 70 out of 137 development projects planned and budgeted by the party would be focused on developing Fuvahmulah.
The Nasheed administration completed a domestic airport on Fuvahmulah in October 2011. The construction of the airport took nearly three months, a record for such a facility in the Maldives.
The strip, which measures some 1,200 metres in length and 30 metres in width, saw its maiden flight land on October 31, 2011.
Shortly after inaugurating the airport, Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) candidate Abdulla Mohamed Didi won the mid-Fuvahmulah atoll council seat, defeating MDP representative, Mohamed Abdulla Didi.
Nasheed has nonetheless pledged this week that his government would work to transform Fuvahmulah into a city.
“We will ensure that higher education facilities will be established and children of this island will no longer have to roam around the country to get higher education,” he said.
Nasheed also promised to develop a water and sewerage system in the island, as well as transforming the Fuvahmulah football ground into an international stadium and improving the island hospital.
“The results of these development projects are the establishment of the Fuvahmulah stadium, the facilitation of a sewerage system. For us, sport is not simply a game. For us, every ball that comes to our feet is a life changing decision. Every pass we make is an experience. Every free kick, every goal we score is a victory for us,” he added.
Speaking during his party’s MDP rally in Fuvahmulah, Nasheed said that his government would increase the national revenue to MVR72 billion (US$ 4.67 billion). Out of this total, he pledged to spend MVR 30 billion (US$ 2.07 billion) on 137 separate development projects, while MVR37 billion (US$ 2.39 billion) will be spent on the administrative running of the state.
He added that MVR16 billion (US$ 1.03 billion) from the sum would be allocated to the repayment of national debts.
In response to recent campaigning by rival parties, Nasheed said that focusing on his flaws would not do any anything for the development of Fuvahmulah.
“We are talking about the good things that need to happen to [Fuvahmulah]. It is a great pleasure to know that our rivals have slowly started taking up our language in these matters. That will be a real boost to the work we are doing,” he added.
Nasheed claimed that people had faith in the MDP’s election policy, on the basis that the MDP would not focus on vague promises, but rather a set of policies which had been costed and budgeted.
He suggested that with the presidential election a month away, the people of the Maldives had given thumbs-up to the MDP’s policies, implying that a first round election victory is just round the corner.
According to the Elections Commission (EC), the Presidential Elections is scheduled to take place on September 7, with an additional run-off election being held on September 27, should no candidate be able to secure the required 50 percent plus 1 share of the vote.
EC Statistics released from the commission have indicated that 239,008 people are entitled to cast their ballot with 31,008 new voters.
(0)Dislikes(0)A contract to provide lighting for Fuvahmulah airport has been awarded to a Sri Lankan company, local media reports.
The MVR4.5million project will make it possible to land planes in the southern atoll at all hours, with the airport currently the only one in the country where this is not possible.
Sun Online reports that President Dr Mohamed Waheed will travel to Fuvamulah tomorrow to inaugurate the project, which is expected to be complete in three months.
The airport, owned by the State Trading Organisation, was opened in 2011, increasing access to one of the most isolated areas of the country.
(0)Dislikes(0)A storm surge in the Maldives has caused a large area of Fuvahmulah Island to flood.
Three regions of the island have areas larger than 20 feet flooded, while farmland and some freshwater wells have been affected by salt water, according to the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) and local media.
The extent of the damage caused to farmlands flooded by salt water last night (May 12) is still being assessed, President of Fuvahmulah Atoll Council Ali Fazad told local media. He added that the flooded farmlands are located on the island’s eastern “bushy edge”.
MNDF officers will be on alert given that more flooding is expected in Fuvahmulah during high tide later tonight.
According to the Maldives Meteorological Service (MET Office), no island other than Fuvahmulah as reported flooding, however the southern atolls can expect more heavy rain and strong winds, with gusts up to 45 miles per hour.
Earlier this week (May 9), Fuvahmulah suffered the most storm damage nationwide due to severe storms, harsh wind and rain, blowing off roofs and felling trees, according to Minister of State for Defence and National Security and head of the National Disaster Management Center (NDMC), Ahmed Mohamed.
(0)Dislikes(0)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.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Maldivian Red Crescent and Canadian Red Cross have begun compiling a survey on the islands of Thinadhoo and Fuvahmulah to help determine public understanding of incidents of violence against children and young people, local Media has reported.
As part of a three year Violence Prevention Project being conducted by the NGOs on the back of fears of an increase in reported cases of violence against children, the survey will be used to assist efforts on educating members of the public over abuse of young people.
According to the Sun Online news service, the survey is expected to be completed and sent to local authorities by September 30.
(0)Dislikes(0)Government utilities corporation Fenaka has denied that changes to a sewage project in Addu Atoll were influenced by February’s transfer of political power, according to Sun Online.
UK company Biwater International Ltd signed an agreement with the Southern Utilities Company to improve the supply of drinking water and sewage treatment in South Province.
The Fenaka Corporation has claimed that the decision to remove the sewerage work from Addu, and to halt all the company’s projects in Fuvahmulah, was due to the company’s failure to provide the $27million (MVR415.8 million) originally agreed upon.
It added that the decision to halt the Fuvamulah projects had been made before the change of government.
The Fenaka Corporation was established to take over from the seven utility corporations established during the administration of former President Mohamed Nasheed, under its policy of decentralisation.
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