Tag: kumundhoo

Corruption charges pile up against former NDMC heads

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has accused former National Disaster Management Center (NDMC) heads Abdulla Shahid and Mohamed Shahid of defrauding the state of MVR 250,000 (US$16,181).

The two men (unrelated) had authorised payment from the state budget for an electricity generator, after it had been donated to Haa Dhaal Kumundhoo Island by MP ‘Colonel’ Mohamed Nasheed via a private company, the ACC said.

In June 2013, police and the ACC accused the former State Minister Abdulla Shahid and former NDMC Director Mohamed Shahid of fraud involving MVR24million (US$1.55 million).

Regulations on public finance management require state bodies to obtain multiple price quotations for any purchase worth more than MVR25,000 (US$1,618). The requirement can only be bypassed in a situation of emergency.

However, Abdulla Shahid had admitted there was no emergency in Kumundhoo case, said the ACC.

According to the commission, the Finance Ministry had allocated MVR250,000 in the 2010 state budget for procurement of a second-hand generator for Kumundoo on the President’s Office’s order.

The Finance Ministry specifically ordered the NDMC to disburse funds as per public finance management regulations, the ACC said.

Instead, the NDMC deposited the funds directly to a shareholder of the company involved in donating the generator for Kumundhoo. There only communications between the NDMC and the company were regarding the payment, the ACC said.

“Investigations prove this transaction violates the Public Finance Act. [The generator] was not procured by the state, but by an MP for his constituency in his personal capacity, and investigations prove the state’s payment for [the generator] is abuse of position to benefit a third party,” the ACC said.

The ACC does not clarify the connection between MP Nasheed and the company.

Mohamed Shahid is the brother of MP and former Speaker of the People’s Majlis Abdulla Shahid.

The commission has recommended the prosecutor general file charges against Abdulla Shahid and Mohamed Shahid for abuse of position and order them to reimburse the MVR250,000 to the state.

The Maldives Police Services in February 2013 arrested Abdulla Shahid and Mohamed Shahid in a corruption case involving MVR24 million after an Auditor General’s special report revealed the NDMC had photocopied, edited and reused ‘Credit Purchase Order Forms’ used in 2005, to withdraw the MVR24 million from the centre’s budget at the Finance Ministry.

The ‘Credit Purchase Order Forms’ were originally given to the Disaster Management Centre in 2005 to withdraw cash from the Tsunami Recovery Fund.

The auditor general’s report also suggested that the finance ministry was complicit in the alleged fraud.

Police have requested the prosecutor general press charges against Abdulla Shahid, Mohamed Shahid and seven other individuals.

The ACC in March 2012 had also accused the NDMC of corruption in a 2006 housing project worth MVR18million.

In 2013, the commission began investigation in 1316 cases of corruption, and completed 620 cases. The ACC forwarded 178 cases for prosecution.

Despite increased reports of corruption, the conviction rate is very low in the Maldives.

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Seven islanders to be charged for assault of Indian teacher on Kumundhoo

Police have sent the names of seven islanders of Kumundhoo Island in Haa Dhaalu Atoll to the Prosecutor General’s Office (PG) requesting they be charged in connection with the assault of an Indian teacher.

Police identified the seven persons charged as Hassan Riyaz, 27, of Male’,  and Hassan Rasheed, 35, Abdulla Hassan, 41, Husain Naseer, 36, Husam Ibrahim, 22, Junaidh Ibrahim, 18, Hajara Ali, 35, all from the island of Kumundhoo.

Police alleged that on May 14 the group entered the island school of Kumundhoo and assaulted the teacher while he was inside a classroom teaching.

According to police the investigation into the case was concluded and sent to the Prosecutor General for prosecution on June 17.

On May 15 Minivan News reported that an Indian physics teacher was hospitalised after a group of angry islanders confronted him and beat him up after accusing him of hitting a student in the chest.

“The expat teacher hit a 13 year-old student in the chest and the child fell and couldn’t breathe and was taken to the health centre,” Island Councilor Ali Anwar told Minivan News at the time.

“The islanders became angry at the teacher and gathered outside the school. The security guard and school staff were unable to control them.”

He said the islanders destroyed a power distribution unit outside the school cutting off its electricity, and then attacked the expat teacher.

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Indian teachers request transfer, quit posts after Kumundhoo school attack

Almost a dozen Indian teachers on Kumundhoo in Haa Dhaalu Atoll have either resigned from their posts or requested transfers to another island following the assault of a colleague on school premises last week, diplomatic officials have confirmed.

Diplomatic sources said Indian High Commissioner Rajeev Shahare was meanwhile in the process of arranging talks with Maldivian education authorities to discuss the issue of teacher safety.

The Indian High Commission in the Maldives told Minivan News it received requests from eight Indian nationals currently working as teachers on Kumundhoo to be transferred to another island over concerns about their safety.

According to the commission, two other expatriate teachers on the island have also handed in their resignation after physics teacher Neelakantan Pappukutty Subash Kumar was assaulted in the school on May 14 by an angry mob accusing him of hitting a student in the chest.

One expatriate teacher on the island, who has since handed in their resignation, was also claimed to have received minor injuries trying to prevent the assault, an Indian diplomatic official told Minivan News this week.

Despite the concerns about teacher safety, the high commission said yesterday (May 19) that the response of the education ministry had so far been “positive” in terms of their handling of the attack on the Indian national.

Kumundhoo Island Councilor Ali Anwar claimed on May 15 that islanders had destroyed a a power distribution unit outside the school to cut off its electricity, before then entering and attacking the teacher, despite efforts by staff to try and prevent the assault.

So far eight suspects are being held in police custody over the attack, police confirmed today.

After being initially hospitalised after the assault, Kumar’s condition is not thought to be critical.  The high commission has claimed the teacher was now waiting for the Education Ministry to renew his work visa that expired last month, so that he can be returned to India for treatment.

A “mutual time” was also being sought for High Commissioner Shahare to meet with the country’s education officials to discuss the issue of “better security” for expatriate teachers.

Minivan News was awaiting a response from the Ministry of Education at time of press.

Ongoing concerns

Despite the high commission’s praise for the education ministry this week, one Indian diplomatic source said following the attack that the injured teacher’s treatment continued to highlight ongoing concerns over the Maldives’ treatment of foreign workers.

These concerns were said to be based around issues such as the retention of passports and travel documents by private and state employers.

“The fact remains that [Kumar’s] work permit has not been renewed. He was a government employee –  they should have renewed his documents before they expired, not afterwards,” the diplomatic source said last week.  ”This [issue] has been going on for over one and a half years now.”

A senior Indian doctor in the Maldives has also previously alleged that expatriate professionals regullarly  face intimidation and fraud in the country from employers and the public.

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Indian teacher attacked in Maldives requires visa renewal before travelling home for treatment

The Indian High Commission in the Maldives has said an expatriate teacher hospitalised after being attacked on the island of Kumundhoo in Haa Dhaalu Atoll is waiting on education authorities to renew his visa before he can return to India for treatment.

Physics teacher Neelakantan Pappukutty Subash Kumar, who was attacked on May 14 over allegations he hit a student in the chest, had still been working for the Ministry of Education despite his work visa having expired the previous month.  The teacher is not thought to be in a critical condition, according to diplomatic sources.

Kumundhoo Island Councilor Ali Anwar claimed Wednesday (May 15) that islanders had destroyed a a power distribution unit outside the school to cut off its electricity, before then entering and attacking the teacher, despite efforts by staff to try and prevent the assault.

“Yesterday afternoon the expat teacher hit a 13 year-old student in the chest and the child fell and couldn’t breathe and was taken to the health centre,” Anwar said. “The islanders became angry at the teacher and gathered outside the school. The security guard and school staff were unable to control them.”

Arrests

The Maldives Police Service (MPS) confirmed today that five people had now been arrested in connection to the attack on the teacher, with investigations ongoing into the matter. A police spokesperson said the teacher had since been transferred to Male’ following the attack, although the MPS had no further details about his status at time of press.

Meanwhile, the Indian High Commission told Minivan News today that although the expatriate teacher’s condition was not believed to be critical, efforts to return him to India for additional treatment had been impeded as a result of education authorities failing to renew his visa on time.

“His visa expired in April and is not yet renewed. The Education Ministry will send him back as soon as his visa is renewed,” the commission confirmed.

Education Minister Dr Asim Ahmed was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

An Indian diplomatic source said that it was likely Maldives authorities would have sent the expatriate back to India immediately had he been in a critical condition.

However, the same source claimed the teacher’s treatment continued to highlight ongoing concerns raised by the High Commission over the Maldives’ treatment of foreign workers, notably the retention of passports and travel documents by private and state employers.

“The fact remains that his work permit has not been renewed. He was a government employee –  they should have renewed his documents before they expired, not afterwards,” the diplomatic source said.  “This [issue] has been going on for over one and a half years now.”

A senior Indian medical with experience of working in the country previously alleged that expatriate professionals were regularly facing intimidation and fraud in the country from employers and some members of the public.

Strain

The Maldives’ relationship with India has appeared strained since President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s government took the decision last November to evict Indian infrastructure giant GMR from the country with seven days notice.

The US$511 concession agreement to develop Ibrahim Nasir International Airport was declared ‘void from the start’.  However, the government’s sudden eviction of the Indian investor did not however appear on a list of 11 grievances handed to all senior Maldivian reporters by the Indian High Commission this January.

The list of Consular issues affecting the India-Maldives relationship included a number of concerns: discrimination against Indian expatriates, the keeping of passports of Indian nationals by employers, exploitation of Indian workers and repatriation of mortal remains.

Threats towards the country’s diplomats, a disparity in visa charges between the two countries and the repatriation of salaries were also raised as issues.  The list’s release was followed by the Indian High Commission issuing a statement in early February slamming local media in the Maldives for “misrepresentation and twisting of issues”.

“The High Commission has noted a recent trend in a section of local media to publish negative, unsubstantiated reports, while blacking out objective and positive news on Indian issues,” the commission said at the time.

Despite admitting that every country has high and lows in their bilateral relations with neighbours, the new Indian High Commissioner to the Maldives Rajeev Shahare last month emphasised what he called the country’s “unshakable” long-standing relationship with the Maldives.

“During my tenure, I will endeavour to further strengthen the relationship between India and the Maldives, which is already very strong with an unshakable foundation,” he said on April 10, shortly after his appointment.

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Kumundhoo islanders bash Indian teacher after accusing him of hitting student

An Indian physics teacher has been hospitalised after a group of angry islanders confronted him on the island of Kumundhoo in Haa Dhaalu Atoll, and beat him up after accusing him of hitting a student in the chest.

Police Media Official Ismail Ali confirmed the incident occurred and had been reported to police.

“At the time I don’t have details of the case. Police are still on the island since last night,” he said.

Speaking to Minivan News, Island Councilor Ali Anwar said he heard of the incident yesterday at 5:30pm.

“Yesterday afternoon the expat teacher hit a 13 year-old student in the chest and the child fell and couldn’t breathe and was taken to the health centre,” Anwar said. “The islanders became angry at the teacher and gathered outside the school. The security guard and school staff were unable to control them.”

He said the islanders destroyed a power distribution unit outside the school cutting off its electricity, and then attacked the expat teacher.

Anwar said the police were called immediately when the islanders gathered in front of the school, but arrived at 8:00pm that night after everything had ended.

“I understand that the Indian teacher has been admitted to Kulhudhuffushi Hospital and the injuries he received are not clear,” he said.

“No one on this island wishes to have him back so we don’t think he will return,” he added.

Police are still active on the island investigating the case, however no one has been arrested, according to Anwar.

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