Tag: maldives news

Police arrest man with illegal drugs

A man was apprehended by police yesterday afternoon for being allegedly involved in selling and using illegal drugs.

The man was caught by Seenu, Gan police with seven packets of illegal drugs while he was waiting near Maradhoo Harbour waiting for his motorcycle. Police were searching for two people reported to have gone to Maradhoo to sell drugs.

Police found Rf12,945 in cash in the man’s pocket as well as the packets of drugs.

Police in Gan, along with the Drug Enforcement Department of Maldives Police Service are investigating the case.

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President Nasheed speaks at South Korean university

President Mohamed Nasheed spoke at the Hanseo University of South Korea last Friday, where he said no attempt by climate deniers had altered the evidence that climate change is real.

The president called for climate deniers to visit the Maldives and see the effects of climate change, noting that in the Maldives, climate change was not an abstract or distant phenomenon.

President Nasheed noted the importance of bridging the divide between developed and developing countries in order to assure a stronger commitment to fight climate change at the next UN summit due to take place in Mexico later this year.

He also spoke of the Maldives efforts to become carbon neutral by 2020.

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President Nasheed meets his South Korean counterpart

President Mohamed Nasheed met with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak last Thursday as part of his visit to Seoul for the B4E Summit.

President Nasheed and President Lee discussed bilateral relations between the two countries and spoke of ways to strengthen mutual cooperation.

President Nasheed said South Korea and the Maldives could work together especially in the areas of fisheries and the environment.

He also spoke of business and investment opportunities in the Maldives.

President Lee commended the Maldivian president for his efforts to bring the issue of climate change to a global platform and for his role in bringing democracy to the Maldives.

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Cargo carrier overturns, two crew members drown

Police have reported a cargo carrier travelling from Noonu Atoll to Malé overturned  near N. Manadhoo and lost two of its passengers.

The carrier was travelling with seven crew, one of whom swam ashore to Maafaru, Noonu Atoll, and reported the incident. Another passenger was rescued by police, and three others swam ashore to Maafaaru.

Police from Noonu, Baa, Raa and Lhaviyani Atolls were searching for the two crew missing members, until Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) found the two bodies 24 metres below the surface yesterday afternoon.

The carrier was transporting two excavators, a tractor and a steel oil tank.

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DRP drafting bill on domestic violence

The Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) is drafting a bill on domestic violence, hoping to create more comprehensive legislation for victims and perpetrators of violence in the home.

DRP MP Rozaina Adams said the bill would encompass legislation on both physical and sexual violence against women and children.

She said most people are not willing to talk about these issues, and “women are not sure they can get help through the system, so they stay quiet.”

The bill also aims to improve how people who report these cases are dealt with, and to give more security and assistance to anyone affected by domestic violence.

Rozaina said Independent MP for Kulhudhuffushi-South Mohamed Nasheed was assisting the DRP in drafting the bill.

“He was going to present the bill himself, but because we have a women’s wing he said he would help us,” Rozaina added.

She said they are working to see if they can present the bill at the next parliamentary session.

DRP Spokesperson Ibrahim Shareef said the bill was being drafted on a previous model. “There was a legislative framework considered by the previous government,” he said.

He explained the bill was being drafted to ensure “the protection of women and children according to international standards.”

He said the DRP “will forward it to the Majlis in due time.”

In early March this year, former president and former leader of the DRP, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom,  expressed his concerns over “false information” being spread by the Islamic Ministry on women’s rights according to Islam.

He said he provided rights for women under his government, especially by giving them equal opportunity in politics, and criticised the current government for not making legislation to minimise violence against women.

Gayoom’s daughter and leader of the DRP’s Women’s Wing, Dhunya Maumoon, announced the drafting of the bill.

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President Nasheed calls for a global price on carbon

Speaking at the Business for Environment Global Summit (B4E), President Mohamed Nasheed said the price of carbon should be global because we live in a global economy.

President Nasheed said stating a price on carbon would “unleash tremendous change” and develop a market for cleaner technologies.

“Some countries are still arguing development means becoming dirtier and dirtier as they become richer and richer,” the president said, noting that the goal for carbon-neutrality “will soon need to be done everywhere else.”

President Nasheed said although becoming carbon neutral and combating climate change was urgent, he had faith that human ingenuity would “allow us to flourish indefinitely.”

He said in this time of change there would be uncomfortable uncertainties as well as new opportunities, and urged the world to “leave behind the dirty economy of the 20th century.”

President Nasheed and the First Lady Laila Ali are currently in Seoul, in the Republic of South Korea, for the B4E Summit.

President Nasheed has been awarded the UN’s ‘Champion of the Earth Award’ for his work to combat climate change and will receive his trophy tonight in Seoul.

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UN makes President Mohamed Nasheed ‘Champion of the Earth’

President Mohamed Nasheed has been awarded the UN Champion of the Earth Award by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in Seoul, Republic of South Korea.

The awards were held in conjunction with the Business for Environment Summit (B4E), which is being attended by representatives of business, government and civil society who are working to promote a greener economy.

The award celebrates those who are encouraging a low carbon, resource efficient 21st century. The UN awards individuals “who embody commitment and vision towards environmental leadership through their action and their influence.”

One senior government official described Nasheed’s award as “quite a big deal – basically, the only thing that trumps this as an environment prize is a Nobel Peace prize, which they occasionally give for environmental causes.”

UN Under Secretary General and Executive Director of UNEP, Achim Steiner, said “President Nasheed is not only an articulate voice for the vulnerable and the poor facing the challenges of global warming, but a politician who is showcasing to the rest of the world how a transition to climate neutrality can be achieved and how all nations, no matter how big or how small, can contribute.”

President Nasheed said he was “delighted to accept this prize on behalf of the whole of Maldives. It goes to show that by doing the right thing, a small country can make a big impact on the world stage.”

President Nasheed also spoke of the damage industrialised countries have done to the environment, but said “given the opportunity, I believe that we would have done exactly the same.”

“We’re no better humans than the industrialised world. We’ve not been able to destroy as much as them…because we did not get the opportunity to destroy as much,” he said.

“We’ve destroyed whatever we can, and they destroyed whatever they can. Of course the magnitude of destruction by us is far less than the magnitude of destruction by others.”

He said the fact other countries had created more pollution than the Maldives did not mean they carry the burden of fixing the problem, and said that is why he is aiming to make the Maldives carbon neutral by 2020.

President Nasheed assured carbon neutrality is not only possible, but “it’s economically viable, financially feasible and there is no reason why we shouldn’t do it.”

He said the idea to be carbon neutral was “based very much on solid economic arguments.”

The president noted he doesn’t think it’s “humanly possible to do nothing about the environmental impacts” and was hopeful people could “bring the earth to it’s natural balance.”

“We still have time and we should act as quickly as possible,” he said.

He was awarded in the category of Policy and Leadership for his role in promoting the fight against climate change in forums such as last year’s Copenhagen COP15 Climate Change Summit, and for his efforts to raise awareness on climate change at a global level.

The UN commended him for his campaign to protect the coral reefs of the Maldives and for urging other countries to follow his initiative to turn the Maldives into the first carbon-neutral country by 2020.

President Nasheed ended his speech by saying “the climate crisis threatens us all. What happens to the Maldives today, happens to the rest of the world tomorrow. We are all Maldivians now.”

Press Secretary for the President’s Office Mohamed Zuhair said “the president is delighted and is saying he is humbled. He thinks the award gives a very good name to the country.”

President Nasheed will receive his trophy at a gala dinner tonight in Seoul.

President Nasheed was one of the six winners of the prestigious awards, chosen from the worlds of government, science, business and entertainment. The other five winners were Bharrat Jagdeo, President of Guyana; Prince Mostapha Zaher, Afghanistan’s Director General of the National Environmental Protection Agency; Taro Takahashi, Japanese earth scientist; Zhou Xun, Chinese actress; and Vinod Khosala, a green energy entrepreneur and co-founder of Sun Microsystems from the USA.

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Shangri-La dismisses 14 striking staff, invites rest to return to work

Shangri-La Villingili Resort and Spa has invited striking staff to return to work, after 157 staff stopped working in protest over the dismissal of four villa hosts.

The villa hosts were dismissed after security and a duty manager discovered they had locked themselves in a guest villa with a PlayStation during a lunch break.

Senior management from the hotel chain flew into the Maldives earlier this week to resolve the situation, just as the Ministry of Human Resources and the Tourism Employees Association of the Maldives (TEAM) became involved.

A statement from the resort today said while management “acknowledges and accepts employees’ rights under Maldivian
Law, because of the serious nature of employee behaviour, 14 staff members will no longer be employed by the property.”

“The management will fill the resulting vacancies with Maldivians,” it added.

Other employees “are invited to return to work”, the resort’s statement said, adding that “initial claims that 65 employees were dismissed are untrue.”

“The resolution reflects the desire to move forward in a fair and reasonable manner considering the needs of the local community and all employees. The resort is operating as normal and no guests have been affected,” Shangri-La said.

Minivan News contacted one of the striking employees camped on Feydhoo, who said the protesters would stick to their original demands, which include a written statement from the resort reinstating the dismissed employees.

“Most of the strikers have been given first and last warnings, which means next thing they do wrong they will be dismissed,” he claimed.

The resort’s general manager went to Feydhoo yesterday and called the 14 dismissed strikers one by one to an area secured by riot police, the striker claimed, to inform them of their dismissal.

Vice President of TEAM Mauroof Zakir said those dismissed included the four villa hosts “and 10 staff who management suspects have been leading the strike.”

He noted that the protesting staff had taken a vote yesterday over whether to continue to with the strike “and the majority decided to continue.”

More than 80 staff are continuing to strike, he said, adding that the resort was continuing to operate normally “because the majority of staff are expatriate.”

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Dr Baari says President is not trying to establish a church in the Maldives

Minister of Islamic Affairs Abdul Majeed Abdul Baari said accusations made by the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) that President Mohamed Nasheed is seeking advice from the Islamic Ministry to establish a church in the Maldives are false, reports Miadhu.

Dr Baari said “missionary work has been in the Maldives for quite some time. But this government is working with the Islamic Ministry to eradicate that work.”

He pointed out several instances in which the previous government was linked to ‘spreading Christianity’ such as the opening of Salaam School, which was opened by former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom himself.

Minister Baari claimed Christian missionaries had been using the word ‘salaam’ to spread their religion in Muslim countries and said Gayoom was then forced to close the school.

He mentioned a teacher in Mauhadh school who was trying to spread Christianity in the school and was sent to another island, but not removed from the country.

Dr Baari also mentioned the former president’s personal photographer, Najmi, was convicted for translating the Bible into Dhivehi language, and said several members of the previous administration were distributing Christian books in the country.

He said Naseer’s comments were a hoax and there was no truth in the matter.

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