Tag: maldives news

Police find drugs hidden in motorbike shock absorbers

Police have arrested a pair of men in possession of two packets of suspected narcotics.

Police received reports that people were transporting drugs on a boat travelling from Male’ to islands in Huvadhoo Atoll.

Police from Gaaf Alifu Vilingili conducted an operation and found the drugs while the vessel was moored in the Gaafu Alifu Nilhandhoo harbor.

Police found the drugs hidden in the shock absorbers of a motorbike on the boat.

The two men arrested are Ziraaru Saeed, 26, Gaafu Alifu Dhandhoo, Hefinaaz and Shamoodh Adam, 26, of Unimaage of the same island.

The drug enforcement department and Vilingili police are investigating the case

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

STO cargo ship held in Indian port

A cargo ship belonging the State Trading Organisation (STO) is being held in an Indian port.

The ship was loaded with 44,000 sacks of rice to be brought to Male’.

Ismail Shakir, director general for the ministry of economic development said “The report we have received from the STO is that the ship is being held because the rice they got was not meant to be exported.”

Ismail Sadiq of STO confirmed the report. “The ship belongs to us and so does the rice.”

Sadiq also reassured the public that “The supply of rice will not be affected by this incident.”

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

‘Jinni’ sold out, more shows planned

Horror movie ‘Jinni’, a local Dhivehi film showing at Olympus Cinema, has sold out five shows with tickets for a further five on sale.

The movie premiered on Wednesday to many positive reviews.

The movie is based on a true story and a novel by Binmaa Ibrahim Waheed, and was shot in Baa Kamadhoo featuring Ali Seezan, Mariyam Afeefa and Amira Ismail.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Six men attacked in Faumulaku, one killed

Six men have been injured in a fight between two groups in Gnaviyanni Faumulaku.

According to police, at around 9.30pm last night, six men standing by a house in the Dhoondigam ward were attacked by another group.

The six men were attacked with sharp objects, and after the altercation the group fled the scene.

The six are being treated at Faumulaku Atoll Hospital, and two have been transfered to the intensive care unit.

Haveeru has since reported that one of the injured men died while receiving treatment.

The Faumulaku police are now investigating the case to arrest posible suspects.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Hospital charges to remain stable despite Apollo deal, pledges health ministry

The ministry of health has pledged that hospital charges will remain stable at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), even though it is to managed by private company Apollo Hospital Group.

Health Minister Dr Aminath Jameel said the hospital remained a state asset “and we have only handed the management of the hospital over to Apollo.”

The minister also said that IGMH would be turned into a teaching hospital, which would provide training for nurses and paramedics in line with the government’s aim of ensuring at least 80 per cent of hospital staff are Maldivian within 15 years. Currently 60 per cent of the hospital’s nursing staff are foreign.

The health ministry acknowledged that IGMH was not at the standard that a tertiary hospital should be.

“Even though it’s hard to accept, we don’t have the capacity within the country to bring the hospital up to standard. We needed help from a foreign party,” Jameel said.

A situational analysis of the hospital will be conducted in the first three months of new management, after which a work plan will be submitted to the government.”

“We want the hospital to have a good management team to oversee the daily management of services,” Jameel said.

She also offered reassurances that Maldivian jobs would not be lost as part of this deal, and that the agreement was within the Maldivian employment act.

The current ratio at IGMH is three foreign staff for every Maldivian, a statistic Jameel said the ministry hoped to reverse.

Where’s the money?

The ministry paints the deal as very good for the Maldives on paper. But what does Apollo stand to gain?

Zubair Mohamed, CEO of IGMH said the deal with Apollo “wasn’t done to make a profit, but to provide good health care.”

Asked if how Apollo would be able to make a return on their US$20 million investment in the dilapidated Male’ hospital, Zubair said money “was a combined investment made by Apollo, the Indian government and the Maldives – not to be recovered, but to motivate the hospital.”

The benefits would be quickly realised, he said, “and after the first five years, IGMH will have the capacity to train doctors on the job as general practitioners.”

Zubair also said that having a high standard of hospital would open up possibilities for medical tourism, a lucrative sub-sector of the tourism industry in countries like Thailand.

“Having a good hospital means doors are opened for things like wellness tourism and palative care. Even tourists can comfortably have a medical check-up,” Zubair said.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Maldives to ease trade barriers with India

The government will ease trade barriers with India to promote trade between the two countries and accelerate foreign investment. Foreign Minister Ahmed Shaheed is currently leading a delegation in India to facilitate trade.

Indian financial newspaper Business Standard claimed Indian companies, including Tata, Suzlon, GMR, Apollo Hospitals and Oberoi, could invest as much as US$1 billion in the Maldives and significantly boost the country’s economy.

The Standard also reported that the Maldives foreign ministry will increase the leasing periods for resort development to 50 years and reduce the base rent in a bid to promote foreign investment in the hospitality sector.

Ahmed Naseem, state minister for foreign affairs said “many items that are traded between countries in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) will have tariffs eased on them, and this will make trade between the countries easier.”

Indian High Commissioner to the Maldives, Dnyaneshwar Mulay, said such a move would benefit the Maldivian economy.

“The lower tariffs will make exports and imports cheaper and make the market more competitive,” he said, adding that such a deal would also encourage the Maldives to increase its own exports.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

NGO hold a meeting on decentralisation

Decentralisation is one of the biggest issues facing the Maldives, a group of NGOs said yesterday at a meeting intended to inform the public on the subject.

Transparency Maldives, Democracy house, Rights for All, Madulu, Maldivian Detainee Network, Strength of Society and the Hodehdhoo Association for Development gave out information on decentralisation, an issue which last month caused gridlocks inside parliament and protests outside.

During the last term of parliament, President Nasheed presented a bill to decentralising the Maldives and divide up the islands into seven provinces, as stated in the manifesto of MDP.

Opposition DRP MPs stalled the bill with ammendments leading to quarrelling in the final sessions and several protests. The DRP claimed dividing the Maldives into provinces would affect the provision of services to people, while the MDP claimed it would make it easier.

President Nasheed withdrew the bill due to the heated dispute between MPs, with the intention of returning it later.

DRP MP Ahmed Mahloof said that dividing the Maldives into seven provinces was “illegal”.

Mahloof claimed only 15 per cent of the population would vote for decentralisation if President Nasheed put it to a referendum.

”We asked them to take a vote among the people, and I know they are afraid,” said Mahloof.

Meanwhile, MDP MP Ahmed Easa claimed according to the law Nasheed is compelled to divide the Maldives into provinces because it was in the MDP’s manifesto.

”We believe that people voted for MDP because they want to have what is in our manifesto, so we do not need to be taking another vote on this which will cost more than Rf50 million to undertake,” said Easa.

He claimed that dividing the islands into provinces would bring facilities closer to people.

”For instance, is it easier to come Male’ to get a service provided by the housing ministry or to get that service from the nearby island?” Easa asked.

The bill will return to parliament when it resumes in March.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Maumoon leaves on ‘official trip’ to India

Former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has today left for New Dheli, India on an ‘official trip’, according to a press release from the former president’s office.

Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) vice president Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, who has put himself forward as a candidate for the DRP leadership after Gayoom’s departure, is accompanying.

During this trip Maumoon will meet Indian Prime Minister Dr Mammauhan Singh and other senior government officials.

Thasmeen also announced the DRP would be offering Maumoon an honorary position at the party’s national congress in February.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

SAFF games might not be broadcast

The SAFF games, which start on Friday in Bangladesh, may not be broadcasted in the Maldives.

According to Haveeru, a TVM official claimed the station was trying to broadcast the games, but were having communication difficulties with their Bangladeshi counterparts.

TVM broadcast the recent SAFF championhip because a company named Singapore World Sports Group had the license to broadcast the event, and had an agreement with TVM.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)