A 13 year-old girl died when a boat capsized in Laamu Dhanbidhoo yesterday at around 4:15 pm.
The accident occurred during bad weather conditions as the boat was shipping sand from a nearby island, according to the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF).
The girl has been identified as Hawwa Aroosha of Fithuroanuge, Laamu Dhanbidhoo.
A 23 year-old man and three children were also on board when the accident happened.
One of the children, a 15 year-old boy, has been taken to Laamu Gan regional Hospital with serious injuries.
Police and the education ministry are investigating reports that pupils at Lale Youth International school in Hulhumale are being subjected to physical abuse, including by the school’s principal.
A concerned parent spoke to Minivan News about the abuse her 13 year old son was suffering.
“He would come home and tell me about the beatings. He told me it depended how angry the principal was – sometimes a leather belt was used.
“To discipline a child is one thing. I totally agree with that. But using physical force is not acceptable,” she said.
Another source linked with the school claimed the allegations were true.
” The principal and assistant principal of the school have been physically violent with boys in grades six, seven and eight,” the source said.
“[The violence] has only been towards the boys, but they have done it in front of the girls as well. Just recently a pupil was held by the neck and put up against the wall. Many pupils went home and told their parents they were so scared they nearly wet themselves.”
The principal of Lale Youth International School told Minivan News “there is no need to comment on this right now.”
The assistant principal has since gone home to Turkmenistan.
Deputy minister of education Abdulla Nazeer was unable to confirm the reports “as we have no solid evidence”, but said the ministry has “sent a supervision team and we have now submitted their report to the police.”
“We have been getting complaints and the ministry is concerned about the children. But it is important not to assume anything. Both sides have rights, and we must wait for the police to investigate,” he said.
Police spokesperson Ahmed Shiyam confirmed police were conducting an investigation at the school.
President of the Adhaalath Party Sheikh Hussain Rasheed Ahmed was attacked on Monday night in an incident he believes “was politically motivated.”
The attack occurred near Masjidhul Sulthaan Mohamed-bin-Abdulla at around 12.30 am.
Speaking to Minivan News, Rasheed said “I had just finished up at Television Maldives (TVM) and was on my motorbike on Ameenee Magu. It was the third night of the Torture Victims Association (TVA) rally but I didn’t attend it that night.
“Just as I neared the mosque, they came from behind me and someone grabbed my shoulder. I lost control of my motorbike and was flung off, while my bike crashed under a lorry.
“I think there was two of them on one motorbike. It happened so fast, I didn’t get to see it properly”
Aside from a bruised hand, lost spectacles and a wrecked motorbike, Sheikh Rasheed escaped the incident in good health.
Maldives police confirmed the attack had occurred but would not comment on whether it was random or politically or religiously motivated.
Rasheed responded: ” It’s because of my involvement in the Torture Victims Association rally. It’s a political issue – I haven’t been able to walk on streets lately because of the verbal abuse.”
Response
“I don’t believe it was a random attack,” said the president’s press secretary Mohamed Zuhair, pointing out that Rasheed was the head of the Presidential Commission investigating the alleged embezzlement of state funds by the former government.
“It’s the same kind of thing that went on during elections,” Zuhair said. “It’s been alleged that this [attack] is linked to parties opposing the government.”
DRP member Mohamed ‘Mundhu’ Hussain Shareef told Minivan News: ” This is the first I have heard of the incident. I hope that [Rasheed] is safe and urge him to be cautious. Given the political situation even I have to walk around with body guards now. If us politicians get hurt, we can no longer provide our services to the people.”
In response to Zuhair’s speculation that the attacks were prompted by the opposition, Mundhu said “If the government is making such accusations, they should specify which party and who.”
“I believe that all these rumors are being spread to shift public focus from the real issues. The MDP is only being held together through its hatred for Maumoon. They have lost their popularity, people want their basic needs satisfied, and so now the government is using these rumors to shift the focus.”
Mundhu also mentioned that DRP members had also been attacked, such as Madd Saleem.
“I am not accusing the leadership of committing such acts of violence. Rather it is unruly elements within the party. It is important that the heads of the parties control these elements,” he said.
President Mohamed Nasheed has sent a message of sumpathy to the president of Haiti René Préval , following the devastating earthquake that hit the city of Port-au-Prince.
The president’s message said “It was with deep shock and sadness that I learned about the powerful earthquake that hit the city of Port-au-Prince causing loss of lives and injury to hundreds of people as well as extensive destruction to property and infrastructure’.
“The Government and people of the Maldives join me in conveying our deepest sympathy to you, the Government and the people of Haiti, and in particular, to those who were directly affected by this tragedy. We would also like to send our sincere condolences to the members of the bereaved families.”
The deadly magnitude seven earthquake was the worst to hit Haiti in over 200 years. According to the Haitian prime minister, as many as 3 million people have been affected and 100,00 feared dead.
The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has renewed calls for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in the Maldives, after coming under attack for failing to address the custodial abuse of political dissidents prior to 2002.
During the launch of the ‘Torture Victims Association’ NGO on Saturday night, MDP MP and founder ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik threatened to call for the dismissal of HCRM’s president Ahmed Saleem in the parliament.
“We’ve come out for justice for the torture we went through before 2002. If you can’t do it, why don’t you resign and go home,” he demanded.
At a press conference today, Saleem said that “since we are an institution working for human rights, we will give support to anyone working for human rights – our law compels us to protect and promote human rights, so [the TVA] will get our support and cooperation. But it should not be political.”
Yesterday the DRP accused the MDP of forming the TVA in an attempt to motivate its activists by uniting them against former president Abdul Maumoon Gayoom. Today Saleem emphasised that such an NGO cold only be justified “as long as there is no politics involved, as long as there’s some sincerity in what they’re doing. Already there’s a network of NGOs that we support, so it’s like any other… we will support it if it is genuinely working for human rights.”
However he added that “it’s is not our mandate to look into the type of allegations they’re making – we don’t talk about things that happened before a certain date. The main reason this is happening is, in truth, if there is no democratic system in a country for too long, [human rights abuses] will happen.”
Furthermore, he claimed, “we have to consider national unity, the state of the nation and if it’s the right thing to do. I would say this is a very dangerous time for the country’s future – as a small, homogeneous Islamic nation the Maldives cannot afford such bitter divisions.”
Although HRCM’s mandate did not extend past 2000, he said, the commission could technically investigate human rights abuses before that. But, he said, HRCM had to “consider the consequences of such an investigation.”
Instead, he reiterated his earlier call for a South African-style Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), “with powers to conduct investigations, take witness statements and issue pardons in exchange for testimony.
“The Human Rights Commission does not have these kind of powers – the two things that are needed most for it are the powers to issue judgements and pardons. We don’t have either of these powers and neither does any human rights commission anywhere in the world.”
A TRC would demand the cooperation and participation “of all political parties, to move beyond the past.”
He added that the commission was concerned about the current unstable political atmosphere and the polarisation of Maldivian society, and stressed that a truth and reconcilation process should not be politicised.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Ahmed Shaheed today said he supported the concept of a TRC, but noted that a “blanket amnesty is illegal under international law.”
“The UN said it would not associate with the Sierra Leone amnesty in 1999. But yes, the notion that we need to address past grievances, find the truth, and through process of finding the truth find redress, is important. I think as the year progresses the idea will develop,” he said.
Three assessments on the human rights situation in the Maldives, produced by the government, HRCM and a coalition of NGOs, will be presented to a UN council in November this year. Shaheed said he hoped the government’s draft would be ready for public review by early February.
The ruling Maldivian Demcratic Party (MDP) have expressed concern over the raised electricity prices in Male’.
“It has always been a vow of the MDP to lower living costs, however at the moment electricity prices are ridiculously high,” said MDP chairperson Mariya Didi.
MDP MP Hamid Abdul Gafoor explained the main issue was the change in the pricing scheme.
“On average, a household will use at least 300 to 350 units of electricity in a month,” he said.
STELCO, the state electric company, recently dramatically increased the price for the first 300 units of electricity. The first hundred units have risen from Rf1.60 to Rf2.25, while the second and third hundred units have risen from Rf .70 and Rf2.15 to Rf2.50 each.
That means the average monthly electricity bill for household has risen almost overnight from Rf545 ($US42) to Rf725 ($US56).
“Many people are assuming we are attacking the government, but we are just voicing the concerns of the people,” Hamid said.
Currently there is a Rf45 subsidy per head per day to help with the cost of electricity for households with monthly incomes of less than Rf9450 ($US735).
“We have to get rid of this mentality that if a house hold electricity bill is high, they are well off,” urged MDP MP Eva Abdulla. “We have to assume that it might just be 12 people living in that household, chipping in for the bill – this is the reality.”
The president’s office issued a statement claiming the government was listening to the concerned MPs.
“We can’t provide additional financial assistance to STELCO – if we did that we would have to start printing money, and this would devalue the ruffiyya,” said the president’s press secretary, Mohamed Zuhair.
Hamid agreed that the solution was not to print more money.
“If we were to print an additional Rf50 million, it would only raise inflation and we would have no control over prices,” he said.
“The MDP wants to increase the subsidy, but there are many issues we need to rethink,” he said. “The figures we are currently using to calculate eligibility for the subsidy is very outdated, so there is research underway to get a ground figure.”
Mariya noted that many eligible households were failing to claim the subsidy.
“We have conducted house-to-house research and found that many people do not have sufficient information about the subsidy and thus have not been filling out their subsidy forms,” she said.
Cutbacks
The government could only boost subsidies if it reduced its current spending, Eva claimed, renewing the government’s controversial calls to slim the administration by reducing the spend on civil servant salaries.
“The government needs to reduce the civil service – offices should only have the required number of employees for optimal performance. Only then will government spending be reduced,” she said.
Civil service spending must be kept “on hold” until the government’s income surpassed Rf7 billion, Hamid said.
The buildings jostled against one another, a multitude of colours, different shapes, it almost feels like we’re a little Manhattan: this is the spectacular view of Male’ from Farivalhu Restaurant’s terrace atop the Central Hotel in the heart of the capital.
The restaurant has a seating area on the inside and a spacious terrace which is often the venue of wedding receptions and other events. Opting for the best view, we sit in the smoking area with a couple of friends, an elevated area with seating for 18. We take our time ordering main course – so spoiled are we for choice, with over 300 dishes of Indian, Italian,Chinese and vegetarian cuisine.
The drinks arrive and look appetising: Mango smoothie decorated with a tiny umbrella and a maraschino cherry, papaya juice in a fancy glass and chocolate milkshake.
However the consistency and flavours prove shocking, to say the least. The mango smoothie is sour and watery, and the chocolate milkshake tastes like milk tea.
Fish steak in pepper sauce
Ever optimistic, we await the main course. Fish steak in pepper sauce, chicken parmesan and prawn macaroni in tomato sauce are the main meals for the night.
The fish steak and chicken parmesan are served with french fries that appear to have been fried twice, and paysanne of crunchy vegetable coleslaw.
It seems the chef had excessive amounts of beetroot at his disposal. It’s the main piece of garnish on all the dishes – two slices of it are paired with a shred of lettuce. The rule of thumb is that beetroot should only be served as a garnish if it has been marinated or bound with a dressing.
The green salad, supposedly with a French dressing, is overpowered by excessive amounts of bell pepper and looks like it has been compressed with a heavy object onto the dish. This classic salad lacked height and depth and was poorly served.
After that is was not surprising to find the chicken parmesan overcooked and chewy, with an overly tangy tomatoe concassé and gratinated cheese on top.
The fish steak looked promising but turned out to be absolutely revolting, with a stale taste that is a travesty in a country where getting fresh fish is as easy as a five minute trip to the market.
The pepper sauce tasted good, though it lacked the right consistency and the glossy finish which comes from this type of velvety sauce.
Bracing ourselves, we tasted the prawn macaroni. It was like eating baby food, an overcooked mashed up mess of pasta and rubbery prawns. Either the chef didn’t know the difference between penne and macaroni or they had run out of it, as we were served penne.
Similar to the chicken parmesan, the tomatoe concassé for the pasta was undercooked and needed to be reduced more for a full bodied flavour.
By the time desserts and coffees arrived we were ready for just about anything.
"Assault on the palate"
The chocolate mousse is visually not bad with a dollop of split cream and a maraschino cherry. But one spoonful and a split second later the most distasteful after-taste of cocoa powdered oil hits the palate, enough to put anyone off chocolate mousse for life.
Even the coffee was burnt, watery and tasted bitter.
It’s a pity that Farivalhu, with the privilege of being in the city center and few restaurants in the vicinity, appears to not care enough to provide its clientele with good food. Maybe for inspiration they can look towards their service staff: the attentive waiters served their customers with care.
Farivalhu Restaurant
Food 4/10
Atmosphere 6/10
Price 5/10
Service 6/10
Total 5/10
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