Warehouse collapse in Male’

Part of a three storey warehouse in Male’ collapsed yesterday.

The warehouse was located on Machangoalhi Raidhebaamagu. According to MNDF Fire and Rescue, the collapse occured because the warehouse was overstocked, mostly with juice packets and condensed milk.

According to MNDF the warehouse contained 10 container-loads worth of goods.

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National badminton tournament 2009

The national badminton tournament for 2009 has come to an end with Mohamed Ajfaan Rasheed taking out the men’s first division title for the fourth year running.

Moosa Nashid and Nashih Sharafudheen won the men’s doubles while Neela Ahmed and Nejeeba Aishath won the women’s doubles.

The mixed doubles were taken out by Mohamed Ajfaan Rasheed and Neela Ahmed.

Ali Amir, the president of the badminton association, handed out all the trophies. Haveeru reported that as a gesture of support for the atoll teams, all playing equipment was gifted to them by the badminton association.

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New licence required to export fish to Europe

All organisations involved in the export of fish to Europe must carry a special licence from next month.

The Maldives Seafood Processing and Export Association said that from next year they will only accept fish from vessels carrying this license.

Haveeru reports that the Fisheries Ministry will issue licenses for free until the end of December. After that licences be issued at a price depending on the length of the vessel.

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3rd division match to be replayed

A football game between the Police and MNDF clubs in the national 3rd  division will be replayed due to referee error.

MNDF won the match 1-0 on 14 December. However referee Ahmed Ameez was found to be in the wrong when he ordered the retaking of a penalty that was put away by the Police Club. Even after the second attempt was put away he judged it to be a foul and gave MNDF club a free kick.

According to Haveeru, the Football Association of Maldives (FAM) issued a statement saying that according to FIFA laws the match must be replayed, and said action would be taken against Ameez.

There has been no date scheduled for the replay, while the three points awarded to the MNDF have now been removed.

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Man dies in serious accident

A man who was involved in a serious road accident on the Addoo link road yesterday morning has died from his injuries.

The 43 year old man was driving a car which was involved in a head on collision with a motorcycle heading in the opposite direction. He died while being treated in the Hithadhoo hospital.

The two motorcyclists, aged 19 and 21, were flung into the ocean. They are now being treated for their injuries.

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Customs cage budgie smuggler

A man who tried to smuggle almost 40 live birds and more than 100 eggs into the Maldives has had his cargo seized by customs.

Customs discovered the birds after searching the Maldivian national’s luggage at Male’ International Airport, after he arrived from Bangkok on 20 December. In total there were 109 eggs and 39 birds, nine of them dead, customs officers said.

The birds are now in possession of the Agricultural Ministry’s plant and quarantine unit, which confirmed that most of the birds were canaries and budgerigars.

The birds and eggs were being readied for transportation to Thilafushi to be euthanised, the unit said.

Ali Rilwaan, head of environmental NGO Bluepeace, said the procedure for a situation like this was to determine the birds’ species and ascertain if they were wild.

“Normally these kind of birds are kept as pets, and if there are no health risks I see no reason for the birds to be killed this way,” Rilwaan said.

“For generations, Maldivians have kept birds as pets, and since the introduction of species such canaries and budgies as pets over the last ten years there has been less exploitation of local species,” Rilwaan continued.

Since the spread of bird flu the importing of pet species has been banned, however chicks and ducklings are still brought into the country in large numbers.

According to the plant and quarantine unit, there are no plans to find new homes for the birds and they will be destroyed.

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“Dhiraagu fire was arson”

The fire which gutted the Dhiraagu building in Thaa Veymandhoo has been confirmed as a case of arson by police.

The police said there was signs that the door had been forced open, which led them to believe the fire was deliberately lit.

Marketing and communications manager for Dhiraagu, Mohamed Mirushaan, said the fire had crippled all forms of communication on the island.

No one has been arrested so far and police are currently investigating the case.

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Motorcycle burns in Hulhumale

A Pulsar motorcycle was set on fire last night in Hulhumale in what police believe to be a case of arson.

According to the police the incident occured at 3:00am and the fire was put out within a few minutes with the assistance of the MNDF fire and rescue team.

The serious and organized crime unit is investigating the case, police said.

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Carnival cafes swamped with bids

More than a hundred parties are vying for the four cafes up for bid in the Alimas Carnival area.

According to the Male’ municipality, 130 different parties have shown interest.

All bids must be made before the start of February said president of the municipality, Sarangu Adam Maniku.

He also said that the winners of the bid would be decided based on four criteria: price, plans to develop the cafe, number of Maldivian employees and business concept.

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