Tag: maldives news

Missing girl found at Hulhuamalé ferry terminal after 49 days

Police have announced that they have found 16-year-old Fathimath Malha 49 days after she was reported missing.

She was found at around 5.20pm at the Hulhumalé Ferry Terminal on Monday afternoon (October 13). Police have reported her to be in good health.

They stated that the Family and Child Protection Department of the police had, in alliance with the Malé City Police, searched multiple locations in Malé, Hulhumalé, and Villimalé with court orders.

Police also reported that they conducted searches in various islands in the atolls for Malha, who was first reported missing on August 25.

Local media reported the case as being a ‘runaway’, though police declined from explaining on what basis the case was investigated. No additional information regarding Malha has been shared with the public.

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In the Maldives, it’s not just knives that journalists are being threatened with: The Independent

“Anyone searching for #Maldives on Twitter over the last week, and expecting to see endless pictures of an idyllic desert island holiday, may have found themselves slightly perplexed by the seemingly random image of a machete lodged through a door,” writes Neil Merrett for the UK’s  Independent newspaper.

“The door in question belongs to Minivan News, an independent online publication that has provided coverage of the country’s often painful transition from an autocratic theocracy to a democracy.

Minivian News journalists were then once again threatened with their lives via SMS. ‘You will be killed next,’ Minivan News’ current deputy editor was told.

The machete, pictured above, was a gift from suspected gang members on a self-proclaimed spiritual mission to “eliminate” suspected secularists, atheists and homosexuals. Conveniently, these labels are almost always attached to media outlets, NGOs, opposition politicians and bloggers.

What started with a machete through the door of the Minivan News office, soon escalated into arson threats being issued against the publication and Raajje TV. Police moved quickly to evacuate the offices of both media outlets, while providing them with ongoing protection.”

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MVR35 million power station opened in Kolhufushi

An MVR35 million (US$2.27 million) power station built by the government in Meemu atoll Kolhufushi was opened and handed over to the Fenaka Corporation today (October 14).

The power station, constructed by Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC), was launched at a ceremony held at Kolhufushi by the Minister of Environment and Energy Thoriq Ibrahim.

While speaking to local news outlet sun online, a spokesperson from the Fenaka said that the power house has two 250kW generators and one 200kW generator.

Speaking at a ceremony held to inaugurate the distribution of 77 generators government utility company Fenaka last month, President Abdulla Yameen pledged to provide 24hr reliable electricity throughout the country during 2015.

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IGMH website hacked

The official website of the Male’ City’s state run hospital, Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), has been hacked.

According to IGMH Media Officer Zeenath Ali, the website was hacked on Sunday, October 12.She has told local media that the hospital’s IT department is currenlty working on retrieving the website.

Zeenath stated that the hospital’s management does not have any knowledge of who might have been behind the hacking.

Earlier in October, the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) official site was also hacked, while multiple government websites were taken down in May after an online hacker defaced pages with messages raising awareness of atrocities in the Syrian civil war.

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Case of unauthorised imam sent to prosecutor general

Police are reported to have concluded investigations into an imam accused of giving unauthorised sermons at Malé’s Dharumavantha Mosque.

Sun Online reports that the case has been sent to the Prosecutor General’s Office after a 34-year-old man was taken into custody for leading an independent prayer congregation on September 30.

He stands charged of of “attempting to incite religious strife and discord,” said police, and leading prayers without authorisation from the Islamic ministry in violation of the Protection of Religious Unity Act of 1994 and regulations under the law.

Home Minster Umar Naseer has pledged to stop the congregation meeting at the mosque. The gatherings, deemed “extremist” by the Islamic Minister, have continued even after being temporarily shut down in February by Malé City Council.

Reports that police had arrested worshippers at the mosque earlier this month were denied by police, however, who accused media outlets of attempting to mislead the public.

In April, President Abdulla Yameen ratified amendments to the Religious Unity Act – which came into force mid-July – outlawing independent or unauthorised prayer congregations. The amendments will also bring all mosques under the central administration of the Islamic ministry from November 1.

The penalty for violations of either the law or the regulations is a jail sentence of between two to five years.

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Majlis session cancelled due to no work, EC nominees to be considered

Tomorrow’s sitting of the People’s Majlis has been cancelled as no tasks are currently pending for the full house.

Deputy Speaker ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik is reported to have urged Majlis committees to expedite their work. Today’s sitting was just the second since MPs returned from recess at the start of the week.

During today’s session the names of two nominees to the vacant seats on the Elections Commission (EC) were sent to the independent institutions committee for consideration.

Asim Abdul Sattar and Aishath Hatheef have been nominated to the five member commission by President Abdulla Yameen.

The commission was reduced to 4 members after the resignation of Ibrahim ‘Ogaru’ Waheed on health grounds last year, before President Fuwad Thowfeek and Vice President Ahmed Fayaz were removed by the Supreme Court in March.

Ismail Habeeb Abdul Raheem was subsequently approved by the Majlis in order to fulfil the EC’s required quorum of three members.

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Democratic decline in the Maldives – will the world wake up?: Open Democracy

“The Maldives should be seen as a microcosm of many aspects of struggles taking place throughout the world: long-standing elites exert a retrograde influence on rights, democracy and social freedoms, and by doing so they help themselves to profit from corruption, cronyism, and the enervation or breakdown of democratic institutions,” writes Matt Mullberry for Open Democracy.

“Accordingly, civil resistance becomes the necessary mechanism for people to try to save democratic practices and individual rights.

This same dynamic played out in South Africa during the long struggle against apartheid, in the Philippines in the 1980s, and during the Arab Spring. Within all these struggles, the concern and action of other governments, especially those in the democratic world, had a serious impact.

Here the stakes are just as large, albeit in a remote island nation. The international community has the opportunity to defend a set of democratic ideals to which it has long paid lip service, at a very low cost, and by doing so affect the lives and fortunes of a nation’s people.

The question right now is simple:  Will international actors who believe in genuine democracy be consistent in defending it, regardless of the stakes and the context?”

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Addu City guesthouse venture kicks off

Southern Addu City’s flagship guesthouse venture kicked off today with the council handing over 29 plots of land to an Indian company for the development of approximately 250 beds.

Speaking to Minivan News, Mayor Abdulla ‘Sobe’ Sodiq said SG18 Realty intends to develop between 10 and 15 room guesthouses on each plot of privately owned land.

Of the 29 plots, 17 are on the island of Hithadhoo, 10 in Maradhoo, and two in the Maradhoo-Feydhoo ward.

Landowners will receive land rent and ten percent of net profits from the guesthouses, Sobe said.

Guesthouse development on inhabited islands was a key election pledge of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party, to which all members of the Addu City Council belong.

Opposition leader and former President Mohamed Nasheed was also present at today’s ceremony.

The US$20 million Addu City Guesthouse Venture aims to develop 2000 guesthouse beds, five diving centers, six water sports centers, six restaurants and a sailing club in the Maldives’ second most populous region.

In addition to SG18 Realty, a Danish and a Dubai company have also expressed interest in developing guesthouses in Addu City, Sodiq said. The council is now evaluating the two remaining proposals.

The foreign developers have also expressed interest in managing and operating guesthouses, which could lead to the transfer of tourism money abroad, Sodiq admitted.

But the mayor said guesthouse tourism would allow locals to establish tourism related businesses such as laundry services, food and beverage, and entertainment.

“This is a bed and breakfast model. Even if foreign companies manage and operate the guesthouses, there will be a multitude of local businesses, such as restaurants, laundry services, souvenir shops, water sports, and diving centers. These businesses will benefit community and put money in the pockets of locals,” he said.

Once the buildings are completed, landowners would also have the opportunity to manage and operate businesses if they pay back 20 or 30 percent of the property value, Sodiq said.

However, majority of landowners do not want to operate the businesses, he said.

Addu City Council also intends to create jobs through the venture and will conduct training programs to train tour guides, lifeguards, and staff to manage guesthouses, he added.

“This project will benefit everyone in Addu, not only particular people,” Sodiq said.

“Most Addu City men spend their working lives outside their home island in resorts around the country. They only come home once or twice a year, for their children’s birthdays. They miss their children’s first steps, first day at school and sometimes do not even make it home for the birth of their children.”

“People are desperate. This venture is an opportunity for Addu resort workers to return home, work in their home islands, own or operate their own businesses.”

The guesthouse venture will also make Addu City’s Gan International Airport viable, Sodiq said.

At present there is only one guesthouse with eight beds registered in Addu City.

The Maldives’ tourism industry with over 100 resorts and nearly one million visitors per year brings in approximately US$2 billion annually.

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Government bars arrivals from countries worst affected by Ebola

The Government of Maldives will no longer issue on-arrival visas to travellers arriving from countries heavily affected by the Ebola outbreak.

Arrivals from Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea will not be issued visas, third country nationals who have visited these countries will not be granted entry until 21 days have elapsed.

“The Government of Maldives has taken these decisions based on the need to protect the Maldives from the disease, and to assure both nationals and tourists of the seriousness with which the matter is being taken by the authorities,” explained the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The current outbreak of the virus was first reported in March this year and has gone on to kill more than 4000 people in West Africa, making it more deadly than all previous ebola epidemics combined.

Minister of Defence and acting health minister Mohamed Nazim last night announced the measures during a ceremony at the health ministry, expressing his hope that the disease not spread to a country as vulnerable as the Maldives.

Thirty day visas are currently provided on arrival to over one million tourists visiting the Maldives each year. The generous visa rules have also made the country a popular transit point for refugees.

A man from Nigeria was place in quarantine in Hulhumalé late last month after appearing to be unwell, though he was later found to have no symptoms of the virus.

During a health ministry press conference held following this incident, officials explained that all arrivals from the affected region were being screened at immigration and monitored upon their release.

HPA Epidemiologist Dr Aishath Aroona Abdulla noted at the time that 109 individuals from the affected areas had visited the Maldives since screening began, but that none had come from the three worst affected countries.

A press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday reiterated the “quite insignificant” levels of travel between the countries in question and the luxury tourist destination.

Visitors from Africa made up just 0.7 percent of all tourist arrivals to the Maldives in 2013, with 0.4 percent of these coming from South Africa.

In late August the government advised Maldivian nationals against travel to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It was announced yesterday that any Maldivians returning from the three heavily affected countries will now be isolated for the duration of the 21 day incubation period.

The first symptoms of the disease – currently known to be transmitted only through direct contact and bodily fluids – include fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache, and a sore throat. This is followed by diarrhoea and vomitting.

The disease can impair the functioning of organs such as the kidneys and liver and can result in internal and external bleeding. There is currently no vaccine or cure for Ebola and past outbreaks have had fatality rates of up to 90 percent.

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