Tag: maldives news

LGA recommends making councillors part-time

The Local Government Authority (LGA) has recommended making councillors part-time with the exception of council presidents and vice presidents.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Defence Minister Colonel (Retired) Mohamed Nazim – who chairs the institution tasked with monitoring councils and coordinating with the government – said the LGA has proposed amending the Decentralisation Act to pay part-time councillors an allowance for attending council meetings.

“For example, a teacher or a headmaster level person or someone with higher educational qualifications, they will have the opportunity to contest [council elections]; or for example if it’s a skilled person, a boat builder, they will only have to come for meetings and they’re done after giving their advice and opinion,” Nazim explained.

“The president and vice president will operate the council. Instead, now they have to leave their profession – the teacher, headmaster or boat builder has to give up his job.”

As a consequence, Nazim contended, the councillors’ time was not put to productive use.

“The benefit of [the changes] is that the councillor has to work a very short amount of time and be free to work productively for the island’s development,” he added.

Wage bill

The president of island councils currently receive a monthly salary and allowance of MVR15,000 (US$973) while council members receive MVR11,000 (US$713). The mayor of Malé is paid MVR45,000 (US$2,918) a month.

The president and vice president of councils are elected from among the members by secret ballot.

A total of MVR717 million (US$46 million) was allocated in the 2011 national budget to pay salaries and allowances for local councils, which accounted for 17 percent of the annual wage bill.

Under article 25 of the Decentralisation Act, a five-member council is elected in islands with a population of less than 3,000, a seven-member council for islands with a population between 3,000 and 10,000, and a nine-member council for islands with a population of more than 10,000.

City councils comprise of “an elected member from every electoral constituency of the city” and atoll councils comprises of “elected members from the electoral constituencies within the administrative division.”

The current model of more than 1,000 elected councillors approved in 2010 by the then-opposition majority parliament was branded “economic sabotage” by the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) government, which had proposed limiting the number of councillors to “no more than 220.”

The new layer of government introduced with the first local council elections in February 2011 cost the state US$12 million a year with a wage bill of US$220,000 a month.

Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad told parliament’s Budget Review Committee last year that President Abdulla Yameen favoured revising the local government framework to reduce the number of island and atoll councillors.

In November 2013, the incoming administration proposed merging island and atoll councils, with the latter to be composed of a representative from each island of the atoll.

President’s Office Spokesperson Ibrahim Muaz said at the time that “the president’s thinking is not to cut down on the number of councillors. But to elect councilors based on the population of the islands. This is a move to curb state expenditure.”

However, parliament did not move to amend the Decentralisation Act ahead of the local council elections on January 18, which saw 1,100 councillors elected for  three-year terms.

Three-year terms

Nazim meanwhile told the press yesterday that the LGA’s recommendations have been shared with the government and the legislature.

While the proposals were intended to reduce the state’s recurrent expenditure – which accounts for over 70 percent of the budget – Nazim said the LGA does not support changing the council’s term from three to five years.

Contending that the legal responsibility of local councils was implementing the government’s policies, Nazim said voters should have the opportunity to change their elected representatives during an ongoing five-year presidential term.

“Citizens get an opportunity to see what kind of results the council produced and the extent to which they upheld the government’s policies,” he said.

Nazim said that LGA Deputy Chair Ahmed Faisal’s public remarks concerning combining the local council and parliamentary elections represented his personal opinion.

The defence minister noted that the Elections Commission has yet to announce official results of the local council elections – held eleven days ago – and that conducting the polls simultaneously would create present difficulties for the commission.

In December, the World Bank warned in a report that the Maldivian economy was at risk due to excessive government spending, with an already excessive wage bill ballooned by 55 percent in 2013.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Former civil service chief has no grounds for appeal, says CSC

The Civil Court has held the first hearing into the compensation case for dismissed President of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Mohamed Fahmy Hassan.

In late December, 2012, Fahmy filed charges against the state seeking compensation for losses after the People’s Majlis dismissed him from his position.

Fahmy’s dismissal followed the Majlis’ no-confidence motion in November 2012 after it had conducted an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against him.

Speaking at the hearing of the case held today in the Civil Court, CSC legal representative Abdul Naseer Shafeeq stated that, as the law states that the president of the civil service must be appointed by the parliament, the parliament’s decision on the matter is final, local media reported.

Shafeeq added that once the parliament decided on the matter, he believed the secretariat was right in following the parliament’s decision. He further said that he had accepted the secretariat was right in not allowing someone other than the person appointed by parliament to enter the premises of the CSC and take up responsibilities of the Chair.

Fahmy’s access to the commission’s offices was revoked in September last year after he continued to attend work during the impasse between the judiciary and the legislature over his dismissal.

Last March, he Supreme Court -had ruled that parliament’s decision was void on the basis that it had breached the law. Fahmy used this ruling as justification in his case against the state.

He stated that, following the Parliament’s appointment of Dr Mohamed Latheef as the president of the CSC, Fahmy had no grounds to claim the responsibilities of the commission’s president.

Shafeeq further pointed out that Fahmy is currently filling another state position.

Incumbent President Abdulla Yameen appointed Fahmy to the post of Deputy High Commissioner of Maldives in Malaysia in the midst of the CSC scandal – just days after assuming office.

The state had previously raised procedural issues in the case, and arguing that the case cannot be carried forward.

Fahmy is suing the state for damages of over MVR7 million as compensation for financial losses and psychological trauma he has suffered through the CSC’s failure to allow him access to its premises and its severance of his pay after the parliament’ decision.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

MoU signed to extend Fulbright programme

A new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with the United States embassy today to extend the prestigious Fulbright scholarship programme for an additional five years.

In addition to scholarships for graduate studies in the US, the programme also allows for the exchange of US academics to conduct research or to teach in the Maldives.

“Since the Maldives program was initiated in 2003, 21 Maldivians have completed graduate studies in the United States, including at the University of Pennsylvania, Williams College, and at the University of Minnesota.  During that same time, American scholars have taught and undertaken research in Maldives on issues ranging from education to tourism,” the American embassy said in a press statement.

“This renewed Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Maldives underscores our commitment to expanding educational opportunities for Maldivians,” Ambassador Michele Sison said at the signing ceremony with Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon, who signed the MoU on behalf of the Maldives.

“We are proud to offer an exceptional academic programme that invests in the citizens of Maldives, and allows Fulbrighters to apply their research for the greater benefit of the Maldivian people.”

According to the embassy, more than 325,000 scholars representing 155 countries have participated in the programme worldwide since its inception in 1946, including 40 Nobel Laureates, and 28 heads of state or heads of government.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

President commutes sentences of 24 inmates

President Abdulla Yameen has commuted the sentences of 24 inmates under the authority vested in the president by the Clemency Act of 2010.

According to a President’s Office statement, sentences were commuted based on the inmate’s age; time spent under house arrest, jail, or banishment; medical condition; and discipline. Conditions were attached to the commutation, the statement said.

The president considered the following criteria in commuting sentences:

  • Inmates must not have committed a disciplinary offense in the past two years
  • Inmates must not have received an presidential pardon or commutation of sentence, or drug rehabilitation through the Drug Court or been granted parole in the past five years
  • Inmates must not have been sentenced in 2013

Individuals who were convicted of murder, terrorism, disturbing the peace – including attacking or threatening a security officer or vandalising public property, child abuse, rape, homosexuality, drug trafficking involving an amount more than four grams, or a hadd crime were not considered, the statement said.

The president did not include anyone that could be determined as dangerous to the society. Yameen will grant clemency to an additional group of convicts on April 1, the statement said.

Article 115 of the constitution states that the president has the authority “to grant pardons or reductions of sentence as provided by law, to persons convicted of a criminal offence who have no further right of appeal.”

On January 9, police cleared the police records of 1,023 young persons who were arrested for various criminal offenses, as part of the government’s pledge to facilitate youth employment.

At the time, Commissioner of Police Hussain Waheed urged all young persons to make the best out of this “golden opportunity” and to leave the crime environment and become useful individuals to society.

In March 2012, current Vice President Mohamed Jameel Ahmed shut down former President Mohamed Nasheed’s flagship Second Chance program set up to reintegrate convicts into society.

Jameel, who was Home Minister at the time, said that Nasheed’s administration had used the program “to release unqualified criminals under political influence and without any clear procedure “.

Likes(1)Dislikes(0)

Car crashes into military barracks’ gate

A speeding car crashed into the gate of the military barracks near the southwest harbour of Malé last night.

According to police, the 21-year-old male driver sustained head injuries in the accident and received treatment at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital.

The car was driving along the outer ring road Boduthakurufaanu Magu, veered out of control and crashed into the gate at Kalhuthukkala Koshi.

Both the gate and the front of the car were damaged in the accident.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Auditor General questions legitimacy of telco license fees

The Communication Authority of Maldives (CAM) did not examine annual financial statements of telecommunication companies before collecting license fees, the audit report of the former Ministry of Civil Aviation and Communication for 2009 has revealed.

The audit report (Dhivehi) made public this week noted that CAM was authorised under its agreement with telcos to check and review financial statements of the companies at any time.

However, there was no documentation showing that financial statements were scrutinised by CAM in order to calculate the license fees, the audit found.

“Therefore, we note that it cannot be verified whether the amount of money paid by telecommunication companies to the state as license fees was in truth the full amount owed by the parties,” the report stated.

Based on the findings, Auditor General Niyaz Ibrahim recommended that CAM check audited financial statements of the companies at the end of the financial year to ensure that the license fees were paid in full.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Communication was later renamed Ministry of Transport and Communication. In addition to CAM, the Department of Civil Aviation and the National Centre for Information Technology (NCIT) also operated under the ministry.

Among three other cases flagged in the audit report was the absence of overtime work sheets for employees at the NCIT.

While MVR106,702 (US$6,920) was spent in 2009 for overtime pay with written authorisation from senior officials, “we note that due to the lack of records at the office for employees’ overtime work (overtime work sheet) the actual overtime work and time spent could not be verified,” the report stated.

As a result, the report added, auditors could not guarantee the legitimacy of the overtime pay in 2009.

The auditor general recommended ensuring proper maintenance of records and taking action against responsible officials in line with public finance regulations.

The audit also discovered that the ministry attempted to pay a contractor MVR68,000 (US$4,410) to set up a biometric attendance system before the installation work was complete.

While the agreement was signed on December 31, 2009, to complete installation within 30 days, the audit report noted that the contractor billed the ministry on the same day, which then submitted an expense voucher to the Ministry of Finance and Treasury.

“However, we note that there were no documents at the ministry to guarantee that the work was complete before the contractor billed the ministry. Therefore, we believe that the ministry attempted to pay the contractor before the work was completed,” the report stated.

Moreover, there were no records at the ministry of estimates submitted by three interested parties, the report noted, and the evaluation committee chose the contractor with the lowest point score.

While minutes of the evaluation committee’s meetings showed that two proposals were disregarded due to lack of technical specifications, auditors found that the required technical specifications were included in one of the disqualified bids.

The auditor general recommended taking action against the official responsible for submitting the expense voucher to the Finance Ministry without confirming completion of the outsourced task.

Additionally, the audit office recommended an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission into the awarding of the contract by the evaluation committee.

In the third case highlighted in the report, auditors found that the ministry was not reimbursed the MVR23,927 (US$1,552) spent on a plane ticket for the minister to attend a ministerial  meeting of the Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT) in Bali, Indonesia.

As travel and other expenses for the trip were to be covered by the APT, the auditor general recommended recovering the money.

Aside from the flagged cases of ostensible violations of public finance law, the audit report concluded that financial transactions of the ministry and the institutions operating under its remit was in compliance with the Public Finance Act and regulations under the law.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Construction of flats for teachers cost MVR62 million: Education Ministry

The Ministry of Education has revealed that MVR62 million was spent on the construction of a ten-storey apartment complex for teachers.

Speaking at a press conference held on Tuesday, Deputy Minister Ibrahim Ismail stated that MVR 36 million out of the Educational Fund of the ministry, as well as a loan of MVR26 million from the Maldives Islamic Bank has been spent on the building.

The ten-storey apartment complex consists of 18 single-room apartments and 62 two-room apartments.

Seventy-five flats are reserved for those who serve as teachers or education development officers. The other five flats are reserved to provide accommodation for visiting educational experts brought in by the Ministry of Education.

Application forms to rent the flats can be submitted from February 16 to March 13. The rent for a single-room apartment is MVR4000, and for a two-room apartment is MVR6000.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

MNDF officers to travel with hajj pilgrims for assistance

The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) and the state enterprise Hajj Corporation have signed an agreement under which officers of the MNDF will attend hajj pilgrimage to provide assistance to pilgrims.

The memorandum of understanding was signed at an event held at the Ministry of Islamic Affairs on Tuesday – signed by Chief of Defence Force Major General Ahmed Shiyam and Hajj Corporation Managing Director Yamin Idrees.

Speaking at the event, Islamic Minister Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed revealed that a similar agreement will be signed with the police force in the near future.

The minister further revealed that the Hajj Corporation would be covering all expenses of the officers who will be attending the pilgrimage. He stated that he aimed to eventually have all MNDF officials attend hajj prayers under the initiative.

The corporation is sponsoring seven MNDF officers this year.

An official of the Hajj Corporation stated that the idea behind the initiative was not to have MNDF officers conduct menial tasks for the pilgrims, but rather to facilitate a means for soldiers to engage in the prayers of Hajj.

Hajj Corporation Chairperson Dr Aishath Muneeza stated that 400 pilgrims would be taken to Mecca for the pilgrimage this year. She added that a delegation of the corporation is soon leaving for Saudi Arabia to seek ways of increasing convenience for Maldivian pilgrims, including the renting of a separate hotel solely for the use of Maldivians during the hajj season.

MNDF Spokesperson Major Hussain Ali told Minivan News that they have not decided a criteria under which officers who will get the seven pilgrimage slots this year will be selected.

“So far, we have just signed the memorandum of understanding with the Hajj corporation and announced it. We have not yet drafted a selection criteria, though it will be done under some form of selection process,” Major Ali said.

Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed stated that the ministry would not be directly involved in either the selection of officers, or in the compilation of criteria for selecting officers. He said that the target was to allow officers selected by the Hajj Corporation and the MNDF to be able to attend pilgrimage completely free of charge.

The MNDF also concluded a Quran recitation ‘Qari’ course on Monday, held in alliance with The Centre for Holy Quran. Twenty MNDF officers participated in this course.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

MP Sameer joins Jumhooree Party

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ahmed Sameer has signed up to the government aligned Jumhooree Party (JP) on Tuesday.

According to the JP, Sameer joined the party after it promised him the ticket to contest in Dhihdhoo constituency – a seat he currently occupies in parliament – in the upcoming Majlis elections.

Sameer was initially a member of the JP, but later joined the opposition MDP in 2009 to contest in that year’s parliamentary elections.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)