Tag: maldives news

Thousands sign petition over resort workers’ pay, conditions

A petition calling for sweeping changes to resort employees’ working conditions and a minimum wage has collected two thousand signatures during its first five days.

The Tourism Employees’ Association of Maldives, which launched the petition, said it had amassed signatures from workers on 17 resorts since last Wednesday.

“Signing for new hopes and rights,” the group said on its Facebook page. “Keep going [with] the great work of humankind.”

The petition demands a minimum monthly wage of US $600 across the sector through an amendment to the Employment Act.

There is currently no minimum wage and the petition says that wage rates have not increased in the sector for 10 years.

The workers are also asking for quotas to require 80 per cent of tourism employees in the country to be Maldivian, which would require big changes in the hiring practices of resorts.

Current laws require 50 per cent of resort employees to be Maldivians, but the rule is not widely enforced. The sector employs some 11,426 Maldivians and 16,342 expatriate workers, meaning that overseas employees constitute 59 per cent, according to preliminary figures for the 2014 census.

TEAM also wants the president to honour a pledge to make shares in resorts available to their rank-and-file employees, a rarity in a country where resorts are generally owned by private companies controlled by a few individuals.

In February 2014 President Abdulla Yameen said that by the end of the year, a number of resorts would be floating a portion of their shares to the public, and urged Maldivian employees to become stakeholders.

The president said that share ownership would be a “lucrative addition to their current income from salary and other perks through employment at these resorts”, according to a press release issued at the time.

Speaking at the opening of the Sun Siyam Iru Fushi resort, Yameen also said the Sun Travel resort group would float up to 40 percent of its shares to employees in the coming years.

However, the pledge of shares for resort employees has not so far become a reality.

The petition also asks for a 12 per cent service charge to be applied and for 99 per cent of that to be distributed “fairly” among tourism employees, as set out in the Employment Act.

TEAM’s supporters are seeking the right to form a union, as set out in the constitution, and the right to protest in resorts, which was banned in 2012 under the Freedom of Assembly Act.

The law says that protests can only be held in resorts and in air and sea ports after a special permit from the police based on the advice of the military, but TEAM cites the constitution’s guarantee of the right to peaceful protest.

Over the past few years, resort workers have occasionally tried to launch protests.

Workers who had been fired from Sheraton’s Maldives luxury resort for demanding union recognition protested near the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort and Spa in February, according to the website of the International Union Federation.

Carrying banners with slogans such as “Sheraton fully booked — no room for human rights”, the dismissed workers carried out a boat picket around the resort, while employees came to the beach and waved in support.

In February 2013, an employee strike in Vaavu Atoll Alimathaa resort resulted in 27 employees being fired by management.

According to Haveeru, Ahmed Adeeb, the tourism minister, said at the time that protests in resorts would affect tourists both directly and indirectly.

“Such things must not be encouraged by anyone. Especially when it is something banned by law, it must not happen. No one should encourage or give room for such things,” Adeeb said.

Officials from the Tourism Ministry were unavailable for comment at the time of press.

On Thursday, about 50 employees from the international airport in Seenu atoll Gan protested over a new salary structure which they said would result in lower pay than before. They stopped protesting when management agreed to return to the previous wage structure.

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Power company says hands are tied over $45m subsidy cut

The state-owned electricity provider to the atolls says its hands are tied after subsidy cuts last month left more than 5,700 businesses facing millions extra between them in electricity charges.

Companies on three more islands joined growing protests over the subsidy cuts today. Much of the anger is targeted at the state-owned Fenaka Corporation, which provides electricity to the Maldives’ remote islands.

The government previously provided Fenaka with about MVR11 million (US$713,359) a month to subsidise electricity for atoll businesses, it said yesterday, but this cost must now be borne by the companies themselves.

Fenaka Corporation managing director Mohamed Nimal told reporters on Monday that the company was only implementing government policies.

“If the government changes the rules today or categorises special customers and decides to provides subsidies to small businesses, we will bill them at those rates,” he said.

Fenaka has 46,590 meters in 151 islands, of which 5,765 meters were registered as business consumers, Nimal said.

Most shops, cafés and restaurants in the northern hub of Haa Dhaal Kulhuduhfushi were closed in protest over higher electricity bills yesterday, while more than 100 people demonstrated outside the local Fenaka office.

Businessmen protested in Addu City while those in Gaaf Dhaal Thinadhoo and Haa Alif Dhidhoo are planning to boycott paying their bills.

Electricity bills for businesses doubled, and in some case tripled, when the subsidy was discontinued last month.

Nimal said Fenaka could not address the concerns of businessmen across the country as it was “not a regulatory body” or policy maker. The National Social Protection Agency was in charge of issuing subsidies, he added.

Domestic households have also been told to reapply for subsidies before April 9 as part of a shift to targeted subsidies aiming to save the government money.

The government provided about MVR700 million (US$45 million) in subsidies to Fenaka last year, which Nimal said benefited rich and poor alike. This annual expenditure on subsidies is not sustainable, he said.

While shops have reopened in Kulhudhufushi, local media reported today that all shops and cafés have closed in Haa Dhaal Makunudhoo in protest.

Businesses in Fuvahmulah are meanwhile preparing to submit a petition to President Abdulla Yameen, warning of layoffs and price hikes due to a 50 percent rise in electricity bills.

Subsidy

Fenaka officials said bills in Kulhudhufushi are higher than other islands because businesses were charged a much lower rate than the tariff structure approved by the energy authority in 2009, leading to a threefold increase when the subsidy was removed.

While the actual rate was 7.50 laari per unit for usage above 400 units, the now-defunct upper north utility corporation charged 2.75 laari per unit for Kulhudhufushi businesses.

Then-President Dr Mohamed Waheed established Fenaka in 2012 with a mandate to provide electricity, water, and sewerage to island communities after dissolving the provincial utility companies set up by his predecessor.

Meanwhile, despite the price of crude oil falling in the world market, Nimal said Fenaka could not reduce the price of electricity as it was making investments in infrastructure developments and improving service provision.

When the subsidy was introduced, the price of diesel was MVR8 per litre compared with MVR11 per litre at present, he said.

Renewable energy

Dr Ibrahim Nashid, managing director of Renewable Energy Maldives, told Minivan News today that removing subsidies for small businesses could be counterproductive.

As the main consumption of electricity in a small island comes from businesses rather than households, Nashid argued that the island’s economy and Fenaka’s income will be adversely affected if businesses were forced to shut down.

Nashid suggested that “demand side management” policies and “streamlining” high overhead costs of the Fenaka corporation would result in more savings.

At present, small islands have both a powerhouse and a Fenaka office, he noted, calling for the two to be consolidated.

He stressed that a number of other solutions were available in lieu of price hikes, such as investing in solar energy.

“But the solution for a person with a big hammer will be hitting the nail harder when he doesn’t have other tools,” he said.

Producing energy through solar panels is currently cheaper at 25 US cents per hour, he continued, whilst the cost with diesel would be 35 US cents per hour.

Although renewable energy requires a high initial investment, Nashid said there are interested and capable parties in the Maldives.

“In my view, we can provide electricity for everyone at a flat rate of MVR2.50 [per unit],” he said, adding that the technology was available, “viable and economically proven.”

Nashid welcomed the ongoing solar energy projects but criticised their limited scope as well as the government’s “lack of political will” and long-term planning.

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Comment: The old and new penal code

The following op-ed was written by former Deputy Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem and first appeared on newspaper Haveeru on April 1. Translated and republished with permission. 

The penal code currently in force in the Maldives was passed in 1966. It has been almost 50 years since the law was enacted. In recent years, the economic and social condition of the Maldives has undergone major changes, but the appropriate changes were not made to the law.

We need to amend old laws to include new offences. For instance, credit card fraud was not something that was envisioned when the penal code was drafted. Credit card fraud is now prosecuted under fraud. However, as the act of having a credit card was not foreseen it is difficult to prove the offence.

The other problem with the current penal code is the effect historical realities had on its provisions, and the challenges to ensuring justice due to these effects.

The penal code was passed following a trip by then-Prime Minister Ibrahim Nasir to quell a secessionist movement in the south. Therefore, severe punishments were specified for crimes such as treason and attempts to assassinate the head of state. But not much attention was given to other offences. For instance, premeditated murder was not criminalised in clear language in the law.

The task of rewriting the penal code was first announced at a function at the Islamic Centre on June 9, 2004 by then-President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. In his speech, he said the Maldives needed a penal code in accordance with Islamic Sharia and international conventions the country has acceded to.

The ‘National Criminal Justice Action Plan’ formulated later also detailed this policy. It stated that the new penal code should be a law that could be enforced in accordance with Islamic Sharia and international conventions. This is a special effort that has not been undertaken so far in the whole Islamic community.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) offered expert assistance to the government in this task, and enlisted a distinguished professor at the University of Pennsylvania Faculty of Law, Paul H Robinson.

Professor Robinson is a world-class expert on drafting laws, a draftsman who has earned the honour of drafting the penal codes of various American states. Due to his know-how in drafting the law, the most voluminous law passed in Maldivian history is easy to read and refer.

Changes the penal code will bring about

The penal code due to come into force on April 13 will usher in major reforms to the Maldivian criminal justice system.

One of the biggest changes will be bringing together provisions in some 90 laws that specify criminal offences under one law. This will make the work of investigators, prosecutors, and judges significantly easier. Instead of referring to different books and laws, they will be able to look up all offences in one place. All criminal offences under the law can be found in one statute.

This rule is also stated in article 61 of the constitution. The article states that no person may be subjected to any punishment except pursuant to a statute or pursuant to a regulation made under authority of a statute, which has been made available to the public. The criminal offence and its punishment must also be clearly specified.

Article 88(a) of the current penal code states that disobedience to a judicial or legal order is a crime. However, the article does not make it clear how and to what extent an action becomes a crime. This article could be seen as in conflict with the constitution. This very argument has been made as well.

The second change that will come about is the ability to prosecute on multiple counts for different offences involved in a single incident. At present, a person who enters a home illegally, steals, and leaves after breaking down the door can be prosecuted only for theft. That is because theft is the most serious crime involved in that incident.

Under the new law, each offence can be prosecuted separately. Therefore, the offender can be charged with illegal entry (article 230), theft (article 211), and damaging property (article 220). If the charge of theft could not be proven for any reason, the offender could still be punished if the other offences are proven. This example also applies to violent assault and premeditated murder.

Once the new penal code is in effect, the punishment for all offences will generally be less severe. However, once offenders could be charged on multiple counts and sentenced for several offences, the punishment for each offence will be largely the same as now.

Additionally, the penal code specifies offences for which the punishment would be harsh or less severe. Chapter 1001 of the law states that the punishment could vary based on consideration of how the offence was committed.

For example, if the victim of an assault is below 18 or above 65 years of age, the punishment will be severe. Moreover, the punishment will be severe if the offender has a criminal record. If the offender does not have a criminal record, the punishment could be lenient.

I will provide more information about the characteristics of the new penal code in future writings.

Hussain Shameem is a senior legal consultant at the Legal Sector Resource Centre established jointly by the UNDP and the Attorney General’s Office.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected].

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Police ‘arrest’ MDP petition table

The police today confiscated a table set up by the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party to gather signatures for a petition to free jailed former president Mohamed Nasheed, claiming the furniture obstructed pedestrians and traffic.

The move sparked outrage and a flood of mockery on social media, with some calling for a new petition to free the table, while others questioned the police response to rising violence in Malé City, which has seen four murders in two months and continued stabbings.

A 32-year-old man was knifed in the capital last night, police said. Local media reported that he was not seriously injured.

The removal of the table comes as authorities crack down on opposition activities including anti-government protests. It also apparently fell foul of a power struggle between the housing ministry and opposition-dominated Malé City Council over who can grant permission for the use of public spaces.

One social media user, @sofwath, said: “Stop brutalizing the table. Free the table now!”

The MDP continued collecting signatures outside its offices on Malé’s Sosunmagu, despite the confiscation of the table. The petition urges President Abdulla Yameen to free Nasheed, who was sentenced last month to 13 years in jail on terrorism charges.

Translation: the collection of signatures on the petition has resumed at the MDP’s office.

A police media official said that the MDP had not sought the required permission from the housing ministry to set up tables on the pavement.

The housing ministry last year announced that it had the power to approve use of public land and roads in the capital, in an apparent removal of these powers from Malé city council.

But Malé City councillor Shamau Shareef said he did not recognise the housing ministry’s authority in this area, as its regulations usurped the opposition-dominated city council’s powers under the Decentralisation Act.

Several prominent individuals, including former president of the Elections Commission Fuwad Thowfeek and former environment minister Ahmed Abdulla, have now signed the petition.

The opposition Alliance Against Brutality last week brought in a power generator for a mass gathering at the Artificial Beach when the state-run electricity company refused to allow them to pay for the use of power lines.

STELCO reportedly said it could only power housing ministry approved events.

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Drug testing to resume after almost two years

An independent laboratory will begin drug testing this month on urine samples provided by police, reports Haveeru.

Under the landmark Drug Act enacted in January 2012, the National Drug Agency (NDA) was required to assign a private laboratory to conduct testing before June 2013.

The prosecutor general’s office subsequently ceased filing drug abuse cases in court, apart from cases in which suspects confessed. It is unclear whether suspects in the remaining cases will now face charges.

NDA CEO Ahmed Muneer said on Sunday that Med-Lab Diagnostic Centre has been contracted to conduct drug testing for a period of five years.

In November, the drug agency called for a third time for private parties to apply to conduct the drugs tests.

The NGA is the designated lead agency dealing with all issues related to drug prevention, harm reduction and treatment.

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Divers plan underwater protest for Nasheed release

One hundred divers will wave flags underwater in protest against the jailing of ex-president Mohamed Nasheed on Saturday.

The dive, entitled “Free Climate Hero”, will take place near the West Park Cafe area of the capital on Saturday from 4pm to 6pm.

“You will see flags coming out of the water,” said said Hussein Latheef, a lead organiser of the event, according to Haveeru.

The dive protest is the latest in a series of events aiming to lobby for Nasheed’s release since he was jailed for 13 years on terrorism charges last month.

During his presidency, from 2008 to 2012, Nasheed was an active climate campaigner, highlighting the plight of the Maldives as a small island state vulnerable to rising sea levels.

In 2009 his cabinet made headlines by holding an underwater cabinet meeting calling for global cuts in carbon emissions.

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Three arrested at opposition protest

Three people were arrested from last night’s opposition protest in Malé for “obstructing police duty,” according to local media.

The opposition Alliance Against Brutality, made up of the Maldivian Democratic Party, Adhaalath Party and senior members of the Jumhooree Party, has been protesting daily in the capital since the conviction of former President Mohamed Nasheed on terrorism charges last month.

Protesters stopped using loudspeakers or megaphones after 11:00pm and ended the protest at 12:00am to comply with police regulations, CNM reported.

Police said the three arrested last night would be taken to court today for a remand hearing.

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Ruling party wins Alifushi by-election amid bribery claims

The  ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) has won a council by-election in Raa atoll Alifushi amid accusations of vote-buying and a high-profile handout of air-conditioners to the local school.

PPM candidate Aminath Ali won 685 votes at the by-election held on Saturday, while Ali Hameed, the candidate from the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), received 490 votes of a total 1175 valid votes cast.

However, the MDP said it had not been a fair fight, as members of the PPM had donated air-conditioners and cash to the island school shortly before the vote. They also alleged that vote-buying had taken place.

The MP for Alifushi constituency, Mohamed “Bigey” Rasheed Hussein, told Minivan News: “PPM did not campaign. They bought votes and used tactics of anti-campaigning.”

A government delegation that included ministers and parliamentarians visited Alifushi two weeks before the by-election and handed MVR 10,000 from First Lady Fathimath Ibrahim to the island school, while presenting the donation of air-conditioners.

Asked about the air-con systems, Ahmed Nihan, leader of the PPM parliamentary group, said: “The ACs were gifts from Abdul Raheem Abdulla [vice president of the PPM].”

“Members giving out gifts is not intended for corruption or to influence the election,” he added.

Nihan said that MPs being socially involved and helping citizens did not constitute a reason to accuse them of corruption, and denied any connection with the vote.

The PPM’s election win in an opposition stronghold parliamentary constituency indicated the growing support for the government, despite the recent coalition between MDP and former PPM allies, the religious conservative Adhaalath Party and Jumhooree Party.

“This is a government win over the MDP, Adhaalath Party and the Jumhooree Party, over all opposition parties. We are very proud since we won this election at a time when all of these parties were on the island campaigning against us,” PPM deputy leader and tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb said.

A landmark study by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) found last year that more than one in three Maldivians were offered bribes for their votes or witnessed vote buying in the March 2014 parliamentary polls.

It said vote buying in the Maldives had assumed “alarming proportions”.

Accusations also surrounded a visit by Ahmed Sulaiman, president of the elections commission, to Alifushi, with the MDP claiming he was involved in door-to-door campaigning for the PPM.

According to Rajje.mv, the elections commission said Sulaiman was at Alifushi on an official visit and that they had no knowledge of wrongdoing.

During the campaigns, the two parties traded blows over the unfulfilled promise of a sewerage system for the island, with PPM representatives blaming Rasheed, the MP, who voted against the overall government budget in parliament.

Rasheed said, however, that it was down to the government to fulfil its promise of a sewerage system. “They should work according to their word,” he said.

Rasheed said he did not believe vote-rigging could have taken place on by-election day, as observers from both parties were present at polling stations.

PPM president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who was president of the Maldives for 30 years until 2008, congratulated the PPM candidate via Twitter, saing: “Warm congratulations PPM candidate Aminath Ali on a resounding victory in Alifushi council by-election today.”

The councillor’s position on Alifushi became vacant when Abdul Latheef Abdul Raheem, also with the PPM, resigned.

PPM will be holding a firework display, its customary celebration, on Alifushi tonight.

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Businesses around Maldives protest electricity subsidy cut

Most shops, cafés and restaurants in the northern business hub of Haa Dhaal Kulhuduhfushi were closed in protest over electricity subsidy cuts on Sunday as anger builds among companies around the Maldives over steep rises in power bills.

Businessmen demonstrated in Addu City in the south, while others in Gaaf Dhaal Thinadhoo are preparing to boycott paying their bills, which in some cases tripled overnight when the subsidy was removed.

In Kulhuduhfushi, more than 100 shops and restaurants will be closed until 8pm Sunday in protest over “unfair electricity rates” and subsidy cuts, while more than 100 people have been protesting outside the office of electricity company Fenaka since this morning.

Shops would normally open from the early morning until 10pm.

“We will continue to raise our voice till the government is ready to listen to us,” said Adam Shareef, a member of the steering committee on electricity subsidy cuts in the island.

“We will continue our protest outside the electricity company till the government responds, but the shops will reopen tonight.”

The government has removed electricity subsidies to companies from last month onwards, while domestic households have been told to reapply for subsidies before April 9.

Businesses in Kulhuduhfushi, Addu and Thinadhoo have condemned the subsidy cuts and are also angry about the high price of electricity in the atolls compared with the capital, Male’ City.

Only a few shops were open in Kulhuduhfushi today, including the two state owned shops run by State Trading Organization and the businesses of Mohamed Zuhair, a well-known businessman in the atoll.

“I do support the cause and I think the differences in electricity prices are a gross discrimination between the peoples of the atolls and the people of Male’ City,” said Zuhair, also a member of the steering committee.

“But closing down all the shops without giving due warning to the public will not benefit them. That’s why all of my shops are open.”

Zuhair said one of his shops had previously received monthly bills of MRV 23,000 ($1,500) and these have now shot up to 60,000, while another store’s bill tripled from MVR 7,000 to MVR 21,000.

The difference in electricity prices between Male’ and the atolls is an issue of big public concern.

Prices in Haa Alif, Haa Dhaal, and Shaviyani atolls are 72 percent higher than in the capital, while those in Addu City and Fuvahmulak are up to 37 per cent higher than in Male’ city, according to figures from Fenaka Corporation, which provides electricity for most islands in the Maldives.

Mohamed Ismail, a local from Kulhuduhfushi, said: “We feel like we are second class citizens. The state is providing electricity for the islands as well as Male’.

“So why should there be any difference? Are we not worthy of being treated fairly?”.

Meanwhile a group of businessmen in Addu City in the south also protested over differences in electricity prices and the subsidy cut.

“Some businesses did not accept the electricity bills and today a number of businessmen protested outside the electricity company office,” said the mayor of Addu City, Abdulla “Sobe” Soadhig.

Businesses in Gaafu Dhaalu Thinadhoo, also in the south, have decided not to pay the electricity bill until the government reinstates subsidies or prices fall.

“We are in talks with the government to find a solution to this problem. But we cannot simply wait and hope for a government response,” said Abdulla Saneef, a Thinadhoo council member.

“The steering committee, which pretty much covers all businesses, has already decided not to pay the electricity bills.”

The government has previously said that the large distances between the Maldives’ remote islands mean that services such as electricity will inevitably be more expensive in the atolls.

The International Monetary Fund has urged the government to move its subsidies to a targeted system, rather than blanket payments.

Fenaka had not responded to queries at the time of going to press, while President’s Office spokesperson Ibrahim Muaz was unavailable for comment.

The government, presenting its 2015 budget, said that it would target electricity subsidies to the poor, while rumours have been circulating on the social media that households with air conditioning systems would not receive the domestic subsidy.

However, Mujthaba Jaleel, CEO of National Social Protection Agency (NSPA) said that “every household that applies for the subsidies will get it,” according to Haveeru.

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