Tag: maldives news

President’s Office Spokesperson “stands by” comments against GMR, Indian High Commissioner

President’s Office Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza confirmed that he stands by his controversial comments made against Indian High Commissioner D M Mulay last week.

Speaking at a rally on November 9 calling for the government to “reclaim” Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) from Indian infrastructure giant GMR, Riza described Mulay as a “traitor and enemy of the Maldives and the Maldivian people”.

The remarks have since been widely reported by Indian media, sparking a diplomatic row and forcing the President’s Office to issue a statement distancing itself from the comments.

Riza also spoke at a rally last Friday, characterising the Indian media coverage of his remarks as a “success” and urging participants to persevere “until GMR leaves this country.”

Riza told Minivan News that the comments were made in his “personal capacity” rather than his “official capacity”, adding: “The comments were my personal opinion and I still stand by them.”

Members of parliament expressed concern over the remarks made by Riza, leading to a debate on the matter last Tuesday (November 13).

During the debate, MPs of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) condemned the comments claiming they were made against diplomatic protocol and could affect bilateral relations with India.

Meanwhile, MDP MP Eva Abdulla alleged that the remarks made by Riza were not those of his own but were rather under “direct orders” from President Mohamed Waheed Hassan.

The majority of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MPs attempted to defend Riza, and tried to switch the focus to High Commissioner Mulay.

In an apparent contradiction to its comments in parliament, the PPM on November 12 issued a statement dissociating the party from the “slanderous” allegations made against Mulay.

Meanwhile, PPM MP Abdul Azeez Jamaal Aboobakr defended Riza, stating that a person’s freedom cannot be limited because of his employment, and that Riza too had his freedom of speech.

Aboobakr also highlighted that Riza had at the beginning of Friday’s speech said that he was going to make the remarks not in his official capacity as the spokesperson, but in an individual capacity.

More recently the Indian Government has expressed concern over the “continuing political instability” of the Maldives.

A statement released by the Indian Government on November 17 also showed concern about the “anti-Indian protests” being staged in the country.

President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik yesterday told Indian News Agency, Press Trust of India (PTI) that India need not be concerned with affairs in the Maldives.

Speaking about the GMR contract signed under the previous government, Waheed told PTI: “The agreement [to lease INIA to GMR] was signed by the previous government, and the circumstances leading to the stamping of the deal were questionable. Hence, this is not a problem that we have with GMR, but with a bad agreement.

“We have to pay GMR 1.5 million US dollars per month under the current arrangement of the agreement in operation, and that is beyond our capacity.”

The government’s financial liability in the airport deal – its most recent bill for the third quarter was US$2.2 million – is the result a of a civil court case filed by the now ruling-coalition Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), during the Nasheed administration, which blocked GMR from levying an airport development charge (ADC) as stipulated in its concession agreement.

The Civil Court ruled in the DQP’s favour. Opting to honour the contract, the Nasheed administration instructed the company to deduct the ADC from its concession fees while it sought to appeal the matter.

The new government – which includes the DQP – inherited the problem following the downfall of Nasheed’s government on February 7. In the first quarter of 2012 the government received US$525,355 of an expected US$8.7 million, after the deduction of the ADC. That was followed by a US$1.5 million bill for the second quarter, after the ADC payable eclipsed the revenue due the government.

Combined with the third quarter payment due, the government now owes the airport developer US$3.7 million.

GMR has previously offered to compromise by exempting Maldivian nationals from paying the ADC, but claimed not to have received a response from the new government.

Protests continuing

Meanwhile political groups in the Maldives continue to stage protests against the GMR contract. The Indian infrastructure giant hasa said it is flexible about discussing issues within the framework of the agreement with the Maldives government.

A senior official of GMR told the Hindu Business Line: “We remain flexible within the framework of concession agreement…If they want to scrap the agreement, [in that case] we are finished.

“We have already invested more than $200 million. Our banks are watching. It is impossible for us to scrap and sit back.”

Meanwhile, the Maldives government has been asked by India to ensure the safety and security of its nationals in Maldives and “Indian interests” in the country in view of the ongoing anti-India demonstrations.

The anti-GMR campaign, from which Riza’s comments stem from, has been increasing pressure on the government to annul the agreement.

Adhaalath Party President Sheikh Imran Abdulla – a leading figure in the anti-GMR activities – gave the government a six-day ultimatum to cancel the contract.

Despite the initial date having passed without any official conclusion, Sheikh Imran, speaking at the artificial beach on Friday (November 16) night, said: “The Maldivian President has heard our plea, [He] has said that he heeds and respects it, [He] needs some time to arrange a few things.

“Hence to give [him] some time even if the previously issued ultimatum is up. The work is being done in this manner. Hence to give some space and stay put.”

In light of this information, Sheikh Imran has said that the ultimatum has now been extended to November 30, adding: “Our patience will wear out at some point, after that point we will go for direct action. After November 30, we will go for direct action. We will not stay still.”

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Situation in the Maldives of no concern for India: President Waheed

India does not need to be concerned about the current situation in the Maldives, according to President Dr. Muhammad Waheed Hassan Manik.

Speaking on the day of the initial anti-GMR ultimatum date (November 15), Dr Waheed told Indian News Agency, Press Trust of India (PTI) that affairs within the Maldives were well, and India had no reason to be concerned.

Concern has been raised by the Indian government following the “anti-Indian” protests being staged in the Maldives, a statement released yesterday (November 17) said.

Protests calling for the government to “reclaim” the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) from Its Indian operator GMR took place in the Maldives last week.

In response to PTI’s question regarding the turmoil surrounding INIA and GMR, the President revealed that the airport lease agreement between GMR and the previous government of the Maldives had been entered in “questionable circumstances.”

“The agreement [to lease INIA to GMR] was signed by the previous government, and the circumstances leading to the stamping of the deal were questionable. Hence, this is not a problem that we have with GMR, but with a bad agreement,” said the Waheed, according to PTI.

Responding to a question about whether the pressure from political parties in the Maldives to take back INIA from GMR is irresponsible – as former President Mohammed Nasheed stated – Waheed said: “We have to pay GMR 1.5 million US dollars per month under the current arrangement of the agreement in operation, and that is beyond our capacity.”

The Indian Government has since expressed its concern about the situation in the Maldives, according to a statement released yesterday (November 17).

The Statement also said that India had registered its concerns with the Maldivian authorities.

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Court scheduling practices enabling judicial corruption: senior legal official

A senior legal official who served under the current and former administrations has claimed the country’s legal system is wide open to corruption, by allowing individual judges to schedule court hearings at their whim.

The legal figure, who has been involved in some of the country’s highest profile cases in recent years, told Minivan News that it was “quite evident” that the lack of a centralised system for scheduling legal hearings was not only resulting in massive inefficiency, but also allowing for corruption within the country’s court system.

Both the Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office and the country’s judicial watchdog body have maintained they have limited involvement at present in deciding when hearings should be scheduled – with almost all decisions being taken by individual courts.

However, a PG’s Office spokesperson claimed that the Criminal Procedure Code presently sitting within the People’s Majlis was, if passed, anticipated to allow pre-trial hearings to give the prosecution and other parties a greater say in agreeing general timeliness for trials.

The senior legal source, who asked to remain anonymous, concurred that the responsibility for scheduling trial and sentencing hearings was presently the responsibility of individual courts and the judges overhearing them. The source alleged the system had created a situation where the judiciary, in certain cases, set hearings either as soon as possible, or instead delay them for up to several years depending on their own preferences and political motivations.

Such inconsistencies within the scheduling of several cases involving senior parliament and political figures – or their close associates – had left courts open to allegations of corruption and political motivation, the senior legal official claimed.

In one case submitted by the PG’s Office that involved a staff member working for former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom facing allegations of child abuse, the source claimed there had been a delay of several years between the trial’s last last hearing and sentencing – despite all evidence having been submitted to the court.

“The judge presiding over the trail announced that the next hearing would be to deliver sentencing, but there had been delays of several years before this was scheduled,” the source claimed. “I understand letters were written by the PG’s Office asking to expedite the case, yet the situation [of delayed hearings] is quite common.”

The legal source claimed that this was just one example of a number of cases that had undergone significant delays – sometimes over the space of years – awaiting their next hearing within the nation’s courts without any specified reason.

“There must be hundreds of cases like this,” he said. “There is no central system for scheduling hearings, just six or seven judges all acting independently of each other.”

In outlining alleged inconsistencies within the scheduling of court hearings, the source pointed to the decision of the Criminal Court on February 23 this year to dismiss three long-standing counts of fraud against Parliament Deputy Speaker and ruling-coalition aligned MP Ahmed Nazim all at once.

The decision was taken by the court 16 days after the controversial transfer of power on February 7, with the presiding judge stating that Nazim’s “acts were not enough to criminalise him”.

“The Criminal Court dropped all of Mr Nazim’s cases,” the anonymous source claimed. I had never seen a criminal case where so much evidence failed to lead to a conviction.”

In an interview to the local media outlet Sun following the rulings, Nazim claimed that a total of four cases against him over alleged fraud were baseless and had been leveled by former President Mohamed Nasheed’s administration, using false evidence.

Nasheed is currently being tried over the detention of a Criminal Court chief Judge, who he alleges took the country’s legal system into his own hands and posed a threat to “national security”.

Aside from allegations of potential corruption, the source also raised fears that the present lack of a centralised scheduling system was failing to promote accountability or efficiency in the nation’s judiciary.

“If for instance the PG’s Office files two different cases about the same suspect, the courts might schedule one hearing for today and another next week, with the judge unaware that there are pending cases against the suspect.

Mandate

Responding to Minivan News over the allegations of potential judicial corruption, court watchdog the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) referred the matter to the Department of Judicial Administration, saying the scheduling of hearings and any such concerns were not within its mandate.

“The scheduling of court hearings are administrative procedures undertaken by individual courts,” the JSC said.

The Department of Judical Services meanwhile said that when hearing criminal cases there presently existed no time limits by which time court hearings should be scheduled.

“In Criminal cases, there are no regulations stipulating requirements about such time limits. However, the court works on a guideline administratively adopted” said department spokesperson Ahmed Maajid.

Minivan News was still waiting for a response from the Department of Judical Services about these administrative guidelines at time of press.

Questioned as to whether the legal sources were shared by the prosecutor general, a spokesperson for the PG’s Office told Minivan News that it was for the courts to determine the schedule of court hearings.

“Generally we are not involved, unless, for example, a hearing involves travel to some of the country’s outer islands, then we might discuss a schedule with the courts,” he said.

The PG’s Office said it did not “usually” write to the courts regarding the issue of court scheduling , unless it had itself received complaints over the matter.

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Liquor and drug island arrest like a “terrorist killing operation”: MP Abdulla Jabir

Jumhoree Party (JP) MP Abdulla Jabir has spoken of the severe brutality he and others faced whilst being arrested on Thursday’s island raid, likening the actions of the police to that of “terrorists”.

A ‘special’ operation carried out on Thursday night concluded with the arrest of ten people on the island of Hodaidhoo in Haa Dhaal Atoll, a police statement read.

Police said they found large amounts of “suspected” drugs and alcohol upon searching the island with a court warrant.

Jabir, who has since been released from custody, told how the arrested group suffered at the hands of the police during the night-time raid.

“We had gone there to have dinner and spend the night on the island, but at about 4:00am, when most of the group were asleep, we were confronted by hundreds of police.

“They said we were drinking alcohol, so I asked them to show a warrant and they didn’t have one. They then started hitting and beating us, they wanted to kill us,” he alleged.

“This did not feel like a police operation, it felt like a terrorist killing operation and it should not be acceptable anywhere in the world,” Jabir told Minivan News.

Jabir said how members of the group were “ripped” out of bed, including a two-year-old child, before being arrested “face-down” on the sand.

“The child had to watch his parents being treated like animals in front of him, it was psychologically damaging,” Jabir claimed.

“[Police] beat us to the ground, put us face down and stood on our heads whilst we were handcuffed. We were treated like pieces of s**t,” Jabir added.

Those arrested included MDP’s international spokesperson MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor (MDP), former SAARC Secretary General and Special Envoy to the former President, Ibrahim Hussain Zaki, former Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair and his wife Mariyam Faiz.

The others arrested were Jadhulla Jaleel, Hamdan Zaki, two Sri Lankan nationals named Raj Mohan and Anoor Bandaranayk, as well as a Bangladeshi named Suhail Rana.

Jabir explained that there was “no alcohol or any other illegal substances whatsoever” on the island, adding: “If we had been interested in alcohol, we could have gone to one of my resorts.”

“None of us have any interest in alcohol, we had gone to the island to have a picnic. As for hash oil, I don’t even know what that is,” Jabir said.

The arrests were made “based on information received by police intelligence,” police said. Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef told Haveeru that the suspects were arrested with alcohol and “hash oil”.

Jabir claimed that if any items were found, they would have been “planted” by the police.

“I don’t know who was behind this, but I will go to every length to find out who ordered this operation and see they are behind bars.

“I had heard about police brutality, but this was beyond my imagination. It felt like they wanted to kill Zaki and myself,” he added.

Following the arrests, the suspects were taken to Kulhudhufushi in Haa Dhaal Atoll, and Zaki was hospitalised.

Former Human Resource Minister Hassan Latheef tweeted: “IH.Zaki was severely beaten by baton n handcuffed for hours before he was taken to Police. Marks r seen at his thigh n face.”

Former President Mohamed Nasheed also tweeted that he had spoken to the lawyers of Zaki and other MPs, who confirmed they had been beaten.

“Spoke to lawyers of Zaki & MPs. They have been beaten, ill-treated and no alcohol or drug was found in their position or from their rooms,” Nasheed said.

Parliament’s Privileges Committee held an emergency meeting on Friday following the arrests.

Section 202.D of Parliament’s rules of procedure states that MPs cannot be arrested while there is a no-confidence motion before parliament to impeach the president or remove a cabinet minister, judge or member of an independent commission from his or her post.

The Majlis secretariat released a statement on Friday afternoon stating that Speaker Abdulla Shahid had instructed police to abide by parliament’s rules of procedure after he was informed of the arrests.

Despite a police attempt to extend the detention periods, all suspects including the two MPs have now been released by the Kulhudhufushi Magistrate Court, with exception of Zaki’s son Hamdan Zaki and Jadhulla Jaleel after the court extended their detention for five days.

Zaki is currently undergoing treatment at ADK hospital after being flown to Male’ this morning.

It has been alleged by the MDP that the arrests were a politically-motivated attempt to disrupt parliament ahead of a no confidence motion against President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan.

Following the arrests, Nasheed alleged in a tweet that the arrests were made the same day Waheed had “threatened” parliament during a speech on Kinolhas in Raa Atoll.

“Less than 24 hours after my former deputy threatened the parliament, police have arrested MP Hamid, Jabir and my press secretary. They must be freed immediately,” Nasheed said.

The island of Hodaidhoo was leased to Yacht Tours for resort development in January 2003. According to Haveeru, it was previously inhabited but the population was relocated to Haa Dhaal Hanimadhoo in 1997. MP Jabir is Chairman of Yacht Tours.

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Adhaalath party extends GMR ultimatum to November 30

The Civil Coalition’s ultimatum to reclaim the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) from its operator GMR has been extended to the end of this month.

The initial ultimatum for the Maldivian government to annul the agreement with GMR had an original deadline of November 15.

Speaking at the artificial beach on Friday night, leading figure in the anti-GMR activities, Adhaalath Party President Sheikh Imran Abudlla, said: “The Maldivian President has heard our plea, [He] has said that he heeds and respects it, [He] needs some time to arrange a few things.

“Hence to give [him] some time even if the previously issued ultimatum is up. The work is being done in this manner. Hence to give some space and stay put.”

According to Sheikh Imran, the ultimatum has been extended to November 30 as the president has heard their plea and respected it.

He added: “However our patience will wear out at some point, after that point we will go for direct action. After November 30, we will go for direct action. We will not stay still.”

President’s Office spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza, announced that “GMR must go” at the Friday night rally.

He added that the anti-GMR campaign must continue until GMR is ousted, insisting that relations between India and the Maldives should not be affected by it.

“Maldives has always considered India as an uncle, we will never go up against India. It is not GMR who sells us potatoes and onions, it is not GMR who sells us construction material, it is our brothers in India. They will always remain by our side,” Abbas said.

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Audit report flags irregularities in Elections Commission finances

The audit report of the Elections Commission (EC) for 2011 has flagged several expenses in violation of public finance law and regulations.

The report (Dhivehi) made public on Wednesday listed 20 cases of expenditure made by the EC ostensibly in violation of the Public Finance Act and regulations under the law.

Of MVR 19.2 million (US$123,216) sent by the commission to atoll offices for the local council elections in February 2011, the audit found that MVR 1.4 million (US$90,791) was entered into the EC’s financial statement despite not receiving either confirmation or details of the how the funds were spent.

Moreover, while a contract was awarded to a local company for MVR 4.9 million (US$317,769) to print ballot papers following a public announcement by the EC, the audit noted that the commission did not propose it to the tender evaluation board as required for projects exceeding MVR 1.5 million (US$97,276).

The audit also uncovered that the commission paid MVR334,700 (US$21,705) to a company contracted to provide sea transportation during the council elections, for trips not included in the agreement.

While MVR 536,803 (US$34,812) was agreed upon in the contract for 56 trips, the EC ended up paying the company MVR871,503 (US$56,517) due to a number of additional trips.

Agreements made with private parties to hire temporary staff as well as vehicles for use during the council elections could not be found among the EC’s documents, the audit report noted.

A total of MVR 183,238 (US11,883) was however paid for vehicles and short-term staff for the elections in February 2011.

The audit meanwhile could not verify whether deposits from 91 candidates for the council elections, who either received less than 10 percent of the vote or whose candidacies were invalidated, were entered into the state income account.

Based on documentation at the EC, the audit was also unable to verify whether deposits for 1,254 candidates were ever returned.

Phone expenses

Among the other cases highlighted in the report, the audit discovered that commission members spent extra days overseas during official trips to attend seminars and workshops.

The cost of the extended stays during such trips between January 2010 and April 2012 amounted to MVR50,438 (US$3,270) for food, incidentals and pocket money.

The audit also found that commission members transferred phone credit worth MVR5,585 (US$362) from their mobile phones, the bills for which are paid out of the EC budget.

An examination of international calls by commission members showed that a number of such calls were not related to official business.

The audit further revealed that from April 2010 to April 2012, MVR 92,009 (US$5,967) was spent out of the EC budget to pay mobile phone bills of commission members.

A total of MVR 116,954 (US$7,584) was meanwhile paid to EC employees as phone allowances in 2011.

The audit discovered that between December 2007 and August 2011, the commission spent MVR 248,790 (US$16,134) to buy 30 mobile phones for senior staff.

Based on a decision by the former Elections Commissioner in December 2007, 13 phones were to become personal property of the chosen senior staff after one year, the audit revealed.

“We note however that no law or regulation authorises giving away state property,” the report stated.

Moreover, most of the mobile phones were “the most expensive phones on the market at the time [of the purchases],” the audit report noted.

“In addition to the 13 mobile phones that were given to employees according to documentation at the commission, the records showed that five mobile phones worth MVR 49,135 (US$3,186) were lost,” the report stated, adding that no employees were held responsible and “compensation in any form was not sought” for the losses.

Some of the phones were discovered missing when “commission employees who were given the phones informed auditors that they were lost.”

A senior staff given a mobile phone worth MVR 14,195 (US$920) bought in 2008 did not return it when he or she left the commission, the audit noted, adding that corrective measures had not been taken on the issue despite recommendations in the EC’s 2010 audit report.

Other cases

The audit found that the EC did not sign agreements for work valued under MVR25,000 (US$1,621), despite public finance regulations stating that agreements must be signed for all government projects.

A total of MVR 249,494 (US$16,179) was paid out in 2011 without formal agreements.

The EC also hired a local company to service four photocopy machines for MVR40,000 (US$2,594) a year without a public bidding process and made an advance payment in violation of public finance regulations.

The audit noted that documentation did not show that the EC was receiving the company’s services each month as stipulated in the agreement.

Moreover, the commission did not seek quotations or estimates from three parties as required by regulations for procurements amounting to MVR 251,148 (US$16,287) in 2011, the audit discovered.

A number of expenses were meanwhile made out of the wrong budget code or item, the audit noted.

The audit report also noted that the EC made unnecessary purchases, such as a coffee maker for MVR 67,000 (US$4,345) in 2007, a Nikon D200 camera for MVR 233,298 (US$15,129) in 2008, six TV decoders, 16 TVs, 16 shredders, two washing machines, irons, a deep freezer, a mixer, a blender and a gas cooker.

Of 60 fax machines bought by the commission, 50 were kept unused in storage.

Moreover, items worth MVR 231,193 (US$14,993) were not entered into the registry of the EC’s stock inventory, the audit report noted.

The EC meanwhile failed to collect MVR 469,500 (US$30,447) owed as fines and deposits in 2011 and did not file cases at court as required by regulations.

As of December 2011, the audit revealed that the commission was owed MVR 260,000 (US$16,861) from seven political parties for failing to submit annual audit reports during the past five years.

Lastly, as of the report’s publication, the EC had not recovered MVR 12,999 (US$843) paid to staff in excess of their salaries and allowances.

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Statistics show just MVR 45 million left in Aasandha’s budget

Universal health insurance scheme Aasandha has MVR 45 million (US$2.9 million) left of its MVR 720 million (US$46.7 million) budget since its introduction on January 1 2012.

Records from the company show that from 1 January to 31 October 2012, MVR 675 million was used by 261,410 people – over 80 percent of the population.

Forty-five percent of the MVR 675 million was spent on government hospitals, whilst 22 percent went to private clinics and hospitals, and 9 percent to foreign clinics and hospitals.

Fifty-five percent of Aasandha’s budget was spent on the public sector, while 36 went to the private sector.

Free health care of up to MVR 100,000 was initially available to citizens under Aasandha.

Changes to the system were made by the government in August for the private sector, after concerns the scheme would run out of money.

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Parliament spent US$45,400 on food: Auditor General

Parliament spent MVR 700,000 (US$45,400) catering for parliament members and employees for the year 2010, Auditor General Niyaz Ibrahim has revealed.

According to the 2010 audit report of the parliament, there have also been changes made in the agreement with the catering company violating the Finance Act.

The report states that changes to the price cannot be brought after an agreement has been reached in accordance with the Finance Act. The price of catering for parliament was however amended, thus violating the act.

The report states that the parliament paid the company MVR 766,601 to cater meals, and that catering for the meetings held is carried out without ensuring the presence of members and staff.

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Gangs using children aged seven to nine: Dr Aishath Ali Naaz

A survey has shown that children as young as seven are being used by dangerous gangs in Male’, Clinical Psychologist Dr Aishath Ali Naaz has revealed.

Speaking at a meeting held to brief police on gang violence, Dr Naaz explained the results of the survey, showing that there are 20 to 30 active gangs across five districts in Male’.

She told police that these gangs consist of 50 to 400 members and include children and youth, most below the age of 25.

Dr Naaz, who met gang members to gather information required for the survey, said that the children not only obey orders from older gang members, but also get involved in crime.

“They get involved in gang activities as they do not have anything to do and have the time to spare. They obey older gang members, this is something I was saddened about,” Dr Naaz added.

According to Dr Nazz, political parties and businessmen funded gang activities, and that most of the youth involved in these gangs do it to earn a living.

The meeting was attended by Assistant Commissioner of Police Mohamed Sodig, Assistant Commissioner of Police Hassan Habeeb, police commanding officers and several police officers.

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