Tag: maldives news

Indian gynecologist attacked by masked men on Hoarafushi

An Indian gynecologist working at Hoarafushi Health Centre in Haa Alifu Atoll has said she will “never come back to the Maldives” after two masked islanders attacked and gagged her.

“They broke in to my room with their faces covered, holding knives, and they tried to attack me,” the doctor told Minivan News. “I could only see their eyes. It was like the worst nightmare I have ever seen.”

The doctor said at first she tried to escape by shouting, but then the men tried to cover her mouth and tie a rope to her neck.

“I dialed the last dialed number on my phone and it was the health centre. When the health centre answered the phone the attackers snatched it from my hands and switched it off, but luckily the person who answered heard me screaming.”

The doctor said she fought with the men and was able to escape.

“I held their knife and pushed them back, then jumped out of the window and screamed for help,” the doctor said. “Then they ran away.”

The doctor said it was the “worst experience I have ever had” and that she would “never ever come back to the Maldives.”

“I’ll even advise my friends and my students not to choose Maldives,” she said. “I mean why should they do this? I did my best to serve the people here, why should they do this to me?”

The doctor said she had no idea what had motivated the pair to attack her, and said she was emotionally, mentally and physically hurt in the incident.

Deputy chair of the island council Ali Riyaz, who told Minivan News he was the first to attend the scene, said the incident was “regrettable”.

Riyaz said he first heard of the incident when the doctor phoned a councilor during a council meeting last night at 9:50pm.

“I went to her room immediately and called the police,” Riyaz said. “Her room is very close to the Council Office and we rushed there very quickly. When we knocked on the door she did not open it because she was so frightened.”

Once the councilors had convinced the doctor who they were, “she came outside and started crying. She was injured,” Riyaz said. “She said two men with their faces covered entered her room and attacked her.”

Riyaz said the doctor had told them not to do this to her and that she was like a sister to them.

“She even told them to take any amount of money they wanted, and also to take any electronics including her laptop if they wanted, without attacking her.”

Police had arrested 11 people following the incident, Riyaz said.

“Two of them were the two men suspected by the police, and the other nine were those who went [to police] of their own accord because they have past crime records and they wanted to show that they had no hand in this incident,” Riyaz said.

The doctor was the only specialist working in the Hoarafushi Health Centre and the only gynecologist in the entire atoll. Riyaz said her departure would be “a great loss” for the atoll.

“She had decided to leave Maldives some time ago,” he said. “She was a great doctor and is loved by many islanders across the atoll.”

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed that police had arrested two promising suspects, although he said their motives remained unclear.

The community had been very supportive of the police investigation and were taking care of the doctor, he said: “The heart of the whole island is with her.”

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DRP MP proposes two-year lease extension for resorts under development

Amendments were proposed to the Tourism Act today to extend leases by two years to offer a “construction period” for tourist resorts, hotels and guest houses with stalled development.

Presenting the amendment bill to parliament, MP Mohamed Mujthaz of the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) explained that the legislation would write-off unpaid fines from the new resorts as heavy fines were an impediment to financing the development or attracting foreign investors.

“Of the 84 islands leased for resort development, only 10 have been completed while 74 have not,” he said. “With the current prices in the construction industry, millions of dollars are needed to develop the most ordinary resort. Considering the 74 islands with stalled development, this is a large amount.”

He added that local banks did not have the capacity to finance the projects while international financial institutions were not “too supportive.”

If passed into law, the proposed amendments would also replace existing guidelines for calculating fines for non-payment of rent. Under the new rates, fines for non-payment of rent for one quarter would be set at five percent of the total rent; 12 percent for two quarters; 18 percent for three quarters; 25 percent for three quarters; and 50 percent for one year of unpaid rent.

Moreover, article 8(c) of the bill states that the government must not charge rent for the two-year construction period.

In the preliminary debate on the amendments, MP Riyaz Rasheed of minority opposition Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) criticised the current government for “not paving the way to obtain loans” and leasing additional islands for development.

DRP MP Yousuf Naeem however noted that the amendments had “serious problems.”

Naeem – affiliated with the Z-faction of the DRP – claimed that similar amendments previously passed to extend resort leases to 50 years “is now in the process of being abolished by the Supreme Court.”

“The reason is because some honourable MPs voted for it in violation of clause 158(a) of parliamentary rules of procedure,” he explained, referring to a conflict of interest on the part of resort owners in parliament.

The MP for Felidhoo noted that as some resort development projects had been stalled for six or seven years, he did not support a further extension of two years with suspended rent.

“These islands were leased after competitive bidding processes with many parties,” he said, adding that it would be disrespectful towards the rights of losing bidders if the government were to write-off debts or unpaid fines.

“The government is owed US$154 million in fines alone, not to speak of rents,” he continued.

MP Mohamed Riyaz of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) concurred with Naeem and questioned whether a two-year extension would allow the resorts to become operational.

MDP Hamid Abdul Gafoor noted that the state was owed US$320 million as unpaid rent and fines, which was “not a small amount” to be written off.

DRP MP Dr Abdulla Mausoom however argued that parliament was forced to “enter micro-governance” as a result of the current administration’s “insincerity” and “disregard of the law and doing things in the margins.”

The proposed law would ensure that the government could not impose double standards on tourist businesses, Mausoom said.

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Decentralisation Act puts Male’ mosques under council control

Male City Council plans to take responsibility for city mosques by next month, Haveeru reports.

The plan is said to be in accordance with the Decentralisation Act. Mosques and cemeteries in Hulhumale and Villimale will also be under the council’s remit.

A management plan for the Islamic Ministry is currently being drafted by the council, reports Haveeru . The plan would allow the council to manage the Imams and administrative workers.

The council is also discussing taking over the Islamic Centre, which it claims is one of its remits under the Decentralisation Act.

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Police recover safe stolen from West Park restaurant

Police have recovered a safe stolen from West Park restaurant this morning and apprehended six suspects.

According to the police website, a capital police patrol in the area grew suspicious and took the group of men into custody at about 7:30am. A taxi cab and a motorcycle used by the group were also impounded by police.

Police have recovered all items reported stolen from West Park.

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Two economic reform bills sent to committee

Two bills of the government’s economic reform package were sent to committee for further review at today’s sitting of parliament.

While the amendments to the Land Act was approved 37-34, the mortgage bill was approved narrowly with 37 votes in favour and 36 against.

The government’s economic reform package includes 18 pieces of legislation, which would introduce direct taxation, excise import duties for most commonly-used items and facilitate ease of doing business.

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Coastguard gives up search for missing Japanese tourists

The coastguard of the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) has given up its search for two Japanese tourists who went missing from the Adaaaran Hudhuranfushi Resort last week.

According to the MNDF, the search went on by air and sea for three days, covering the resort’s house reef and sandbanks in the region.

The coastguard has however appealed to vessels traveling the area to be on the lookout for the bodies of the missing Japanese couple.

A decomposing female body meanwhile washed ashore on Adaaran Hudhuranfushi Sunday while the MNDF search was ongoing. Police have yet to determine the identity of the corpse.

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Hulhumale’ plots awarded to 94 residents of Male’

President Mohamed Nasheed presented guarantees of land acquisition to 94 recipients under the first phase of the government’s flagship “Veshi Fahi” Male’ (de-congestion) programme.

The first ten recipients under Category A of the programme were awarded land guarantees on July 26 at a ceremony to open the Veshi Fahi Male’ office.

In his remarks at last night’s ceremony at the President’s Office, President Nasheed said that he believed it was within the government’s means to construct a bridge between Male’ and Hulhumale’ as a ferry system was insufficient in itself.

The construction of 2,500 flats in Gulhifalhu is meanwhile expected to begin next month under the second phase of the Gulhifalhu Development Project, Nasheed continued.

President Nasheed explained that more plots could not be awarded in Hulhumale’ as the remaining space was intended for communal use and government or public buildings.

Of the government’s pledged 10,000 flats, said Nasheed, construction agreements had been signed for 8,000 flats or housing units.

Nasheed claimed that the construction industry was booming and that foreign investment had “increased 1000 percent” compared to the previous years.

Male’ City Councillor “Sarangu” Adam Manik, director of the Veshi Fahi Male’ programme, meanwhile said that thousands of applications by residents of Male’ under different categories were currently being processed.

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Z-DRP, DQP condemn Thasmeen for meeting President Nasheed

The main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party’s (DRP) breakaway Z-faction along with coalition partner Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) has condemned DRP Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali for meeting President Mohamed Nasheed Saturday night.

Speaking at a press conference the following day, DRP Deputy Leader Ilham Ahmed claimed that “because Thasmeen has millions of rufiya worth of loans owed to Bank of Maldives as well as other pressures,” the minority leader was “making deals with the government.”

“What we were saying is now becoming very clear to the public,” he said, referring to the Z-faction’s allegations of Thasmeen and Speaker Abdulla Shahid accepting US$1 million bribes from Indian infrastructure giant GMR.

DQP Secretary General Abdulla Ameen meanwhile told local media that the opposition leader meeting President Nasheed was “unacceptable” as it could be construed as an endorsement of the proposed economic reform agenda.

Ameen argued that discussions over the proposed reforms should have taken place much earlier.

“I don’t see any need for meeting the opposition leader after the reforms were planned and finalised and a ceremony held to announce [the reforms],” Ameen told Haveeru.

Thasmeen however told press outside the President’s Office after the meeting that he met the President to voice concerns about the economic reform bills currently before parliament, including planned expenditure growth for 2013 and the personal income tax.

Following the meeting, President Nasheed signaled the government’s willingness to address DRP concerns and incorporate changes in the relevant legislation before enactment into law.

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Bill proposed to abolish Foreign Investment Act

Preliminary debate began yesterday on a bill proposed by the government to abolish the Foreign Investment Act of 1979, as part of its economic reform package.

At yesterday’s sitting of parliament, opposition MPs severely criticised the legislation, arguing that abolishing the Act would facilitate corruption and “bankrupt” local businesses.

Presenting the bill, MP Alhan Fahmy of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said that the purpose of the bill was to open the country to unhindered investment by foreign businesses.

Kelaa MP Dr Abdulla Mausoom of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) however accused the government of trying to turn the Maldives into the “money-laundering machine of the world” by removing restrictions to foreign investments.

Mausoom said that the Foreign Investment Act had been used to protect local industries and encourage joint ventures with Maldivians in the tourism industry, adding that bringing amendments to the 1979 law would be better than abolishing it.

Other opposition MPs speculated that the bill was part of an agenda to “sell off state assets” and undermine national interests and sovereignty.

While MDP MPs did not speak in the debate in the interest of expediting the legislative process, shouting matches broke out in the chamber sporadically and disrupted the debate.

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