Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Secretary General Abdul Rasheed Nafiz has today resigned from his post, reports Haveeru.
Haveeru reported DRP’s media coordinator as saying that Nafiz had resigned because there were “some obstacles” in conducting his work.
Nafiz would remain in the party and continue to contribute to the party, the DRP said.
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(0)British officials from the UK High Commission in Colombo have concluded a visit to Malé to interview applicants for the Chevening scholarship programme.
Second Secretary Political and Public Diplomacy Dominic Williams, British Council Director Tony Reilly and Maldives Political Officer Shahla Ali visited to interview applicants.
“It is always a pleasure to meet the bright and enthusiastic students who apply to the Chevening scheme,” Williams said.
“This year the quality of the applicants was once again very high. Their energy and drive in many ways captures and reflects the optimism and ambition inspired by the Maldivian transition to democracy. I am sure that all the applicants will go on to make a significant contribution to their country.”
He said that the British government had substantially increased its funding to support the Maldives’ transition to democracy.
“During the visit, we were able to discuss ideas with a range of partners on how best to use this money to help consolidate the Maldivian success story,” Williams said.
(0)Dislikes(0)Police have arrested two females and a male for alleged involvement in illegal prostitution inside a beauty salon in Addu City.
A police spokesperson confirmed that the three were arrested last night and that two females were from Thailand and the man was a Maldivian.
‘’They were arrested last night around 9:30pm during a special operation conducted following a report,’’ a police spokesperson said, confirming the arrests were made on Gan.
He declined to provide further information.
Local media reported that the owner of the beauty salon has also been arrested.
Addu Councilors Hussain Hilmee and Hussain Fahmy both said they did not have any additional information regarding the incident.
However, local media SunFM – which recently investigated illegal prostitution in the Maldives – reported that the three were arrested inside a salon in Addu while they were engaged in sexual activity.
The news outlet also reported that a 17 year-old girl was working as a receptionist at the salon.
Recently, the Maldives Media Council (MMC) called on the editors of Sun Online and Sun magazine to issue a public apology following the publication of a series of stories in which journalists wrote detailed and lurid accounts of their visit to an illegal brothel.
The Sun’s investigation of illegal prostitution in the Maldives revealed that ‘massage’ and medical treatment centers were being used a front for Male’s sex industry.
The Sun journalists who patronised the salons had ‘massages’ and reported that illegal prostitution was conducted widely and freely inside such places.
Some salons offered them group sex, while most provided a list of available girls with ‘special features’ for different prices.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Maldives Food and Drug Authority (MFDA) has shut down a number of well-known Male’ restaurants and tea shops for hygiene breaches.
One famous tea shop on Majeedhee Magu, ‘Faseyha Point’, was closed after inspectors found a live goat tied up inside the teashop’s toilet.
MFDA said the tea shop’s hygiene condition was very poor.
Well known restaurants West Park and Raaveriya in Maafannu have also been closed in the MFDA’s hygiene crackdown, after both failed to meet the authority’s standards.
Media Coordinator of MFDA Jameela Mohamed told Minivan News that the authority shut down West Park because cats were roaming around in the service area.
‘’The restaurant’s kitchen door is always open and cats will enter the kitchen,’’ she said.
Jameela said the Raaveriya restaurant had house flies in the kitchen and lizards in their storeroom.
‘’So far we have checked 82 places and eight have been shutdown,’’ Jameela said.
Both Raaveriya Restaurant and West Park are often used as caters for celebrating wedding parties, birthdays and other such events.
Manager of West Park, Abdulla Gadhir, told newspaper Haveeru that cats do not enter the kitchen area of the restaurant.
He told the paper that there were two cats that lived in the fishing area right next to the restaurant.
Manager of Raaveriya, Ahmed Shareef told the paper that the restaurant sprayed insecticide weekly to terminate houseflies and other insects.
Director General of MFDA Shareefa Adam recently told Minivan News that any premises that were shut down could reapply to open again once they had corrected issues raised with their business.
Shareefa said the MFDA were using “basic” minimum hygiene standards such as cleanliness and preventing foreign materials from getting into food when inspecting the food outlets.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Maldives national football team is expected to face India for a friendly match in July ahead of next year’s Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup finals.
The match, expected to be played during the next few weeks at an unspecified location, will form part of India’s own preparation for upcoming qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup tournament, according to sports news website, Goal.com.
Back in March, the Maldives’ national stadium in Male’ hosted every single Group C qualifying match for the 2012 Challenge Cup, with the home team coming out on top to qualify for the finals alongside second place Tajikistan.
Following its qualification for the 2012 Challenge Cup, the Maldives is also expected to find out next week if it has been chosen as the tournament’s host nation. The tournament is contested two years every two years among a number of second tier national football teams represented by the AFC and has been held in 2010, 2008 and 2006 in Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh respectively.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Maldives Broadcasting Commission (MBC) has asked Raajje TV for recordings of bulletins it aired relating to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA)’s fining of Mohamed Champa Moosa for damage to Thun’bafushi, reports Haveeru.
The MBC said the request was made regarding an undisclosed complaint, however Haveeru reported that the complaint concerned the tarnishing of Champa’s reputation.
“The license states that the content of the recording be kept for a set amount of days. The commission requested for the recordings regarding a complaint it received, so as to the complaint is valid or not,” the MBC told Haveeru.
Raajje TV issued a statement asking the MBC to deal with other broadcasting media in similar fashion.
“we call on the Maldives Broadcasting Corporation to investigate the complaints received about all other broadcasting medias in the same manner, and take action against those media sources spreading news obviously influenced by politics,” the station said.
(0)Dislikes(0)Male City Mayor Adam Manik has reassured taxi drivers that they need not be concerned about trials of a bus service, reports Haveeru.
“Everyone’s not a millionaire. An affordable mode of transport should be available for the some 150,000 people living in Male’,” Haveeru reported Manik as saying.
“On the other hand, people who use cars are those who want to go directly to their homes. So taxi drivers shouldn’t be worried about that,” he said.
Manik said environmentally friendly buses would be introduced pending a six month trial of a bus service in the capital.
“In our efforts to become carbon neutral we need to reduce the number of fuel-powered vehicles,” Manik said.
(0)Dislikes(0)President Mohamed Nasheed has welcomed a series of events in the Maldives designed to try and forge closer cultural and development partnerships with France, claiming they are indicative of a country that is looking to become “more democratic, more liberal” and ultimately, freer.
Speaking last night during a reception at the National Art Gallery in Male’, Nasheed joined Christine Robichon, French ambassador to the Maldives, in playing up the latest developments in what he claimed was a long relationship that dated back to the 1700’s and was continuing to benefit the nation in a variety of different ways.
This week in particular has seen a number of developments relating to French culture and expertise in the Maldives, including the naval ship FS Mistral docked in the country’s waters as part of a long-term training deployment and the more scaled back establishment of the Alliance Francaise in the recently opened National Library in Male’.
The Alliance Francaise is an organisation that works to promote French cultural language programmes across the world, and is running a Film Festival of productions from French speaking nations. The group was first officially recognised in the Maldives in 2009 and estimates that the number of students now learning French at public schools has increased to 400 people from just four during the last two years.
Historically the Maldives has seen significant interest from French tourists in visiting its waters and resorts. While conceding that the strength of this interest had fallen behind other markets like China, Ambassador Robichon told guests at the gallery that the option for a growing number of students in the country to learn French may not make as much business sense locally, but still offered the “variety” of speaking a major international language for Maldivian students.
President Nasheed said that he hoped a growing number of Maldivian children and the wider population were looking to embrace different history, culture and languages through education.
“We want to welcome everyone to the country, we want to become multicultural and we are moving along these lines and with our new found friendship I am sure we will be able to achieve that,” he said.
Along with the potential cultural pursuits being offered to Maldivians, President Nasheed also announced that work was beginning on French-sponsored development assistance projects to provide sewerage and water systems to islands in the country.
Whilst thanking the French ambassador for her country’s assistance with these developments, Nasheed claimed that with its recent ascension from being designated as a UN ‘least developed country’ (LDC) to a middle income nation, the Maldives was having to learn to try and stand on its own two feet.
“Recently we have been promoted from a least developed country and we want to stand up to that. We want to be able to fend for ourselves and live within our means,” he said. “We do not want aid, we want understanding and friendship and I am sure we will find that in France.”
(0)Dislikes(0)The parliament yesterday rejected a resolution presented by Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Mahlouf to cut Rf20,000 in committee allowances on top of MPs’ existing salaries.
The controversial allowances would see MP’s existing monthly salary and allowances rise from Rf62,500 (US$4053) to over US$5350 – higher than the per capita annual income of US$5000 for an ordinary Maldivian.
Prior to the government’s devaluation of the rufiya this would have put MP earnings on par with MPs in developed countries such as Sweden. At the official pegged rate of Rf12.85 an Maldivian MP would take home over US$7000, outearning an MP in France.
Out of the 58 MPs present, 17 MPs voted to accept Mahlouf’s resolution and cut the committee allowance while 20 voted in favor of keeping it. 16 MPs abstained from voting. 19 were absent – almost a quarter of the chamber.
Minivan News attempted to obtain a breakdown of the vote by MP, however this section of parliament’s website was not functioning at time of press.
The resolution to cut the committee allowance was first presented to the parliament during the last term of the parliament by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Chairperson and MP Mariya Didi, who reluctantly withdrew it after the party’s parliamentary group’s majority ordered her to do so.
After widespread public criticism at the decision – made at the same time as the country is attempting to reform its way out of a crippling budget deficit – many opposition and MDP MPs announced they would refuse to accept the committee allowance if it was retained.
However during parliament’s session yesterday, MPs attacked Mahlouf for presenting the resolution to cut the allowances.
Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) MP Riyaz Rasheed alleged that Mahlouf was attempting to gain more support from the public by presenting the resolution, and claimed that his intention was to portray himself as ‘’a good MP.’’
Mahlouf said he presented the resolution because due to the introduction of committee allowances, the parliament had become the subject of heavy criticism.
”By presenting the resolution to the parliament I believe my lawful duty is fulfilled, It is not for me to decide how the MPs should vote,” Mahlouf told Minivan News. ”However, it is a regrettable decision made by the parliament.”
Mahlouf said he believed that parliamentarians were already paid an adequate salary and there was no need to increase it.
”The objectives of the MDP are questionable since this was [resolution was dismissed] with their new majority of parliament,” he said. ”I do not have issues with critics, but it wasn’t my intention to gain fame and support -there are other ways I can gain fame and support.”
MDP MP Ahmed Easa said recently that he did not support the committee allowance, but he acknowledged that the MPs who did support the allowance “have reasonable points.”
”It’s true what they say – MPs have so much to do with their salary each month. People can’t even imagine how many calls a MP receives each day asking for help,” Easa explained.
“Anyone in trouble from any area will run to their MP first. MPs have to lend money to people in need of medication, even for reasons such as people coming to get money to pay the school fees of their children.”
Easa also explained that most of the MPs were not from Male’, which forced them to live in rented apartments.
”As everyone knows, a standard apartment’s rent in Male’ will be Rf10000-20000 (US$750-US$1500), and what about all the phone calls that MPs have to make, that costs an additional Rf5000 (US$375) each month, and what about their family, wife and kids?” he asked, claiming that MPs “already have to spend most of their salary on society.”
MP’s salaries compared:
Maldives
MP’s monthly salary (US $): 5350 @ Rf15.42, including allowances
GDP (US $) (2009 est): 1.683 billion
Current Account Balance (US $) (2009 est): -$370 million
Sri Lanka
MP’s monthly salary (US $):877
Plus Rs 500 for every parliamentary session
GDP (US $) (2009 est): 96.47 billion
Current Account Balance (US $) (2009 est):-$291 million
India
MP’s monthly salary (US $):5,966
GDP (US $) (2009 est):3.68 trillion
Current Account Balance (US $) (2009 est):-$26.63 billion
Singapore
MP’s monthly salary (US $):9,264
GDP (US $) (2009 est):251.2 billion
Current Account Balance (US $) (2009 est):32.63 billion
UK
MP’s monthly salary (US $):8,552
GDP (US $) (2009 est):2.123 trillion
Current Account Balance (US $) (2009 est):-$23.65 billion
US
MP’s monthly salary (US $):14,500
GDP (US $) (2009 est):14.12 trillion
Current Account Balance (US $) (2009 est):-$378.4 billion
Australia
MP’s monthly salary (US $):9,687
GDP (US $) (2009 est):321.6 billion
Current Account Balance (US $) (2009 est):8.73 billion
France
MP’s monthly salary (US $):6,651
GDP (US $) (2009 est):2.094 trillion
Current Account Balance (US $) (2009 est):-$51.86 billion
Italy
MP’s monthly salary (US $):6,936
GDP (US $) (2009 est):1.737 trillion
Current Account Balance (US $) (2009 est):-$66.2 billion
Sweden
MP’s monthly salary (US $):7,298
GDP (US $) (2009 est):335.1 billion
Current Account Balance (US $) (2009 est):30.23 billion
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