Tag: maldives

Strengthen Islam before introducing comparative religion, say Adhaalath and Salaf

The Adhaalath Party and religious NGO Jamiyyathul Salaf have said they will not support the study of comparative religion in the Maldives until understanding of the basic principles are strengthened.

The introduction of the subject at a tertiary level was proposed last week by State Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed, who said it was taught in many Islamic universities across the world and would help Maldivians “learn how to deal with other philosophies, learn about what others believe, the differences between us and them, and what is the right side.”

“It is my belief that by the end of people should know that Islam is the truth,” he said.

In the lead up to the launch of the course, the Islamic Ministry is preparing to legalise the possession of books concerning other religions, such as the bible, “for educational and research purposes”, Shaheem told Minivan News on Thursday.

However President of the Adhaalath Party Sheikh Hussein Rasheed said today that the government should not introduce comparative religion to the country “before the people understand the basic principles of Islam.”

Sheikh Hussein said that before introducing comparative religion the government should teach Islam in more advanced manner.

”People today do not know the basic principles of Islam,” Sheikh Hussein said. ”It is not good to introduce comparative religion before people know all the basic principles of Islam.”

He claimed that Maldivians had moved away from religion over the past thirty years.

“As a result, today there is nobody to respect religion, teachers and leaders,” he said.

He said there were many people who doubted some religious matters, and the study of comparative religion would only increase those doubts.

Sheikh Hussein added that it was good to teach comparative religion at a university level, “but only after making the teaching of Islam more advanced.”

He also noted that there were no qualified teachers to teach comparative religion in the country.

”There might be a scholar who has studied it as a subject, but it does not mean he is qualified to teach it,” Sheikh Hussein said. ”I also studied psychology when I studied, but does not mean I am a psychologist.”

He said that in general principle the study of comparative religion at a university level was a good idea.

However he added that he had information that the government was trying to introduce comparative religion at a secondary level, which ”the Adhaalath Party will try to stop from happening by any means necessary.”

Shaheem emphasised on Thursday that the subject should not be taught at a secondary level “because [students’] minds are not [yet] prepared to deal with these philosophies.”

President of Jamiyyathul Salaf Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohamed Ibrahim today agreed with Sheikh Hussein that people should understand Islam comprehensively before comparative religion was introduced.

Sheikh Abdulla said there were some necessary subjects of Islam many people in the Maldives did not yet understand or were not being taught.

”Only a few people understand the ‘Tafsir’ [exegesis] of Quran,” he said, adding that ”knowledge of other religions is already taught in verses of Quran and Hadith.”

He emphasised that people should be taught more about Islamic theology before it was compared with other religions.

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair said the government would introduce the study of comparative religion “in anyway the Islamic Ministry prefers”, and noted the decision over whether to introduce comparative religion at a secondary or university level was yet to be decided.

”There are no disadvantages to teaching comparative religion in the Maldives,” Zuhair said. ”We will discuss everything [in cabinet] and we are looking forward to introducing the subject for next year.”

President of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM), Ahmed Saleem, said he thought that introducing the subject of comparative religion was “a good idea.”

“I welcome it. I think it’s a good opportunity for people to really understand Islam,” he said.

“I don’t think anybody else has talked about it [before it was raised by Shaheem]. You have a right to know – these books were all sent by God – even those about Christianity and Judaism.”

Saleem noted that it was technically legal for a Maldivian man to marry a Jewish or a Christian woman, as “they are all people of the book.”

However it was illegal for a Maldivian woman to marry a Christian or a Jewish man, he said.

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Shangri-La ‘PlayStation’ strike dissolves after leaders dismissed

The strike at Shangri-La Villingili Resort and Spa has ended, according to Vice President of the Tourism Employment Association Maldives (TEAM), Mauroof Zakir.

157 Staffs at the Shangri-La Villingili Resort went on strike last week after four workers were dismissed for reportedly playing on a PlayStation in a vacant villa on the last Sunday. It continued throughout the week until Shangri-La management dismissed the 10 leaders of the strike and four villa host, and invited the remaining staff back to work.

Zakir claimed the strike ended when Shangri-La management sent a letter to the parents of the strikers on Feydhoo.

”They sent a letter signed by the general manager of the resort requesting that the strikers resign or the matter would be handled to the police,” Zakir said.

”Their wives, kids and parents were disappointed with the letter and pressured the staff to stop the strike and go work.”

Zakir said the strikers did not achieve all they had set out to achieve, but “it was a success that only 14 staffs were dismissed. At first they dismissed 65 staffs on the island.”

He said that strikers took a vote on Wednesday to decide if they were going to continue or end the strike.

”Ninety per cent of them voted to continue the strike,” Zakir claimed.

He said TEAM would “still work until we achieve our demands, with the help of international organisations.”

”We will take the case to the tribunal also,” he said. ”We will do as much we can.”

Shangri-La’s Communication Director Leslie Garcia denied management sent a letter to the strike leaders.

”They were dismissed in an agreement proposed by the resort management,” she said. ”They agreed to it.”

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Shangri-La dismisses 14 striking staff, invites rest to return to work

Shangri-La Villingili Resort and Spa has invited striking staff to return to work, after 157 staff stopped working in protest over the dismissal of four villa hosts.

The villa hosts were dismissed after security and a duty manager discovered they had locked themselves in a guest villa with a PlayStation during a lunch break.

Senior management from the hotel chain flew into the Maldives earlier this week to resolve the situation, just as the Ministry of Human Resources and the Tourism Employees Association of the Maldives (TEAM) became involved.

A statement from the resort today said while management “acknowledges and accepts employees’ rights under Maldivian
Law, because of the serious nature of employee behaviour, 14 staff members will no longer be employed by the property.”

“The management will fill the resulting vacancies with Maldivians,” it added.

Other employees “are invited to return to work”, the resort’s statement said, adding that “initial claims that 65 employees were dismissed are untrue.”

“The resolution reflects the desire to move forward in a fair and reasonable manner considering the needs of the local community and all employees. The resort is operating as normal and no guests have been affected,” Shangri-La said.

Minivan News contacted one of the striking employees camped on Feydhoo, who said the protesters would stick to their original demands, which include a written statement from the resort reinstating the dismissed employees.

“Most of the strikers have been given first and last warnings, which means next thing they do wrong they will be dismissed,” he claimed.

The resort’s general manager went to Feydhoo yesterday and called the 14 dismissed strikers one by one to an area secured by riot police, the striker claimed, to inform them of their dismissal.

Vice President of TEAM Mauroof Zakir said those dismissed included the four villa hosts “and 10 staff who management suspects have been leading the strike.”

He noted that the protesting staff had taken a vote yesterday over whether to continue to with the strike “and the majority decided to continue.”

More than 80 staff are continuing to strike, he said, adding that the resort was continuing to operate normally “because the majority of staff are expatriate.”

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Riot at Maafushi prison leaves many injured, claim prisoners’ relatives

Family members have claimed that inmates in Maafushi jail were badly beaten by jail officers in a prison riot on Sunday morning at around 12:15 am, after they were allegedly asked to go out to the prison yard and kneel on the ground.

A person familiar with the case told Minivan News that the riot was sparked when jail officers entered Unit 7 while everyone was sleeping.

”An Emergency Support Group (ESG) squad and the Maldives Police Service Serious and Organised Crime Unit, both in full riot kit,  arrived in the middle of the night and demanded the inmates to go out to the yard and kneel down,” he said.

He said when the “barely awake” inmates refused to go outside ”they started confronting the inmates and beating them with their batons, and [the inmates] tried to defend themselves,” he said. ”It was shocking that they suddenly appeared like that in the middle of the night.”

He said claims by the Department of Penitentary and Rehabilitation Service (DPRS)  that the inmates attempted to kidnap a jail officer were “all untrue.”

”It’s true that earlier three inmates in unit 8 jumped over the wall intending to jump into unit 7,” he said, ”but jail officers outside saw them and rang the loudest emergency siren.”

He said the three inmates ran back to their cell in fear.

”That was at the same time President Mohamed Nasheed had just left Maafushi after attending a ceremony held to open a water plant,” he said. ”If the jail officers came to take [the offenders] they could have just called their names and taken them, that’s how they always do it.”

He said that at least 15 of the inmates were badly injured in the riot, “but only three of them were taken to Male’,” he said. ”There are still six seriously injured inmates left in isolation cells in Unit 2, without medical treatment.”

He claimed that one of the inmates in Unit 2 had broken his arm, another had a swollen left eye and many others had bruises on them.

injured inmate
Injured inmate

”There is another man [in isolation] with internal bleeding – he was beaten up because he was the brother of another inmate who confronted jail officers,” the source alleged.

“He has first degree lung cancer and doctors have banned him from being imprisoned in any area where fresh air is not available. The Home Ministry would know about that.”

He claimed that jail officers “often complain that the current government does not provide them new shoes and uniforms like the former government.”

”They have a culture of torturing people,” he claimed. ”They want to have extreme power over inmates, so they pretend they do not have any control over the inmates, that’s what they want to show.”

Another person familiar with the case told Minivan News that the inmates in Unit 7 and Unit 8 were having an argument over a matter that started on Saturday afternoon and went on until that evening.

He confirmed that the three men in Unit 8 climbed over the wall intending to enter Unit 7.

“The jail officers on duty saw them and inmates returned back to Unit 8,” he said. ”But the officers rang the loudest siren, which can be heard throughout the whole island, to make it into a big issue.”

He said the jail officers entered Unit 9 that day around 6:30pm and left.

”Inmates in Unit 9 are very disciplined and well behaved,” he said. ”Jail officers went there and questioned them for about half an hour and left.”

He said that jail officers entered Unit 7 at midnight and demanded they go out to the yard and kneel down.

”It was alright to take those three,” he said, ”but they wanted all the inmates to kneel in the yard.”

The source said the riot last Saturday was a part of “a permanent war between inmates and the ESG.”

”The ESG force was established in 2007 and on their first day after training they beat up many inmates for no reason, shouting ‘We now have the power in Maafushi jail.”’

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Head injury

He claimed that three inmates were brought to Male’ yesterday morning and admitted to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).

“But there are still inmates injured who have not received any medical treatment,” he claimed.

”The inmates have wives and kids at home waiting for them; a few are moved to Male’ and put under house arrest for rehabilitation and medication, but they are not really ill inmates. Inmates who really need medication are still inside here in the cells.”

The source also claimed rehabilitation and house arrest were drawn randomly by the DPRS  ”like a lucky draw.”

He said many of the jail officers complained the current government was not providing them any services, either.

”They used to provoke the depressed inmates to [do bad things], saying things like: ‘Don’t wait like that, do something.’ The should be called the DRP-S,” he said.

He further claimed that neither rehabilitation or advice were given to prisoners.

”They only know how to beat [the inmates] up. That’s the only service they get [in prison],” he said.

The mother of an inmate hospitalised in IGMH told Minivan News that she received the information about the case on Sunday.

”I went to the Human Right Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) and told hem about the incident,” she said. “They called the DPRS who said my son was not injured.”

After contacting many government officials her son was brought to Male’ for treatment yesterday morning at 10:00 am.

”I was there when he arrived, his leg was damaged and he could not even walk,” she said. ”I called the DPRS and asked them to come and see for themselves whether if my son was injured.”

The mother of another inmate told Minivan News that her son’s arm was broken and he had been also was hit in the chest with a baton.

”Last night he had difficulties breathing, and still he has internal bleeding,” she said.

Miniavn News attended IGMH today to ascertain whether inmates had been injured and hospitalised as claimed, and confirmed the presence of three, in wards 7 and 10.

However the journalist was asked to leave by the police, despite  DPRS staff outside previously agreeing that the inmates could be interviewed. ”It was is not visiting time and DPRS has requested you leave,” Minivan News was told. Minivan News observed that police and DRPS officers had removed their name tags.

Human Rights Commission of the Maldives yesterday released a press release after interviewing inmates and jail officers.

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Inmate claims he was injured by a baton

HRCM’s report said that no one was seriously injured during the riot, and further claimed that the DPRS jail officers did not have control over the inmates.

”After the survey we conducted we noticed that DPRS officers had no control over the jail and the government had not provided the jail officers enough equipment,” HRCM said.

“The jail does not have any equipment to use in case of fire and there was no security equipment to control inmates out of control,” the statement said.

Press Secretary for the President, Mohamed Zuhair and Director General of DPRS Mohamed Raheed did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

State Minister for Home Affairs Ahmed Adil said three inmates in Maafushi jail had tried to kidnap a jail officer who entered the cell to serve food to them.

Adil said that 15 jail officers were also injured during the riot.

”The DPRS did not enter the unit all of a sudden at midnight, ” he said. ”[Officers] tried to apprehend and isolate the inmates who tried to kidnap the jail officer.”

He said the inmates then confronted the jail officers.

”They threw stones at the jail officers,” he said, ”they threw anything their hands touched.”

Adil confirmed that six inmates were brought to Male’ for medical treatment.

”One of the inmates had a fracture in his arm and doctors said they needed to operate,” he said, ”but when doctors brought him inside the surgery room they noticed he was drunk and not in a good condition to be operated on, so he was sent away to be brought back later.”

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Human trafficking an emerging issue for the Maldives

A report on the Maldives in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) review of the Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking of Women and Children for Prostitution has highlighted the Maldives as a destination country for human trafficking, “where the primary form of trafficking is forced labour.”

The SAARC report, funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and produced by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), suggested that human trafficking in the Maldives “is presumably is associated with the country’s socio-economic status as the most developed South Asian country, and its reliance on the migration of foreign workers to support sectors such as tourism and construction.”

“The Maldives is a destination country for migrant workers trafficked from neighbouring Bangladesh and India for forced labour, and to a lesser extent women from Sri Lanka, Thailand, India and China who are trafficked to Male’ for commercial sexual exploitation,” the report said, adding that “there is also some existence of some inter-island trafficking of Maldivian girls to the capital for domestic servitude.”

The country’s main offenders were “registered employment agents who fraudulently recruit low-skilled migrant workers and subject them to conditions of forced labour once they are in the country.”

“The other major offending group are wealthy families who subject domestic servants to forced labour,” the report noted.

The trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation was less marked than in other countries, the report noted, compared alongside the levels of forced labour, however “women of Chinese, Thai, Sri Lankan, and Filipino origin come to Male’ on the weekends from Colombo and some of them engage in commercial sex with the local migrant worker population.”

“In interviews, officials also spoke of occasions where they suspected cases of commercial sexual exploitation particularly when a large number of young women, sometimes of Eastern European origin, travel together with a single man to an exclusive private tourist resort for a short duration. [In this instance] there is little immigration officials can do in the absence of a complaint or some indication of abuse.”

IOM’s National Programme Officer Nishat Chowdhry presented the report at a meeting today in the Nalahiya Hotel, part of a review of the convention which until now has excluded male victims and crimes as forced labour.

“The scope of the convention is limited,” Chowdhry said. “Other aspects of trafficking, including for forced labour, human transplants and servitude have not been covered by convention,” she said. “There is growing consensus that the time is right to review the convention.”

President of the Human Rights Commission for the Maldives (HRCM) Ahmed Saleem described human trafficking as “a modern form of slavery with 800,000 estimated victims, mostly women and children.”

Saleem observed that a recent US State Department report into human trafficking had criticised the Maldives government for failure “to fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking”, but noted that the government had now acknowledged the existence of the crime “even if overall efforts to [confront] it are insignificant.”

“The commission is convinced that this is a major human rights issue and that is why we have begun a comprehensive study we hope to complete as soon as possible,” he said.

Vice President Dr Mohamed Hassan Waheed, speaking at the event, noted that while the convention focused on one the “most serious transnational crimes against dignity and human rights”, there were “serious shortcomings both in coverage and implementation of this convention.”

“Specific limitations include the exclusion of male victims, prostitution excluding other forms of trafficking such as forced labour, sex slavery and other slave-like practices. I am concerned that even though the convention has been in force for fours years, it has not been adequately implemented and enforced in the region.”

The convention carried “inadequate provision for victim protection and rehabilitation,” he said.

“I am especially concerned about the trafficking of children, especially girl children. The effects of sexual exploitation of children are profound, maybe permanent. Sexual, physical and emotional development are stunted, self-esteem and confidence are undermined, and sexually exploited children become especially vulnerable to the effects of physical and verbal violence, drugs, sexually transmitted diseases. We are concerned that human trafficking is becoming a growing problem in our country.”

An industry driven “by greed and brutal disregard for human rights”, human trafficking “has become a worldwide multi-billion dollar industry,” Dr Hassan said.

“The problem is global but some of the worst forms are found in Asia, where more than a million people are exploited each year. Trafficking on this level cannot escape the attention of national and local law enforcement authorities and I would like to call on concerned authorities and counterparts in our neighbouring countries to enforce these laws and accept our obligations under this convention.”

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MPs reject bill banning alcohol, approve bill governing political parties

The parliament yesterday rejected a bill completely banning the importation of alcohol and pork to the Maldives

The bill on banning the importation of alcohol and pork was presented to the parliament by independent MP Ibrahim Muthalib, which he claimed was an amendment to the list of things that cannot not be imported under 75/4 of the law concerning contraband.

15 MPs voted in favour of the bill while 53 MPs voted against it. Four MPs did not vote.

“The last time I presented a bill banning the sale and usage of alcohol on inhabited islands parliament sent it off the floor claiming that it only banned particular areas (inhabited islands),” Muthalib said, upon presenting  the bill.

“This time I am presenting a bill to ban [alcohol and pork] from being brought inside the country at all.”

Almost all of the MPs were against the bill, claiming that it would harm the country’s tourism industry and its economy.

Meanwhile, another bill governing political parties was approved in a near-unanimous vote 68-2.

Maldivian Democratic Party MP Ahmed Abdulla presented the bill to the parliament on behalf of the government, with the stated aim of strengthening the democracy of the country by providing people “a peaceful” way to participate in political activities.

The bill was approved by the vote of 68 MPs, while 2 MPs voted against the bill.

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Arrests in Laamu Gan after gang attacks on police

Police have arrested 22 people including four children under the age of 18 in Laamu Gan, after they were attacked during a wave of gang violence.

Police said the attacks occurred on Saturday morning at 4:00am, after the gang, believed to be from Mathimaradhu, “appeared suddenly from a forest.”

Police alleged gang members broke the glass windows of a shop in the industrial area of Mathimaradhu, burnt down a hut in Mulurimagu [district] and broke the windows of two houses. When they tried to stop the gang members, police claim they they were attacked and a police vehicle damaged.

Two policemen were seriously injured in the attack, including one suffered a broken arm after he was hit by a metal tube and another who was struck in the arm by a piece of wood with nails in it.

Police have recovered some of the weapons used in the attack from a house in Mathimaradhu, including swords, knives, metal pipes and blocks.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said the injured two police officers have been brought to Male’ and admitted in Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).

He said the police were investigating the case but refused to give more information.

Island Chief of Gan office Abdul Rahman said that the attack on Saturday night was a gang war between the two districts Mathimaradhu and Mukuri Magu that had been going on for a long time, “for at least three months.”

”Several times many of them have been injured,” Rahman said, ”but this is the first time they attacked the police and damaged property.”

He said most of the gang members were under the age of eighteen.

”We do not know why they have been fighting,” he said. ”We had not received any reports on these fights.”

He said there was a distance of 30 minutes between the two districts on foot.

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Hithaadhoo now out of water

Hithaadhoo in Baa Atoll has completely run out of water, claims Island councilor Amir Abdul Latheef.

He said he has been getting complaints since yesterday morning that all houses on the island had no water.

”We informed the utilities company that we have no water on the island,” Amir said, ”they told us that they would send water as soon as possible.”

Amir said the islanders were using ground water from the island, a practice banned by the Health Ministry twelve years ago because of the toxicity.

”Only a few wealthy men use mineral water but the majority of people cannot afford to buy water everyday,” he said. ”There are 1227 people on the island,” Amir noted.

He said he had never witnessed a situation similar to this in his whole life. ”[The last time] it rained was eight months ago,” he said,”the situation on the island is now much worse.”

He said the island office was trying to prevent infants from having to use the impure ground water.

”It rains occasionally but that much is not usable as the roofs are dusty and such small amount of rain does not even clean the roofs,” he said.

Amir said people of the island were now in danger of becoming sick with fevers and diseases due to drinking impure water.

State Minister for Health Abdul Baary Abdulla said there were many diseases that could potentially result from the use of contaminated water, including diarrhoea, stomach ailments and skin diseases.

Amir had recently complained several times that the island would completely run out of water during the weekend if the government does not provide it for them urgently.

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Shangri-La staff sacked for playing PlayStation, 157 now on strike

Staff at the Shangri-La Villingili Resort are on strike after four workers were dismissed for allegedly playing on a PlayStation in a vacant villa.

A person familiar with the matter told Minivan News that the four men, who were ‘villa hosts’ at the luxury resort in Addu Atoll, took their PlayStation to a vacant guest room during their lunch break, “double locked the door and put up a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign.”

“The staff usually do not get a break during lunch time if the occupation of the island is high, but that day they got a break,” the source said, claiming the dismissal was “against the handbook of the resort.”

The source said the four men were dismissed after they were caught by security manager Jack David and Duty Manager Mohamed Ashraf. In response, 157 staff at the resort went on a four-day strike demanding their colleagues be reinstated.

The men were discovered when the house keeping manager found the room double locked and reported it to the duty manager, “as nobody was supposed to be inside,” the source said.

”The security manager and duty manager attended the place to see who was inside,” he said.

He claimed the security manager went to the back door of the villa just as one of the men inside opened it to see if anyone was outside.

”The security manager thought he was attempting to flee,” the source said.

”He pushed the man, saying ‘You do not know my background, I worked at the military for five years, your life is short now,’ and he fell to the ground and was hurt,” the source alleged.

The security manager “then ordered everyone to stay still until they finished investigating.”

He said that after taking pictures of the scene Ashraf told them the investigation was finished but did not allow them to leave.

”The of them the wanted to leave the room and go,” he said, “but security did not allow them to leave, and it because heated.”

He alleged that when one of them walked toward the door security pushed him back by neck.

”After shouting at each other for a while they managed to leave the room,” the source said.

Resort management gathered a council committee which included seven staff from the resort.

”The committee requested management to act according to the resort’s handbook,” he said, ”which stated that the four men should be given a ‘Category C’ punishment –  a written warning – while security management should be given ‘Category D’ punishment – dismissal.”

The source said the management wanted to give the same punishment to four staff and the security manager, “but everyone was against it, so we told the management that all the staff were against the decision,” he said.

”The next day the manager gathered us and said that he and the general manager had discussed the issue and decided to dismiss all five of them.”

He said that upon hearing the news staff across various sections of the resort were unhappy and petitioned management asking for the case to be reopened a dealt with according to the handbook.”

Shangri-La workers on strike
Shangri-La workers on strike

Bulk dismissal

”When we gave the petition to the manager he told us that everyone who had participated in the petition could also consider themselves dismissed and should leave the island immediately,” the source said.

”So all 65 of us gathered near the administration block demanding he take back the order and reinstate the jobs of the four dismissed villa hosts.”

He claimed the Shangri-La management refused to hold further discussion over the issue, and repeated that they were all dismissed and were to leave immediately.

”Police arrived that night and told us to leave the island within 10 minutes or they would use force,” he said, ”so we left on the resort’s ferry to Feydhoo in Seenu Atoll with the police.”

Police reportedly told the workers they could continue the strike on Feydhoo “in accordance with the law.”

”We are now in Feydhu continuing our strike and we now we have 157 Maldivian staff from Shangri-La with us,” he said.

”We will not stop until management decides to give us a written document reinstating the jobs of the four villa hosts.”

Vice President of the Tourism Employment Association of Maldives (TEAM) Mauroof Zakir said the association “fully supports” the strike.

”The International Union of Foodworkers (IUF) are also supporting the event,” Zakir said, adding that he was now at Feydhoo with the strikers taking part in the event.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed that police arrived at the island upon request of the resort management.

Shiyam said the management claimed the situation was threatening to escalate into a brawl and requested police remove the staff from the island.

Shangri-La’s Director for Communication Leslie Garcia said investigation of the case was ongoing and she was unable to provide more information.

Deputy Minister of the Labour Relations Authority Aiminath Shifaya meanwhile said that the ministry was trying to resolve the issue peacefully by negotiating with management and employees.

Shifaya said two representatives of the ministry were now present on Feydhoo.

”We hope that the issue would be solved by tomorrow,” she said. ”Both sides are co-operating with us.”

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