Tag: maldives

MDP councillors refute allegations of corruption in Malé city clean-up project

Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) councillors have released a counter-statement disputing allegations of corruption in the granting of the ‘Clean Green Malé’ project to Business Image Group (BIG).

The release came in response to a statement released yesterday by three Malé City councillors affiliated with the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).

The project was granted to BIG with the support of all councillors – including the three from PPM.

Signed by Malé City Mayor Mohamed Shihab and six MDP affiliated councillors, the statement said the agreement to contract BIG to implement the ‘Clean Green Malé’ project was unanimously voted for at a council meeting attended by the three councillors who had released yesterday’s statement.

It explained that the agreement made with BIG by the previous government was revised and an amended agreement was signed on February 1 this year.

“An agreement was signed between Malé City Council and Business Image Group to conduct the ‘Nala Fehi’ Malé [Clean Green Male’] initiative on October 3, 2011. As this previous agreement did not include the cleaning and sweeping of the streets of Malé, the Malé City Council and Business Image Group held further discussions on the matter and signed a revised agreement inclusive of this on February 1, 2014,” the statement read.

“As one of the main concerns voiced to the newly elected council members by the public regards the levels of cleanliness in the city, we held numerous discussions on the matter,” it stated, adding that the council unanimously decided to expedite implementation of the project contracted to BIG.

Claim and counter-claim

While the PPM councillors’ statement claimed “accommodation for labourers brought in to do the cleaning work needs to be provided by Malé City Council”, today’s response rejected the claims, stating that BIG will be employing 100 Maldivians to do the cleaning work, meaning there is no need to provide accommodation for any of the employees.

The statement released by PPM councillors Ibrahim Mamnoon, Zaidhul Ameen, and Mohamed Sajid claimed that the mayor and deputy mayor were exerting undue pressure to “maintain the agreement with BIG”, and that the Anti Corruption Commission is currently investigating the matter.

Their statement was issued to inform the public of the reasons behind the three PPM councillors’ absence from the project’s inauguration event, adding “we assure you that we will cooperate with any and all efforts made for the good of the people”.

Meanwhile, the council has claimed that the permit to hold the event was withdrawn by the government at short notice.

“While we had spent large funds on the preparation of the Iskandhar School hall for the event, at the last minute the school was asked to cancel the reservation by the government, stating that it is instead needed by the Ministry of Education.”

“When after multiple attempts, we were unable to find another location for the event at such notice, we held the event outside the gates of Iskandhar School, albeit facing many challenges.”

“While STELCO initially agreed to provide us with temporary electricity for the event, and one of their staff members were actively working on doing so, we would like to inform the public that the government exerted influence on this company as well and stopped them from providing electricity for our event,” the statement read.

The council revealed that the event had been held with the assistance of nearby residents, who provided electricity to hold the event.

Local media further reported that no government officials had been present at the event.

BIG rejects allegations

Meanwhile, BIG Sales and Marketing Director Hassan Ismail has also dismissed the claims of the PPM councillors, suggesting they were fabrications targeted to confuse the public.

“I don’t know from where they have gotten the idea that the council has agreed to give us land,” said Hassan.

“We have done a lot of work under the clean up Malé programme even to date. We have even planted over 800 trees. On the contrary, we have only put up about 38 billboards. The billboards are being put up as a means to getting returns, through the funds we get from them, we are paying part of the salaries of the labourers, and other such expenses,” he continued.

Hassan acknowledged that the council had initially been asked to provide accommodation for labourers before the decision to employ Maldivians was made.

“As for the nursery, the council is not ‘giving’ it to us. Instead, the truth behind the matter is, they keep the plants we import to be planted in Malé there. It is their property in the end, and we are assisting them.”

Likes(1)Dislikes(0)

Police investigating anti-Islamic activity on social media

The police are investigating online anti-Islamic social media activity, officials have confirmed.

A police media official confirmed that the investigation was  initiated by the police, but that they have since received similar complaints from the public.

Minivan News has learned that the police investigation is particularly focused on a Facebook page titled ‘Dhivehi Atheists/Maldivian Atheists’, though police have said that the investigation is not focused on a particular page but all such unlawful activity will be investigated.

Religious conservative Adhaalath party has condemned the page for  insulting the Prophet and God by drawing offensive cartoons. Adhaalath called to block the page and take action against everyone behind the page.

The page, which appears to be run by Maldivians, posts content critical of and insulting Muslims, Islamists, Islam, God, and the Prophet Muhammad. Liked by just 300 users, the majority of the posts are in local Dhivehi language.

According to the page administrators, the purpose of creating it was encouraging Maldivians to leave Islam and “choose the path of science and reason”.

Reacting to the page, a number of people are posting comments with apologetic content and advising those behind the group to repent and accept Islam. Some users are calling to behead the anonymous administrators of the page and praying for God’s wrath upon them.

Several posts made by visitors accused various people of being behind the page and threatened to kill them. Many visitors have stated that the administrator has been identified to be a woman.

The 2008 constitution of Maldives declares that all citizens of the Maldives should be Muslims, while article 32 of the Religious Unity Regulation declares “Insulting or committing any action that may offend Islamic slogans” as prohibited.

This includes anything which “insults Allah, His Prophets and Messengers, the Companions of Prophet Mohamed (PBUH)”. Insulting the Quran, Islamic Mosques and Other Islamic slogans are also prohibited.

The punishments for these offenses are given in the Religious Unity Act of 1994, which allows 2-5 years imprisonment or house arrest, and an additional year for every time such an offense is repeated. Under Islamic Shariah law as interpreted in the Maldives, apostasy is punishable by death.

While discussion of controversial religious issues are restricted by law, much discussions happens online with moderate Muslims, secularists, Islamists, and atheists discussing and debating on religious issues through social media.

Hate speech and threats against contributors are regularly posted by radicals on both sides of the debates.

While many locals identify themselves as non-Muslims online, only a few cases of Maldivians who publicly declared their disbelief in God have been reported in the media.

Among them was 25 year old Ismail Mohamed Didi, who was found hanged from an air traffic control tower in 2010. Didi had been seeking asylum after his colleagues started harassing him for his atheism.

In the same year, Mohamed Nazim announced his disbelief on live television during a public question-and-answer session with Islamic speaker Dr Zakir Naik. Nazim was escorted from the venue by police for his own protection, before announcing his return to the faith after religious counselling received while in detention.

In 2011 a silent protest calling for religious tolerance was attacked by Islamist extremists, the main victim in the attack – local blogger Ismail ‘Hilath’ Rasheed – also faced a life threatening attack the next year before seeking refuge abroad.


Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

High Court decides to hold closed hearings on appeal case against Family Court ruling

The High Court has today decided to hold closed hearings in the appeal case against the Family Court hearings asking Ahmed Sharuan from Kanmatheege in Seenu Atoll Maradhoo to return his five month baby to the mother.

While the Constitution’s Article 42 (b) states that court hearings must be open to public, courts of law are allowed to hold closed hearings under special circumstances as seen fit by the judges.

Family Court previously ordered Sharuan to return the baby to the mother, and on his failure to comply, ordered police to search for him.

The search has since been called off following the High Court releasing a temporary injunction asking to halt implementation of the Family Court order.

Likes(1)Dislikes(0)

STO head office robbed

State Trading Organization (STO) head office was broken into and robbed during the early hours of Tuesday (March 18).

STO Managing Director Adam Azim informed local media that a group of people had threatened the office’s security guard with knives and forced their way into the offices.

“They were not able to go up to the main safe. I don’t think they would have been able to steal any money, as we have a practice of depositing our earnings every day,” he is quoted as saying.

However, he stated that there might have been an unidentified amount of money in the office intended for use as petty cash, which might have been stolen.

A police media official confirmed that they are investigating a break in at STO headquarters, while stating that the amount of money stolen is as of yet unknown.

No related arrests have been made at the time of press.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Man fined MVR1000 for possession of alcohol

Criminal Court has fined a man who brought in alcohol to the Maldives and kept it in his possession.

The charged Mohamed Vildhaan of Dhemaagasdhoshuge in Henveiru ward of capital city Malé was fined MVR1000.

The Criminal Court verdict reads that Vildhaan had confessed in court to having been in possession of alcohol.

It further states that the sentence against him is a fine because the court was not made aware of the quantity of alcohol that Vildhaan had in his possession.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Kudahuvadhoo islanders spotted low-flying mystery aircraft in hours after MH370 disappearance

With additional reporting by Ahmed Nazeer and Ahmed Rilwan

Residents of Kudahuvadhoo in Dhaal atoll have reported seeing a low flying aircraft heading in a south-easterly direction in the morning of March 8, prompting speculation that it could have been the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.

“It was about 6:30am in the morning, I heard a loud noise and went out to see what it was,” Adam Saeed, a teacher at Kudahuvadhoo school, told Minivan News.

“I saw a flight flying very low and it had a red straight line in the middle of it. The flight was traveling north-west to south-east.”

While Saeed’s sighting has been corroborated by a number of witnesses, others remain skeptical that the aircraft could have been the missing jet, whilst aviation authorities maintain that they have no “credible” evidence to support the claims.

Police have confirmed they are looking into the reports without providing further comment.

Co-author of the original story Ahmed Naif explained that Haveeru had been receiving similar reports since March 9, but had been concerned about the credibility of the sightings.

“Later we were getting so many comments that we contacted the island and they said it was true,” explained Naif.

One islander, who identified himself as Hamzath, told Minivan News that had also seen a low-flying plane heading from north-west to south-east, though he remained wary of jumping to conclusions.

“People started talking about it when they realised that the flight that we saw had the same characteristics as of the missing plane,” he said. ”We are still not saying it is the same plane, we just wanted to report it just in case.”

Another witness – who wished to remain anonymous – confirmed a similar height and direction but did not see the plane’s colours, while another suggested that the reports had been exaggerated.

“A plane did fly near the island,” said the anonymous witness. “It wasn’t that big, as big as people say.”

“These days people will be out fishing every morning. Around thirty people would always be there in the morning – but no one talked about it then. If it was that noticeable, loud and big, people would talk.”

Caution urged

Investigators are currently searching an area spanning 2.24 million nautical miles, with two corridor arcs – one stretching between Thailand and Kazakhstan, the other south between Indonesia and the southern Indian Ocean.

The arcs were determined locational ‘pings’ detected by a satellite revealing the flight’s last known location at 8:11am Malaysian time (5:11am Maldives time). Witness reports received by Minivan News and Haveeru put the time of the sighting between 6:15am and 8am.

While the Maldives appears to have been ruled out of the ever-widening search for the missing Boeing 777 and the 239 people on board, reports this morning brought further mention of the Indian Ocean archipelago.

A simulator featuring five airports in the Indian Ocean region was discovered in the home of flight Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah today, as investigators remain convinced the plane’s disappearance was deliberate. A senior Malaysian police officer told Reuters, however, that such simulators are likely to feature hundreds of runways.

Ibrahim Nasir International Airport was featured on the simulator, as were three runways in Indian and Sri Lanka, as well as the US military base in Diego Garcia.

Although the Maldives receives over one million tourists every year, visitors to isolated islands are normally transported by seaplane from Malé’s airport.

When asked about the possibility of a plane of this size landing on an isolated airstrip in the atolls, Maldives National Defence Force spokesman Major Hussain Ali said this was not possible.

“If you are asking are there any landing strips outside of the main commercial airports, the answer is no,” said Hussain.

Contacted following the emergence of the Kudahuvadhoo sightings, neither Hussain not the President’s Office were responding to calls at the time of press.

Spokesman for the Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) Hassan Areef has urged caution regarding the reported sightings in Kudahuvadhoo.

“We have no credible information about the plane in terms of radar or sightings,” said Areef.

“There are so many conspiracy theories – we have no credible information that the plane has come to us.”

One such conspiracy theory has the base at Diego Garcia – which lies around 700 miles south of Kudahuvadhoo – as a potential landing site for the plane, though Malaysian authorities are said to have dismissed this rumour.

Haveeru today quoted a local aviation expert, who considered it unlikely that a commercial carrier would have been flying over the island at that time.

While some witnesses at first assumed that the flight must have come from Maamagili airport, 55 miles to the north, MACL’s published schedule shows no flights from the airport until 7:20am on Saturdays, with all subsequent flights headed to the capital Malé – north-east of Maamigilli.

Maamigili airport is the hub for the domestic carrier Flyme which operates a fleet of 75ft, 50 seater ATR 42-500 aircraft. The Boeing 777 model of the missing Malaysian jet is around 200 feet long with a carrying capacity in excess of three hundred.

Likes(1)Dislikes(0)

PPM councillors allege corruption involved in “Clean Green Malé” project

Three Malé City councillors affiliated with the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) have released a statement alleging that corruption is involved in the council’s ‘Nala Fehi Malé’ (Clean Green Male’) initiative.

“Under the ‘Clean and Sweep Male’ program inaugurated on March 16 in an event held in front of Iskandhar School, half of the ‘Thaisey Block’ [the land behind the Male’ City Council offices] has been unduly granted to the contractor Business Image Group (BIG) to conduct this work,” read the statement.

“The agreement further requires additional land to be provided to store vehicles brought in the name of being necessary for cleaning. Additionally, even accomodation for labourers brought in to do the cleaning work needs to be provided by the Malé City Council,” it continued.

“Furthermore, we condemn this act that has been done despite repeated orders from the Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure asking us to not conduct any agreements regarding any land in Malé.”

The statement also said that the granting of the contract to BIG is currently being investigated by the Anti Corruption Commission of the Maldives.

“Malé City Mayor and Deputy Mayor has challenged this institution, and regardless [of the investigation] gone ahead with the project. Two years after the granting of the contract, despite the contract with BIG being for making Malé clean and beautiful, what we are seeing is the putting up of a large number of billboards which are becoming a nuisance to the daily lives of people,” the statement continued.

“We further condemn the efforts of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the Malé City Council to maintain the agreement made with BIG.”

The statement concluded by saying that the press release has been issued to inform the public of the reasons behind the thee PPM councillors being absent from the ‘Clean Green Malé” inauguration event, adding “we assure you that we will cooperate with any and all efforts made for the good of the people”.

The inaugural ceremony for the programme was held on Saturday (March 15) outside Iskandar School, with the council reporting that permission to hold the event inside the school was suddenly withdrawn at short notice.

According to Haveeru, no government invitees were present at the ceremony held by the opposition dominated city council.

Today’s statement is signed by the three PPM councillors – Mahchangolhi Dhekunu councillor Ibrahim Mamnoon, MedhuHenveiru councillor Zaidhul Ameen, and HulhuHenveiru Councillor Mohamed Sajid.

Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party councillors in the council have stated that they will issue a written response to the PPM’s press release.

An official from BIG declined from commenting on the matter.

Likes(1)Dislikes(1)

Murrath requests court to summon police officers as appeal continues

Ahmed Murrath – currently appealing his Criminal Court conviction for the murder of lawyer Ahmed Najeeb – has today asked the High Court to summon police officers who investigated the case.

Local media reported that Murrath told the bench he had not seen Najeeb being murdered and that he was not in the room at the time.

Murrath’s lawyer told the court that in murder cases the defendant was permitted under Islamic Shariah to retract a confession. After this was queried by the bench, Murrath’s lawyer was not able to specify where in Quran or Sunnah it was mentioned.

Murrath is said to have told judges today that he confessed to the murder in order to escape punishments he received during the investigation period, claiming that his family members – including his mother – were arrested in connection with the case, and that he was prevented from sleeping.

Prosecutor General’s Office lawyers also spoke in the court, arguing that scholars have said the strongest evidence against a criminal is his own confession and that confessions made in cases concerning the rights of another individual cannot be retracted, reported local media.

The state lawyer said that being under the influence of an illegal drug was not a reason to commit a crime and that the defendant must take full responsibility for his actions if he willfully abused drugs.

Murrath and his girlfriend Fathimath Hanaa, were arrested and charged with Najeeb’s murder after the lawyer’s body was discovered by police at Maafanu Masroora house, (Murrath’s residence) in early evening of July 1.

The body was stuffed inside a dustbin, badly beaten up and with multiple stab wounds.

Sentenced

In July 2012, the Criminal Court sentenced the pair to death before the ruling was appealed at the High Court.

During the trial held in the Criminal Court, Murrath confessed to killing Najeeb out of anger and under the influence of drugs, alleging that the lawyer attempted to sexually assault his 18 year-old girlfriend while he was at Masroora House.

He told the Criminal Court that Najeeb visited Masroora House on June 30 to provide legal counsel on a case related to cash missing from Murrath’s mother’s account, and the issue of dividing the house.

Murrath said that he tied Najeeb to a chair, gagged him and taped his hands, feet and face while threatening him with a four-inch knife he had brought from the kitchen. He said that his girlfriend Hanaa had no role in it and was sleeping while he killed the lawyer between 6:00am and 7:00am during the morning of July 1.

Hanaa confessed in the Criminal Court to “helping” tape and bind the victim to the chair. She did not confess to killing him and said at the time she was sleeping, intoxicated from drinking alcohol.

Last month, Haveeru reported that Murrath’s lawyer Abdul Hakeem Rashadh told the High Court his client’s confession had been coerced, that his client’s responsibility was diminished due to the influence of drugs, and that he had the right to retract his confession as there were no witnesses to the crime.

Murrath is currently facing the death sentence for Najeeb’s murder – a sentence that the current administration has pledged to reintroduce after a 60 year moratorium.

Following orders by Home Minister Umar Naseer to begin preparations for reintroducing executions, the cabinet advised President Abdulla Yameen last month that there were no legal obstructions to carrying out the sentence.

The order closely followed the conclusion of the Dr Afrasheem Ali murder trial, in which Hussein Humam was sentenced to death. Similarly, Humam also claimed that his confession was obtained under duress.

President Yameen last week revealed that the government had formulated regulations for the implementation of the penalty. Calling the decision a “historic day”, Yameen vowed he would not bow to international pressure to reverse the decision.

Likes(4)Dislikes(0)

Oil drilling and Maldives’ tourism “cannot coexist”, says NGO Bluepeace

Oil drilling and sea-based tourism “cannot coexist”, says Executive Director of local NGO Bluepeace Ali Rilwan, who has suggested that drilling for oil will create a number of problems.

Rilwan’s comments follow further confirmation this week from President Abdulla Yameen that that the government will commence work on locating crude oil in the Maldives.

According to local news outlet CNM, Yameen said that if the government is indeed successful in finding oil in the Maldives, the outlook for the entire country would change for the better.

These statements were made at a land reclamation ceremony held on Sunday (March 16) on the island of Meedhoo in Dhaalu atoll. Speaking at the launch, President Yameen suggested that the Maldives could be developed using available resources.

When asked which would be more beneficial to the Maldives, Rilwan said “it’s a choice of the government.”  He noted that with the large income from tourism and the spread of guest houses in local isands, the oil drilling “won’t have benefits for the people as a whole.”

“We can’t afford to go into that dirty energy,” he concluded. “When you take up the issues of drilling, we are concerned about the oil container tanks with unrefined fuel passing through.”

With this in mind,  Rilwan asked, “can we avoid a distaster in the Maldives? The Maldives is a tiny island and this can have a very negative impact, the tanks are a worrying thing.”

Famed for its luxury resorts, the Maldives has relied on tourism for an estimated 70 – 80% of its GDP. Plans to look for oil in the past had aimed to diversify the nation’s economy.

There are currently no confirmed plans for the location of the drilling, should it take place – an uncertainty which has made it difficult for environmentalists to comment on the matter.

Rilwan noted that the fact that it is not known whether drilling will be coastal or off-shore makes it difficult to predict environmental issues.

The renewed interest in the search for oil was prompted by the results of seismic reports conducted in 1991– the recent findings of which have caused authorities to seek foreign assistance.

The Maldives National Oil Company (MNOC) was founded in 2003 to take direct responsibility for the development of oil and gas industry in the Maldives.

“The fact that two leading oil exploration companies in the world had invested in exploration drilling in the Maldives, keeps up the glimmer of hope for commercial success of oil and gas exploration in the Maldives,” the MNOC has said previously.

“Today, with the remarkable improvement of technology in the area of oil and exploration such as three or four dimensional seismic survey systems etc., the Maldives National Oil Company is hopeful that oil or gas can be discovered in Maldives.”

Managing director of the MNOC Ahmed Muneez told local media last month that the government intended to start work on new exploration within a few months.

“We have contacted a Norwegian company and a German company to help us better understand the findings of the study. Based on this report, we’re hopeful of advertising the Maldives as a new destination of oil exploration,” Haveeru quoted Muneez as saying.

He explained that an outside company would be hired to conduct a global advertising campaign in order to market the country as an oil source.

Under the presidency of Mohamed Nasheed, the Maldives – famously vulnerable to the effects of climate change – had pledged to become carbon neutral by 2020.

Nasheed stated that the Maldives was a key model for other countries seeking to become more sustainable, and that an inability to meet the unilateral commitments would prove detrimental to wider arguments around the globe for adopting law carbon initiatives.

The government of Nasheed’s successor Dr Mohamed Waheed also said that it was committed to “not completely” reversing the Nasheed administration’s zero carbon strategy: “What we are aiming to do is to elaborate more on individual sustainable issues and subject them to national debate,” said Waheed.

Speaking to Minivan in October 2012, the government assured that they were adhering to their commitment to become carbon neutral by 2020 in spite of political uncertainty.

“We are continuing with the carbon neutrality program,” she said. “We are giving it our best shot,” said then Environment Minister Dr Mariyam Shakeela.

Minivan News was unable to obtain comments from the Ministry of Environment and Energy at the time of press.

Likes(1)Dislikes(0)