Tag: maldives

Increase in Chinese presence in Maldives IT sector sparks Indian concern

Indian authorities have expressed concern over China’s expanding influence in the IT and telecom sectors in the Maldives, Indian media has reported.

The Indian Ministry of Communications and IT, along with security agencies in India, have now agreed that Beijing’s state-owned companies should be “kept at bay” from Maldives’ IT and telecom sectors, The Hindu reported.

Indian intelligence agencies were alerted to the issue after the Maldives requested a soft loan of US$54 million for an IT infrastructure project from China

The Ministry has suggested the Indian government plan a substantial investment in the Maldives along similar projects to ensure telecom traffic between India and Maldives is handled through equipment the Indian government has confidence in.

“The Government… may also plan substantial investment in the Maldives on similar projects [as being planned by China] ensuring that the traffic between India and the Maldives is handled through the equipment installed and commissioned in the Maldives by India,” read internal government note, according to Indian newspaper the Hindu.

The Sri Lankan subsidiary of Chinese telecom equipment-maker Huawei Technologies has already signed an agreement with Maldives’ National Centre of Information Technologies to develop IT infrastructure under the ‘Smart Maldives Project’, Indian media stated.

“The proposed project assumes significance due to the fact that China can capitalise its influence over the Maldives to utilise the latter’s network once the project is implemented,” the Indian Reasearch & Analysis Wing said in an internal note as reported by the Hindu.

Minivan News was awaiting a response from Indian Minister for Communications & Information Technology Shri Kapil Sibal and Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid at time of press.

Former Transport and Communications Minister Dr Ahmed Shamheed claimed the issue of Chinese involvement in the Maldivian IT sector had been raised by Indian officials in the past.

Shamheed said that a ‘smart card’ project that had been signed between China and Nasheed’s government to replace the National ID cards had sparked interest from the Indian government.

“The Indian High Commissioner in the Maldives once suggested to me that [the Chinese] would steal all of our government’s data should we work with them.

“The deal with the Chinese was that they would provide us with smart cards which will replace our current ID cards. When this happened, the Indian government wanted to provide us with their own system instead of the Chinese one,” Shamheed told Minivan News.

Acting Minister of Transport and Communications Mohamed Nazim was not responding to calls at time of press.

Defence Minister visits China

Last month (December 10, 2012) Minister of Defence and National Security Mohamed Nazim departed to China on an official five-day visit at the invitation of the Chinese Minister of National Defence.

The move fuelled speculation in the Indian media of a Chinese role in the government’s decision to void the agreement and evict the GMR-led consortium that took place two days prior to the visit in December.

“Looking at the political situation and political framework in Maldives, I can’t rule out anything,” GMR Airports chief financial officer (CFO) Sidharth Kapur told journalists in New Delhi in December.

Following official talks between the defence ministers, Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency reported in December that Nazim assured Chinese Minister of National Defence General Liang Guanglie that the Maldives was “willing to cement relations between the two countries and their militaries.”

Chinese companies discuss Maldives’ satellite slot

Former Minister of Communication Dr Ahmed Shamheed told Minivan News in December 2012 that Defence Minister Nazim had met with two Chinese companies interested in operating a satellite designated for the Maldives.

Under the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Maldives could be entitled to an “orbital slot” for a satellite.

Because the Maldives’ lacks the capabilities to launch and operate a satellite, the state would have to lease it out to an external party, Shamheed said.

According to Shamheed, Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim had already been approached by various Chinese companies who have expressed interest in the satellite venture.

“At first, I had been involved in casual meetings with these companies, but now it seems to getting more serious. Nazim had even questioned as to why we have not yet signed an agreement with them,” Shamheed alleged.

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Cabinet Ministers attend parliament committee despite President’s orders “to shun”

Minister of Defence and National Security Mohamed Nazim and Minister of Education Ahmed Asim have attended Parliament’s Executive Oversight Committee despite President Mohamed Waheed Hassan’s orders to “shun” committees.

The committee summoned the two ministers to attend its meeting at 10:00am on Tuesday over a decision to construct an airport in the island of Maafaru in Noonu Atoll, and the ongoing protests in the same island since December 30, 2012 due to a lack of basic services.

The committee, in its meeting on Monday, had also agreed to send out an official parliamentary order summoning them if ministers refused to attend the committee meeting as they were initially asked to.

Meanwhile, President Waheed had informed Parliament Speaker Abdulla Shahid through a letter on Sunday that cabinet members, government officials and members of the security forces will “shun” the committee. Waheed had stated then that this “shun” would be in place until Shahid is able to ensure parliament actions are “in line” with the Constitution of the Maldives and the parliament’s Rules of Procedure.

Speaking at the committee meeting today, Nazim said the government would very soon be announcing openings for bidding to construct the island’s airport.

Nazim is reported as saying that since the project is not included in the state budget, it could only be carried out through corporate social responsibility projects. He stated that the government is willing to give “one or two” islands to persons willing to take on the project.

Maafaru Councillor Anwar Abdul Ghani, who was also present at today’s committee meeting, responded that they did not want the airport if it would not come with a sewerage system and jetty as per the initial plans.

Minister of Defence Mohamed Nazim and Minister of Education Ahmed Asim were not responding to calls at the time of press.

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Police release owner of fraudulent Maleesha Hajj Group to house arrest

Police have released the 42 year-old Head of Maleesha Hajj Group Abdul Latheef, who was arrested on charges of fraudulently collecting MVR 11.9 million (US$77,0000) from clients of his Hajj Group, under house arrest.

Police Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef told Minivan News Abdul Latheef was switched to house arrest two days ago due to his medical condition.

‘’Police made the decision to release him after considering his medical condition, on advice from doctors who examined his case,’’ Haneef said.

In late September police alleged that Abdul Latheef had defrauded 175 people of MVR 12 million (US$778,000) after they made payments to the Maleesha Hajj Group to travel to Mecca to perform Hajj.

The owner of the business allegedly collected MVR 68,000 (US$4400) from each person, who wished to go to Mecca this year to fulfill the Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam.

The issue was reported to police after clients of Maleesha Hajj Group noticed that the group had not called them or responded to any of their calls, and that the Maleesha Hajj Group office on Hulhumale’ was closed.

By the time police began looking for Abdul Latheef he had fled from the Maldives, and his whereabouts were unknown.

On October 2, 2012, Interpol issued a red notice to locate and apprehend Abdul Latheef and on November 25, police located and arrested him at the Mount Lavinia Hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

At the time, Sri Lankan police told local newspaper Haveeru that Abdul Latheef was suspected of being involved in a Sri Lankan money laundering ring as well, and that he was also suspected of collecting money from Sri Lankans.

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Parliament fails to pass critical child protection bills: report

A study recently published by the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) highlights numerous participation and protection policy deficiencies putting Maldivian children at serious risk of harm.

The report, Child participation in the Maldives: An assessment of knowledge analyses how much the Maldives – as a fledgling democratic state and society – knows of children’s rights to participation, and assesses the mechanisms in place to protect their fundamental human rights.

The UNICEF-backed report, which was finished in 2011 but only published in January 2013, discusses children’s rights in regard to situations of violence, healthcare, family, media, and play. Children consulted were primarily from Male’ and various alternative care facilities located near Male’.

Ultimately the report recommends government and civil society organisations “push for a radical change in the traditional thinking which dominates Maldivian perceptions of children: children should be seen and not heard,” as this study states.

“If children are not heard today, who will speak for the Maldivian democracy tomorrow?”

The wide gaps between policies, legislative instruments, and their actual implementation are limiting the realisation of “progressive” measures that have been developed to enable and protect children’s rights, according to the report.

These shortcomings occur as a result of a lack of resources, political will, qualified professionals, and deliberate obstruction due to political polarisation.

In one example the report highlights the lack of a tracking system for the Ministry of Education to monitor nationwide attendance records. Thus, without the cooperation of the parliament, education cannot be made compulsory.

“The Ministry of Education is concerned with the remarkably long period of time it is taking for the parliament to pass the education bill (pending from 2009 onwards),” the report states.

The Juvenile Justice Act is another piece of legislation parliament has yet to be enacted, despite the establishment of a Juvenile Justice Court.

“This has meant that minors who commit offences, however major or minor, enter into the country’s criminal justice system, and have to be dealt with as adults.”

In practice this has led to sentencing being delayed until the child has reached 18 years of age, despite “substantial changes in behavior”. There are no separate detention centers for adults and minors, and “reformatories” are only available for boys.

“This is a form of gender discrimination at the state level that should not be occurring, and which the state should address as a matter of urgency,” the report added.

“We feel that we don’t have any rights to speak”

Focus group consultations with children as well as interviews with youth in “alternative care” facilities demonstrated how these policy shortcomings are harming Maldivian children.

The political polarisation paralysing parliament has prevented concepts of “democracy, human rights, and active citizenship,” as well as current affairs, from being discussed in schools, the report states. As a result many children are unaware of their legal rights and try to seek information outside of school.

“When we ask about issues that are talked about in parliament, we don’t really get an explanation. Also, if we become unruly and loud in the class, we are seen as ‘becoming the Majlis’,” said one child.

In a related issue, school administrations are preventing children’s participation in civil society organisations by either banning it outright or requiring school permission.

“Please let me go” – 13 year-old ETCC Maafushi resident

Government alternative care institutions intended to provide shelter, rehabilitation, or “restorative justice” suffer from the “large gaps between policy and reality,” the report stated.

Acute staffing and budget shortfalls combined with the lack of children’s rights education and the exclusion of children’s feedback have “deprived [residents] of their liberty”. Staff caring for the children are often excluded from important decisions impacting children’s quality of life at the facilities, the report said.

It cites the conditions at the Maafushi island Education and Training Centre for Children (ETCC) run by the Ministry of Education as an example.

“None of [the children] are properly informed of the reasons why they are at the centre, nor are they given any clear indications as to why they have been detained, how long they can expect to be there, and what the procedures are for leaving.

“Many were left completely in the dark by their families about their intentions to send them to Maafushi—some children only found out en route or once they arrived at the centre,” the report added.

Similar circumstances exist at the Kudakudhinge Hiyaa (Children’s Shelter) on Villingili island. The limited access to resources creates a gulf between the government’s Minimum Standards for Alternative Care Institutions and actual quality of life at the centre, the report found.

Feydhoo Finolhu Detention Centre

“A fundamental problem with the facility” exists at the Correctional Training Centre for Children on Feydhoo Finolhu island – run by the Juvenile Justice Unit (JJU) of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Maldives Police Service’s Child Protection Unit.

“None of the children who are at the facility have been charged with a crime, let alone convicted of one,” stated the report.

The children held in “administrative detention” at Feydhoo Finolhu are identified by police as “dangerous to the wider society and themselves… because they possess the potential for committing serious offenses,” the report added.

Police officers in civilian clothes care for, guard, and teach the children. The centre reports that its success rate for correcting antisocial behavior is 80 percent.

However, sources familiar with the facility alleged to Minivan News that two juveniles detained at the facility were beaten by police officers and chose to swim to Male’ rather than stay in the facility.

Children’s rights marginalised

No state or independent institutions are mandated solely to protect children’s rights, and no coordinating body exists for the various government agencies to address different children’s issues. “Lumping” children’s rights with issues pertaining to other vulnerable groups has marginalised them, according to the report.

“[This] reinforces the general perception of children as no more than another segment of society that needs protection… thus children at large – not just their views and opinions – are very often neglected or pushed to the bottom of the state’s list of priorities.”

Few policy and legislative mechanisms exist that “formally require” children participate in decisions that will affect their lives. Both the 2008 constitution and the Law on the Protection of the Rights of the Child (91/9) lack such a provision.

Instead there is a tendency to focus on protections while excluding “positive” rights, such as children’s right to be heard, to information, and participation in political and social affairs, the report notes.

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Finance Ministry not working to recover funds lost through state incompetence: AG

The Finance Ministry has not been working to recover lost funds from the state, Auditor General Niyaz Ibrahim has alleged.

Speaking to local media, Niyaz said  the state treasury has suffered huge losses due to incompetence from state employees.

Despite audit reports revealing where money has been wrongly spent, Finance Ministry has not been working to recover the funds, Niyaz told local media.

“We are sending a copy of the audit reports from each institution to the Finance Ministry. We recommend the finance ministry to take action against them in which the ministry is involved.

“However there has not been enough work towards taking action against them, especially in the cases where the incompetence of some employees and other loss,” Niyaz was quoted as saying in local newspaper Haveeru.

The Auditor General said that transactions made against the state finance act and violations of travel procedures in government offices were common issues repeated in the audit reports.

Niyaz added that as some offices are repeating these mistakes, there will be a period of three months whereby the offices have to improve prior to an assessment at the end of the time period.

Cases of incompetence or deliberate acts of fraud resulting in losses of state funds are also being submitted to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) by the Auditor General, according to local media.

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Male’ City Council to appeal following court order to hand MDP protest site to government

Male’ City Council (MCC) has appealed to the High Court asking for it suspend a Civil Court ruling to hand over the Usfasgandu area to the Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has been using the area as a protest camp after it was allocated the land by MCC. According to a Civil Court order, the MCC violated the government’s land use plan because it lacks the authority to hand over the land to other parties.

MCC Mayor ‘Maizan’ Ali Manik told Minivan News that the city council allocated the Usfasgandu area to the MDP in order to keep them from protesting on the streets around Male’, and that a letter had been sent to High Court today (January 21) asking it to suspend the Civil Court’s ruling.

“Usfasgandu is not only for the MDP but for the whole of Male’. Without it (the MDP) would be on the streets. To prevent this we gave them the area.

“The government want the MDP to go onto the streets, that way they can say there is no stability in the county and prevent early elections from being held,” Manik alleged.

Asked if the MDP would be allocated another area should they be removed from Usfasgandu, Manik answered “If they request for it, we will reply”.

Home Minister Mohamed Jameel Ahmed was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

The area has been used for protests by the MDP since their former site near the tsunami monument was forcibly dismantled by police and military on March 19, 2012.

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Spokesman Hamid Abdul Ghafoor said the threat of eviction is not an issue for the party who, if removed, “will simply have to find a new space”.

“Occasionally there are efforts made by the government to go to great lengths in order to restrict freedom of expression and assembly and this is one of them. This should not impact the MDP, we have grown in the past without space,” Ghafoor added.

“MDP are thinking in a nutshell”

Responding to allegations that the government is attempting to limit freedom assembly, President’s Office Spokesman Masood Imad told Minivan News that “if anything [the Usfasgandu handover] is facilitating freedom of assembly for everyone else”.

“By constantly being at Ufasgandu, are the MDP not limiting other people’s freedom of assembly and expression? If the Home Ministry is to take the site accessible for other parties to use the space as well as the MDP, it is not a restriction of assembly.

“They could make it like the artificial beach area so it can be used by all parties based on request, I am sure the MDP will be given the chance to use it,” Imad said.

Regarding Mayor Manik’s comments, Masood claimed the mayor needs to be more “Male’ mayor” than “MDP mayor”.

“Who is to say the MDP will start protesting on the streets if Usfasgandu is handed over? Why do some people think the [MDP] always protest?

“Contrary to what Mayor Manik thinks, I don’t think they go around making protests, I think the MDP are good guys,” Imad said.

Should MCC’s appeal to High Court fail to suspend the Civil Court’s order, MDP Spokesman Ghafoor stated it would be up to the National Executive Committee or the National Council to take the matter further.

“The reason for this would be because the MDP is being denied a constitutional right and cornerstone of the human rights based democracy we achieved through peaceful assembly,” he added.

The civil court’s ruling, which orders the area to be handed over within the next seven days, states that MMC’s current use of the area is in contradiction to the agreement made between the council, Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure, and Ministry of Finance and Treasury.

According to the agreement, the land “shall be kept empty for public use and that the land shall be developed in manner accessible to the public all times.”

Ghafoor further claimed the government has become “very adamant” in taking back control of land from local councils, alleging that the ultimate aim is to prevent freedom assembly.

Condoms and black magic: Previous Usfasgandu raid

In May 2012, Maldives’ cabinet announced its decision to hand over the Usfasgandu area to the Ministry of Housing and Environment.

Following the “non-compliance” of MCC in handing over the area, police were asked to intervene and “take over”.

Police raided the MDP protest camp at Usfasgandu on the morning of May 29, 2012, after obtaining a search warrant from the Criminal Court and cordoning off the area from MDP demonstrators.

Reasons for the search as stated on the warrant included: “suspected criminal activity”, “damage to public property”, and “suspected black magic performed in the area”.

Under evidence, the warrant alleged that people in the Usfasgandu area verbally abused police officers and damaged a police vehicle on April 20, obstructed a Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) exercise of May 9, and on May 25 “MDP protesters threw a cursed rooster at MNDF officers.”

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President Waheed launches party campaign camp at wife’s house

President Mohamed Waheed’s Gaumee Ittihad Party (GIP) will launch a party camp to attract more supporters at Waheed’s wife’s home, local media has reported.

Waheed has declared he will compete in upcoming presidential elections, but said he was undecided as to whether he would compete as an individual or form a coalition with another party, GIP Deputy President Mohamed ‘Nazaki’ Zaki told local media.

The party’s first camp to attract more supporters will open in Male’ next Wednesday at First Lady Ilhama Ahmed’s family residence, local media reported.

According to Zaki, the party campaign to increase members had so far been a success and a second camp is expected to open later this month on Feydhoo in Seenu Atoll.

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Parliament committee to investigate detention of underage orphanage minors in Maafushi prison

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP for Madaveli Mohamed Nazim has called on parliament’s national security committee to investigate the arrest of two minors living in the Villingili Orphanage.

The issue was discussed at the National Security Committee meeting on Monday. MPs decided to summon the head of the Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services (DPRS), the Ministry of Gender, Family and Human Rights, the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM), and representatives from the Villingili orphanage.

The committee has summoned the heads of the authorities to appear on Tuesday night at 8:30pm.

In a letter to the chair of the committee, MDP MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik, MP Nazim said there was public concern regardingthe arrest of the two minors.

The letter said that media reports regarding the arrest of the two minors revealed that HRCM and the Ministry of Gender, Family and Human Rights were in dispute over the issue.

Nazim asked the committee to publish details of its investigation on completion.

On January 17, HRCM called for the immediate release of two underage females living in the Villingili orphanage, who were arrested and sent to Maafushi prison.

Local media alleged the two girls, aged 15 and 16, were arrested on December 28, 2012, after escaping the orphanage in the middle of the night to fraternise with some boys.

HRCM asked the Ministry of Gender, Family and Human Rights to return the girls to the Villingili orphanage immediately, noting that their incarceration in Maafushi prison violated chapter 2, article 35[a] of the constitution.

The commission stated that government authorities had not cooperated with the commission’s investigation and had furthermore provided false information on the matter.

In response last Friday, the Ministry of Gender, Family and Human Rights issued a statement condemning the HRCM and alleging that its official who went to meet the two underage girls had forced them to talk about their past.

The ministry said it was considering taking legal action against the HRCM.

Later the same day the HRCM issued a counter statement, claiming HRCM officials who visited the jail were highly qualified.

Meanwhile, sources familiar with Maafushi prison confirmed to Minivan News that the two underage females had now been moved to a separate area of the prison, but were being kept with two other underage female inmates completing their sentences.

According to the sources, at least one man was arrested in connection with the same case as the two girls.

‘’The girls have not met the inmate [population], they have have met inmates who are participants in the handicraft workshop,’’ the source told Minivan News.

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Maldives Surf Entertainment launches program to teach surfing to children

Sea Sports and Maldives Surf Entertainment have signed a contract to commence the ‘Bohfathi Raalhu Training Program’, a program to teach surfing to children between 8 to 15 years.

‘’Bohfathi Raalhu Training is sponsored by the popular surf brand “VOLCOM” which is solely distributed and sold by Sea Sports and is scheduled to start on 13 February 2013,’’ Maldives Surf Entertainment said in a statement.

‘’The training will focus on kids aged between 8 to 15 years, who will be given a basic introduction to surfing.‘’

The statement said that during the program the participants will be taught the history of surfing, surfing skills, surf etiquette, health and fitness, awareness about surf culture and ocean safety.

‘’The purpose of the training is to take surfing to new levels in the country, to develop local talent and professional surfers within the local population and to provide students with the ability to enhance their opportunities and pursue long-term careers within the industry,’’ the statement said.

According to the statement the the first phase of the training program will cover most islands with adequate surf breaks in the southern atolls between Fuvahmulaku and Thulusdhoo north of Kaafu Atoll.

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