Tag: maldives

Global ITF affiliates respond to calls for solidarity with MPWU members

International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) affiliates have responded to a call for solidarity with members of the Maldives Port Workers Union (MPWU) over the alleged infringement of employee rights.

Earlier this year MPWU reported violations of their rights by employer Maldives Ports Limited (MPL). These included the dismissal of several workers and union leaders.

The ITF is now calling for President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik to instruct the management of state-owned MPL to enter into dialogue with the union in order for the problems to be addressed.

Recently, the President’s Office sent a letter to ITF claiming to have taken steps to address the issue, however it was labelled as “not convincing” by an ITF spokesperson.

President of MPWU Ibrahim Khaleel recently confirmed that a meeting had taken place with the President to discuss the dispute, however there is concern from the MPWU that the assurances made have yet to be put into practice.

Speaking to Minivan News earlier this month he said: “The president said that he would address the issue, however two weeks have passed and there has been no sign of negotiation and I have had no contact with the President’s Office.”

Unions from other countries including Germany, Liberia, Mauritius and Mexico have sent out protest letters and messages of solidarity.

Stephen Cotton, ITF acting general secretary said: “The ITF will go ahead with its campaign to mobilise its affiliates worldwide to pressure the Maldivian government so that its starts an immediate dialogue with the MPWU.

  1. “This should be aimed at resolving the dispute by reinstating the dismissed union office bearers and activists, recognising the union and negotiating to establish decent wages and working conditions in the ports.”
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Government informs diplomats of decision to take action on airport issue

The government has informed diplomats regarding its decision to “take action” on issues related to Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA).

Government spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza mentioned that the GMR contract was discussed, but did not give any further details.

A senior official of the President’s Office said that the information was shared with diplomats during a teleconference held by Riza and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dunya Maumoon on Tuesday.

“They were informed that the contract results in serious losses to the state, and that the government has decided to take action on this issue,” the official said.

Rumours have been circulating social networking sites over the last week that the government plans to annul its contract with GMR at a cabinet meeting this Tuesday (November 27).

Minivan News obtained a personal letter sent by GMR Chairman G M Rao to President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik, proposing an amendment to the Airport Service Charge exempting Maldivian nationals from having to pay the fee.

The letter notes that there has been no correspondence from the President’s Office regarding the proposal prior to sending the letter.

No information has been disclosed by the government regarding the GMR contract. However, anti-GMR parties said after meeting with the President, he had assured the government’s decision on GMR will be “as per people’s wishes”.

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High Court concludes hearings into appeal against Jabir’s release

The High Court has concluded hearings in to the appeal against Jumhoree Party (JP) MP Abdulla Jabir’s release order issued by the Kulhudhufushi Magistrate Court.

Jabir’s legal team told local media that the extension of detention form submitted to the Kulhudhufushi Magistrate Court by the police said that nothing was found on Jabir.

The state attorney told the court that Jabir was sitting at a table with alcohol bottles on it, had a glass containing alcohol, and was drunk when police arrived on the scene, local media reported.

The state also noted that Jabir refused to give urine for forensic examination to test if he was positive for any illegal drug.

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Bangladeshi national found murdered

Police have discovered the body of a Bangladeshi man killed inside a building on Male’s main tourism street.

Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef told Minivan News that the man was murdered with a sharp object.

‘’We are investigating the attack and we have identified the victim,’’ Haneef said. ‘’We will provide details later.’’

According to police the victim was found on the sixth floor of a building on Chandhanee Magu. Local media reported that the building, located near Gloria Mart, was used for storing resort supply goods.

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UN defends role in Maldives, emphasises “political impartiality”

The Office of the UN Resident Coordinator has issued a statement defending the UN’s activity in the Maldives and reiterating its “strict impartiality toward political parties”.

The statement follows a recent accusation from the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) that while “the IPU, CMAG, Canada, the Human Rights Committee, the EU and certain international NGOs such as Amnesty International and the International Federation for Human Rights have expressed varying degrees of alarm at the Maldives’ backsliding on democracy and human rights, others including the UN Resident Coordinator and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights have remained shamefully silent.”

“Since February’s overthrow of the Maldives’ democratically-elected government, key parts of the international community have remained silent regarding the widespread human rights violations taking place,” the party’s spokesperson, MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, said in a statement.

“To remain silent in the face of injustice is to be an accomplice to that injustice,” he added.

In a statement released on Sunday, the UN said it “continues to be concerned that the current situation in the country may have an impact on the country’s development”, and noted examples of the international organisation’s activities in the Maldives.

“As a trusted partner, the UN has spoken repeatedly in public and in private over the course of several years and three governments on democracy, development, and human rights. Most recently, the Secretary-General spoke of the need for political dialogue, national reconciliation, and respect for the constitution. He called on all parties to exercise maximum cooperation and restraint,” the UN stated.

“The High Commissioner for Human Rights and Special Rapporteurs have engaged robustly and provided considerable support over the years on human rights, which has been further strengthened by the recent deployment of a human rights adviser,” the statement noted.

“The UN team in Maldives, led by the Resident Coordinator, works as part of the larger UN strategy focusing on development, human rights and support to democracy. Our primary and overriding interest is to work for the development of the country and the betterment of the lives of its people. It does this on the basis of a programme of cooperation signed with the government in the interest of the people of the Maldives. We do our work with national institutions in government and civil society, the private sector, and directly with communities.

“The UN team has been deeply engaged in building national capacity, and in urging and assisting Maldivians to take the lead in overcoming deep rooted national challenges. We will continue to provide support and advocate vigorously a renewed focus for development that builds on the gains of the past, and focuses on the needs of the country,” the organisation stated.

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No response from government over ADC amendment proposal, reveals letter from Rao to Waheed

Chairman of Indian infrastructure giant GMR, G M Rao, has reiterated the airport developer’s proposal to exempt Maldivians from paying the contentious airport development charge (ADC), in a personal letter to President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik.

Rao’s letter, dated November 21 and obtained by Minivan News, proposes that an increased fee of US$28 be levied from all international departing foreign passengers, in order to compensate for an ADC exemption for Maldivian passport holders.

Rao’s letter, sent on November 21, states the importance of the ADC and that the current non-levying of the ADC was benefiting international foreign passengers rather than the government.

“The ADC significantly contributes to the cash flows of [GMR Male International Airport] and undoubtedly, in turn significantly benefits the GoM and the Maldives Airport Company Limited (MACL) by way of concession fee payments.

“The said non-levy of ADC and Insurance Surcharge (IS) has resulted (at the costs of GMIAL and eventually MACL/GoM) in an entirely unintended benefit to the international foreign passengers who are enjoying and would enjoy in future as well, the enhanced facilities and privileges at the airport without commensurate payment,” the letter reads.

Following a Civil Court case filed in 2011 by the then-opposition Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) blocking GMR from levying ADC from international foreign passengers, GMR – under instruction from a letter sent by MACL – has been deducting ADC revenue from concession fees due the government.

Following the removal of ADC, the government has received a succession of bills from the airport developer throughout 2012.

In the first quarter of 2012 the government received US$525,355 of an expected US$8.7 million, after the deduction of the ADC. That was followed by a US$1.5 million bill for the second quarter, after the ADC payable eclipsed the revenue due the government.

Combined with the third quarter payment due, the government now owes the airport developer US$3.7 million.

According to Rao, the proposal exempting Maldivian passport holders from ADC and instead charging all international departing foreign passengers from INIA an increased ADC fee, is out of “deference to the Maldivian public sentiments” and to “ensure the unintended financial loss to GMIAL, MACL or GoM is contained”.

So far however, Rao states that has been no correspondence from the President’s Office regarding the proposal prior to the sending of the letter.

Minivan tried to contact the President’s Office, but there was no response at time of press.

MACL’s report “ridden with calculation errors”.

A further report addressed to President Waheed, entitled: ‘Concession Agreement dated 28th June 2010 relating to INIA, Male – purported report submitted by MACL regarding benefits to Maldives’, goes on to provide “accurate” and “factual” information relating to the benefits to the Maldives that the GMR-Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) Consortium envisages.

Commenting on MACL’s recently prepared report that implies airport concession will have a negative impact on the Maldives, the GMR report claims it is “ridden with calculation errors” of which are “not only highly misleading but are full with errors and oversight”.

“It is estimated that over the concession period, GMR-MAHB will pay more than MRF 32.5 bilion to MACL as concession fee and MRF 12.5 billion as Passenger Service Chards (PSC) to the government.

“MACL report claims that if MACL operate the airport, they will make a profit of MRF 60 billion. However, once the errors in their report are corrected it will show that they will make a profit of MRF 18 billion only.

“The report also claims that when GMR-MAHB is operating the airport, MACL will make only MRF 21 billion. However, once the errors are corrected it will show that MACL will receive a concession fee of MRF 32.5 billion from GMR- MAHB,” GMR’s report claims.

Recently there has been mounting pressure from parties within the Maldives calling for the government to annul the agreement with Indian infrastructure giant GMR.

According to rumours circulating on social media sites, the government will allegedly cancel the GMR contact at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Tweets were being circulated speculating that a Chinese intermediary was prepared to pay for the contract termination and take over the airport development.

However asked to confirm or deny these rumours, Economics Minister Ahmed Mohamed said he was “unaware of any such action”.

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High Court concludes hearings of state’s appeal case over MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor’s arrest

High Court has concluded hearings of the appeal filed by the state following the release of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor by Kulhudhuffushi Magistrate Court.

MP Ghafoor was arrested along with Jumhoree Party (JP) MP Abdulla Jabir and several senior opposition figures on the uninhabited island of Hodaidhoo on November 16, for alleged possession of drugs and alcohol. Police in a statement released following the arrests claimed that 10 people were arrested during a ‘special operation’ on the island.

Police claimed they found large amounts of “suspected” drugs and alcohol during the raid and stated that the arrests were made “based on information received by police intelligence”. Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef earlier told Haveeru that the suspects were arrested with alcohol and “hash oil”.

State requests order to re-arrest MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor

During Sunday’s appeal, the state prosecutors requested an order to re-arrest the MDP MP and invalidate article 202(d) of the Parliament Regulation that bars the police from arresting an MP ahead of a no-confidence motion in parliament.

The state prosecutors argued that Ghafoor should be kept under police custody or else he may “influence” the witnesses that the state wished to present to the court. They also claimed that some of those 21 people arrested might also have evidence.

State prosecutors said that police had informed them that Ghafoor possessed an ‘intoxicant’ when he was arrested but had refused to provide urine to police to conform whether he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

However, Ghafoor’s lawyer Hisaan Hussain said her client denied the charges levied by the state.

She also contended that Ghafoor did not possess the capacity to influence the witnesses by the state arguing that the only witnesses the state had produced were the police officers who made the arrests.

She also claimed that according to an earlier rule established by the Supreme Court, an institution cannot in their own capacity decide to not to adhere to a section of a law or a regulation on the grounds that it contrasted with the constitution, unless a court of law ruled such a section invalid.

She therefore challenged that police could not decide for themselves that the article 202(d) of the Parliament Regulation was invalid, and that thereby the arrest of MP Ghafoor was unlawful.

During the hearing, the judges posed several questions to the state prosecutor, Aishath Hana.

In one such question, the panel of judges questioned whether the court could decide on the validity of the article 202(d) of the Parliamentary Regulation, in an appeal that concerned extension of a detention.

Responding to the question, the state prosecutor said that the request to invalidate the article of parliamentary regulations was made because Kulhudhuffushi Magistrate Court had also referred to the same article in releasing the detainees.

Chair of the judges panel, Judge Abdul Ghanee Mohamed, responded stating that the court will consider Kulhudhuffushi Magistrate Court’s decision to refer to the concerned article when issuing the verdict.

However the court rejected the state’s request to invalidate the concerned article stating that the request was filed in contrast to the established procedures of the court.

The panel of judges also inquired about the progress of the investigation of Ghafoor’s case, to which the police who had been present in the hearings said that statements from all the officers involved in the arrests had been taken.

Police during the hearing also stated that while Hodaidhoo was an uninhabited island, it was questionable as to whether alcohol had been found on the island.

The court concluded the hearings and stated that a date would be announced later on which it would decide on the case.

“Attempt to frame” – MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor

Speaking to Minivan News, Ghafoor claimed the case was an attempt by the government to “frame” opposition politicians for attempting to impeach the President.

“I am a parliament member who is working to bring an end to this government through legitimate means. Now they want to frame me for possession of drugs and sentence me so that I would not be able to do that,” he said.

Ghafoor described the current developments as a “desperate” attempt by the government to unseat MPs opposed to the current government.

“After the coup, we have been working on ways to defeat this coup government through the parliament. Now we see even political parties that initially opposed us starting to support us. They  have started to work with us as well. This is what this government fears most,” he explained.

Ghafoor claimed that the government had been monitoring each and every move of their political opponents including himself, and alleged that their phone calls are “continuously recorded”. This, he added, was what led the police to arrest them on the island of Hodaidhoo, where they had gone to “discuss our concerns about the government”.

“I don’t see it any other way. This is clearly a politically motivated case,” he contended.

Meanwhile, the MDP also claimed the arrests wer politically-motivated and stated that it was an attempt to disrupt parliament ahead of a no confidence motion against President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik, and an amendment to voting procedure to make such votes secret.

Last week an amendment to voting procedure to make such votes secret initiated by the opposition MDP MP Ahmed Shifaz was defeated in the parliament floor by 34 to 39 votes. However, MDP MP Ibrahim ‘Bondey’ Rasheed has again re-submitted the amendment to Parliament’s Privileges Committee.

“It is such a coincidence that whenever the Waheed government wants to frame those critical of their government, they come up with trumped up charges and very often it is something to do with alcohol,” said former MDP Chairperson Mariya Ahmed Didi, in a statement.

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JP Legal Committee member files Supreme Court case to cancel seats of DRP MPs Nashiz and Azim

The Jumhoree Party’s Police and Legal Committee member Mohamed Haleem Ali has filed a case at the Supreme Court asking it to rule Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MPs Ali Azim and Mohamed Nashiz unfit to stay in their elected seats following the Bank of Maldives’ foreclosure on their loans.

“The civil court’s ruling number 935 of 2009 asks them to pay back the debts to BML. They didn’t. So I have submitted this case in accordance with subclause one of Article 73(c) and 74 of the constitution,” Haleem stated.

Subclause 1 of Article 73 of the Constitution of the Maldives states that a candidate for membership or a sitting member of the parliament would be disqualified if he has a decreed debt which is not being paid as per court rulings.

Article 74 states that any question concerning the qualifications or removal of a member of the People’s Majlis shall be determined by the Supreme Court.

MPs Nashiz and Azim have been in parliament since the 2009 election, the same year in which the civil court order them to pay the BML debts.

Asked why Haleem was submitting the case nearly three years into the debt case, after the Civil Court had Thursday ruled BML could sell the mortgaged property in lieu of payment by the guarantors, he replied: “Their seats would have been lost after the first month’s failure to pay as per the court order anyway. They are only able to sit in there because the Supreme Court has so far not ruled on the matter.”

The Supreme Court has confirmed that the case submission has been registered at the court. However, a court official said that the court has not yet made a decision on whether or not to accept the case.

JP concerned Haleem acted without consulting party

JP Spokesperson Moosa Rameez said the party had no role in filing the case against the DRP MPs.

“In fact, we are very concerned that Haleem submitted the case without any consultation whatsoever with the party. He’s not an ordinary member of the party, he sits on one of our committees. He ought to have discussed this within the party first. We only learned about it when it was covered in local media,” Rameez said.

Haleem responded saying that he had submitted the case in his personal capacity, and that he felt no need to consult with the party on personal decisions.

“As a party, JP would never wish loss or harm on anyone. I have no comment on the party’s position. However, I did this as an individual, for the betterment of the society. I am a lawyer by profession and felt it was time to take the initiative to bring this to the Supreme Court’s attention,” Haleem stated.

All parties are picking on us as we are the most popular party: DRP

DRP MP Abdulla Mausoom declined from commenting on the case in court, stating that everyone has the right to submit cases to courts, and to defend themselves in whatever way possible.

“I do know, however, that all parties are picking on DRP now. This is because DRP is currently the most promising party for the 2013 elections. Everyone from MDP [Maldivian Democratic Party], PPM [Progressive Party of Maldives] to all the presidential candidates are feeling threatened by DRP due to our popularity,” Mausoom added.

MP Azim has previously alleged that the case of BML debts being scheduled to coincide with the voting on secret balloting during no confidence motions is politically motivated. Azim further alleged that President Mohamed Waheed had tried to intimidate him, asking him to vote in a particular way, offering to cancel the court hearings in return.

Azim had been promptly summoned back to court after he subsequently voted in favour of secret balloting.

DRP Leader Thasmeen Ali declined from commenting on these allegations, stating that he had “not yet discussed the matter in detail” with Azim.

“Now it’s the Supreme Court that will come to a decision on the parliament seat. I believe the court will rule on this in the correct manner in which it should be done,” Thasmeen stated.

Minivan News tried contacting DRP MPs Mohamed Nashiz and Ali Azim. Nashiz was not responding to calls while Azim’s phone was switched off.

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Maleesha Hajj Group owner arrested in Srilanka

Police have located and arrested the owner of the Maleesha Hajj Group Ismail Abul Latheef, who was sought by the police through Interpol after he fraudulently collected money from many Maldivians seeking ti perform Hajj this year.

Police have not provided details of the case but local media reported that Latheef was arrested while he was at the Mount Lavinia Hotel in Colombo.

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

Local newspapers reported that Latheef has been brought to Male’ and taken to the Criminal Court, where the court granted police a five day extension of  detention period.

The Maleesha Hajj Group was set up by Latheef and had an office in Male’. Maldivians who wished to perform the Hajj usually opt to go through Hajj groups rather than going alone, and are guided through the pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.

Police issued a notice for the arrest of the 42 year-old in late September after it was alleged that he 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.

On October 2, Interpol issued a red notice to locate and apprehend Latheef.

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