Tag: maldives

DQP files case against GMR, MPs critique scheme

Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) today submitted a case to the Civil Court against infrastructure development company GMR Male International Airport Pvt Ltd, challenging its right to collect a US$25 (Rf385.5) Airport Development Charge (ADC) and US$2 (Rf30.8) Insurance Charge commencing January 2012.

The fees are to be charged to internationally-bound passengers only. As of 4:00pm on Tuesday the case had not yet been registered.

The government signed a 25-year contract with GMR on 28 June 2010. On 30 September 2010, four opposition parties filed a case against GMR at the Civil Court. The court registrar rejected the claim.

Under the contract the Maldivian government receives:

  • A sum of U$78 million as advance payment which is to be deducted from the profit due to Government.
  • 1% of the Gross Revenue in the first four years (2010-2014) and 10% of the Gross Revenue from the general business in the remaining years.
  • 15% of the Gross Fuel Sales in the first four years and 27% of the Gross Fuel Sales in the remaining years.
  • GMR is also to invest US$375 million over a period of 25 years.

The development fee is considered “standard procedure in most airports“, GMR officials earlier told Minivan News. GMR said it would have included the fee in the ticket price, but until International Air Transport Association (IATA) provided certain codes it would have to charge the fee separately.

DQP claims that GMR’s lease of Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) was unconstitutional, illegal, and bore trademarks of corruption. It additionally claims that GMR’s contract would not have been approved if passed through official procedures.

DQP Secretary General Abdulla Ameen confirmed the case and directed Minivan News to the party website for further details. The web page’s last registered update was 29 November 2010.

“Article 97 of the Constitution prohibits any form of taxation without legislation,” reads on section. “Levy on departure passengers have always been done through legislation, including amendments thereof. In fact the current levy of USD18 for foreigners and USD14 for locals was introduced by the present government through amendments to the relevant law.

“However, the right to levy a US$25 and a US$2 (a total of US$27) was given to GMR by the Government without the passage of any law.”

DQP further claims that the government bypassed Parliament on the decision to lease INIA, thereby making GMR’s claim that it can collect the development and insurance fees is “null and void.”

State Transport Minister Adil Saleem previously informed Minivan News that the development fee had been approved by the government as part of its contract with GMR.

Immigration and customs authorities are said to support the move.

DQP told Haveeru that GMR had failed to develop INIA as per its agreement with the government, but is trying to charge customers extra fees on the pretext of airport development.

Speaking in Parliament today, Kulhudhuffushi-South MP Mohamed Nasheed said GMR is receiving all funds from airport handling.

GMR recently announced that baggage handling would be transferred from a local company to one chosen by GMR.

Nasheed said the agreement between the government and GMR was not a fair deal, and that losses incurred exceeds income earned.

“I want to highlight the fact that the US$990 charged from a [Boeing] 777 aircraft that lands during the day has been increased to US$2,985 while the fee collected from the aircraft that lands during the night has been raised to US$3,885. This is a 60-80 percent increase in charges but no improvements have been brought to the services provided by the airport,” he said.

“And we cannot accept the US$1.6 million rent charged per month from a small land plot which measures 800 square feet. Questions arise whether GMR is developing the airport by taking money from us Maldivians or whether they are developing the airport on their funds?”

Hoarafushi MP Ahmed Rasheed said, “While we are exaggerating a minor difficulty a small number of people have to bear for the sake of our nation, we don’t have anyone to speak about the development and advantages the people will be able to obtain from the most number of people who use the airport.”

In the past four months GMR has opened two lounges at INIA and expanded baggage beltways; it is currently adding eight check-in counters and two security lanes. Tourism Minister Maryam Zulfa previously expressed satisfaction with GMR as “an example for the Maldives as it moves forward.”

DQP Vice President Imad Solih earlier submitted a separate though similar civil case arguing the illegitimacy of the charge and requesting the court take action against Finance Ministry.

The Civil Court is expected to soon deliver a verdict on the case.

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Criminal Court issues Interpol red notice to arrest three suspects in Rf18 million fraud

The Criminal Court has issued an Interpol red notice for the arrest of three suspects involved in a Rf18 million (US$1.1 million) fraud case.

The three men are accused of transferring money to the Bank of Maldives from the State Bank of India joint saving account of the three owners of the motorcycle business ‘Sheesha’.

In a statement, police identified the three suspects as Ibrahim Shahid of Thulhadhoo in Baa Atoll, Mohamed Mustafa of Lhaimagu in Shaviyani Atoll and Mohamed Muthausim of the same island.

Following the incident, the three owners of Sheesha: Ahmed Hassan Manik, Hussain Husham and Ibrahim Husham, met with the press and said that the State Bank of India should take full responsibility for the fraud.

Hussain Husham told the media that the total amount of Rf 18 million was taken in two transactions and that the first transaction was made on November 9 and with the withdrawal of Rf 8.5 Million.

Later on December 20, the culprits withdrew a further Rf 9.5 Million from their account.

Hussain told the press that SBI transferred the money to an account with Bank of Maldives, using a forged document faxed to SBI.

He said the document had the name and signature of Ahmed Hassan Manik, and that the money transferred to Bank of Maldives account had already been withdrawn when they came to know about it.

He also said police arrested one person in connection with the case, but that the court had released him after determining that he was arrested unlawfully.

Husaain said the company had decided to sue the State Bank of India and that they should take full responsibility.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said police arrested the head of the group with some documents.

‘’But the court released him and he immediately left the country,’’ Shiyam said. ‘’We have another person held in detention, and we are looking for other three suspects including the person we arrested before.’’

Shiyam said yesterday an Interpol red notice was issued and that police were trying to locate the individuals through Interpol system.

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Noonu atoll councilor arrested for drug possession

Councillor Nasrulla Mohamed of Miladhoo in Noonu Atoll was arrested last night in the capital Male’ for alleged drug possession.

Mohamed, a member of ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), was arrested with two others at the Dolphin Restaurant. Haveeru reports that Abdulla Habib, who ran for the council position in February, was among those arrested.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam told Minivan News that illegal drugs were visible near the individuals when they were apprehended.

The three individuals are currently being held in police custody and awaiting a court verdict.

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Human trafficking on the rise, warn police

Police have reported a day-by-day increase in human trafficking in the Maldives, pointing to the rising numbers of illegal expatriate workers as evidence of the practice.

So far this year 308 cases have been reported to police involving expatriates leaving their sponsors, and more than 4000 passports belonging to illegal migrants have been found.

On June 11 “a huge number” of expats were brought to the Maldives illegally using forged documents, police said in a statement.

An ongoing police investigation into labour trafficking this year uncovered an industry worth an estimated US$123 million, eclipsing fishing (US$46 million in 2007) as the second greatest contributor of foreign currency to the Maldivian economy after tourism.

The former Bangladeshi High Commissioner to the Maldives, Dr Selina Muhsin, had told police that many Bangladeshi workers were brought to the Maldives through the promise of high salaries and employment, which was not forthcoming, police said.

In today’s statement, police noted that the Maldives still lacked a specific law against human trafficking, but said that enslavement and forced labor was a violation of the constitution. An Anti-Trafficking Act was now being drafted, police observed, and called for a policy of information sharing between concerning institutions, as well as guideline for treating victims.

This year 35 police officers were trained to combat human trafficking and police took part in a workshop held on ‘Integrated Approach to Combating Trafficking in Persons, organised by the International Organisation for Immigration (IMO), the statement said.

During her visit to the Maldives last week, UN High Commissioner on Human Rights Navi Pillay highlighted the plight of expatriate labourers in the Maldives, who make up a third of the population and in many cases have been lured to the country by unscrupulous employment brokers.

“The Minister of Foreign Affairs [Ahmed Naseem] is very aware of the suffering of foreign workers, and agreed that something needs to be done for these people,” Pillay said.

“You can’t have 60,000 people suffering here while performing work for the benefit of Maldivians and the tourism industry, and pretend this is invisible. The media has a role to give these people a voice so they can explain their problems.

“Many of them are trafficked and the little money they earn is exploited. This is of grave concern to me, because people like this are are protected under the UN Convention on Migrant Workers and their Families. I have urged the Maldives to ratify this, and regularise the presence of 60,000 people

“I also call for an end to the stereotyping of these people as a threat and unwanted.”

In July, members of Male’ City Council proposed solutions to “the nuisance and bother of expatriates [congregating] at the Republic Square”.

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Fantasy fines official, health head remains at post, says Mayor

Male’ City Council’s Trade Section has fined Fantasy Bakers Rf 6500 (US$420) for selling goods produced with expired products, City Mayor Ali Manik has confirmed.

Earlier today, local media Haveeru reported that Council Health Section Manager Hassan ‘Jambu’ Afeef had ‘unofficially’ issued the Rf 6,500 fine, and was consequently stripped of his duties.

However Manik told Minivan News today that Afeef had not been removed from his duties.

“They are trying to damage my reputation,” Afeef claimed. “Currently I am on vacation and I will not respect any decision to suspend me.”

“Hassan is still with us, of course, he has not left his duties,” said the Mayor, who was puzzled by the question. “The Rf 6,500 fine was approved by the Council, so of course it is official.”

The Mayor said an additional Rf100,000 (US$6500) fine from the City Council may be “issued after the court case”, for which police are currently conducting an investigation of Bakers Fantasy on the Prosecutor General’s order.

The Mayor could not say if the court would also issue a fine to the company.

Speaking today to Minivan News, Afeef said media reports were “incorrectly based on false information provided by certain council members.”

“The council decided to fine Fantasy for Rf100,000. Officials from the Trade Section subsequently went to Fantasy and reduced the fine to Rf 6,500,” he said. “It was not me, and it should be noted that some of the council’s members are not very responsible and are not even not cooperating with responsible members of the council.”

He said the decision to reduce the fine to Rf ,500 was made by him, and that some council members are “generally uninformed of council activities.”

“I was told that I am attempting to damage a business and that it would give a bad name to the Fantasy stores when I brought the issue to the council,”’ he said. “I said ‘I’m working for the people,’ and that it was the citizens who eat the products and it is my responsibility to stop it.’”

Afeef said media had been informed of the council’s statements on the Fantasy issue and that council members responsible had since apologised to him.

“They called me and said I was right about the Fantasy issue and the next day they wanted to erase the minutes of that meeting, but I did not allow this,” he said. “I am an MDP councilor. If they taking a salary from the citizens’ money, they should be sincere to the citizens. This a setup to damage my reputation and good name,” Afeef claimed.

Afeef reiterated that he remains fully employed as head of the Council’s Health Section, which he said the President and First Lady regarded “as an important social institution.”

Bakers Fantasy was closed on October 28 by Male’ City Council. The council subsequently inspected three storehouses and Aioli Restaurant, which is owned by Fantasy Pvt. Ltd. Expired products were found in two of three storehouses, however Aioli was found clean.

Fantasy Store was closed by police for two days on November 7 while police searched for expired goods, but was re-opened in order to protect business operations. Police intervened after the store had ignored an order from Community Health Services, which has legal authority to order temporary closures.

Fantasy shops are known for imported products and quality produce, and are popular among locals and expatriates.

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High Court invalidates Criminal Court verdict against police officer

The High Court has invalidated the Criminal Court’s ruling on a Police Drug Enforcement Department (DED) Officer.

The officer was accused of asking an inmate to find him two girls between the ages of 16 to 25 to have sex with him three nights from 8:00pm to 1:00am, and that in exchange the inmate was to be freed and the case dropped.

The High Court identified the inmate as Mabaah Waheed of Maafannu Jaina and the police officer as Police Constable Ahmed Ismail.

The Criminal Court had ruled that according to Mabaah’s statements, documents presented to the court and text messages sent to Mabah’s mobile phone warranted enough evidence to suggest claims made by Mabah against Ismail were true.

The High Court however noted that Mabaah was arrested by the police on a drug related matter in a case Ismail investigated, raising the possibility that Mabaah might have a grudge against Ismail and so his statements would be weak.

The High Court said in the ruling that Ismail had argued that evidences and statements given by Mabaah should be invalid because Mabaah was inclined to give false statements as Ismail had not commuted the investigation.

The texts allegedly sent to Mabaah by Ismail requesting for the girls were not tested by any digital analysis system, the High Court said, adding that there was not enough evidence to suggest the texts were really sent by Ismail.

The Court also said that there was no evidence other than the words of Mabaah that the documents, written in English, were given to him by Ismail asking for the two girls.

Delivering the verdict, the High Court said it was hard to believe that a person would give a document making such a request, and that the only evidence that the Prosecutor General has presented to the court was the document  and the text messages on the mobile phone, not enough to prove that the officer was guilty.

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Civil Court orders JSC to halt misconduct case against Chief Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed

The Civil Court yesterday ordered Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to take no action against Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed, until the court reached a verdict in the case filed against him.

Abdulla Mohamed filed the suit against the JSC after it complete a report into misconduct allegations against the cheif judge. According to the report, which the JSC has not yet publicly released, Abdulla Mohamed violated the Judge’s Code of Conduct by making a politically biased statement in an interview he gave to private broadcaster DhiTV.

Following the JSC’s decision to take action against Abdulla Mohamed, he filed a case against the JSC in the Civil Court requesting that it invalidate JSC’s report, claiming that DhiTV took his statement out of context.

In the Civil Court’s order, Judge Maryam Nihayath said that if the JSC took any further action against Abdulla Mohamed while the case was in court, it might disrupt the case and Abdulla Mohamed would suffer irreparable damages.

Last week the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) completed its investigation into the alleged misconduct of Abdulla Mohamed.

The case against  was presented to the JSC in January 2010 by former President’s member of the JSC, Aishath Velezinee.

According to local media, during the first hearing of the suit filed by Abdulla was conducted yesterday Abdulla Mohamed’s lawyer MP Ibrahim Riza claimed that DhiTV editor Midhath Adam and journalist Hidhayathulla’s statement had been taken by the JSC as testimonials to prove Abdulla’s misconduct.

Riza claimed that both Midhath and Hidhayathullah had since told JSC that broadcasted Abdulla’s statement out of context.

He said that at the time the alleged incident occurred the Judges Act was not passed, and thus the JSC could not take any action against Abdulla Mohamed.

In 2005, then Attorney General Dr Hassan Saeed forwarded to the President’s Office concerns about the conduct of Abdulla Mohamed after he requested that an underage victim of sexual abuse reenact her abuse for the court.

In 2009 following the election of the current government, those documents were sent to the JSC.

Velezinee told Minivan News last week that this was the first time the JSC had ever completed an investigation into a judge’s misconduct.

“There are many allegations against Abdulla Mohamed, but one is enough,” she said.

“If the JSC decides, all investigation reports, documents and oral statements will be submitted to parliament, which can then decide to remove him with a simple two-thirds majority.”

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Comment: Intravenous drug use raises AIDS spectre in Maldives

Thirty years since the first reported cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in 1981, the response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic has been unprecedented, especially in terms of global and national initiatives.

Substantial progress has been made, such as a 31 percent reduction in the number of new infections between 2001 and 2009 in South-East Asia. A revolutionary new approach to treatment endorsed by UNAIDS and WHO, which includes improved, lower-cost drugs, simplified HIV diagnostic technologies, improved delivery systems, and innovations  in prevention of HIV infection, give hope for achieving universal access to prevention, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS, even in resource-constrained settings.

Yet, the challenge is far from over. HIV still remains a formidable foe, affecting 33.3 million people globally, including 2.5 million children. Despite years of concerted global efforts and investments, there is still neither a cure nor an effective vaccine for the disease.

However, over time, the profile of the HIV epidemic is evolving from a life threatening to a chronic disease, thanks to availability of more effective drugs and efficacious service delivery models involving communities and people living with HIV/AIDS. With changing realities, it is time, then, to reflect and re-strategize in the long-drawn war against HIV/AIDS. Fundamental to success is acknowledging that HIV/AIDS is a social and developmental issue as much as a health one.

The impact on women and children is devastating. An estimated 1.3 million women aged 15 and above currently live with HIV in the WHO’s South-East Asia Region (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste).

The estimated number of children living with HIV has increased by 46 percent during 2001 – 2009. Of the 448 million cases of sexually transmitted infections that occur globally, 71 million are in South-East Asia. Due to low coverage of the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programme in the South-East Asia Region, a large number of babies born to HIV-positive mothers acquire HIV infection in the womb.

Despite considerable diversity in the HIV epidemic among the countries of the Region, unsafe sex and injecting drug use are the main drivers. Five countries -India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal and Thailand – account for a majority of the disease burden. Sexual transmission accounts for the majority of cases in Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste.  The HIV epidemic among people who inject drugs is significant in Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and some regions of India.

The Maldives has a growing threat of the HIV epidemic due to injecting drug use.

The evolution of the epidemic from life threatening to a chronic disease, with better drugs and better access to drugs, has resulted in prolonging survival and quality of care for people living with HIV/AIDS. This necessitates evolution of an HIV care model that is in line with chronic disease management, with primary care providers playing an important role.

The spectrum of HIV care needs to evolve into a comprehensive primary care model that has an integrated, patient-centered approach, and is linked to specialist care where and when needed. It also needs to address the various socio-cultural issues that take the response beyond the health sector into the families and communities.

Other key challenges include late diagnosis of HIV, stigma and discrimination faced by people with HIV and most-at-risk population; limited capacity of health systems; high prices of antiretroviral drugs especially the second line drugs, and lack of sustained finances.

The health sector can only overcome these challenges if it collaborates with other sectors in order to tackle the social, economic, cultural and environmental issues that shape the epidemic and access to health services.

WHO’s  Health Sector Strategy on HIV for South-East Asia has been endorsed by all the eleven Member States of the Region. It envisions “Zero new HIV infections, zero AIDS-related deaths and zero discrimination in a world where people living with HIV are able to live long, healthy lives.”

The four strategic directions to achieve the goal include: optimising HIV prevention, care and treatment outcomes; strengthening strategic information systems for HIV and research; strengthening health systems to ensure that the expanded response to HIV will build effective, efficient and comprehensive health systems in which HIV and other essential services are available, accessible and affordable; and fostering supportive environment to ensure equitable access to HIV services.

WHO continues to work with countries to achieve universal access to comprehensive HIV prevention, treatment and care and to contribute to health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly MDG 6 (combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases). Together, we hope to move closer to a world free of AIDS.

Dr. Samlee Plianbangchang is the Regional Director of the World Health Organisation for the South-East Asia Region.

<em>All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]</em>

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Nasheed makes Cameron’s top five for Berlusconi stag party

If given the chance, British Prime Minister David Cameron would include President Mohamed Nasheed in a stag weekend organised by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Graffiti artist Eine published a Q&A in UK media The Guardian in which he asked Cameron to choose five living world leaders to invite, and if he omitted Bill Clinton, to explain why.

After listing Clinton and Obama, Cameron said, “My new best friend is the president of the Maldives. He’s great.”

Press Secretary at the President’s Office Mohamed Zuhair told Haveeru that President Nasheed and the British PM maintain an “ever growing” friendship, and that their respective parties share a close partnership.

France’s Nicholas Sarkozy and New Zealand’s John Key also made the list.

Cameron gave one of Eine’s pieces to Obama as an official gift in 2010.

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