Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Chairperson and MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik has claimed parliament sessions were disrupted deliberately by opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MPs, led by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, because they feared that an amendment presented to the Former Presidents Act would be passed.
Moosa gave an interview to the press today outside the parliament after Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim cancelled the session, after DRP MP Ali Azim refused to leave the chamber despite repeated instructions.
‘’The parliament has been disrupted following on the orders of former president Gayoom,’’ Moosa alleged to the press outside parliament.
Moosa said that tomorrow he would send a letter to the former President requesting to meet him and clarify “why exactly he is disrupting the parliament sessions and what he expects to gain from doing it.”
However, today DRP’s Z-faction MP Ahmed Nihan said faction’s main issue was that members for parliament committees were appointed during an “unlawful” sitting and that any decision made in an unlawful sitting would also be unlawful.
Nihan said that if Speaker of the Parliament Abdulla Shahid accepted that the sitting was unlawful and decided to hold the sitting once again, and reappoint members for the parliament committees, “the main issue will be solved.”
Successive parliament sittings have been cancelled after the Z-faction of DRP complained about the legality of a sitting in which the ruling MDP won majority control of the National Security Committee and Finance Committee, the most influential two committees in parliament.
Students currently pursuing or looking to study higher education at foreign institutions have been given a deadline of August 7 this year to apply for funding from an additional government-backed Rf100 million student loan programme.
Funding packages ranging between Rf100,000 and Rf300,000 are reportedly set to be made available to students participating in various types of study ranging from foundation courses to PHD. After studying abroad, participants are then expected to begin paying back their loans to the state six months after completion of their course and within a ten-year period, according to newspaper Haveeru.
The foreign study loans are expected to be delivered specifically to Bank of Maldives (BML) accounts assigned to each individual student participating in the foreign loan scheme during August. The student loan system for Maldivians abroad follows on from the launch of a similar domestic study programme announced by the government early last month.
The funding switch has raised concerns among some students and opposition figures, who claim that not enough is being done by government to support and prepare young people for the challenges of a more diverse Maldives job market. Opposition MPs in particular have been critical that the funding, like the entire education system had not been sufficiently updated from the 1980s to meet the demand for the current jobs market in terms of skills.
Haveeru reported that despite concerns by some Male’-based students regarding continued delays to receiving their individual loan payments, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between BML and the Finance Ministry was expected to come into place today to ensure loan payments could be made within a 48 hours period.
The student loan programme is a new intiative being taken up by the government to replace the previous “pocket money” grant scheme that supplied limited study funding free of charge.
The government claimed last month that an initial Rf50 million loan programme for domestic students represented attempts to support a larger number of local people in further education.
Aminath Ali, Deputy Minister of Human Resources, Youth and Sports, previously told Minivan News that she accepted that a number of students had concerns about the change towards providing loans instead of the free grants previously offered. However, the minister claimed the new system was in place to try to ensure that both the country and citizens could afford further education on a more sustainable basis in the long-term.
“Under the current budget we cannot provide free learning and funding for students at higher education institutions. The [student loans] are similar to mechanisms in place in countries all over the world,” she said. “Say a student has a total loan amount of Rf24,000 over their studies, they will have to pay back this amount and a five percent administration charge to cover the role of their bank over an agreed period of time.”
Consultations are said to be underway to outline the economic viability of a proposed 30-hour ferry route between the Maldives and India designed to try and boost trade and tourism links between the two countries.
According to the Business Standard newspaper, Indian shipping authorities are looking into the possibility of running a passenger liner from the port of Cochin or Tuticorin as part of collaboration with their Maldivian counterparts to target both traders and tourist travel.
With any ferry service between the two destinations expected to last around 30 hours, research is ongoing into the possible benefits and demand for the services as a result.
Earlier this year, ferry services between India and Sri Lanka were restarted after a thirty year hiatus as part of aims to try and strengthen economic and diplomatic ties between the two different nations.
As part of the Maldives’ own commitments to hosting the 17th summit meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) this year in Addu City, the government has outlined “Building Bridges” – both in terms of physical connectivity and figurative political dialogue – as a key aim for the meeting.
Both India and Sri Lanka are SAARC embers along with the Maldives.
There are certain paintings that have the power to uplift your spirits. Well-known local artist Afzal (Afu) Shaafiu Hassan’s Coco collection exhibition showcases 24 paintings belonging to that category.
Commissioned by Cocopalm Boduhithi, the acrylic paintings are destined to be hung in the water bungalows of the high-end resort.
The paintings’ blend of contemporary and heritage gives a modern twist to usual depictions of palm trees, corals, shells and islands. At the same time Afu’s paint brush has also dipped into the 2000 year old Maldivian culture, giving the paintings depth, familiarity and a unique ‘Maldivianness’.
The 48×44 inch paintings are hung in a row, inches apart occupying one side of the spacious art gallery. Interestingly enough a 60 year old Maldivian story ‘Raiveribeyaa Rukaa’ (toddy tapper and palm tree) written by Annabeel Malin Mohamed Didi runs through all the paintings in the form of a monologue written in ancient Dhivehi script.
“It was a coincidence; I was reading that story when Cocopalm commissioned my work,” says Afu.
The connection of the name Cocopalm and the story which revolves around a toddy tapper and a palm tree was not lost on Afu. “It’s a fascinating story, in one part the palm tree berates the toddy tapper asking him why he doesn’t behave like a man, and go fishing like others, instead of spending his time on top of the tree.”
The story goes on to highlight the importance of the palm tree to every aspect of Maldivian life and talks about how it is better to protect the palm trees than damage them.
Depicting classics in a new way
The quintessential palm tree and sunset has a new role to play in Afu’s paintings. In one painting two palm trees stand straight on the right side as all around them, blues, oranges, purples intercept and whirl around. While on the left side one can almost make out the faint whisperings of a form that looks like a butterfly or a flower, the ends of it curling and beckoning the palm trees.
“It’s the flower motif you find on lacquerware,” says Afu, and suddenly you realize why the form looks so familiar. Throughout all the paintings ancient motifs plays peek-a-boo with the viewer, teasing in its familiarity.
Afu’s depiction of murex shell is almost fiery, the edges spiked with blues, oranges, and yellows, reds, pinks – it is simply a riot of colours. The shell’s middle is mysterious and dark reminding you that you never really know what lurks inside a shell when you pick it up first. In contrast to the fieriness of the shell is the barely visible flower motif at the bottom. In other paintings you can make out a hexagonal seal, akin to the ones used in the past by Maldivian Kings.
Afu's works feature trails of ancient Dhivehi script
“The motifs and seals are not depicted exactly as they are,” he says.
In Afu’s world flower motifs are stretched, a king’s seal gives way to your own and motifs from the ancient Friday mosque can be turned upside down, or lengthened and modified in innovative way to break up two juxtaposed island views.
Calligraphy recounting ancient stories run horizontally, vertically, in one lines, or in couples to visually entice the audience.
For Afu this is his way of paying homage to the Dhivehi script, Thaana. “We take our script for granted now, but it’s only civilizations that have its own proper script. I am very proud to show it off in my paintings.”
A helping hand
One reason Afu is exhibiting the Coco Collection is to make the tourism industry sit up and take notice to Maldivian art: “It’s a pity that it is mostly foreigners’ work that is displayed in resorts.”
Afu laments the fact that despite the Maldivian tourism industry being well established and flourishing, with over 600,000 visitors a year, the local art scene was lagging far behind. However he acknowledged that “there has been the problem of lack of reliability of Maldivian artists in the past.”
“The regional art scenes are more developed and the art industry and tourism industry of those countries complement each other.”
But he says times have changed: “There are very good Maldivian artists who can deliver now, they should be given a chance.”
A view echoed by Hussain Hilmy, director of Sunland Travels that owns Cocopalm Boduhithi.
“We decided to source local painters because there are many talented artists in the Maldives. It was tough choosing an artist, after seeing the works of so many,” he said.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the exhibition last night, Hilmy emphasised the fact that the paintings would be hung in the most expensive rooms of the resort and wished more progress for the local artists.
This is the second resort commission for Afu, a 12 year break after the first one.
“The tourism industry has an obligation to help develop the local artists, as it would be mutually beneficial for both industries,” says Afu.
Coco Collection will be on display until July 14 every weekday from 10:00am to 4:00pm at National Art Gallery.
The Civil Court has ordered the Elections Commission (EC) release funds for both the People’s Party (PP) and the Social Democratic Party following an earlier decision by the EC to withhold the money citing political inactivity.
The EC had contested that the budget was withheld because the two parties were receiving public funds but had not been engaged in political activity “to an adequate level”.
Civil Court judge Maryam Nihayath ruled that it was not within the jurisdiction of the EC to determine whether a political party was working to achieve the goals mentioned in its charter.
The judge ruled that Elections Commission was obliged to distribute the budget allocated for each party according to the Elections Commission Act and that there were no probable grounds to believe that the EC had authority to decide whether or not to deliver the money.
Ruling on the suit filed by PP against the EC, Judge Nihayath ordered the EC deliver the money to the party by Thursday.
The Social Democratic Party also filed a lawsuit against the EC for holding the budget allocated for the party, and the Civil Court ruled in similar fashion, ordering the EC to pay the party by Thursday.
Vice President of the Elections Commission Ahmed Hassan Fayaz told Minivan News that the Commission was studying the legal implications of the decision, before deciding whether to appeal.
“Political parties are allocated a budget [from public funds] and in this case we felt these parties were not doing anything [political], and decided it was time to be proactive and make a decision,” he said.
“In the absence of a law you look to public opinion,” he said. “Public opinion was that these parties were not operating as political parties, but were still receiving money from the Elections Commission.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story mistakenly stated that the EC had withheld funds from the People’s Alliance Party (PA), rather than the People’s Party (PP). Minivan News regrets the error and apologises for any confusion caused.
The Civil Aviation Department has said that it will wait to complete an investigation into the crash landing of a Trans Maldivian Airways (TMA) seaplane near Biyaadhoo Island Resort during a training flight this morning, before considering amendments to flight policy in the country.
The aviation body’s Director General, Hussein Jaleel, confirmed to Minivan News today that no injuries were reported to the two pilots involved in the crash – reported to be the only people on board at the time. The spokesperson said that investigators currently believed the crash had resulted only in structural damage to the seaplane after it came down near an assigned landing point in a reef by the South Male’ Atoll resort.
Jaleel said that he was presently unable to presently reveal many details about the collision, other than that the Civil Aviation Department’s Accident Investigation Committee were now interviewing the pilots involved in the flight as part of ongoing investigations into a possible cause of the crash landing.
An official spokesperson for TMA – which is one of the country’s two largest operators of seaplane services along with Maldivian Air Taxis – was unavailable for comment when contacted by Minivan News at the time of going to press.
However, in terms of the possible need to implement changes in regulation or seaplane policy following the crash, Hussein Jaleel said authorities would wait for investigations to be completed on today’s incident before making any changes. “However, if it is revealed that new policies are required we would ensure we did this,” he added.
Seaplane incidents
When asked about the number of incidents investigated in relation to the country’s seaplane operations from the start of this year, Jaleel said he did not have the exact figures on him at the time of going to press as aviation authorities investigated incidents of varying severity in the course of their work.
However, the aviation department director general told Minivan News that in terms of events like a crash landing, this was believed to be the first case of such an incident occurring in 2011.
Back in December 2010, the Civil Aviation Department confirmed that a collision had occurred between a Maldivian Air Taxi seaplane and another aircraft at Male’ International Airport that resulted in no injuries or major damage being recorded.
Authorities said at the time that investigators had found the collision to be a minor accident involving the wingtip of an aircraft colliding with another craft, an event which was not seen as “a major safety concern” for future operations.
No injuries have been reported from a fire that broke out of the Galolhu Feeroz Lodge building in Male’ this morning, after expatriate workers living at a fourth floor property escaped the blaze using ropes to climb to safety, according to new reports.
Haveeru reported that the Fire and Rescue arm of the Maldives National Defense Force’s (MNDF) put out the fire shortly after arriving to the property, which is owned by the Donad Garment Factory.
Despite damage to the fourth floor apartment, a textile storeroom situated below the location of the fire was reportedly undamaged.
The Ministry of Health is expected to once again take the reins of the national response to a dengue fever outbreak linked to the deaths of eight Maldivians this year, after last week handing control of the focus to a task force appointed to bring island management of the disease under a single body.
A spokesperson for the task force, which has attempted to combine the efforts of the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF), government ministries and NGOs, said the body expected its work to be “wound down” today, with the Ministry of Health once again taking control of efforts after infection rates were said to have fallen.
The task force had initially been budgeted to operate from within the social centre at Maafanu School in Male’ for seven days. However, despite initial optimism that the outbreak – which has been labelled by the government as an “epidemic” – would be under control in this time, doubts arose later during last week about the likelihood of meeting such a deadline.
Speaking to Minivan News today, a media spokesperson for the task force said it once again expected management of the virus outbreak to revert back to the Health Ministry, after having itself overcome a number of difficulties allegedly including collaborating with recently established local councils.
“We are seeing the number of confirmed cases dropping once again and I expect we will be winding up our work today,” the spokesperson added. The spokesperson claimed that Male’s Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) was itself now returning to normal operations after adapting several wards and surgeries specifically to coping with dengue during the outbreak.
On Thursday (July 7), several Male’-based hospitals including IGMH said that although they were busy continuing to deal with a significant numbers of patients suspected of contracting the virus, the situation was said to be under “control” by some senior management staff.
Deputy Education Minister Dr Abdulla Nazeer, who has spoken on behalf of the taskforce created by President Mohamed Nasheed to combat the outbreak, said he was “glad to say the situation is under control and we are winding up our work and will transfer it to the Health Ministry.”
During its work the taskforce had identified several factors that contributed to the difficulty of managing dengue outbreaks, he noted.
“Number one is a lack of proper communication between the Health Ministry and local councils,” he said. “The second was that they did not have the capacity to resolve the issues.”
“Councillors on some islands thought it was not in their mandate to follow the requests of the task force,” he added. “The MNDF and local authorities had to intervene, and the councillors realised it was a matter of national safety.”
Government view
In addressing the work undertaken as part of a collaborative approach to disease control , Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair claimed that the initiative’s work in identifying and focusing on regional and island prevention measures would ensure the government was better prepared in the future for similar outbreaks.
“The government’s main focus has remained targeting mosquito breeding grounds, particularly areas such lakes and stagnant water collections,” he said. “However, we have also been working on community focal points where we have focused many types of control measures.”
Zuhair claimed these control measures had been focused specifically on trying to put more emphasis on focusing on island communities to identify possible difficulties with dengue, despite reports from the dengue task force of initial coordination problems in working with the local councillors.
A spokesperson for the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) was unavailable for comment at the time of going to press over its views of the government’s response in dealing with the dengue epidemic” of recent weeks.
Yet over the course of last week DRP Spokerson Ibrahim ‘Mavota’ Shareef, reiterated his belief to the press that the government had “bungled” their response to trying to control dengue fever. Shareef added that although the DRP welcomed and would cooperate with the government in efforts to try and limit the spread of the virus, he said that authorities had acted too slowly in trying to deal with the outbreak.
“From what we have seen the government is just not doing enough. We don’t believe they have been willfully negligent, but there has been negligence in their approach [to dengue outbreak],” he claimed. “They have not responded fast enough, which could be inexperience on their part. But I think this will be a wake-up call for them to change policy in dealing with these type of situations.”
The Maldives Foreign Ministry has issued a statement formally recognising the Republic of South Sudan as an independent and sovereign state.
Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem sent a letter of congratulations to his South Sudanese counterpart Deng Alor Kuol.
“The Government of Maldives plans to establish diplomatic relations with South Sudan at an early date and work towards strengthening cooperation between the Maldives and South Sudan in areas of mutual interest,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“After decades of civil war and sacrifice of many lives, the South Sudanese people, in January this year, voted overwhelmingly in a referendum to declare independence and create a new country,” the statement noted.
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