Tag: maldives

Leaked UN report claims both Sri Lanka and rebels guilty of war crimes

A leaked UN report into the closing days of the war in Sri Lanka contains “credible allegations” that the Sri Lankan government shelled civilians after encouraging them to gather in no-fire zones.

The report also claims the army shelled hospitals, UN facilities and aid workers with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The report further alleges that the government intimdated and in some cases silenced the media, even abducting journalists is “white vans”.

The report also accused Tamil rebels of using civilians as human shields, forcibly recruiting teenagers to fight, and of murdering civilians who tried to leave the war zone.

A former UN spokesperson for the UN in Sri Lanka was reported in the UK’s Independent newspaper as saying that the report “damns the government of Sri Lanka’s so-called war on terror, which incidentally killed many thousands of civilians. The Tamil Tigers were equally rotten in their disdain for life.”

The full report is expected to be released officially next week.

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Police dismiss allegations that officer was arrested in connection to haul of 10 alcohol bottles

Police have denied reports that one of three men arrested in a Heniveru house last week in possession of 10 bottles of alcohol was a police officer.

Alcohol is banned on inhabited islands in the Maldives.

”[The officer] was arrested while he was inside that house with two others,” claimed a person familiar with the matter. ”He is currently under house arrest, the other two are still in police custody.”

Deputy Head of the Serious and Organised Crime Department (SOC), Inspector Abdulla Nawaz, told the press that three men were arrested inside Aadhage in Henveiru Aadhage, after police discovered eight bottles of alcohol inside a bag in the house and other two more bottles in a second bag.

Six empty alcohol bottles were discovered inside the house, Nawaz said, and a bayonet.

Nawaz did not give further information about the three persons arrested.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said that no police officer had been arrested in connection with discovery of the ten bottles and the knife.

”A police officer may have been arrested in an operation conducted,” he said. ”But we can confirm that no police officer was arrested in connection with the alcohol bottles.”

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Foreign Ministry drafting prisoner exchange legislation

Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem has revealed that the government is working on prisoner exchange legislation in the hopes of repatriating 12 Maldivian nationals currently serving sentences overseas.

Local laws, Naseem told Haveeru, currently “don’t allow inmates, held in overseas prisons, to be transferred to the Maldives in order to complete their sentences. We cannot allow them in without making sure that they complete their sentences in the Maldives. That is only possible if the Maldives judiciary allows inmates to complete their sentence, handed in a foreign country, in Maldivian prisons.”

The Foreign Ministry said Maldivians were imprisoned in six countries.

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Gan RAF reunion prompts scholarship fund

A group of former British Royal Air Force (RAF) servicemen who were based at Gan in the 70s have set up a fund to improve medical care in Addu Atoll, the country’s southern group of islands.

In March this year, 28 ex-personnel who had worked in the atoll returned to Gan for a reunion, where they were saddened by the decline in medical standards since their departure.

Richard Houlston, 62, who spent a year in the early 1970s working in ground communications on the island of Hithadhoo said: “All of us servicemen enjoyed our time in the Maldives, and the feeling among us was that we wanted to give something back to the community. I feel a close affinity to Addu, it was as if I had never left.”

Richard worked on the HF Transmitters on the isle of Hithadhoo, at the far end of the horse-shoe shaped atoll of Addu from November 1969 until 1970. He and his comrades would visit nearby Gan for scuba diving lessons and shopping trips.

“My memories of Hithadhoo were all good,” said Houlston. “I loved the climate, I loved messing about in the boats we had there, I loved fishing and swimming, I spent many hours snorkeling on the reef, I learnt to scuba dive. When I arrived back on Addu my first impressions were that it seems to be more built up now than when I was there, and obviously has some quite well-off inhabitants, but many people seem to be quite poor. Many of the inhabitants still have to rely on rain water for drinking, stored in large tanks and in those sorts of temperatures that can’t be good for health,” he said.

“When we arrived back on Addu, it became obvious to us very quickly that what they needed help with most was medical care. To go to a decent hospital, many locals have to travel all the way to India, which is a 1000 mile-plus journey. There is a hospital on the island of Hithadhoo, but standards there are very poor: even if they have the equipment, no-one has the expertise to use it.”

When the RAF was in Gan, islanders used to enjoy first class medical facilities for free. Now they have third world services and people must pay for their treatment. The 30 year dictatorship and focus on development of Male’ did not help matters.

Now Houlston and Larry Dodds have set up the Gan Scholarship Fund, which aims to raise enough money to help train more medical staff and improve the standard of medical equipment in the atoll.

“The thing that concerns us most is the fact that many inhabitants have to travel to India for decent medical facilities. Addu is so remote that they need their own medical facilities on hand. When the RAF was there they had those facilities, but when we pulled out in 1976 they were left with nothing,” Houlston said.

“I know there were political issues at the time that did not help their situation, but I feel we have a moral obligation to try to help them now if we can. I feel very passionate about this, and I know that many of the guys I was there with in March feel the same way.”

Their idea is to try and raise enough money to pay for the training of one medical student from Addu, so they can then work in the hospital on nearby Hithadhoo. Much of the hospital equipment is also outdated and needs to be replaced.

“The original plan was to appeal to the RAF personnel who had served on Gan over the years to donate money towards the scheme, now I do not now that this is going to be enough, so I am trying to come up with ideas to help supplement this. I am open to suggestions,” Houlston admitted.

Returning to the Addu Atoll a year ago was an emotional journey for the group, who share many fond memories of their time on the island. Houlston said that his time in the Maldives had left a lasting impression on him, and that he and his former colleagues had been touched by the people of Gan’s enthusiasm when they returned.

“We had such a wonderful welcome on the reunion trip to Addu in March of this year, that it rekindled my love for Addu and its people,” he said.

“The RAF had not visited the Maldives for over 30 years, but the reception was incredible. Children from primary schools danced for us, they arranged trips for us, and thousands of people greeted us wherever we went.”

“It was a very moving experience,” he added. Richard is now in daily contact with people from Addu and is working with both Hithadhoo Regional Hospital and the IDMC private hospital, soon to be Hawwa Trust, which will help provide the next generation of medical doctors along with the help of some former friends from the Royal Air Force.

For more information visit ‘Gan Then and Now’ on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_123539864379070

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PA now welcoming DRP supporters to its ranks

The People’s Alliance (PA) has said it would welcome registered members from fellow opposition groups like coalition partner the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) – currently embroiled in factional infighting – as it seeks to boost its support-base over the next year.

Party registrar Hiyaly Mohamed Rasheed told Minivan News that after agreeing though a council meeting back in 2009 to not take members from the DRP due to a coalition agreement between them, the group was now looking to bolster its current tally of 2,751 registered supporters from “all across the Maldives”.  He claimed this membership drive would now also include members from the DRP, which is the country’s main opposition party and headed by MP Ahmed Thasmeen Ali.

The DRP has in recent months become embroiled in a bitter war of words between serving leader Thasmeen and his predecessor and former Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. The split between the two men and their respective supporters is reportedly linked to the party’s dismissal of former deputy leader Umar Naseer by its disciplinary committee last December.

Just last week, the DRP’s Council announced it had take the decision to forward a number of party members including DRP MPs Ahmed Mahlouf, DRP Deputy leader MP Ilham Ahmed and former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s lawyer Mohamed Waheed to the party’s disciplinary committee.

The decision against the three men was taken over allegations that they had misled the public over the work and reputation of Thasmeen to further the interests of the so-called  Z-DRP faction said to support Gayoom.

MP Ilham claimed at the time that the DRP charter did not allow the party’s leader to dismiss anyone who criticises them.

”The charter states that a deputy leader can be dismissed only if a third of the party’s congress votes to dismiss him,” Ilham said. ”There will be internal disputes in political parties, but this is not how to solve it.”

Thasmeen was unavailable for comment when contacted by Minivan News at the time of going to press.

DRP “Problems”

Howver, the PA registrar claimed that the reports of DRP infighting had the potential to negatively set back wider political opposition in the country.

“I was once in the DRP,” Rasheed said. “Yet now the DRP has itself decided that there are two factions in the party, that means that it currently has problems,” he added.

The claims have been made as the PA announced that more than 100 people were registered as party members on Friday (April 15) as part of attempts to overtake the religious Adhaalath Party as the country’s third most supported political group. The PA is led by Abdulla Yamin, half brother of former President Gayoom.

Speaking to Haveeru yesterday, Mohamed Rasheed claimed that the PA was now working to almost double its membership base to 5,000 people by next month. Rasheed said he hoped the drive would bring the PA closer to matching the Adhaalath Party in terms of the size of support, which it estimates amounts to about 6000 members at present.

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Villingili observes moment of silence in memory of assault victim

A group of about 200 people living in Villingili on Friday observed a moment of silence to commemorate Ahmed Mirza, 25, who died after  suffering severe injuries to his head in a violent attack last week.

The group marched on the streets of Villingili calling for the death penalty to be issued to murderers. Demonstrators also marched towards the houses of five suspects arrested in connection with the case and gathered outside.

Media reported that police blocked the entrance of the houses as demonstrators gathered around.

The march was also attended by opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Nihan and family members of Mirza, and ended peacefully at the Children’s Park in Villingili where Mirza was last sitting before he was attacked

Nihan did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

Mirza was assaulted last Monday with iron bars and other weapons in Villingili after he allegedly made comments concerning a girl.

He died early Thursday morning in Indira Gandi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).

Mirza was declared brain-dead after doctors at the IGMH examined him and was kept on life support for almost two days according to the family’s wishes.

Mirza’s father told local newspaper Haveeru that his son had made plans to marry his girlfriend after a month.

Currently a Criminal Procedure Bill and an amendment to the Clemency Act to uphold death sentences withdrawing the authority president has to grant clemency on those sentenced to death are being presented to the parliament to curb the gang violence.

The Criminal Procedure Bill presented by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Parliamentary Group Leader MP ‘Reeco’ Moosa Manik was accepted by the parliament has now been sent to the National Security Committee.

The amendment to the Clemency Act presented by Jumhoree Party (JP) MP Ibrahim Muthalib requires to uphold death sentences if upheld by the Supreme Court or if the Supreme Court itself delivered a death sentence.

Currently all the death sentences issued are implemented as a 25 year imprisonment.

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Maldivian Red Cresent elects board members

The Maldivian Red Crescent (MRC) on Saturday elected four members to its governing board, including Ali Nasheed of Machangoalhi Sisilfaru, Abdulla Ali from Shaviyani Funadhoo, Aishath Hussein Manik of Henveiru Reedhoo Kokaagehas.

Ibrahim Shafeeq was reelected as President, reported Haveeru.

The MRC’s Secretary General told the newspaper that while the organisation had a successful year, it had faced difficulties due to lack of finances.

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Six Senses and Biosphere Expeditions offering reef conservation scholarships

Biosphere Expeditions and Six Senses properties are offering two scholarships for Maldivians with dive qualifications and English language skills, to take part in a new coral reef and whale shark study being conducted in September 2011.

Scholarship recipients will be trained in reef and whale shark research techniques and assist scientists from around the world in a study designed to provide data to the Maldivian government so that it can make informed conservation decisions.

The project, based on the liveaboard Carpe Diem cruising the archipelago, will see Biosphere Expeditions working with the Maldives Marine Research Centre (MRC) of the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture, Reef Check and the Marine Conservation Society to study and safeguard the coral reefs and the resident whale shark population.

Biologist Matthias Hammer, Reef Check trainer and Executive Director of Biosphere Expeditions, described the reefs of the Maldives archipelago and its fish population as “extraordinarily diverse and rich. They are also in a relatively pristine state and having both these factors together is quite rare. As less than one per cent of the world’s oceans are protected, it is very important that we monitor and manage areas that are doing well.”

The economy and the well-being of the entire nation, Hammer said, “is largely dependent on a healthy and sustainably-managed marine environment.”

Marine Biologist Kate Wilsonat Six Senses’ property Soneva Fushi in Baa Atoll observed that the scholarships would allow Maldivians “to work alongside and learn from some top marine biologists, enabling them to get hands-on experience of monitoring coral reef ecosystems and whale sharks in the Maldives. It is a fantastic opportunity for keen and enthusiastic divers that want to develop skills in marine surveying, enabling them to continue surveying long after the scholarship ends.”

Six Senses said in a statement that successful scholarship applicants “need to be able to demonstrate a genuine interest in the marine environment and [show] that they will use the experience to the benefit of the Maldives’ marine resources, carrying the message to other people and multiplying the effect of their experience.”

The deadline for applications deadline is July 29, with the expedition taking place in September later this year. Applicants must be 18 or older. For more information visit www.biosphere-expeditions.org/scholarships

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New exchange rate vital for long-term economic prosperity: President

President Mohamed Nasheed has said that the government’s decision to implement a managed float of the rufiya was necessary “to ensure the long term stability and prosperity of the Maldives.”

The government announced last week that it was allowing the rufiya to be exchanged for the dollar within 20 percent of the pegged rate of Rf12.85. Many businesses dealing in imported goods and several banks, including the Bank of Maldives (BML), immediately raised their rate exchange to the maximum permitted rate of Rf 15.42, exceeding the average Rf14.2 rate of the formerly institutionalised blackmarket.

Speaking during his weekly radio address, President Nasheed thanked the public and local businesses “for their patience and faith”, and predicted that the economy would show positive signs of stabilising in three months’ time.

“Changing the exchange rate mechanism [and] maintaining the value of rufiya is linked to finding a permanent solution for the constraints on our economic development,” he said, explaining that the decision would allow the government to “finance budget deficit, increase productivity, and increase export of goods and services.”

The President suggested that the financial shake-up caused by the move would not be as significant as many feared, because most importing businesses had been calculating the value of the dollar as higher than the government’s previously pegged rate.

“The government is confident of an expeditious fall in the prices of goods and services as the exchange rate stabilises,” said the President’s Office, in a statement.

A crackdown on the illegal sale of dollars on the  blackmarket the previous week – following a speech in which the President promised to “put a policeman behind every dollar” – failed to address the high demand for foreign currency particuarly among the country’s expatriate population, who had relied on blackmarket dollars for remittances.

Many of the country’s 100,000 foreign workers, particularly a large percentage of labourers from Bangladesh, are paid in Maldivian rufiya by their employers and became increasingly desperate as paranoia following the crackdown limited blackmarket exchanges.

Meanwhile protests organised by the various opposition factions this week in response to the managed the managed float attracted a surprisingly low turnout, given the potential for the government’s decision to raise the cost of living by up to 20 percent in the short-term.

While the move drew praise from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which described it as a “bold step toward restoring external sustainability,” a number of Maldivian economists in the private sector remain convinced that the government’s effective devaluing of the currency will only temporarily ward off economic catastrophe in the face of crippling over-expenditure.

In an article for Minivan News this week, Director of Structured Finance at the Royal Bank of Scotland, Ali Imraan, observed that ‘growth’ in the domestic economy had been driven by the public sector  and “paid for by printing Maldivian rufiya and clever manoeuvres with T-Bills, which the government has used since 2009 to be able conveniently sidestep the charge of printing money. In simple terms: successive governments printed/created money to drive domestic economic growth.”

Imraan pressed for the Maldives to invest in private sector revenue growth “rather than building airports on every island”, and implement a progressive taxation system targeting high earners in the interest of income equality. He also urged the Majlis to uphold the constitutional stipulation whereby MPs – such as those with business interest in the tourism sector – removed themselves from voting on issue in which they had a vested interest, and further suggested that the government resolve the matter of stalled tourism developments “awarded to parties with no money or track record.”

“Moratoriums on lease payments or debt repayments may look innocuous enough, but they rob the country of vital growth opportunities and hence ultimately rob the people. We should not stand for it,” he said.

Imraan’s latter suggestion proved somewhat prescient when the Tourism Ministry renewed the lease for Hudhufushi in Lhaviyani Atoll, despite the resort island’s owner owing more than US$85 million in unpaid rent – most of it fines for non-payment.

The government’s decision to implement a managed float of the currency came as a least one local sales agent for international airlines operating in and out of the Maldives closed its doors to customers, blaming an inability to pay the airlines because of a lack of US dollars circulating within the economy.

A local financial expert working in the private sector, Ahmed Adheeb, had also warned that a shortage of foreign currency would reduce the prospect of foreign investment, because of the difficulty of repatriating profits to the home country.

“Dhiraagu, for instance, is probably having a lot of difficulties repatriating dividends to Cable&Wireless,” Adeeb said. “This can lead to a fall in investor confidence. When that happens, foreign investors will either try to exit or stay away. We will only see foreign investment that earns dollars, such as resorts.”

The problem would soon lead to inflation and difficulties importing essentials such as fuel and medicines, he suggested, and could potentially have a major impact if the State Trading Organisation (the country’s primary importer) found itself unable to acquire foreign currency.

Following the devaluation Adheeb warned that the impacts would be felt strongly in sectors such as construction, as dollars were already becoming scarcer as tourism wound down for off-season and Hajj pilgrims searched for dollars.

The general public would be also be impacted as the cost of commodities rose to fill the new exchange rate, while the government’s commitment to projects such as harbour construction could be delayed due to the risks of taking on even more debt.

“This will also affect business contracts, particularly [those concerning] foreign employment, and students studying overseas,” Adheeb said, predicting that “if the market does not stabilise then in three months time we will see a further devaluation. The government is taking a huge risk.”

Announcing the decision this week, Economic Development Minister Mahmoud Razee candidly stated that as a result of the artificially fixed exchange rate, “we do not really know, based on the breadth of the domestic economy, what the value of the Maldivian rufiya is right now.”

Given Nasheed’s radio address yesterday, the government has three months to find out.

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