Tag: maldives

Battling heroin in the Maldives: New York Times

Fifty percent of Maldivian youth are addicted to some kind of drug, according to a video report produced for the New York Times, ‘Battling heroin in the Maldives’.

“You would not find a family without a single member or near relative not suffering from drug abuse,” Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed told journalist Mariana Keller, who visited the country with Mirva Lempiainen in June to run workshops on citizen journalism.

“Heroin was  first introduced 70’s, when Sri Lankan workers brought into the country to pave the roads,” Keller explains. “Most kids start using in school.”

And while it was previously hard to find somebody selling the drug, the introduction of mobile phones has made it very easy.

“Ordering a pizza in Male’ takes 30 minutes, but with brown sugar [heroin], it takes just five minutes for it to be at your door step,”  explains Ali Adyb from rehabilitation NGO Journey.

Jobs are scarce, but parents are willing to give their kids money, often feeding their addiction, narrates Keller.

Adyb places some responsiblity on parents: “Parents don’t want their kids to end up in jail – the path of denial is very strong with parents. Even if find out [about the drug use], they say ‘It’s not my son, it’s daughter’. And they practically give them money.”

The officials Keller spoke to blamed the country’s “porous borders” for the extent of the problem, and a lack of ability to scan cargo.

“We still don’t have equipment to scan certain kinds of cargo,” Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan says, explaining that once the drugs enter the country, the supply becomes so scattered it is difficult to trace.

Adyb notes that Maldivian society was showing a growing acceptance of drug use.

“People don’t care as much anymore,” he tells Keller. “People accept it as part of life.”

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Adhaalath calls for caution over Jewish doctor visit

The religious Adhaalath Party has claimed the Maldivian public should be cautious of a team of Israeli doctors coming to the country this week to help perform eye surgery treatments, alleging that some medical staff from the nation have been involved in harvesting organs from “murdered Palestinians”.

Citing a press released sourced from the Adhaalath Party, Haveeru reported that the team of doctors, which form part of an organisation called Eye from Zion, are suspected of being financially supported during their visit by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC).

According to the release, the JDC is claimed to be a missionary group, though the organisation’s official website lists itself as a body to provide “humanitarian assistance”.
“A doctors’ team from Eye from Zion is visiting the Maldives in this eye camp. Do not think that they are from a normal hospital. We also understand that the doctors’ team is accompanied by an Israeli Foreign Ministry delegation,” quoted Haveeru from the Adhaalath press release.

The party has claimed that it is not trying to create a panic among the public, but added that it aimed to bring attention amongst international media of the alleged “actions against our brothers and sisters of Palestine.”

Haveeru added that the religious conservative political party had also accused the Maldives government of having “secret relations” with their Israeli counterparts.

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Party “needs a president not a conqueror”: DRP spokesman

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Deputy Leader Ibrahim Shareef has said the party is best served by current leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali as a force to unite its members rather than turning to a “conqueror” focused on self-interest, following the dismissal of Umar Naseer.

The senior DRP spokesperson said today that following last week’s dismissal of Naseer, the party does not fear a bitter split of its members, yet it accepts it will almost certainly be hindered in upcoming local council elections and in its role as the main parliamentary opposition.

Shareef accepted that the party now faces a serious challenge in light of losing the Deputy Leader, and that it remains impossible to predict whether the party could lose any experienced MPs due to potential discontent with the Naseer decision.

After being dismissed from the party amidst growing animosity with party leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali over an ‘unapproved’ protest, news reports have circulated that suggest Naseer’s departure may have come against the wishes of former president and party’s ‘Supreme Leader’, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

DRP MP Ahmed Mahlouf last week told Minivan News that he believes a split within the party could be imminent following the disciplinary committee decision against Naseer.

“[Naseer] is someone with a lot of support in the party, and to date he has done a lot of work for us,” Mahlouf said. “He is very loyal to the former President, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.”

Umar Naseer was unavailable for comment at the time of going to press.

Shareef said that although the termination of Naseer’s party membership had “been within the DRP’s constitutional rules”, it was still likely to create difficulties that the party would rather not have to face given the upcoming elections and ongoing opposition within the Majlis to cabinet appointments.

Yet, in Thasmeen, Shareef added that the party had “a quiet, peaceful leader” that he said would put national interest ahead of self interest instead of acting “like a conqueror”.

“We need a man who is president of a country, not just a party,” he added.

Shareef accepted that Naseer, who was removed from his position of DRP Deputy Leader on Thursday after the party disciplinary committee ruled against him during a day that saw its headquarters invaded by a dozen or so civilians, has many supporters within the party.

Shareef said that while Naseer’s popularity was expected to create “some difficulties and setbacks” for the party, the party was well known for is resilience and would continue to serve as the Maldives’ primary political opposition group.

“Despite these many setbacks and difficulties, the DRP is now the only hope for Maldivians,” he claimed. “People have lost hope in the MDP.”

Several MDP MPs contacted by Minivan News said they did not wish to discuss “the internal workings of the DRP”.

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MNDF says Maldivian waters free from terror threats

The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) and the Indian Navy have claimed that they have found no evidence of terrorist activities being conducted in the waters surrounding the country’s atolls, according to news reports.

Haveeru reported yesterday that Major Abdu Raheem of the MNDF had confirmed that joint patrols conducted within Maldivian waters by coastguard and naval forces, which included monitoring and searching cargo ships, found no terror threats to the Maldives.

“Our plans for the operation were to cover the entire Maldivian area. We searched a large part of the sea and found no terrorist activities,” Raheem told the paper’s online edition.

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Cleaning community and public places part of Maldives culture: Vice President

Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed has inaugurated a cleaning programme for the Male’ swimming tracks, in conjunction with the Swimming Association of the Maldives and the Ministry of Human Resources, Youth and Sports and o clean Malé swimming area.

Opening the programme yesterday, Dr Waheed said that cleaning the community and public places was part of the Maldives’ history and culture, and that development should not mean abandoning such activities.

Several doctors raised concerns in May about potential contamination of the water in the swimming tracks.

Dr Abdul Azeez Yousuf from Malé Health Services Corporation said pollution in the water was a concern, since it is “a question of considerable contamination” and added there is “not an easy solution” to the problem.

The biggest problem, Dr Yousuf said, are all the boats in the harbour. “They don’t have proper sewerage disposal,” he told Minivan News at the time. “It goes straight into the sea.”

Medical doctor at the Central Clinic in Malé, Dr Ahmed Razee, said he has treated cases of gastro-enteritis caused by infections from the water.

“I am able to say very emphatically that yes, people can develop gastro-enteritis from swimming in Malé lagoon,” Dr Razee said.

He noted that “theoretically, the possibility [of getting gastro-enteritis] is very much real,” and “in medicine what we say is if something is possible, it will happen.”

But he added that “as far as the local population is concerned, and people who are continuing to go swimming, even if there was an infection, they would probably all have immunity to it, most of the common organisms.”

Dr Razee said the more “ominous thing is the presence of typhoid in the water and enteric organisms.” He said although enteric typhoid has been almost “wiped out” in Malé, “we do see some sporadic cases.”

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President appoints Climate Care founder as energy advisor

President Mohamed Nasheed has appointed the founder of Climate Care, one of the world’s first carbon trading companies, to the position of Energy Advisor.

Mike Mason was appointed to the unpaid position at a ceremony held at Oxford University in the UK on FriDAY evening.

A statement from the President’s Office described Mason as “a world expert on renewable energy, carbon finance and offsetting”, who would be “tasked with providing the President and his office with strategic advice on how the Maldives can switch from oil based power to renewable energy, in order to improve the country’s energy security and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. ”

Climate Care was acquired by investment banking monolith JP Morgan in April 2008.

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ADB to assist Maldives with its green goals

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced new cooperation with the Maldives to provide technical assistance in setting up investment plans to help the country meet its ambition to become carbon neutral by 2020, Haveeru has reported.

The paper claims that the investment plan will try to outline more specific measures to ensure that the millions of Rufiyaa that will be required to be raised in order to meet the nation’s green goals will be used effectively.

State Housing Minister, Akram Kamaluddin, who is currently in Tokyo for the second Asia Solar Energy Forum, claimed that the assistance of the ADB will allow the Maldives to cut the costs of trying to switch to becoming a more sustainable economy, according to the report.

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Opposition groups back national anti-piracy stance

Political opposition the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) and Jumhooree Party (JP) have pledged to cooperate with the government in pursuing anti-piracy campaigns within the country’s waters, according to reports.

During a joint press conference held yesterday afternoon, Miadhu reported that both parties expressed concern about expanding activity from Somali pirates that they claim is getting closer to Maldivian shores.

Gasim Ibrahim, leader of the JP, claimed that piracy within Maldivian territorial waters represents a major threat to the nation and its lucrative tourism and fisheries sectors.

“There are many challenges to the tourism industry even now. Though it might be that the number of tourists has increased, the tourists come here with special discounts,” he said at the conference.  “Therefore, if the tourism industry is further undermined then the economy will be destabilised,”

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Supreme court verdict pending on cabinet endorsements

The Supreme Court has concluded hearings on the opposition’s case demanding that the seven cabinet ministers rejected by the opposition-majority parliament step down from office, but has yet to have announced a date to deliver the verdict.

Minister of Fisheries Dr Ibrahim Didi, Minister of Education Dr Mustafa Luthfy, Minister of Defence Ameen Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Ahmed Shaheed, Attorney General Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad, Minister of Finance Ali Hashim and Minister of Home Affairs Mohamed Shihab had their reappointments rejected in parliament last week after the endorsement vote was boycotted by the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

The issue of cabinet endorsements  had derailed parliament for the previous three weeks on points of order, placing the 2011 Budget in jeopardy of being submitted and passed before the final session of parliament for the year.

Dr Sawad told Minivan News today that the government’s argument was based on the fact that the Maldives had a “unique” constitutional process, and that the process of appointing ministers was not comparable with countries such as the United States.

In the Maldives, Dr Sawad said, “the President has the executive power to appoint Cabinet Ministers. There is a clear separation of powers.”

“If the interpretation is that by a simple majority any appointed minister can be removed from his position, that means that with parliament’s quorum of 20, 11 MPs can vote against cabinet and have ministers removed despite the constitution’s very detailed no confidence procedure,” he said. “If [ministers can be removed] by a simple sitting majority, it will lead to serious instability.”

Dr Sawad added that “any interpretation [of the Constitution] that facilitates such instability in the political system is a very serious threat to our nation.”

The issue of ministerial appointments within parliament has raised concerns among some MPs that current rulings are insufficient for the Maldives’ highly partisan political environment, particularly in relation to the Majlis.

Kuludufushi-South Independent MP Mohamed ‘Kutti’ Nasheed last month claimed that constitutional changes within the Supreme Court will be required to address the nation’s ongoing political deadlock over cabinet ministers.

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