Tag: male

Former Home Minister denies responsibility for ministry overspending in 2011

Former Home Minister Hassan Afeef has said he cannot be held answerable for the MVR 1 million (US$66,943) spent in excess of the Home Ministry’s budget in 2011.

The 2011 audit report for the ministry revealed that MVR 1,030,934 was spent in addition to its allocated budget while Afeef was Home Minister.

The auditor general’s report further states that the ministry initiated a number of projects without any announcement – a violation of the Public Finance Regulation, according to local media.

Afeef claimed that while he held his post in 2011 he had no involvement in the ministry’s spending, adding he was “not supposed to be aware” of the matter.

“I was not in charge of the finances, for that we had a financial controller. It is under the finance act that each individual ministry has one, and they deal with the expenditure.

“I cannot be answerable to those things because [the financial controller] has the responsibility for spending the Ministry’s budget,” Afeef told Minivan News.

Asked if he was aware that the ministry had gone over its budget at the time, Afeef added: “I am not supposed to be aware. If there was something I should be aware of, they would make me aware of it.”

The Home Ministry audit report revealed that MVR 86,329 (US$5,605) was spent on the preparation of Dharubaaruge convention centre in Male’, while MVR 75,000 (US$4,870) was spent for a music and boduberu program and MVR 36,225 (US$2,352) allocated towards a sound system for a presidential speech.

The decisions, according to local media, were all made without prior announcement to find a suitable party.

Furthermore, MVR 12,548 (US$814) was spent by the Home Ministry in 2011 to host a Ramadan breakfast for its employees, without authorisation from the Finance Ministry.

Speaking about the expenditures, Afeef stated that there were certain factors that had not been taken into consideration in the budget, adding “if the budget is not enough, they have to spend the money to fund the extra costs.”

The report noted that MVR 64,000 (US$4,155) was spent on ‘attire allowance’ for employees for national day and independence day celebrations.

The audit report also highlighted further discrepancies in expenditures made from the Department of Immigration and Emigration – which at the time functioned under the Home Ministry.

The Controller of Immigration was awarded MVR 26,729 (US$1,735) for his phone bill, while 10 employees from the department were given MVR 48,032 (US$3,118) in excess of their salary. Meanwhile, three employees at the department received MVR 2,392 (US$155) less than their agreed salary, according to local media.

Issues raised in the report on the Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Service (DRPS) show that MVR 617,257 (US$40,081) had been used in contradiction to the shift-duty guidelines declared by the Civil Service Commission.

MVR 56,123 (US$3,644) was awarded to employees in excess of their salary, while MVR 3,473 (US$225) was withheld from two employees who were owed the amount.

Furthermore, contraband confiscated from inmates was not properly recorded. MVR 8,691 (US$564) was also taken from the DPRS safe and left unaccounted.

The auditor general advised that proper action be taken against parties who had violated the regulation.

Investigation into failure to recover misappropriated funds

Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee announced on Monday (February 25) that it intended to investigate the failure by authorities to recover misappropriated funds in previous audit reports.

In the meeting held on Monday, Committee Chairperson MP Ahmed Nazim revealed that the committee intended to send a letter to Attorney General Aishath Azima Shakoor regarding the failure to recover the money.

Majlis Finance Committee member MP Ahmed Hamza told Minivan News that the Public Accounts Committee was still going through the reports and was unable to give an estimate as to how much money is still owed as a result of the misuse of state funds.

The finance committee member said that there were two issues in regard to the failure of recovering misused funds.

“If the government incurs a loss due to the misappropriation of funds, rather than recover the money, the guilty party faces criminal punishment instead.

“Secondly, it is a case of certain members finding it not possible to recover the funds that have been misused,” Hamza added.

When asked whether there had been any effort to recover the money in the past, Hamza stressed that some had been returned, but he was unable to give a rough figure as to how much.

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Visam Ali was reported by local media as saying that government offices do not correct issues relating to how funds are managed, even after repeatedly being advised to do so in audit reports.

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Election Commission to establish units in Maldives atolls

Election Commission (EC) units manned by permanent staff are to be established in every atoll in the Maldives, local media has reported.

EC member Ali Mohamed Manik told local media that the units are to be established in 20 Atolls and that three members of staff will be employed at 13 of the 20 units.

While one assistant director and two other staff members will be employed at each of the 13 units, the remaining seven will only have an admin officer and an office assistant due to a lack of funds.

According to local media, the units are to be located at the atoll capital’s council offices, with five Atoll offices having confirmed availability of space for establishing the units.

EC President Fuad Thaufeeg told local media that the main task of the employees at the units would be to maintain the Atoll registries as efficiently as possible.

“We have difficulties in obtaining information, especially related to deaths. They would remove those people from the list. They would also work with preparing and holding by-elections,” Thaufeeq was quoted as saying by Sun Online.

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Hand foot and mouth disease on the increase in Maldives

Health Protection Agency (HPA) has warned people of the spread of hand, foot and mouth disease in the Maldives, local media has reported.

HPA reported that the number of confirmed hand, foot and mouth disease cases had increased in some regions since January 2013.

The disease normally affects children aged between one and four, and is spread through direct contact with mucus, saliva or faeces of an infected person, local media reported.

According to the HPA, good hygiene is an effective way to prevent the disease. The first symptoms include fever, lack of appetite, fatigue and a sore throat.

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Media needs to introduce “peace journalism”: MP Nasheed

Former Legal Reform Minister MP Mohamed Nasheed has recommended Maldives-based journalists introduce “peace reporting” in order to stop violence against local media.

Nasheed claimed that the Maldives media is exploited by politicians to a great extent and that reporters needed to start looking at the similarities between politicians as opposed to their differences, the Sun Online news agency reported.

The Kulhudhuffushi-south MP told local media that a new kind of “peace journalism” should be introduced into the system as the level of rivalry, anger and hatred that exists in the Maldives is too much for people to endure.

“One thing journalists can do is introduce peace journalism, promote peace journalism.

“Instead of making a big deal out of the differences between two people, and spreading information about those differences in the society – they could present the similarities. We should go for peaceful journalism,” Nasheed was quoted as saying in local media.

Nasheed claimed that political leaders prepare quotations in certain ways in order to make the headlines and therefore exploit journalists.

“There is a limit even to political influence. There is a limit to how much journalists can be exploited to obtain political advantages.

“If all journalists unite and establish certain policies, politicians will have no choice but to follow those policies,” Nasheed told Sun Online.

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Court denies former President permission to travel abroad

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has had his request to leave the country denied by the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court.

An official from the Judiciary Media Unit told local media that the court had denied Nasheed’s request as he had not cooperated with the court on previous instances.

Nasheed, who had asked to leave the Maldives on Wednesday (February 27) until March 5, had received travel permission from the court when previously asked.

Nasheed had stated that he would be travelling abroad at the end of February, having accepting an invitation from the Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma, and to Denmark under an invitation from the state.

The former President’s request to leave the Maldives follows his exit from the Indian High Commission on Saturday (February 23) after he sought “refuge” inside the embassy building for 11 days.

Nasheed moved into the Indian High Commission after police were ordered to produce him at Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court on February 13 for his scheduled trial hearing.

Nasheed has maintained that the charges against him – of detaining the Chief Criminal Court Judge during his final days in office – are a politically-motivated effort to prevent him contesting the 2013 elections.

British-based publication, Daily Mail reported that Nasheed’s exit from the Indian High Commission came after the Maldivian government “brokered” a deal with the government of India.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has since denied the claim in a statement released on Sunday (February 24), stressing that there had been no deal made with “anyone” that would result in Nasheed leaving the high commission.

Speaking to press on the day he exited the Indian High Commission, Nasheed emphasised his desire for stability to be restored following eight days of continuous protests by the MDP, dozens of police arrests and a violent attack on a Maldivian journalist.

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4000 square feet of land awarded to Maldives Association of Construction Industry (MACI)

Maldives Association of Construction Industry (MACI) has been awarded 4000 square feet of land in Male’ for the construction of the association’s building.

Speaking at the handover ceremony on Monday night (February 25) President of MACI Mohamed Ali Janah said the 10-storey building to be constructed on the site will be used to conduct training programs for people who want to join the industry, local media reported.

“It is a difficult task for an organization like ours to construct such a building and conduct it in a sustainable manner. We have planned to use a number of financial models for the construction of the building,” Janah was quoted as saying in Sun Online.

Janah said that the building will be designed within a year and the construction work is expected to bring the building to an operational level within 30 months.

The handover agreement of Male’ plot number 392 was signed on behalf of the government by Minister of Housing Mohamed Muizz.

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Government plans to launch new scheme to empower local councils

Fifty percent of rent from atoll shops in Male’ and lease rent on uninhabited islands is to be given to atoll councils, the government has decided.

Speaking at a function marking the decentralisation of administration in the Maldives, President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik announced strategies for providing financial support to local councils, local media reported.

As of July this year, the government plans to give 50 percent of rent from atoll shops and uninhabited island lease rent to atoll councils.

The president noted that for the decentralisation system to work there would need to be equal assistance and opportunities for the people. To do this, Waheed said it would take local councils to set aside their political differences.

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Failure to recover misappropriated state funds to be investigated: Parliament Public Accounts Committee

Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee will investigate the failure of authorities to recover funds highlighted by the auditor general as misappropriated.

In a meeting held on Monday (February 25), Committee Chairperson MP Ahmed Nazim revealed that the committee intended to send a letter to Attorney General Aishath Azima Shakoor regarding the failure to recover the misappropriated funds.

Majlis Finance Committee member MP Ahmed Hamza told Minivan News today (February 26) that the Public Accounts Committee was still going through the reports and was unable to give an estimate as to how much money is still owed as a result of the misuse of state funds.

“We are having to look into past audit reports starting from when they first began under [former President Maumoon Abdul] Gayoom was president. We are not able to scrutinise the spending from any year before audit reports were introduced.

“We have agreed that in order to scrutinise Gayoom’s government accounts, the majority of those looking into them will be held by opposition parties. This will also be the same when [former President Mohamed] Nasheed’s accounts are looked into,” Hamza said.

The finance committee member said that there were two issues in regard to the failure of recovering misused funds.

“If the government incurs a loss due to the misappropriation of funds, rather than recover the money, the guilty party is faced with criminal punishment instead.

“Secondly, it is a case of certain members finding it not possible to recover the funds that had been misused,” Hamza added.

When asked whether there had been any effort to recover the money in the past, Hamza stressed that some had been returned, but he was unable to give a rough figure as to how much.

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Visam Ali was reported by local media as saying that government offices do not correct issues relating to how funds are managed, even after repeatedly being advised to do so in audit reports.

The Attorney General Aishath Azima Shakoor and Head of Majlis Finance Committee and MP Ahmed Nazim were not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

Finance Committee member and Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Abdul Ghafoor Moosa answered his phone when contacted by Minivan News stating that he was “in a meeting”.

Extravagant spending

Previous reports compiled by the auditor general have uncovered extravagant spending by former Presidents and ministerial officials.

Earlier this year, an audit report for 2010 highlighted 12 instances whereby the President’s Office – under Nasheed’s government – had acted in breach of laws and regulations.

The report noted that in 2010, the President’s Office spent MVR 7,415,960 (US$480,931) over the parliament approved budget for the office.

In addition, the report also highlighted Nasheed’s chartering of an Island Aviation flight from Colombo to Male’ on November 19, 2010. This had cost MVR 146,490 (US$9500).

The audit report states that while all these were paid from state funds, no records were available to prove that Nasheed booked this flight for official purposes.

The report further reveals that President Mohamed Waheed Hassan, then Vice President, had spent MVR 764,121 (US$49,554) on a trip to Malaysia and America with his own family.

Meanwhile, the expenses of Former President Gayoom were leaked last year revealing the excessive spending on Gayoom’s family from money allocated to helping the poor.

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Rozaina Adam leaked the invoices revealing Gayoom’s spending through Twitter in 2012.

In a statement, Rozaina noted that a total of MVR 905,636 (US$58,807) was spent on various items for Gayoom’s family, including MVR 193,209 (US$12,546) on trouser material in 2008.

Auditor General Niyaz Ibrahim told newspaper Haveeru back in October 2012 that the state should recover funds used by former presidents on their families and associates.

Lack of legislation explicitly prohibiting such expenses was not an obstacle to recovering the misappropriated funds, the Auditor General contended.

He noted that there was no law that authorised the use of public funds for personal expenses, adding that assistance from state funds should be provided on an equal and fair basis.

“Even if its Nasheed, Waheed or Maumoon, no one can spend state funds for their own personal use,” Niyaz was quoted as saying.

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MVR 3000 fine for man who hit police officer

A man who attacked a policeman during the Usfasgandu take over in 2012 has been fined MVR 3000 (US$194.81), local media reported.

The Criminal Court ruled that Hussain Faheem of Thaa Madifushi Faransaage hit the policeman in the chest whilst he was on active duty on May 29, 2012.

Faheem has been ordered to pay the fine within one month to the court.

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