Tag: media

Cabinet takes measures to manage 2013 budget to avoid “enormous challenges” later in the year

The Cabinet is to take austerity measures to manage the MVR 15.3 billion (US$992 million) budget passed in parliament for 2013.

According to the President’s Office website, the cabinet noted that should measures not be put in place to control the budget, the country would face “enormous challenges”.

The cabinet took the decision after discussing a paper submitted by the Ministry of Finance and Treasury. The Ministry of Finance intends to inform government offices of the austerity measures.

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Civil Court rules no need for ACC apology to Nexbis

A ruling passed by Civil Court has stated there is no need to order the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to apologise to Nexbis.

The Malaysia-based mobile security provider claimed that ACC had publicly made defamatory statements regarding the agreement between the company and the immigration department, local media reported.

The case brought forward by Nexbis asked to determine whether statements made by ACC in the media were against the constitution and laws of the state.

Nexbis had also asked for an order to be issued upon ACC to refrain from making statements regarding the agreement until all court cases are settled and to publicly apologise for their actions.

Civil Court ruled it was not proven to the court that the ACC had acted outside the boundaries of the constitution or any laws of the state, local media reported.

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India and US were never going to donate border control system: Immigration Controller

Controller of Immigration Dr Mohamed Ali has dismissed claims that India and the US had proposed to donate a border control system to the Maldives.

According to local media, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had previously stated that India and the US had proposed to set up a border control system free of charge.

The current border control system project contract has been awarded to the Malaysian company Nexbis for a period of 22 years by the previous government, however last month parliament voted unanimously to terminate the agreement over allegations of “foul play”.

Speaking on Television Maldives (TVM), Ali said the Foreign Ministry had confirmed that neither America nor India had proposed to donate the border control system.

“No country has proposed such a system free of charge. I have written to the Foreign Ministry last week and have got it in writing. They said that no country has made such an offer,” Ali was quoted as saying in Sun Online.

According to Ali, the Maldives is currently using US$2.3 million worth of passport reading machines installed in 2003. However the machines are incapable of reading the required software, so Nexbis had won a bid to upgrade the current system.

“The meaning of border control is that, when a foreigner enters the country, we are able know his whereabouts, know when he checks out of one hotel and checks into another, and know how long the person has stayed so that all this will be notified to MIRA, and whatever taxes the person owes can be duly collected.

“For the construction worker, we need to know who brought him into the country, and the site where he is currently working. [The system] has to provide all this,” Sun Online quoted Ali as saying.

Last week the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stalled the handover of 8000 passports to their respective High Commissions claiming that details regarding the owners’ whereabouts still needed to be obtained by immigration authorities.

State Foreign Minister Hassan Saeed said the Foreign Ministry would only deliver the passports to the respective consular authorities once immigration clarified the location of the owners, a task described as “huge” and “difficult” by Immigration Controller Dr Mohamed Ali.

In December last year, parliament voted unanimously to instruct the government to terminate the border control project agreement with Nexbis.

All 74 MPs in attendance voted in favour of the Finance Committee recommendation following a probe into the potential financial burden placed on the state as a result of the deal.

Presenting the Finance Committee report to the floor, Committee Chair MP Ahmed Nazim explained that the “main problem” flagged by the ACC was that the tender had not been made in accordance with the documents from the National Planning Council that authorised the project.

The documents were changed to favour the chosen party and facilitate the deal, Nazim said, which the ACC considered an act of corruption.

Nexbis is “systematically denying” any allegations of corruption, according to a company source, adding that if there was any foul play within the contract “we were unaware of it”.

Earlier this month, Vice President for Nexbis Nafies Aziz told Minivan News that “intelligence” received by the company suggested groups backing the country’s lucrative human trafficking industry could be seeking to stymie the introduction of its border control system to undermine national security controls.

Meanwhile, a source with knowledge of the present immigration and border control system said that should parliament’s termination decision be upheld, the Immigration Department would be returning to “a pen and paper system” for monitoring arrivals to the country.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs inaugurated an initiative targeted at raising awareness of the issue of human trafficking in the Maldives at the beginning of January.

The Maldives has come under strong criticism internationally in recent years for the prevalence of human trafficking, and the country has appeared on the US State Department’s Tier Two Watch List for Human Trafficking three years in a row.

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Maldivian and Indian officials deny reported agreement to address “consular issues”

Additional reporting by Neil Merrett

Indian and Maldivian authorities have both denied media reports that an agreement has been reached on relaxing visa restrictions for Maldivians entering India.

The Indian High Commission in the Maldives today said it has not been made aware of any new agreements with Maldives authorities over amending visa restrictions, despite discussions continuing between the two nations to address “consular concerns”.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ibrahim Muaz Ali also stressed that he was unaware of any official agreement being made to address the concerns raised by Indian officials.

Local media reported today that the Maldives had “agreed” to conditions set out by India in order to relax the conditions recently imposed on Maldivian nationals wishing to obtain a visa.

A spokesperson for the High Commission confirmed to Minivan News that discussions were being held with the Maldives Ministry of Foreign Affairs to address respective concerns raised by both nations.

The Indian High Commission maintained that these discussions with Maldivian officials were “not about conditions”, but rather working to address concerns held by both sides.

“We have a long and cordial relationship with the Maldives that is not based on conditions,” a source at the commission said.

State Foreign Minister Hassan Saeed, speaking during parliament’s Government Accountability Committee on Monday (January 28), said cabinet had decided to find a resolution to issues put forward by India.

“[India] had asked to resolve seven issues. Mostly they highlighted the issues faced by the 30,000 Indians in the Maldives,” he said.

“After the discussions at the President’s Office, we are currently trying to solve these issues,” Hassan was quoted as saying in local media.

During the committee meeting, Foreign Minister Abdul Samad Abdulla said Indian government officials had hinted at the relaxation of the present visa restrictions should the Maldives government agree to extradite its Indian prisoners.

“We have received various signals that the visa issue can be resolved if an agreement can be reached over the Indian prisoners in Maldives,” Samad told local media.

“Moreover, when the Indian media reports on the Indian prisoners in our jails, the officials in the Maldives High Commission in India face various pressures.”

Speaking during India’s Republic Day ceremony in Male’ on Friday, Indian High Commissioner Dnyaneshwar M Mulay pointedly conveyed greetings “to those Indian expatriates who are in Maldivian jails”.

Amd rising diplomatic tensions with its neighbour, Maldivian nationals have found themselves queuing outside the Indian High Commission in Male’ to obtain medical and other visas for travel to India.

Consular issues

The Indian High Commission in the Maldives said among the concerns raised with the government were 11 consular issues relating to the treatment of Indian expatriates in the Maldives.

These included discrimination against Indian expatriates, the keeping of passports of Indian nationals by employers and government agencies, and the exploitation of Indian workers.

“Discussions on addressing these matters are ongoing and we do hope to find resolutions from both sides soon,” said a spokesperson for the commission.

Indian authorities late last month said tightened restrictions imposed at the time on providing medical visas to Maldivians were a “signal” for the country’s government to address concerns about the nation’s treatment of migrant workers.

The Maldives has been on the US State Department’s Tier 2 watch list for human trafficking three years in a row, only narrowly avoiding tier 3 in 2011 due to promises by the former government to resolve the matter.

A lapsed police investigation into labour trafficking in the Maldives in July 2011 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.

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Aasandha director claims service not suspended in India’s Amrita hospital

The Amrita Institute of Technology Hospital in Kochi, India has not suspended Aasandha health care services despite reports in local media to the contrary, the scheme’s managing director has stated.

Local media reported yesterday (January 28) that services offered under the universal health care scheme Aasandha had been suspended due to unpaid bills for treatment provided to Maldivians by Amrita hospital.

However, Aasandha Managing Director Mohamed Niyaz told Minivan News today that services had not been suspended.  Niyaz said that Aasandha was instead having to control patient admittance to keep in line with the credit limit recently imposed by the hospital.

“Because of the large number of patients who went to receive treatment at the hospital in December last year and delays in paying those bills, Amrita hospital put a credit limit on the treatment they can offer that is paid for by Aasandha,” he explained.

“We are now controlling the number of patients we are admitting to the hospital in order for Aasandha to not go over the imposed credit limit,” Niyaz said.

An official from Amrita hospital told Minivan News that while it is still treating patients who are covered by Aasandha, there had been a period of four days earlier this month where it stopped admitting patients due to unpaid bills.

“There is a total of 7 million rupees (US$ 130,536) outstanding in payment to be made by Aasandha through Hospital Professional Liability (HPL) insurance, who we deal with.

“We ceased treating outpatients covered by Aasandha for four days, but HPL then paid part of the bill and so we resumed our services,” the hospital official told Minivan News.

The credit cap imposed on Aasandha by Amrita hospital was introduced to match a similar credit cap applied to all other health insurance companies who work with the hospital, the hospital official said.

“Originally we had a special agreement with Aasandha whereby they had no credit cap on the treatment we could provide. However our Financial Controller has now introduced it because it is the same as other insurance companies we deal with,” the hospital official added.

“Even now Aasandha’s credit cap is a lot higher than the other insurance companies. We have a great relationship with the Maldives and we treat our Maldivian patients as our own.”

According to Niyaz, patient treatment is currently being prioritised on a case-by-case basis in order for the service they are receiving to not be “compromised”.

In regard to bill payment, Niyaz claimed there had been a number of factors as to why the money had not been paid to Amrita hospital.

“It takes two to four weeks for the treatment bills to come through after a patient has been discharged from the hospital and then we have to pay for the treatment in US dollars,” he said.

“It takes a further two weeks for us to secure the dollars as we have to buy at a bank rate. We are trying to find ways to work around this problem at the moment.”

During December – a “peak” period for Maldivians wishing to seek medical treatment -Niyaz said there had been some issues receiving money from the Finance Ministry in order to pay the bills.

Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

Niyaz revealed that Aasandha had experienced similar issues at a hospital in Colombo and three other hospitals in India, but that these have all been resolved.

Free health care of up to MVR 100,000 (US$ 6,476) was initially available to citizens under Aasandha. Changes to the system were made by the government in August last year, after concerns the scheme would run out of money.

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Housing Ministry orders police to clear MDP protest site at Usfasgandu

The Housing Ministry has sent a letter to police instructing them to clear the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s protest site at Usfasgandu, the plot of land in the south of the city behind the State Electric Company (STELCO) building.

Police Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef today confirmed to Minivan News that police had received the letter.

‘’We are currently reviewing the case. We haven’t decided [to act] on it yet,’’ Haneef said, refusing to comment further on the matter.

On January 20, 2013, Male’ City Council was ordered by the Civil Court to “hand over” the land used by the MDP for its political rallies to the Ministry of Housing within a period of seven days.

The Civil Court’s ruling also states that the city council’s current use of the area contradicts the agreement made between the council,  the Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure and the Ministry of Finance and Treasury.

However, Male’ City Council has appealed the ruling in the High Court, which has yet to reach a verdict in the appeal case.

Male’ City Council Mayor ‘Maizan’ Ali Manik today said that he had not officially heard about the issue and would not like to comment on the matter.

Meanwhile, MDP Spokesperson MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor said he had not been informed about the letter sent by the Housing Ministry to police.

Male’ City Council (MCC) leased the Usfasgandu area to the ousted ruling party for three months, prompting repeated attempts by the government to reclaim the area on the grounds it was being used for criminal activity, including the practice of black magic.

The MDP moved a few dozen metres down the road to the site after its protest camp at the tsunami monument was dismantled and completely repainted on March 19 2012 by the police and military.

On May 29, police raided the Usfasgandu site after obtaining a search warrant from the Criminal Court, ordering the MDP to vacate the area before 10:00pm. The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) then began dismantling the protest camp.

The Civil Court however issued an injunction ordering security forces to halt the operation after the MDP challenged its legality. The injunction was to stand until the court reached a verdict and was later upheld by the High Court.

In August 2012, the Civil Court ruled that the police did not have the legal authority to order the opposition MDP to vacate the area. The government has since tried to transfer the land from the council – dominated by MDP councillors – to the government-controlled Ministry of Housing and Environment.

Male’ City Council refused to hand over the land and insisted that the area was “temporarily leased” to the former ruling party in accordance with the Decentralisation Act, and contended that the ministry does not have the legal authority to reclaim council property.

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ACC to investigate two subsidiary companies registered under BML

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had said it will investigate two subsidiary companies registered under Bank of Maldives (BML).

ACC President Hassan Luthfy told local media that BML has been notified to halt operations of both the BML Properties Limited and BML Investment Limited.

Luthfy said the company has at present failed to provide documents on the two subsidiaries that it had requested, local media reported.

“We have been informed of problems related to the two companies through the media, and investigations are under way,” he was quoted as saying.

“Complaints include the issue of the chairman holding shares in the company, and the issue of efforts to manage mortgaged property instead of selling them as ordered by the court. Some people have also complained saying that their mortgages have been sold, and that their cases were not dealt with in the same manner.”

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Adhaalath Party denies supporters physically attacked by MDP

Adhaalath Party representative Hussain Wafeer has denied allegations that Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) supporters “physically attacked” its members on the island of Thulhaadhoo in Baa Atoll last week.

The comments were made after local media reported that a crowd of “violent thugs” – led by an unnamed MDP councillor – attempted to attack Adhaalath Party President Sheikh Imran Abdulla during a visit to the island.

An unnamed source from Thulhaadhoo previously told the Sun Online news service that the attackers threw stones at the visitors, injuring several people during the incident.

Despite the claims, Wafeer told Minivan News today that while the gathered crowd did not physically attack anyone during the visit, sand was thrown at Adhaalath party representatives.

Wafeer refused to speculate on whether the crowd were true MDP members, or whether an MDP Councillor had been involved in the alleged attack.

“They were waving MDP flags, so we can assume they were MDP, but we didn’t recognise any of the members so we can’t say they were MDP,” Wafeer added.

An official from within Thulhaadhoo Island Council – speaking on condition of anonymity – said that the crowd who greeted the Adhaalath Party officials was both a mix of MDP and anti-MDP supporters. The council source said it was not certain who had thrown sand at Sheikh Imran.

“Some of local women on the island witnessed a Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) councillor throwing sand and causing the trouble, while some people said it was the MDP supporters,” the council official claimed.

“After an hour the riot police showed up and arrested the island President, a councillor and some MDP supporters.”

Adhaalath Party Leader Sheikh Imran Abdulla was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

Following the incident, a senior MDP MP told Minivan News that he had received death threats via telephone from unknown callers whom he believed to be members of the Adhaalath Party.

According to Sun Online, the police have arrested a number of individuals allegedly involved in the incident, including an MDP councillor.

Verbal abuse

Following an MDP protest held in Male’ on Friday (January 25),the Adhaalath Party alleged that demonstrators had verbally abused its supporters and vandalised promotional materials at a membership drive held at a school.

The party also claimed MDP protesters ripped up the party’s banners at the school, which were temporarily put up as part of the membership drive.

Responding to the allegations at the time, MDP MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor claimed that while the party did not encourage such behaviour towards government-aligned parties, he said he would not be surprised if some supporters had ripped up banners during the protest.

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Foreign Minister admits Maldives’ ties with India weakened after GMR Dispute

Foreign Minister Abdul Samad Abdulla has admitted relations between India and Maldives have deteriorated following the premature cancellation of the GMR airport development contract.

Samad’s comments came after Maldivians were left struggling to obtain Indian visas following a clamp down by Indian authorities, shortly after GMR was ousted from the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport.

Speaking at the parliament’s Government Accountability Committee, Samad was reported by local media as saying that despite official assurances that ties between Maldives and India remained unaffected, “the ground reality is to the contrary”.

“Maldives and India has long existing close ties. But the recent tensions especially the GMR spat has affected the relations even though both sides have not said so officially.

“After these things surfaced we have been anticipating the backlash. I don’t want anything unexpected to come to pass that causes difficulties for Maldivians. We are working in two ways. One is to repair the damage done to the relations and come to a mutual agreement on certain things,” Samad was quoted as saying in local newspaper Haveeru.

State Foreign Minister Hassan Saeed said that during the weekly sit-downs with the Indian High Commission in the Maldives, unilateral actions on the part of Maldives were constantly highlighted.

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