Tag: minivan news

Restrictions on foreign investment to remain under amended business registration bill

A ban on foreign investment in the Maldives involving capital of under US$5 million will continue under amendments to the country’s Business Registration Bill proposed by parliament.

The health, accounting, taxation and financial services sectors will be exempted from the minimum investment requirement. However involvement in any other sector will require a foreign national to have capital of over US$5 million and a deposit of US$1 million with a group approved by the Maldivian government, local media has reported.

Parliament’s Committee on Economic Affairs omitted a proposed amendment from the latest draft of the Business Registration Bill, that would have potentially opened up smaller businesses such as retail and coffee shops to foreign investors.

The Maldives National Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MNCCI) has called for even tighter restrictions on specific sectors, stating a need to protect smaller-scale local businesses such as restaurants and retail outlets.

Former Minister of Economic Development Minister Mahmoud Razee said the Business Registration Bill was designed to open up new forms of capital from foreign investors in areas such as large-scale agriculture and fisheries projects, rather than allowing foreigners to directly compete with local retail businesses.

President Dr Mohamed Waheed has returned the bill after it was passed by parliament in June 2012, citing unspecified “socio-economic” concerns.

According to the Sun Online, President Waheed opted not to ratify the bill over concerns it would abolish a law restricting foreign involvement in imports, cafes and canteens.

The bill is also reported to include provisions restricting foreigners to involvement in the wholesale trade,  with the exception of duty free stores, while also restricting businesses said to be ‘against the interest of the Maldivian public’.

Investment friendly

MNCCI Vice President Ishmael Asif told Minivan News that foreign investment should be opened up in the Maldives, but only in terms of large-scale projects like resort development and infrastructure – areas where Maldivians lacked sufficient experience.

Responding to the latest draft of the bill, Asif contended that the Maldives had always been “very friendly” to foreign investors and would continue to welcome large-scale projects such as resort and airport development.

The government last November cancelled the country’s largest single foreign investment project – a US$511 concession agreement with Indian infrastructure giant GMR to manage and develop a new terminal at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport, declaring the sovereign agreement “void” from the start. The company was then given seven days to leave.

Asif said while the MNCCI had not yet had any input on the current iteration of the bill since it was returned to parliament, it was concerned about provisions allowing a foreigner with over US$5 million in capital to invest in any sector.

Asif said that the chamber of commerce favoured sector-specific restrictions that would outlaw any foreigner from investing in areas such as retail or food and beverage. However, he maintained that opportunities should remain for international investors to join with medium-sized local businesses in the form of joint ventures.

With the bill undergoing review at parliamentary level, Asif accused regulators of remaining far behind the industry, pointing to the emergence of online consumers and the lack of an international secure payment service like ‘Paypal’.

“A lot of the time regulators are far too behind the industry. The focus of the bill should be to encourage enterprise here,” he said.

Business Registration Bill

Razee said the business registration bill was devised under the Nasheed administration to open new areas for foreign investment, as well boost the capabilities of national industries in the longer-term.

He added that investment areas such as in the retail sector would have been protected from direct competition from foreign investors, while  large-scale investment in areas such as agriculture and the fisheries sector would be promoted.

The bill was first proposed as part of a wider economic reform package championed by Nasheed’s administration, which was further revised following consultations in 2011 with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

These policies included introducing a general Goods and Services Tax (GST), raising import duties on pork, tobacco, alcohol and plastic products, raising the Tourism Goods and Services Tax (T-GST) to six percent, and reducing import duties on certain products.

Razee said last year that the registration bill was intended to provide a “clearer means” for facilitating foreign investment in the Maldives.

“We were trying to make it easier for foreign shareholders to register here,” he said.

Acting Minister of Finance and Treasury Ahmed Mohamed, State Minister for Finance Abbas Adil Riza, and Presidents Office Spokesperson Masood Imad were not responding to calls at the time of press.

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Security and law enforcement degree program commences

A new undergraduate degree program focused on individuals working in security and law enforcement began on Sunday (March 24).

The course is being conducted by the Institute for Security and Law Enforcement Studies (ISLES) in conjunction with the University of Western Sydney (UWS), local media reported.

Speaking to local media on Sunday, Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz said that the Maldives Police Service now has the capability to train to regional standards.

According to local media, 57 percent of the participants on the program are policemen, whilst the remaining 47 percent consist of individuals working in customs, immigration, and the military.

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Will increase PPM membership to 65,000 if elected: Yameen

Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) presidential primary candidate Abdulla Yameen has claimed he will increase the party’s membership to 65,000 before the September elections.

According to figures from the Elections Commission, PPM has a total of 22,765 members as of February, meaning that Yameen will have to increase the party’s membership by 37,235 in just six months to reach his target.

Speaking at a campaign rally on Sunday (March 24), Yameen said that on  request of his half-brother, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, he had worked to increase the party’s membership since it was first established, local media reported.

“If you give us assurance from the vote on the 30th, by the time we reach the presidential election, with more effort and without show of any fatigue, by August I will increase our party’s count from 31,000 to 60,000 or 65,000, God willing,” Yameen was quoted as saying in SunOnline.

The presidential primary candidate claimed that PPM is the most legitimate of political parties as fingerprints are recorded when registering members to the party.

According to local media, Gayoom’s children made an appearance at Sunday’s rally in order to show support for Yameen.

In a display of solidarity, Dhunya Maumoon, Farish Maumoon, Gassan Maumoon and Yumna’s husband Mohamed Nadheem went on stage to hold hands with Yameen, local media reported.

PPM’s former Deputy Leader Abdul Raheem Abdulla reportedly told the audience that because Gayoom’s children supported Yameen, it would be a reason to vote for him.

Both Yameen and Umar Naseer are competing in the PPM presidential primary on March 30.

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Man sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for sexually abusing a minor

A man convicted of the sexual abuse of a 15-year-old girl has been sentenced to 14 years imprisonment by the Criminal Court.

An official from Criminal Court told local media that Afrah Hussain of Maavaidhoo in Haa Dhaalu Atoll was sentenced following witness testimonies proving he had been involved in sexual activities with a minor in Hulhumale’ on May 30, 2011.

Local media reported that the state had also pressed charges against Afrah Hussain for owning pornographic material.

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Demand rising rapidly for child cardiac care in the Maldives: Tiny Hearts NGO

NGO Tiny Hearts of Maldives has claimed there is a strong increase in the number of families seeking consultations with child cardiac specialists volunteering at a healthcare camp it has been running annually since 2010.

During the second day of the Care for Tiny Hearts 2013 camp, which is set to conclude tomorrow (March 26), the NGO has claimed it will be hosting consultations and workshops with specialists from the Maldives and India to try and fill a gap in local healthcare concerning Congenital Heart Defects (CHD). Some 300 patients are currently said to be registered with Tiny Hearts.

Healthcare volunteers from India, a cardiac specialist from Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in Male’ and a local surgeon are said to be involved in this year’s program, which includes a workshop on trying to identify serious conditions at a foetal stage, according to local media.

A spokesperson for the charity today told Minivan News that a limited number of cardiac specialists practising in the Maldives had meant there remained a narrow opportunity for screening and supporting children at risk from CHD.

In addressing perceived challenges affecting its work, Tiny Hearts of Maldives claimed that it was experiencing difficulties common to many welfare and health groups across the country – namely in the limited resources available to Maldivians seeking specialist care.

As an example of these challenges, the spokesperson pointed to the importance of the Indian healthcare system in ensuring Maldivians were presently able to receive more specialist treatment in areas such as congenital illness.

However, the NGO spokesperson said that Tiny Heart’s biggest challenge remained in spreading awareness among the public about congenital disease of all kinds, as well as informing others on how and where they can seek support.

“Every individual can make a difference by spending a few minutes to share information with others on congenital illnesses,” the spokesperson added.

Tiny Hearts, which was formed back in 2009 to help local children suffering with CHD, has been at the centre of a number of high-profile awareness schemes and special fund-raisers in the Maldives in recent years.

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New drug-resistant strain of TB found in Maldives “quite serious”: HPA

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has warned that a new drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis (TB) that has appeared in the Maldives poses “quite a serious threat” to people’s health.

The agency’s comments follow a report released by the Ministry of Health on Sunday (March 24), revealing that it faces new challenges in order to control the disease in the Maldives.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), TB is an infectious bacterial disease that can be transmitted via droplets in the throat and lungs of the infected.

WHO states that drug-resistant strains of TB have become a major public health problem that has resulted from patients not fully completing the recommended six-month course of treatment.

HPA Public Health Program Officer Shina Ahmed told Minivan News today (March 25) that although the new strain of TB is “quite serious”, the particular strain found in the Maldives is not resistant to every drug available to patients.

“We have had a few cases come in now with the new strain. The most important thing we have to do is to continue and complete the course of treatment.

“Most of these drug-resistant strains are caused by patients stopping the treatment. We have enough drug supplies to give to them, but because the course goes on for six months, patients tend to go off taking the treatment towards the end,” Shina said.

Local media reported that the Health Ministry had revealed that 10,563 people had been registered to receive treatment for TB since 1963, out of which 5,256 people were said to have infected lungs.

Shina claimed that the majority of cases within the Maldives have been reported on the islands as opposed to Male’, and that in order to prevent the spread of the disease the HPA will be undertaking awareness programs.

An official from Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in Male’ stated that there was no need for the public to be concerned in regard to the spread of the disease, adding that there may have been only “one or two” cases found to have contracted the new strain.

“When we find a patient who is not responding to the prescribed course of treatment, there is always a second course they can take instead,” the official told Minivan News.

According to WHO, healthy individuals infected with TB are not often affected by any symptoms as the person’s immune system acts to “wall off” the bacteria.

The organisation states that symptoms of active TB are coughing, sometimes with blood, chest pains, weakness, weight loss, fever and night sweats.

The WHO Representative to the Maldives, Dr Akjemal Magtymova, Health Minister Dr Ahmed Jamsheed Mohamed and the Health Ministry were not responding to calls at time of press.

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Nasheed’s legal team files High Court case to defer trial until after elections

Former President Mohamed Nasheed’s legal team filed a case with the High Court today (March 24) regarding the deferment of the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court criminal case until after the September presidential election.

Nasheed is facing criminal charges over the controversial detention of Chief Judge of Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed during the last days of his presidency.

Nasheed’s legal team previously requested the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court delay the trial until the end of the scheduled presidential elections in 2013, and in a separate request, asked the Hulhumale’ court for a delay in proceedings by four weeks, during the March 7 Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court hearing.

At the same hearing, state prosecutors said they did not object to delaying the trial until presidential elections scheduled for September this year are over.

The Hulhumale’ court dismissed the request to delay the trial until the end of the elections, but agreed to withhold it for four weeks, stating that the panel of judges by majority “had decided to proceed with the trial”.

Nasheed’s lawyers subsequently contested the decision, claiming that continuing the trial could compromise the rights of many people, arguing that Nasheed was the presidential candidate of the largest political party in the country, the MDP.

However, the court stated that Nasheed’s claim he was the presidential candidate of a political party lacked legal grounds to support it, as presidential candidates were decided by the Elections Commission after it opened the opportunity to file presidential candidates.

Filing of presidential candidates is expected to take place in July.

High Court case submission

Nasheed’s legal team submitted a case to the High Court at approximately 10:20 this morning (March 24) to defer the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court criminal case until after the September presidential election, MDP Spokesperson Imthiyaz ‘Inthi’ Fahmy told Minivan News.

“Now the court has to formally accept the case, which will happen at a later date,” stated Fahmy.

“We expect that prior to the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court hearing, the High Court should have a decision and will ask the lower court to halt the case,” he added.

Nasheed’s legal team confirmed with Minivan News that the case has been submitted to the High Court.

“This is not an appeal. We submitted a case to the High Court for the deferment of the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court case until the election is over,” said one of Nasheed’s lawyers, Hifaan Hussain.

“The court accepted the documents, but we are waiting for the court to accept and register the case,” she explained.

Hussain explained a reply from the High Court will likely be issued within three days and once the case is accepted it should take about a month to complete.

She expects the High Court to grant the deferment of lower court’s case against Nasheed until the presidential election is over.

President Nasheed’s Spokesperson MP Mariya Didi is also confident the High Court will grant the deferment.

“The prosecution has said they have no objection to deferment of the trial until after the elections,” Didi stated.

“I don’t see any reason why the court should not grant deferment when the prosecutor has no objection to it,” she added.

Politicising  justice

The MDP maintain that the charges are a politically-motivated attempt to prevent Nasheed from contesting elections in September, and have condemned the former President’s repeated arrest on the court’s order by squads of masked special operations police.

Speaking during a party rally held earlier in March, President Nasheed stated that the four-week break granted by the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court until the next hearing was an opportunity for state institutions to decide on the matter.

“Delaying trial for just four weeks has no meaning. There is no reason for it nor does it help anyone. We want the trial to be delayed till the elections are over. [The prosecution] gave one month and said that they did not object to further delays,” Nasheed told his supporters.

Nasheed said that it was very clear that charge of arresting the judge was not a charge against him alone, but several others as well.

He also warned that if the magistrate court issued a verdict that would bar him from contesting the elections, a lot of people would rise up against the decision and trigger a “very dangerous political insurgency”.

Didi also highlighted the large number of Maldivians continuing to support Nasheed, speaking with Minivan News today.

“It is clear that 46,000 Maldivians have decided President Nasheed is their presidential candidate. Our campaigns show that President Nasheed will win the elections with a clear majority.

“The coup has set us back not only with regard to democracy and human rights, but in regard to investor confidence and development.

“Our international development partners have also urged the government to take account of the wishes of the people and to hold an inclusive election with – as the European Union put it – the chosen candidate of MDP Mohamed Nasheed being able to contest the elections.

“We cannot waste another five years with a government that lacks a democratic mandate,” Didi declared.

Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court legitimacy questioned

During the early-March MDP rally, Nasheed also criticised the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) stating that the problem with Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court was not just the panel of judges. He alleged that the JSC had formulated the bench and have now been forcing administrative staff of the court to do specific things to impact the trial.

Parliament’s Independent Commissions Oversight Committee has been investigating the legitimacy of the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court, specifically the appointment of judges by the JSC.

Deputy Speaker of Parliament Ahmed Nazim told local media on Friday (March 22) that a notice had been sent to Gasim Ibrahim – who is a Majlis-appointed JSC member and also the presidential candidate for Jumhoree Party (JP) – regarding a case to remove him from his JSC post.

The parliamentary committee summoned all members of the JSC to attend the committee on Wednesday (March 20) to face questions regarding the manner in which judges were appointed to the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court bench.

Another committee meeting is scheduled to take place tonight (March 24).

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, also raised concerns over the politicisation of the JSC during her investigative visit to the Maldives this February.

As part of a wider review of the Maldives justice system, Knaul claimed that the JSC – mandated with the appointment, transfer and removal of judges – was unable to perform its constitutional duty adequately in its current form.

As well as recommendations to address what she said were minimal levels of public “trust” in the nation’s judicial system, Knaul also addressed matters such as the trial of former President Mohamed Nasheed.

Nasheed is currently facing trial for his detention of Chief Judge of Criminal Court last year, charges he claims are politically motivated to prevent him from contesting presidential elections later this year.

Knaul maintained that the former president, like every other Maldivian citizen, should be guaranteed a free and independent trial.

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UNHRC votes to extend mandate of UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, Dr Ahmed Shaheed

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has extended the mandate of Dr Ahmed Shaheed as UN Special Rapporteur on Iran.

Shaheed, who also held the post of Maldives Minister of Foreign Affairs, was voted in with 26 votes in favour, 2 votes against and 17 abstentions during a UNHRC session in Geneva, Switzerland.

Shaheed has been previously refused access into Iran by Iranian authorities in order to investigate the country’s human rights situation, after the government accused him of accepting bribes from the United States.

Dr Shaheed presented his most recent report to the council on March 2013. Despite not being allowed into Iran, the Special Rapporteur has conducted 409 interviews “with primary sources located inside and outside the country.”

According to the report, 169 interviews were between September and December 2012 for the March 2013 report.

The report highlights “continued and widespread systemic and systematic violations of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Moreover, a lack of government investigation and redress generally fosters a culture of impunity, further weakening the impact of the human rights instruments Iran has ratified.”

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Usfasgandu handed back to MDP

Usfasgandu has once again been handed back to the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) by Male’ City Council.

Speaking to local media on Sunday (March 24), Male’ City Council Mayor ‘Maizan’ Ali Manik said that the area was handed back to the MDP after they requested back the land.

“Usfasgandu is a place where a large number of Maldivians gather to voice their opinions, and MDP requested for the area in accordance with existing policies.

“MDP has said that the area will be used by the people to express their opinions, rather than by the party to advocate its ideology,” Manik was quoted as saying in SunOnline.

Mayor Manik claimed that as no other party had requested Usfasgandu other than the MDP, it was handed back to the party.

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