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Comment: This is not a dictatorship

This article was first published on Dhivehi Sitee. Republished with permission.

Since the 7 February 2012 coup that was not a coup, a disconcerting dissonance between what people witness with their own eyes and what they are officially told they see has become a regular part of life.

Last week, thousands of voting Maldivians watched the X-Rated video of Supreme Court Judge Ali Hameed having sex with three prostitutes at a high-end hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It was not just his clothes that Hameed shed in front of the people but also his dignity along with the ethical and legal right to sit on the bench. Ethical, because he so carelessly flouted the values of his profession, and legal because the Maldives defines unmarried sex between consenting adults as the crime of fornication.

Yet the official reaction has been like a ticker-tape running across the entire length of Hameed’s sexual marathon saying, ‘This is not sex. This is not zinah. This is not Hameed.’

Gasim Ibrahim, the presidential candidate for Jumhoree Party, has been one of the most vocal defenders of the judge. He asks us to ponder the infinite possibilities of why it was not Hameed in the video: “Anyone can dye their hair red.”

No one can argue with that – not in these days of L’Oréal.

Adhaalath, the self-appointed ‘religious leaders ’ – and the last Maldivian political institution one would expect to favour an informed decision over an ignorant one – has announced it cannot say “Hameed is fornicating” or “Hameed is not fornicating” unless the Judicial Service Commission says “This is Hameed” or “This is not Hameed”.

Until then Adhaalath — or any other government entity — will not see what it sees, nor must we believe our own eyes.

In November last year, 38 MPs in the Majlis agreed that President of the Civil Service Commission, Mohamed Fahmy, was more likely than not to have sexually harassed a female servant as she alleged. They voted to have him removed from the CSC.

Fahmy, though, is still there in the CSC, accompanied by a subliminal government-issue caption designed to appear under every image of Fahmy we come across: “This is not a sexual harasser” or “Sexual harassment is not a crime.”

Back in April this year, pictures emerged of Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim and Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb hob-nobbing with the Artur Brothers – Armenian gangsters who were chased out of Kenya in 2006 for heroin trafficking and involvement in the country’s troubled political scene.

Initially the official line was to say it was neither Nazim nor Adeeb hanging with the gangsters. Then came a very Gasim-esque defence: “It is possible that the Ministers and the Brothers were in the same place at the same time. That doesn’t mean they were together as in together together.”

Soon after, pictures emerged of the Brothers at the gala event organised by Nazim and Adheeb to re-open Olympus theatre. This was followed by evidence that one of them was staying in Farukolhufushi, a resort under direct control of Adheeb at the time. Still, the official line was: “This is not happening.”

It was the same with the leaked draft Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the United States. Nazim and others denied they saw the leaked version on ‘social media’, but were able to confirm “this is not the SOFA”.

So it was not.

A similar story with the PISCES system gifted by the United States: “This is a border control system” said both governments, and so it is; even though controlling borders is the least of PISCES’ concerns.

Then there were reports of the forged ‘extension’ of the agreement to extend the lease of Farukolhufushi resort, a copy of which was shown on Raajje TV. The authorities have stuck the “This did not happen” label on the incident, so it hasn’t.

Latest in these series of events occurred yesterday, the day marked on the calendar as ‘The Independence Day’. Two events were held to confirm this: one at the museum and one at the Republic Square.

The event at the museum was a reception hosted by Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik and his wife Ilham Hussein for local and foreign dignitaries. It was held in the hall usually reserved for the most precious of national heritage artifacts. Their storage requires specific conditions, their care and handling needs highly trained hands. This is the expert opinion.

The official line, however, is different. In direct contradiction of results of years of study, the President’s Office put out a statement saying: having the party at the museum, or having untrained labourers move the priceless artifacts would not damage them. So it won’t.

Male’ watched as Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was given the highest national award of respect. For 30 years, Gayoom ruled the Maldives without respect for either human freedoms, dignity or the rule of law. It was a dictatorship that stalled economic, social, cultural and intellectual development for an entire generation.

But, the national honour, the shining thing around his neck, screams “This is not a dictator”. So he must not be.

This is a democracy.

Dr Azra Naseem has a PhD in international relations

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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Comment: Maldives preparing for presidential polls

Come September the Maldives will be having the second multi-party elections for the nation’s presidency.

Only recently, incumbent President Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik said the 2008 Constitution has provided for a presidential form of government under a parliamentary scheme, and the nation is facing the consequences. Waheed did not say if it included the controversial circumstances revolving around his own ascendancy to power when he was Vice-President to Mohamed Nasheed, the first President elected under the multi-party scheme.

President Waheed and his government and coalition partners have had their way that the polls for the nation’s highest office would not be advanced as sought by Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). Yet, issues surrounding President Nasheed’s resignation of 7 February 2012 refuse to die down. The MDP itself may be paying a price for that in electoral terms, exactly 19 months after the ‘power-transfer’.

Candidate Nasheed is the issue thus in the upcoming elections. His three opponents readily concede as much. They also concede that the MDP is the single-largest vote-getter among them. The Election Commission has for months now acknowledged that MDP is the single largest political party in the country with the highest number of registered members.

The second in the line, the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), comes a distant second with less than half the MDP’s figures. Third is the Dhivehi Raayathunge Party (DRP). Both parties were founded by President Nasheed’s predecessor, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, and together, their membership comes closer to the MDP membership.

Of memberships and votes

Yet, questions remain if the DRP will be able to translate its membership into votes, or if there will be a substantial migration towards the PPM camp. Should that happen, and should Waheed’s administration attract a substantial share from an anticipated high percentage of non-committed voters, as candidate Nasheed had calculated in 2008, the team may be in some reckoning.

DRP leader Thasmeen Ali gets to be the running-mate of President Waheed. Thasmeen may hold that record for a time, as he was similarly the running-mate of incumbent President Gayoom the last time round.

Apart from Nasheed and President Waheed, the poll involves PPM’s Abdulla Yameen, half-brother of former President Gayoom. Also in the race is Jumhoree Party (JP) leader, Gasim Ibrahim, with his vice-presidential running-mate, Dr Hassan Saeed. It is pertinent to recall that in the first multi-party presidential polls of 2008, contesting alone, Gasim Ibrahim and Hassan Saeed polled a total of 34 percent vote-share, second only to incumbent President Gayoom’s 40 percent.

Yet, under a system in which the first two contest the second run-off round if none poll over 50 percent votes in the first round, Nasheed with his stand-alone 25 percent first-round vote-share challenged Gayoom in the run-off in 2008.

Gasim and Saeed joined hands with him. Nasheed won. The final poll figures stood testimony to the effective transfer of their first round votes (Saeed: 16-plus percent, Gasmim: 15-plus percent) to Nasheed.

The question is if Saeed with his Dhivehi Quamee Party (DQP) have enough votes in the first place left with him, and also has enough ‘transferrable votes’, which JP’s Gasim alone seems to be enjoying in the country at the moment.

That leaves Yameen with his running-mate Dr Mohammed Jameel Ahmed, who was Home Minister in the Waheed government, sacked after crossing over from Saeed’s DQP. Saeed himself would later leave the government as Special Advisor to President Waheed, to join hands with Gasim, whose JP technically is still a partner in the non-MDP, anti-Nasheed administration, along with the PPM.

Having launched his campaign late, and amidst controversy attending on the PPM primary for selecting the party nominee for the presidential polls, Yameen relies on the better organisational structure of the party, the recognisable face and leadership of Gayoom.

In doing so, he however will have to face charges of ‘family rule’ within the party, which thankfully none of his political rivals are ready to flag in any specific and substantive way.

Realignment for run-off?

The issue is Nasheed, and his post-resignation polarising call, seeking to revive the past political fight for ushering in multi-party democracy in the country. It remains to be seen if excessive reference to, and reliance on the same as a campaign platform and tool over the past months since his leaving power can still help focus the limelight on the futuristic issues and constituency-based campaign manifestos that the MDP and Nasheed have painstakingly prepared and pointedly present to the voter.

For Nasheed to win the first round, he will require those additional votes, from new constituencies, or constituencies that were impressed by his socio-economic measures during the short-lived first term, and would hence like to give him a second chance.

Should the elections run into the second round, it could then become a wide-open race. If nothing else, the temptation is to constantly refer to the 2008 experience, in terms of form and content. There could be realignment, the contours of which remain to be explored and exploited in full.

The MDP has called upon the 240,000 voters of the country to hand down a decisive first-round victory in the first round to Nasheed, for the party and the leader to give a stable government and carry forward democratic and socio-economic reforms that they claim have been initiated during his ‘aborted’ first term.

It is also an acknowledgement of the ground reality, where the MDP cannot find coalition partners among the rest to work with the Nasheed leadership. His running-mate in former Education Minister and first Chancellor of the National University, Dr Mustafa Luthfy, along with the recent entry of Parliament Speaker Abdulla Shahid to the MDP fold after being elected MP under a DRP ticket, is expected to bring votes that Nasheed may need for a first-round win.

President Waheed has created history too. With the total membership of his Gaumee Iththihad Party (GIP) under the scanner, and the present law on 10,000 members for party registration under judicial review, he chose to contest as an ‘Independent’, though his DRP partner is a registered party.

He went around acquiring the signatures of 1500 registered voters for endorsing his nomination, an alternative requirement under the law. Tension remained in the Waheed camp until Election Commission officials had cleared all signatories as genuine voters, sitting through the night on the verification work.

Waheed’s poll call would be ‘stability in an unmanageable coalition set-up’, which it was. Today, every government party is contesting the presidential polls separately and against one another – apart from contesting against the MDP, the only party that is not a coalition partner. They have voted for and against government motions in Parliament, and run down one another, too. Only recently did they join hands to vote against ‘secret ballot’ on non-trust votes against the President, Vice-President and Government Ministers in the house.

Yet, some of them, particularly the PPM and DRP, have voted with the MDP opposition, to deny ministerial jobs to some nominees of President Waheed’s choice.

Yameen seems to resting on past laurels, many of which readily sit on the shoulders of President Gayoom. The PPM calls his rule the ‘golden age’, and positions Yameen’s candidacy as a return to that era.

Yameen, as may be recalled, is representing a party and leadership that converted a poor, ignorant and ignored nation to one with the highest per capita GDP in South Asia, through 30 years of rule that also gave Maldivians modern education and limited medical care, non-existent earlier.

‘Limited’ or ‘non-existent’ democracy as known to the West was the bane of generations and centuries. Gayoom’s presidency was satisfied with incremental changes to the scheme, when the younger generations in particular may have already been craving for wholesale changes.

If he was a lone fighter the last time round, JP’s Gasim has put together a ‘rainbow coalition’ this time. Apart from Hassan Saeed’s DQP, he has also successfully negotiated a partnership with the religion-centric Adhaalath Party (AP). As may be recalled, the vociferous and conservative leadership of the AP played a major role in mobilising the ‘December 23 movement’ that ultimately brought about their intended change of power without ballot in February 2012.

Missing reciprocity

With its conservative religious approach in a moderate Islamic nation, the AP is otherwise seen as a controversial political player. Their crossing over from the Waheed camp too close to the nominations date for the presidential polls caused eyebrows to rise.

Yet, by bringing together disparate groups that are otherwise desperate, Gasim may have ensured a political combination that could see him through to the local government elections in December this year, and parliamentary polls that are due by May next year.

For now, PPM’s Yameen has publicly declared his intention to work with Gasim in the second round polls (hoping that it would go in for a run-off). This may have also owed to the over-worked rumour-mill that put the PPM and MDP on the same side of the political divide should there be no clear verdict in the first round.

Gasim himself has not reciprocated positively, nor even responded to Yameen’s indicative support in anyway. Maybe he is keeping his options open. Maybe he has coalition compulsions that could flow on into the second round – if there is a second round.

The factors are varied, and so are the projected strengths and perceived weaknesses of the four tickets. There is then the question of 30,000 first-time voters, who unlike their preceding generation in 2008, seem unsure of themselves after the ‘democratic developments’ of the past year. Though they may not have begun focusing on it exclusively, at some point in the coming weeks contesting camps may have to do more to attract additional voters to the booth than may otherwise turn out to be.

In 2008 most, if not all first-time voters, and most of the total 40-plus per cent ‘young electors’ were believed to have voted for change. There was also an urge and consequent surge for participating in the historic event of their generation, from all sides. Thus the presidential election in 2008 witnessed a high 85-plus percent turnout in the first round and a higher 86-plus percent polling in the second round.

This time, too, voter turnout will have a say in the final outcome, starting with the fact if the polls would go into the second round – and more so, on who will get to rule Maldives for the next five years – and hopefully so!

The writer is a Senior Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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“We will not follow unconstitutional orders, even if a new president is installed tomorrow”: Police Commissioner Riyaz

Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz has said his institution will continue to refuse any orders it decides are “unconstitutional”, while expressing concerns over leaked proposals allegedly devised by the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) to reform the country’s security forces.

In an interview on the Maldives Police Service (MPS) website, Commissioner Riyaz expressed concern at a leaked policy paper that he alleged sought to dismantle and undermine law enforcement, calling for the opposition MDP to clarify if the policies were genuinely part of the party’s election policy.

“I don’t want to say anything specifically about something that has been prepared politically or for a political purpose, but we do have a constitution and the MPS is an institution formed by the constitution,” he said, speaking just over a month ahead of the 2013 presidential election.

Proposals in the paper – leaked on social media earlier this month – include transferring the police to the authority of city councils, similar to the system in the US, while providing salaries and allowances of officers through the Local Government Authority (LGA).

The MDP last week questioned the legitimacy of the leaked reform proposals, claiming the party had no knowledge of such a document, despite backing the idea of a ”transitional arrangement” to reform the country’s security forces after last year’s controversial transfer of power.

The opposition party continues to maintain that former President Mohamed Nasheed was deposed in a “coup d’etat” after being forced to resign from office following a mutiny by sections of the police and military.

The allegations were later rejected by a Commonwealth-backed Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI) that ruled that there had been “no coup, no duress and no mutiny”, while also calling for action taken against unlawful acts committed by the country’s security forces following the transfer.

“Dismantle” fears

Commissioner Riyaz, who took office immediately after the power transfer, said proposals in the leaked documents could not be implemented within regulations outlined under the Police Act.

The commissioner also rejected the professional capacity of individuals behind the reforms, which he claimed sought to “dismantle” and undermine the large role security services play in the country.

“I’d like to tell the MDP that they should clarify whether it is their policy or not. If it is their policy, it is of great concern. This [police] institution will be very concerned,” he said. “Politicians should not try to play with this institution. Help this institution develop. Work to make this institution more responsible. To make it operationally accountable. Don’t use political influence to carry out political objectives through this institution.”

Riyaz alleged that certain senior government figures over the last three years had attempted to limit or weaken police in the country through the use of political influence that led to officers “straying from their path”.

He insinuated that police would not allow a similar event to happen again.

With an estimated 3,500 individuals employed within the MPS, including a large number of families, Riyaz questioned whether any political leader would seek to “discredit” the institution.

“I don’t believe that someone who is working to become the leader of this country will do this because of these reasons.  This country will do this because of these reasons,” he said. “To maintain law and order in the country, firstly no one can govern, unless they are able to maintain law and order.”

Commissioner Riyaz added that the mandate of the police was set out in the constitution, adding that any reforms to the institution’s work could only be enacted by a two-thirds majority in parliament.

“We remain firm. We will not follow any unconstitutional orders, even if a new president is instated tomorrow,” he said during the interview. “Even if I’m not here, the rest will also not follow these orders. Maldivian politicians should know this. I believe they do.”

“Whichever individual becomes President tomorrow can no longer just change the constitution, the existing law. That individual, holding the presidency,  can only bring such big changes with a parliamentary majority.”

When contacted to clarify the comments within the interview, Commissioner Riyaz today forwarded inquiries to Police Spokesperson Chief Inspector Hassan Haneef.

Chief Inspector Haneef defined an unconstitutional order for the police as something that contradicted Maldivian law.

“Operationally we are independent. We do not follow political orders, but we follow the country’s law,” Haneef said.

He added that officers would refuse to follow orders “outside the law” whether they were issued by a president, or a superior officer.

Asked who was responsible for determining whether a particular order was unconstitutional, Haneef said the decision would be made in accordance with regulations outlined in the Police Act, as well as official codes and procedures outlined by the MPS itself.

“It is very clear within the Police Act [as to how a constitutional order] is defined,” he said. “Every person must be accountable for the orders they give.”

At times of press, Minivan News was awaiting a response from the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) over the correct procedure for reforms and the definition of an “unconstitutional order”.

Reform mandate

Speaking last week, MDP MP and Spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor personally dismissed having knowledge of the leaked paper on police reforms, despite claiming that the opposition party had considered the need for a “transitional agreement” for reforms of the country’s security forces based on recommendations raised in last year’s CoNI report.

With the CoNI process concluded, Ghafoor accused the Commonwealth and the wider international community of failing to ensure reforms to strengthen democratic institutions called for in the report’s findings were met.

He alleged that the MPS had failed to fully be transferred from a militarised to civil institution dating back to the administration of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s before the country’s first multi-party democratic election in 2008.

“Gayoom had moved to separate the military and police into different bodies. In the end, he failed to do this adequately,” Ghafoor said.

Despite pledging to reform the police and military, the MDP said it was not planning a “witch-hunt”.

According to Ghafoor, the MDP was instead focused on trying to secure a “huge election majority” in order to carry out reforms with the mandate of the public.

“This will help solve everything,” he said at the time.

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EC confirms presidential election to be monitored by EU/Commonwealth delegations

The Elections Commission (EC) has confirmed observers from both Commonwealth and EU countries will monitor the upcoming presidential election, but has said the exact number of officials overseeing polling will not be known until later this week.

EC Vice President Ahmed Fayaz has told Minivan News that a delegation of observers representing the Commonwealth, several members states of the EU and a number of other nations had expressed interest in observing September’s voting.

He added that once the final number of observers had been confirmed, the registered foreign nationals would be free to monitor polling across the country to determine how voting was being carried out.

Minivan News was awaiting a response from the Commonwealth Secretariat at time of press considering the organisation’s plans for observing the upcoming vote.

Complaints bureau

Besides determining the number of international monitors expected to be present in the country during polling, Fayaz said the EC had also now established a national complaints bureau tasked with dealing with any issues or concerns about campaigning by various candidates.

Despite citing initial “logistical difficulties” that limited the bureau’s work, he added that the EC was now accepting complaints concerning any potential issues affecting this year’s election.

“The bureau has started work already and will deal with all complaints related to campaigns or candidates in the election,” Fayaz said.

He added that complaints could be submitted to the EC by phone, e-mail or forms available on the commission’s official website. The complaints bureau itself is based on the second floor of the Port Complex Building, the same location as the EC Secretariat.

With voting scheduled to take place on September 7, the EC also this week determined the order by which candidates would appear on the ballot paper.

The four candidates from top to bottom are Gasim Ibrahim (Jumhoree Party), Dr Mohamed Waheed (independent, incumbent president), Abdulla Yameen (Progressive Party of the Maldives) and Mohamed Nasheed (Maldivian Democratic Party, former President).

Yameen and Gasim attended the ceremony to announce the ballot order, according to local media.

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ACC forwards phone bill corruption case against Supreme Court Judge

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has forwarded corruption allegations against Supreme Court Judge Ali Hameed to the Prosecutor General’s Office (PG).

While the ACC has yet to officially comment on the case, local media reported that the matter concerned the transfer of MVR 2,223 (US$144) from the judge’s state-funded telephone noted in a 2010 audit of the Department of Judicial Administration (DJA), which was subsequently repaid.

Previous reports by the Auditor General’s Office have noted that between October 2008 and December 2011, Supreme Court judges paid their phone bills amounting to MVR 281,519 (US$18,257) from the state budget, despite the fact that parliament had not allocated any phone allowances to the judges. Additionally, MVR 117, 832 (US$7640) was found to have been overspent on wages and allowances to the driver of a judge’s car.

The judge is also currently subject to investigation over his alleged appearance in multiple leaked sex videos depicting him fornicating with foreign women in what appears to be a Colombo hotel room.

A further video also appears to  show Hameed and a local businessman, Mohamed Saeed, discussing political influence in the judiciary.

Justice Hameed in the video also goes on to reveal his political ‘hook-up’ with Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom – the current Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) presidential candidate – claiming that he was one of Yameen’s “back-ups” and that his stand was “to do things the way Yameen wants”, promising to “kill off” Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali “if it comes into my hands.”

Even [Speaker of Parliament] Abdulla Shahid will know very well that my stand is to do things the way Yameen wants. That the fall of this government was brought with our participation,” he adds.

However, he also claims that he was a person who “even Yameen cannot play with” and that over time he had “shown Yameen” who he is.

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) meanwhile decided not to suspend Supreme Court Justice Ali Hameed citing “lack of evidence”, contradicting the recommendation of its own five-member committee appointed to investigate the matter.

Following the decision, JSC Deputy Chairman Abdulla Mohamed Didi and Latheefa Gasim resigned from the investigating committee. The JSC then voted not to accept their resignations.

Jumhoree Party Presidential Candidate Gasim Ibrahim, until recently a JSC member, has meanwhile publicly declared that Hameed’s sex tape was “a fake” orchestrated by “external forces” seeking to take over state assets, introduce other religions to the country, and create infighting in Maldivian society.

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President Waheed forms Small and Medium Enterprises Council

President Dr Mohamed Waheed has this week announced the establishment of a Small and Medium Enterprises Council, as well as appointing members to oversee the body’s work.

The President’s Office stated yesterday that 14 members had been appointed to the council, representing both government ministries and several industries across the country.

The full list of councillors are:

  • Minister of Economic Development Ahmed Mohamed
  • Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture Ahmed Shafeeu
  • Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Ahmed Adeeb
  • Minister of Finance and Treasury Abdulla Jihad
  • Minister of Human Resources, Youth and Sports Mohamed Hussain Shareef
  • Women entrepreneurs representative Ms Juwairiya Wajdee
  • Fisheries sector representative Mr Mohamed Waseem Ismail
  • Agriculture sector representative Mr Solah Shihab
  • Tourism sector representative Mr Ismail Faseeh
  • Telecommunications sector representative Mr Raoofuddin Naseem
  • Environment sector representative Ms Lubna Moosa
  • Construction sector representative Mr Abdulla Mohamed
  • Chief Executive Officer of the Capital Market Development Authority Ms Fathimath Shafeeqa
  • Commissioner General of Taxation Mr Yazeed Mohamed

    • According to the President’s Office website, Economic Development Minister Ahmed Mohamed will serve as the council’s president, while Solah Shihab will serve as its vice president.

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    MMC postpones appointing president after internal election stalemate

    The appointment of a new president for the Maldives Media Council (MMC) has been postponed after an election held yesterday (July 27) ended in a tie between two candidates competing for the position.

    In a statement, the MMC said that a date for a second election would be announced at a later date.

    The election was held to appoint a successor to former MMC President Ibrahim Khaleel, who resigned from his post earlier this year.

    Local media reported that MMC current Vice President Husham Mohamed and council member Abdulla Shinaan had both received the same number of votes yesterday.

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    Civil Court issues injunction against termination of Palm Beach Resort and Spa management agreement

    The Civil Court has issued an injunction temporarily blocking a decision by the head leaseholder of the Palm Beach Resort and Spa to terminate a sub-lease agreement with the property’s current management.

    The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture has confirmed that the resort, based in Lhaviyani Atoll, is to remain under the management of Sun Sporting Holidays Limited until the conclusion of a court case to determine the legality of terminating the companty’s sub-lease agreement.

    “Sun Sporting Holidays filed a case against the leaseholder and the court issued an order stating that the termination notice should be suspended until the court decided whether the termination is lawful of not,” Tourism Ministry Senior Legal Officer Faseeh Zahir explained to Minivan News.

    “So, the ministry accordingly extended the temporary permit for resort operation to Sun Sporting Holidays,” he said.

    No date has yet been set for the next hearing in the case, according to the ministry.

    In a document (part 1, part 2, part 3) dated July 15, 2013,  Leaseholder Ibrahim Ali Maniku issued a notice of termination for the agreement between himself and Sun Sporting Holidays Limited to operate the Palm Beach Island Resort and Spa.

    He wrote that the decision was based over concerns the company, as sub lessee, had failed to meet a number of safety standards and mandatory requirements set out by the Tourism Ministry and other local authorities.

    Citing a Tourism Ministry report from April 11, 2013 – Number: 88­QAR/PRIV/2013/604 – the notice alleges that of 97 observations and violations noted by authorities at the time, 61 were considered serious and in need of immediate rectification.

    According to the leaseholder, a maximum period of no more than three weeks from the publication of the report were provided for any short comings or violations raised by the ministry to be dealt with by management on the site.  The notice does not clarify if the required changes were made within the deadline.

    The leaseholder however alleged that 14 “major violations” of the General Regulation for Food Establishment and Service of Maldives (2007/182/FSI) raised by the Tourism Ministry had not been corrected during a further inspection held a month later.

    The notice claimed that Sun Sporting Holidays had also failed to register the property’s desalination plant with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as well as ensuring the resort’s power system was approved by the Maldives Energy Authority (MEA).

    Concerns were also raised in the document over the EPA’s conclusions concerning the impact of severe erosion on the island’s coastline, which is claimed to have led to serious damage to the site’s ‘‘A la Carte’ restaurant as well as the loss of 17,953 square metres of land since the sub-lease agreement had come into force.

    The notice claimed the sub lessee had additionally failed to comply with the EPA’s recommendations of relocating the resort’s reverse osmosis desalination) intake away from “the site where sewage is discharged”.

    Sun Sporting Holidays was also accused by the leaseholder of failing to address recommendations by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) to repair the resort’s fire alarm and fire hydrant systems that had previously been found to be out of order, while also failing to prepare and practice drills as part of an emergency fire plan.

    When contacted by Minivan News this week, Sun Sporting Holidays said Palm Beach Resort and Spa remained under its management and was being operated as normal.

    However, the company declined to comment further on the termination notice sent by the island’s leaseholder while legal action into the matter was ongoing.

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    Police confirm body of Azerbaijan national found on Kurumba resort

    The Maldives Police Service (MPS) has confirmed an investigation is ongoing into the death of a 27 year-old male from Azerbaijan, whose body was discovered at the Kurumba Maldives resort near to the capital of Male’ on Thursday (July 25).

    A police media official confirmed to Minivan News that the body of Tural Gurbanov had been discovered on the resort Thursday – though the cause of his death was unknown at time of press.

    Local media has previously reported that the deceased was believed to have been a tourist whose body was discovered in one of the resort’s rooms on Thursday morning.

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