Tag: minivan

Comment: Commonwealth must reopen CoNI in light of new evidence

Dear 
Secretary 
General Kamalesh Sharma,

New 
evidence 
has 
emerged which
 casts
 doubt
 over
 the
 validity
 of 
the 
final 
report
 by
 the
 Commission
 of
 National
 Inquiry 
(CoNI),
 published
 in
 August
 2012.

Following
 its
 publication,
 CoNI’s
 report
 was
 sent
 to 
the 
relevant 
Maldivian 
parliamentary 
oversight
 committee, 
who
 decided
 to 
investigate 
the 
facts 
and
 procedures 
of 
the 
report
 to 
ensure
 its 
accuracy. 
Through
 careful 
review
 of 
the
 report, 
it
 has 
been revealed
 that 
vital 
evidence 
relating 
to 
CoNI’s 
core 
mandate was
 ignored
 and 
no 
explanation 
was 
given 
as 
to 
the 
reason
 for
 this,
 despite 
claims 
by 
CoNI
 that 
no 
information 
was 
disregarded.

CoNI’s
 mandate
 was 
to 
investigate 
whether 
President 
Nasheed
 resigned
 under 
duress,
 due 
to
 threats
 to
 his 
life, 
or 
not. 
The 
committee
 summoned
 Former
 Commissioner 
of 
Police, 
Ahmed
 Faseeh; 
Former 
Chief 
of 
Defense
 Force, 
Moosa 
Ali 
Jaleel;
 Brigadier 
General,
 Ahmed
 Nilam; 
Former 
Chief 
Superintendent 
of 
Police, 
Mohamed 
Hameed 
and 
Former 
Superintendent
 of Police, 
Mohamed
 Jinah
 under
 the 
power
 vested 
in 
a
 parliamentary 
committee
 by 
Article
 99 
of 
the 
Constitution.

Former 
Chief 
of 
Defense 
Force 
Jaleel; 
Former 
CS
 Hameed
 and
 Brigadier
 General 
Nilam
 confirmed
 to 
the 
committee’s
 investigation that
 there 
was 
a 
plot 
to
 assassinate
 President
 Nasheed
 and 
that
 on 
the 
7th 
of 
February
 2012,
 the 
environment
 was 
such
 that 
President 
Nasheed
 had 
reason
 to 
believe 
that 
his 
life 
was 
in
 danger.

This 
information 
was 
further
 verified
 when 
PPM
 Deputy 
Leader,
 Umar
 Naseer,
 in 
an 
interview 
with 
Minivan 
News, 
confirmed 
that
 the
 ousting
 of 
President 
Nasheed
 “did
 not
 happen
 automatically” 
and
 that 
“planning, 
propaganda
 and 
lots 
of 
work” 
went
in 
to
 oust 
the 
constitutionally‐elected 
President. 
Mr 
Naseer 
refused
 to 
cooperate 
with 
the
 Commonwealth
 approved
 CoNI.

In
 addition,
 former
 cabinet 
minister
 (for
 the
 present
 government),
 Ms
 Dhiyana Saeed
 has 
published
 a 
memoir
 regarding 
the
 events 
of
 7th 
February
 2012,
 and
 states
 that 
a
 certain 
‘Mr
 X
 and 
Mr
 Y’
 (later
 revealed
 as 
Deputy 
Speaker
 of 
the
 Parliament,
 Mohamed 
Nazim
 and
 MP 
Mohamed
 Nasheed
 respectively)
 had 
spoken
 to 
her
 of 
a
 plan
 to
 assassinate
 President
 Nasheed,
 in 
which
 the 
present 
Minister 
of 
Defence
 and 
the
 Commissioner 
of 
Police 
were
 involved.

It 
is 
a 
grave
 matter 
of 
concern,
 that 
none 
of 
these 
issues 
were
 highlighted 
by 
the 
two observers 
appointed 
by 
the 
Commonwealth
 to 
CoNI’s 
investigation.

In 
light 
of 
the 
above,
 it 
is 
evident
 that 
the 
validity 
of 
the 
CoNI 
report 
is 
questionable. 
These 
are 
the 
three 
issues 
we 
would
 like 
to 
see 
the 
Commonwealth
 focusing
 on:

1. 
Reopening 
the 
CoNI 
report
 in 
the 
light 
of 
the 
latest 
information
 and 
establishing why
 these 
testimonies 
and 
evidence 
from
 leading
 members
 of 
the 
military 
and
police 
were 
not 
included
 in
 the 
CoNI
 report.

2.
 Overseeing 
a 
further 
inquiry 
into 
the 
threats
 against
 the 
life 
of 
the 
former 
head
 of 
state, 
President
 Mohamed
 Nasheed.

3. 
Pressuring 
the 
current
 president
 to 
establish 
a 
caretaker 
government
 until 
free 
and
 fair 
elections 
can 
be 
held.

Lucy Johnson is a member of UK-based NGO, Friends of Maldives

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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No police involvement in motorcyclist’s death: Police Integrity Commission

The Police Integrity Commission (PIC) has concluded its investigation into the death of Abdulla Gasim Ibrahim and determined that his death was not due to police negligence, or due the use of disproportionate or unwarranted force.

Abdulla Gasim Ibrahim died following an incident outside the Justice Building on August 17 last year, in which an officer attempted to stop a fleeing motorcyclist and passenger by stepping in front of the vehicle and appearing to strike the riders with his baton.

Leaked CCTV footage of the incident shows the motorcyclist and his passenger colliding with Gasim, who was parked on the side of the road, resulting in his death. The police officer then leaves the scene, as others arrive and bundle Gasim into a police vehicle. Police made no mention of police involvement at the time of the incident.

Following the release of the CCTV footage, Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz  told Parliament’s Executive Oversight Committee that the Police Standards Command had concluded that Constable Moosa Shamil – the officer seen in the leaked video footage of Gasim’s death – had used the baton to stop a suspected criminal in accordance with regulations.

The PIC statement listed six reasons as to why the commission agreed with the police service’s conclusion.

Firstly, it stated “there is reason to believe from the movements of the two policemen who stopped the motorcycle, that they came out in front of the Justice Building 20 seconds before the accident occurred, having received an instruction to stop a fleeing motorcycle.”

The statement then said that since the motorcycle was suspected to be stolen property, section 4 (c) paragraph 2 of “the Regulation Governing the Utilisation of all Lawful Powers and Discretions of the Police” allowed the policeman to attempt to stop the vehicle.

However, initial police reports only stated that the men had a stolen mobile phone in their possession. The motorcycle was said to be stolen property only in December 2012, after the case against the motorist and his passenger was sent to the Prosecutor General’s Office.

The PIC also justified the use of the baton to stop the speeding vehicle driven by “someone showing disobedience”, citing section 2(b), 2(c) and 3(d) of the “Regulation Governing the Holding and Use of the Baton.”

Furthermore, “having examined the video footage, it is not certain whether the baton used by the policeman came into contact with [the riders] on the motorcycle, and where it is deemed that there was contact, it is believed that the contact would have been on the back of the person sitting at the backseat of the motorcycle; and that no identification was made to confirm that the speed or the movement of the motorcycle altered because of any police movement.”

The last point noted on PIC’s statement read: “having examined the video footage received by the Commission, it is known that Abdulla Gasim stopped the motorcycle behind the policemen after the policemen had gone to the centre of the road; and therefore given that the attention of the policemen at that moment was on what was happening in front, there is no room to find that the policemen were aware that Gasim was standing where he stood, as a spectator.”

“No hope of justice when police investigate themselves”: Gasim’s widow

“There is no hope of justice when it is the police themselves who are investigating their actions,” Gasim’s widow, Naseema Khaleel, told Minivan News, adding that she was “appalled” by the PIC’s conclusion.

“These are things that even a mere child won’t accept. In the leaked video I can the seen the policeman standing in front of the motorcycle and swinging his baton. How, then, can the PIC say that it would have hit the passenger, and that too on his back?

“And as for the speed and direction of the motorcycle not being altered after the driver was hit with the baton – the video doubtless says otherwise. Judging by these observations by the PIC which go against the video evidence, it seems they perhaps watched a completely different video,” Naseema said.

She referred to where the report described Gasim as a “spectator” who had stopped at the scene.

“The report calls Gasim a spectator who stopped there out of curiosity. I found that most hurtful. According to this country’s regulations, when there is a vehicle approaching from behind with its sirens blasting, drivers are to move to the side of the road. That’s what Gasim did. He wasn’t waiting around to pry,” Naseema said.

Naseema said that she felt that along with Constable Moosa Shamil, he other officers who were seen in the leaked video to be active on the scene ought to be questioned about the day’s events for a more complete investigation.

Parliamentary investigation

Parliament’s Executive Oversight Committee has meanwhile decided to summon Constable Moosa Shamil for questioning.

“We believe that since Constable Shamil is alleged of having committed this act, we must give him an opportunity to speak in his defence. This is why we are summoning him,”said Chair of the Committee, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ali Waheed.

In view of Naseema’s remarks, Ali Waheed said that the committee had not previously thought to summon the other policemen at the scene.

“If members in the committee feel there is need for further deliberation, we will proceed as such. Speaking with the other officers there is an option we will take into consideration.”

Waheed said that if the committee felt it necessary, the parliament regulations allowed them to summon the PIC in relation to the matter they were investigating.

“Now that the PIC has also reached a conclusion, we will be looking into that too. We will be setting the schedule for these meetings soon,” Waheed said.

The committee summoned Gasim’s family on January 29. At the meeting, Gasim’s son Mohamed Gais said police had summoned him to obtain a statement in relation to his father’s death.

“The only question the police asked was if I wanted the death penalty to be given to the person responsible for my father’s death. I told them no, we want them to pay damages instead,” Gais said.

Naseema stated at the meeting that in spite of police having denied involvement, in light of the information available, she felt the police were still responsible for the death of her husband.

Police cover-up

Article 41(c) of the Police Act states that the Maldives Police Service should inform the PIC upon the occurrence of death or infliction of grave bodily injury to a person due to the use of force by a police officer.

Asked in December if police had in accordance with the said article notified PIC of the incident, PIC Director General Fathimath Sarira stated: “Police have notified the commission about the accident in a phone call. Although, when we first heard of the case, it was only said that a speeding motorcycle had collided with a parked one and led to a death. But then later, we got the footage too.”

Police Media Official Sub Inspector Hassan Haneef told Minivan News in January that police had not mentioned the involvement of Constable Shamil to either the PIC or the public because “Initially even I knew of it as an accident. We wouldn’t know all the details at once. We learn facts as the investigation moves forward. It was portrayed as a cover-up in coverage, but we say it was an accident as that is what our investigations state it is.”

With regard to the PIC report, Minivan News asked Haneef if Constable Shamil had acted “having received an instruction to stop a fleeing motorcycle”, and if so how it was possible that police had not initially known of the police involvement as he had previously stated.

“Yes, he was responding to instructions and communication was made through our walkie-talkies. We had reports of the robbery and the accident as two separate incidents,” Haneef said.

PIC President Abdulla Waheed’s phone was switched off and Director General Fathimath Sarira was not responding to calls at time of press.

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Government, GMR appoint arbitrators in compensation case

Arbitrators have been appointed to determine the amount of compensation payable by the Maldivian government to Indian infrastructure giant GMR, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

GMR signed a US$511 million 25-year concession agreement with the Nasheed government to manage and upgrade Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA).

However in November 2012, the government of President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik declared the developer’s concession agreement void and ordered it to leave the country within seven days.

A last minute injunction from the Singapore High Court during arbitration proceedings was overturned on December 6, after Singapore’s Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon declared that “the Maldives government has the power to do what it wants, including expropriating the airport.”

GMR is seeking US$800 million in compensation for the sudden termination, while the Maldivian government is contending that it owes nothing as the contract was “void ab initio”, or invalid from the outset.

The awarding of the bid in 2010 was overseen by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), which the Waheed government has accused of being “negligent” and “irresponsible”.

The Maldives’ Deputy Solicitor General Ahmed Usham told local media today that the Maldives would be represented by Singapore National University Professor M. Sonaraja, while former Chief Justice of the UK, Lord Nicholas Edison Phillips, will represent GMR.

The arbitrator mutually agreed by GMR and the government is retired senior UK Judge, Lord Leonard Hubert Hoffman, according to the Attorney General’s office.

“They have sent us the terms and conditions now. A day to start the arbitration proceedings will be decided once it is agreed to and signed,” Usham was reported as saying.

Should the matter be decided in the government’s favour, uncertainty remains as to the potential impact on foreign investor sentiment given the prospect of sudden asset seizure under the ‘void ab initio’ precedent.

If decided in GMR’s favour, the outcome of the case could potentially see the Maldives facing sovereign bankruptcy, with millions of dollars in additional debt emptying the state’s already dwindling reserves, crippling the country’s ability to obtain further credit, and potentially sparking an economic or currency crisis.

In December 2012, the Maldives government paid back US$50 million to the State Bank of India, after it refused to extend the period of the treasury bonds issued by the bank during the previous government. India has called in further instalments of US$50 million, forcing the government to draw on the state reserves.

Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad has said the government is yet to come to an arrangement to pay the next US$50 million instalment to SBI, explaining that the money will have to come from the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA).

“The US$50 million due in February will have to be paid from the reserve. We have been ordered to pay the amount. There has been no change to the order so far. So it must be paid,” Jihad told local media.

At the start of 2013, state reserves had shrunk to MVR 4.9 billion (US$317.7 million), according to the MMA.

“Gross international reserves at the MMA have been declining slowly, and now account for just one and half months of imports, and could be more substantially pressured if major borrowings maturing in the next few months are not rolled over,” an International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation observed during a mission to the Maldives in November last year.

Moreover, one of GMR’s lenders, Axis Bank, is also seeking the repayment of loans for the airport project, which were guaranteed by the Ministry of Finance and approved by the Attorney General’s Office under the former government.

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Police break strike at Alimatha Resort, arrest two workers

A  strike by Maldivian employees at Alimatha Resort in Vaavu Atoll ended on Friday after 30 police descended on the resort.

Two resort staff were arrested, while 27 were subsequently dismissed. The workers were striking over a demand for an increase in their service charge compensation.

“They tear gassed all the staff”: striking resort worker

Dismissed reception supervisor at Alimatha Resort, Ahmed Fayaz, told Minivan News that police arrested the leader of the striking workers.

“The police arrested our leader Hassan. We were surrounding him, saying they couldn’t take him. We were trying to keep the police from arresting him.

“If they were going to do that, we said we would be very angry, so they tear gassed all the striking staff,” he alleged.

“In peace the police went out”: Police Spokesperson Hassan Haneef

Police Spokesperson Hassan Haneef confirmed two people had been arrested and were later released without charge. Police received information from resort management and “tried to help negotiate”, he said.

“The Freedom of Peaceful Assembly act doesn’t allow protesting in resorts,” Haneef noted.

“There was no tear gas, no pepper spray, and no violence.”

“l’m not here to spell out what has been done”: Alimatha General Manager

Alimatha Resort General Manager Abdullah Nashiz told Minivan News that resort management wanted to talk and gave many chances to the striking workers.

“We explained this is not the way to make demands. We confronted and commanded them to return to duty,” Nashiz stated.

Nashiz claimed the striking workers were shouting and forced laundry operations to stop by frightening Maldivian staff in that department.

“We do not know what threats were made [by staff] beyond stopping operations. I’m not here to spell out what has been done. The police can tell you that,” Nashiz said.

“The first time, I requested the supervisor call the police for the safety and security of the clients, staff, and property, and two or three [officers] came.

“We called the police the second time because the strikers were shouting at and threatening [us]. We were scared,” he claimed.

Nashiz said that after the striking workers were terminated, they were unwilling to take the termination letters and started shouting. However, he also claimed that all 27 former staff have since signed the termination letters.

He said that 99 percent of service charges were being given to staff and that the amount of compensation requested by the former employees was “impossible” and “not within the budget of the company”.

“It’s not company policy to give the total service charge, not at the [US$300-$400] amount requested. It was not foreseen in the budget or present employment contracts.

“One part may be given this year, and the next year we can reconsider based on work performance,” Nashiz added.

Fayaz meanwhile stated that the striking staff did not want to resign, nor did they want to cause any trouble for  tourists at the resort.

“The management is not giving the right information to the media, what they’ve said is incorrect,” he alleged.

“[General Manager] Abdullah Nashiz is wrong. They did a very, very, very bad thing.

“We were not disturbing guests, or other resort workers. We were just sitting in our rooms and refusing to go work,” Fayaz said.

Fayaz said resort management did not want to negotiate with the striking employees, particularly through collective bargaining. Instead they insisted the staff keep working.

Ultimately, 27 staff were terminated and forced to leave the resort following Hassan’s arrest.

According to Fayaz, resort management charges guests 8-10 percent service charge as stated in the guest catalogue, but then does not distribute 99 percent of those service charges to employees, as mandated by law.

“We were only given US$25-$50 in service charges each per month. This is the same service charge amount employees received in 1997,” he said.

“If they were unwilling to give us the proper service charge amount, we proposed a US$300 pay increase as an alternative,” Fayaz stated.

Resort “has a history of serious problems”: TEAM Secretary General

Tourism Employees Association of the Maldives (TEAM) Secretary General Mauroof Zakir told Minivan News the union are providing consulting services to the former employees at the resort, and noted that the workers had a history of striking for wage increases.

Strikes have occurred on the resort annually since 2009 and pay has increased from MVR 1200 (US$77.42) a month to MVR3000 (US$193.55) a month in 2012, he said.

“Management has refused to the workers’ demands, because if they accede they will have to pay all the service charges from 2008 until now,” Zakir stated.

He also explained that the constitution guarantees workers’ rights and that the Maldives had ratified the International Labour Organisation covenant, which protects the right for form associations for collective bargaining.

Zakir also said police “warned” strike leader Hassan and then arrested him in his room, at which point the other striking employees held onto him to prevent the police from taking him, and were ultimately pepper-sprayed.

“The staff were  really really afraid because of the police involvement,” Zakir said.

He added that since the resort is private property, the police said the terminated employees could not stay and forced them to leave the resort.

Tourism Ministry

Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb told local media the “disruption of services and harmony in resorts is unacceptable”.

“Tourism is the most significant industry in the Maldives. Adverse impact on the industry as a result of such protests would directly affect the entire nation. It could also have a major effect on our economy,” Adheeb said.

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MDP election victory New Delhi’s only hope: Eurasia Review

New Delhi’s policies on the Maldives continue to display elements of infantilism, writes Dr Bibhu Prasad Routray for the Eurasia Review.

“A series of blunders since the past one year pose the real danger of alienating Maldives for good.

Waheed’s ready acceptance by New Delhi vide a swift recognition extended by the Prime Minister’s Office had much to do with the ‘pro-India’ certificate he received from then Indian High Commissioner Dnyaneshwar Mulay.

Mulay wrote to the MEA that Waheed’s pro-India stand “is not in question” since he “has not missed a single function in the India House”. Ironically, the same Mulay, within months, came under attack from the Maldives government for his advocacy role supporting GMR.

If Mulay’s assessment of the nature of the Waheed regime was all wrong, Delhi has not fared any better since his departure. All its actions ever since it refused to protect the interests of a private company, GMR, (although the MEA in its country brief on Maldives continues to flag GMR’s taking over of the Male Airport in 2010), resemble a crying baby syndrome, not that of a nation that wants to deepen its engagements with its neighbourhood.

New Delhi’s reactions in the past couple of months have included: freezing major aid promised to the country in the recent past, toughening visa regulations allowing only limited number of visas to the Maldivians seeking medical treatment in India, refusing the Maldives Foreign Minister to set up a meeting with the Indian Foreign Minister, and doing away with the special privileges accorded to the Maldivian vessels visiting Indian ports.

In the second week of January, the Indian High Commission went a step further to issue an 11-point list of grievances to the Maldives media. The HC accused the Maldives government of withholding the passports and restricting the travel of Indian nationals, refusing to renew visas in a timely fashion, exploiting Indian workers, and failing to investigate threat calls to Indian diplomats. In response, Maldives has tried playing the China card.

Active engagement and not argumentative detachment needs to be India’s policy in Maldives. Former President Nasheed, who has consistently remained pro-India in spite of New Delhi’s indifference, has called for a caretaker government to oversee the Presidential polls due in the next three to six months. An election under the present regime, he justifiably fears, could be unfair and to his disadvantage. New Delhi must ensure that the polls are fair and not rigged.

Electoral victory for the pro-India Maldivian Democratic Party remains New Delhi’s only hope. Any other scenario would further push New Delhi’s already sinking influence in that county to the point of oblivion. And the Chinese would not miss the chance.

Full story

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No “definitive answer” from US delegation over government’s failure to act on CoNI recommendations: MDP

The US delegation who visited the Maldives last week gave no “definitive answer” to political issues raised by former President Mohamed Nasheed, the party has said.

The delegation, consisting of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State James Moore, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Vikram Singh and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Jane Zimmerman, met with the former president on Thursday (January 31).

According to local media, Nasheed informed the delegates that the present government had failed to act upon the recommendations made in the Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI) report, claiming there had been a “lack of effort” to reform the judiciary.

However, MDP Spokesman Hamid Abdul Ghafoor said the US delegation were unable to answer the issues raised by Nasheed, and that their interest was focused on the implementation of free and fair elections later this year.

“The issue was a difficult question for them and we could not get a straight answer. Their purpose was to highlight the importance of implementing free and fair elections over here, but we wanted to find out how aligned they were with other issues,” Ghafoor added.

According to local media, the US delegation was set to meet various political parties and senior government officials to discuss the current political situation in the Maldives.

Issues including labour laws and the protection of worker’s rights were also a topic of discussion between Nasheed and the delegates, local media reported.

James R Moore is a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs since September 2010, and previously the Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy in Colombo from 2006 to 2009.

Jane B Zimmerman is a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, responsible for South and Central Asia, the Western Hemisphere, and International Religious Freedom.

Vikram J Singh is Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for South and Southeast Asia within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defence for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs.

Singh also serves as the principal adviser to senior leadership within the Department of Defence for all policy matters pertaining to development and implementation of defence strategies and plans for the region.

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Kun’burudhoo development hampered by bureaucracy, insufficient budget

The council of the island of Kun’burudhoo in Alif Dhaal Atoll is struggling to meet its mandate of bringing development to its population of just over 500 people, a problem they say is increased due to insufficient annual budget.

The Council President Mohamed Azmy, who was voted in as an independent candidate, echoed the concerns of atoll councils and the Local Government Authority(LGA) that the biggest challenge faced by the council was the lack of adequate funding.

“Last year’s budget covered nothing more than salaries and some stationery for the office. And this year, we have received an even lower budget,” Azmy said. “To add to this, the Decentralisation Act overlaps with other stronger laws and this in the end inhibits us from fundraising through other means.”

Azmy said the Ministry of Finance had notified island councils in late 2012 that any earnings of the councils are to be considered part of the state budget and must be deposited with the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA).

Council Member Ahmed Ashraf, from the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), added that the past year’s budget had proved insufficient to maintain the office’s phone and fax lines, or to establish a work space for any of the council members besides the President.

“This is our work space,” Ashraf said, gesturing at a ‘joali’, a set of reclining seats, placed outside the office. “It’s impossible to work productively in conditions such as these. There is so much we are mandated to do for our island, but how will we achieve it unless the state can provide us with resources or at least the autonomy to raise funds ourselves?”

The councillors stated that despite a period of almost three years having passed since the local council elections, the LGA had still not transferred the government-owned lands, which can be used to generate income, to the jurisdiction of the council, citing administrative delays as a cause.

Relocation: President suggests Hulhumale’

President Mohamed Waheed Hassan pledged to address the major concerns of the council during a meeting held January 9.

Speaking of the small size of the island, and the ensuing lack of natural resources and difficulty in providing basic services, Waheed suggested relocating of the island’s population.

Vice President of the Council Mohamed Adam stated that the people of Kun’burudhoo had some demands if they were to be relocated, and that they would only accept the idea on condition that they were moved to a more developed island with a better standard of living.

“We haven’t released any land to individuals in over 30 years. Now there are large families sharing homes here and living standards are decreasing day by day,” Adam said, also pointing out the less than adequate health and education facilities.

The council said Waheed spoke of possibly moving the island’s people to Hulhumale’ during the second phase of its development or to the island of Maafushi, another island close to the capital city of Male’.

President’s Office Spokesperson Ahmed Thaufeeq denied that any mention of specific islands had been made during the time.

“Relocating smaller populations to larger islands is part of this government’s plan. However, we have not yet identified specifically which island will be relocated where. Moving people to Hulhumale’ is definitely not in our plans yet. I have no knowledge of any such plans,” he said.

Adam said that the council was aware that Waheed, as he had promised in the meeting, had approached the Health Ministry asking them to deal with the issues at the island’s health centre.

“It’s a level two health centre. Normally, centres at this tier have approximately 15 staff. In our case, we only have one doctor, one nurse, one community health officer, one administrative staff and one labourer. It’s extremely difficult to cater to people’s needs,” Azmy said. “We hope the health ministry responds to this in a timely manner.”

“There’s also the matter of our mosque. We closed it down last August when we discovered human remains on the premises. Now the ladies’ mosque is open for general use, but this cannot remain a permanent solution. We did put this matter forward to Waheed too,” Azmy continued.

The final issue the council took to the President was the matter of erosion and the damaged revetments of the recently constructed jetty.

The Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) constructed the jetty in 2009 during Nasheed’s administration.

“This island has been facing the problem of erosion for years. When Nasheed came to power, he kept his pledge and constructed this jetty for us. Now, the jetty is showing signs of wear and tear. We are speaking with the government to find a way to deal with this before matters worsen, but there’s a confusion as to who has to take responsibility,” Azmy said.

Adam said according to the government, the MTCC had not officially handed over the jetty to the government to date.

“If we try to repair this ourselves, it might end up as us acting illegally. Unless this jetty is officially handed over, we ourselves can do nothing about it,” Adam said.

Thaufeeq said that the matter was currently being discussed with MTCC. He stated that the government was working to solve the issue as soon as possible.

“Of the four issues discussed at the meeting, the only action we’ve seen so far from the government is the letter sent to the Health Ministry. There’s been no news on anything else, but I hope what was said at the meeting does translate into action soon,” Adam said.

Waste dumped into sea

“Land erosion has always been a huge problem on this island. After the jetty was built, the erosion is now occurring on the eastern side of the island, opposite from where we had the problem before,” Ashraf said.

Besides soil erosion, the second biggest issue was pollution of the seas. The island does not have any waste management system.

“We leave waste management up to the households. There is a designated area where households burn their waste, but food items and other such waste often just get dumped into the sea,” Adam said.

“I understand that the environment is a very fragile thing. Nevertheless, I don’t see how we can ask the people to not dispose of their waste in the sea unless we can show them alternative means.”

Azmy said plans had been set in place to build a garbage site on the island during the previous administration, but that the council had heard no news about the project after the change in government.

Meanwhile, a number of large dustbins have been placed along the road adjacent to the jetty, bearing the logo of Conrad Maldives Rangali Island.

“Conrad donated those dustbins. The people are only allowed to throw waste like tins, bottles and packets into it. We at the council arrange its disposal. It’s strictly not for household waste,” Ashraf explained.

“Waste management is a massive problem which our government needs to deal with. The Environment Ministry is drafting up a plan to deal with the issue. There are currently mechanisms being put in place to manage waste in Male’, and we will do the same for big and small islands across the country in time,” Thaufeeg said, in response to the matter.

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Local media “misrepresenting and twisting issues”: Indian High Commission

The Indian High Commission has issued a statement slamming local media in the Maldives for “misrepresentation and twisting of issues”.

“The High Commission has noted a recent trend in a section of local media to publish negative, unsubstantiated reports, while blacking out objective and positive news on Indian issues,” the Commission said.

“These reports have the potential to create negative public sentiment and reflect a non-serious approach by the media concerned while dealing with sensitive issues,” the statement added.

The statement highlighted several recent examples, such as coverage of the Maldivian national Ahmed Ruffan Ali, who was reported as alleging he had been “tortured” in an Indian jail after being detained for illegally smuggling peacock feathers.

“The High Commission facilitated major help and assistance for the release of the youth while in distress in India,” the statement read.

“While prominently covering the unsubstantiated and motivated statement of the sentenced youth, the media concerned did not verify the facts from the High Commission and chose to overlook the statement of the youth. His subsequent rejoinder that he was not ‘tortured’ in India has not been carried by the media, so far.”

In a rejoinder statement forwarded by the High Commission, Rufwaan expresses “deep regret” that in an article on Sun Online, “using the word ‘tortured’ is a misrepresentation made in translation of the original statement I made on January 26, speaking to the media at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA), upon arrival from India.”

Rufwaan said he had been asked by reporters as to whether he was beaten in custody, to which he “regretfully responded, “It is a jail after all, and we will get beaten. Yes I was beaten. The rules of the officers there is that, once jailed we have to beg for mercy at their feet. I refused to do that, which is why I got the beating.”

However, Rufwaan stated, “Using the word ‘torture’ insinuates that I was exposed to extreme violent treatment which was not the case. It is also the ‘cultural’ language barrier that the Dhivehi language consists of limited vocabulary which when translated to English, can fit to a variety of synonyms.

“Also, the lack of literary expertise in linguistics of the journalists can often provide misleading information and I believe this could have caused this mistake. The concerned media has taken it very lightly and when requested to correct it, responded as ‘I’ll give it a thought’,” he added.

“Hence I kindly apologise to all concerned authorities for the unfortunate choice of word used in the article, which in my understanding, creates a far more negative and graphic image of how I intended to express,” he said, expressing “profound appreciation” for the High Commission’s “constant support and assistance” throughout his detention.

Editor of Sun and head of the Maldives Journalists Association, Ahmed ‘Hiriga’ Zahir, told Minivan News that the specific word Rufwaan had used, “aniyaa”, translated to “torture”, according to Sun’s audio recordings.

“We [later] received a call, not from him, but from somebody on his behalf,” said Hiriga, acknowledging that media had a responsibility to issue a clarification or correction if this was later required. “We will be making the correction. We do not want to create any problems.”

In a second example, the High Commission highlighted a report in a daily newspaper titled “India to stop export of sand, rice to Maldives”.

“The report is grossly unsubstantiated and does not provide any credible source of its information. As far as the High Commission is aware, the government of India has taken no such decision to ban export of rice or river sand to Maldives. There is a local court injunction for the export of river sand from Tuticorin, though the importers are free to source it from any other region/state in India,” the Indian High Commission stated.

Sun Online carried a story today that the State Trading Organisation (STO) had decided to import aggregate from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka “following a temporary suspension of export of aggregate from India.”

“The Maldives has been importing aggregate from India under a special quota extended by the Indian government. The Indian Ministry of Commerce has notified Indian suppliers that the aggregate quota has been temporarily suspended from the 15th of January onwards,” Sun reported.

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Stalled hotel development costing MVR 24 million annually: MTDC

Over MVR 24 million (US$1.5 million) is being lost annually by the Maldives Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) on a stagnant hotel development in Uligamu in Haa Alif Atoll, it has been revealed.

MTDC Managing Director Mohamed Matheen told Minivan News that the corporation had been making losses on the City Hotel development after construction was halted half way into the project in 2010.

Matheen revealed that along with the City Hotel project – which had cost MVR 120 million (US$ 7.8 million) to develop it to its present state – MTDC’s Herethera Resort had also made a MVR 386 million (US$25 million) loss.

The land for City Hotel was leased to MTDC by the government on February 27, 2007, after which construction on the 100-bed hotel began. According to the 2010 annual report by MTDC, the project was halted after just 40 percent of the development had been completed.

“There have been certain issues to contend with in the project’s development. We have had some difficulties in attracting investors because of the US$1.5 million land rent and problems with the possibility of serving alcohol on the island.

“The previous board of directors had decided to terminate the contract as the land rent is costing too much. However I have made a lot of progress in trying to change that, and City Hotel can be completed by the end of this year,” Matheen claimed.

According to the MTDC website, the Maldives government has leased nine islands to the company “at a rate substantially below the market rate”. MTDC’s 2008 annual report stated that the company has over 21,000 shareholders making it one of the largest public companies in the Maldives.

In November last year, shareholders of MTDC expressed concern after the company failed to pay dividends for three consecutive years while also recording a net loss for the first time in 2011, local media reported.

Minivan News visited the City Hotel development last month with a surveyor who had worked and lived on the site in 2009.

Minivan News witnessed that the entire development, including the inside of staff and residential quarters, had become overgrown with vegetation. Assorted earth-moving machinery was idle and in disrepair.

The MTDC Managing Director stated that MVR 80,000 (US$5,181) per month – MVR 960,000 (US$ 62,176) per year – is currently being spent on the “upkeep” of the development.

“We have 14 people looking after this facility, but it seems they are not able to keep the overgrowth down.

“With another seven to eight million dollars this development would be complete. It won’t cost us much to remove the overgrowth and the rooms were already completed to their rafters. It would involve minor repairs,” Matheen added.

According to the former surveyor – speaking on condition of anonymity –  construction was halted due to external pressures from conservative religious groups regarding the sale of alcohol on an inhabited island.

Asked about this issue, Matheen said discussions had taken place with native islands , however they were “divided” on the issue of alcohol sale.

“The bread and butter of the Maldives is definitely tourism. We are maintaining [Maldivians’] livelihood through tourism, and tourists want different products other than just sun and sand.

“Ninety-nine percent of tourists are drinkers, they are not coming here for many activities, and they are coming for relaxation and peace of mind. We have to cater to their needs,” Matheen added.

A committee formed by Uligamu islanders had submitted a court case regarding the halted development, according to Matheen.

“The island committee is not happy. They also think the development is controlled by the government when the majority is controlled by public shareholders. The government is not a major shareholder.

“The case is a pressure tactic. They think we have the money and they think we are purposefully not building here. They don’t accept the reality of the situation,” Matheen added.

In January 2012, local media reported that five people have been arrested in a youth-led demonstration at Uligamu against MTDC.

The protestors had demanded a reason as to why the development of the City Hotel had ceased, according to local media reports.

Matheen said that he was attempting to reduce the land rent costs as stipulated in the Tourism Act and that a new survey report of Uligamu is to be submitted this year.

US$25 million loss in Herethera Resort

Herethera resort – owned and operated by MTDC – was also said to have made a US$25 million loss following a series of “logistical issues”, Matheen said.

“We had pumped US$53 million into Herethera, however we are paying US$2 million in land lease and our operating costs are nearly 17 percent higher than resorts in the Male’ area because of location being so far away.

“When I took over this role in July, we did not have a single booking at the resort. Now we are fully booked until February 17,” Matheen said.

The MTDC Managing Director revealed that while no other resorts owned by MTDC are currently working at a loss, he admitted that because of the locations of the properties in the far south and far north, there were certain infrastructure issues.

Last month the bidding period for the management or purchase of Herethera Resort was been extended for the third time by the MTDC.

The company has not stated why the bidding period prior to this one ceased, but in previous instances the company said it had to cancel bids due to a lack of interest from potential investors.

ONYX, a company from Thailand, managed the resort until February 2012.

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