Tag: MNDF

Budget debate begins in parliament

The budget debate began in parliament today with opposition MPs criticising higher taxes and pro-government MPs praising planned capital investments.

Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MPs contended that the budget would bring “revolutionary” changes to the economy and spur growth, noting that recurrent expenditure of MVR15.8 billion (US$1 billion) would be covered by government income or revenue of MVR21.5 billion (US$1.3 billion).

The MVR6.3 billion (US$408 million) allocated for the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP) – 24 percent of the budget – would see an unprecedented number of infrastructure projects launched in 2015, the ruling party MPs said.

Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs, however, questioned whether MVR3.4 billion (US$220 million) anticipated from proposed new revenue raising measures could be realised in full during the year.

MDP MPs also argued that the public would have to bear the burden of higher prices caused by import duty hikes and claimed the budget was “discriminatory” as constituencies represented by opposition MPs were ignored.

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Malé floods made worse due to poor condition of roads, says Malé deputy mayor

Malé City Council Deputy Mayor Shifa Mohamed says that controlling today’s floods (October 30) is made more difficult with the current condition of the capital’s roads.

Shifa told Minivan News that poor planning and a lack of maintenance had exacerbated the floods occurring across Malé City today (October 30) after heavy downpours in the morning and the afternoon.

“The drains on the sides of the roads have not been properly emptied for over 25 years. There are all sorts of junk in the drains which is clogging up the drainage system leading to floods with the slightest bit of rain,” said Shifa.

Many major roads in the the capital are currently flooded disrupting transportation with much of the south-west of the 6km sq island under water – rising a foot high in many places.

Te department of meteorology has explained that 58 millimeters of rain were recorded in the capital during two hours this morning.

The MET office predicts heavy rain in the next two days. However, wind speeds are expected to be moderate.

Local media reported that police vehicles were being used to transport students, left stranded across the city, to and from the schools.

Communications were also affected, with heavy thunder this morning damaging Dhiraagu and Television Maldives equipment, leading  to network problems and delays in the broadcast from of the state television channel.

Shifa said that the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) is assisting the council with draining the water by setting up pumps at locations most severely affected by the floods.

“We have also diverted half of our waste management team to assist the MNDF in controlling the floods and requested assistance from the National Disaster Management Centre,” explained Shifa.

The deputy mayor accused the government of having misplaced priorities, referring to the planned Malé-Hulhulé bridge project. Shifa argued that the residents of Malé do not need a bridge connecting them with the airport while the roads are in such a condition.

She also stressed the importance of reaching a mutual understanding with the government and the city council regarding the roads, urging collective efforts to repair the roads.

Malé City Council – dominated by the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) – was  formed by the 2010 Decentralisation Act – has experienced fraught relations with the central government since the fall of the MDP government in 2012.

Mayor Mohamed Shihab has complained that the main difficulty facing the council is obtaining the resources required to manage the rapidly expanding city.

Last week the council complained that is had not been informed before the cancellation of an agreement with Indian firm Tatva to to provide waste management services in the capital Malé and nearby areas.

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Coastguard to conduct joint military exercise with India, Sri Lanka

The Maldives National Defence Force’s (MNDF) coastguard will be conducting the 12th edition of the ‘Dosti’ joint military exercise with the Indian and Sri Lankan coastguards from October 28 to 31.

The Indian High Commission explained in a press statement yesterday that 11 editions of the joint exercise have taken place since 1991.

“The aim of India-Maldives-Sri Lanka Tri-Lateral Exercise ‘DOSTI’ is to further fortify the friendship, enhance mutual operational capability, and exercise interoperability and to build cooperation between the Coast Guards of Maldives, India and Sri Lanka,” the press release stated.

“The focus areas during Dosti-XII will be to exercise the important charter of Coast Guard duties, including Maritime Search and Rescue (M-SAR), Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR), Marine Pollution Response (POLRES) and Anti-piracy operations.

“For the first time the exercise will also be viewed by representatives from maritime forces of Seychelles and Mauritius.”

The military vessels involved in the exercise – two ships from the Indian coastguard, one from Sri Lanka, and two from Maldives – “will practise responding to actual emergencies of Search and Rescue, Medical evacuation and Pollution Control response at Sea which will further enhance the ability of each Coast Guard to attend to real emergencies at sea.”

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MDP condemns MNDF decision to cease providing security to MPs

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has condemned the Maldives National Defence Force’s (MNDF) decision to cease providing security to MPs despite continuing death threats.

“We note with concern that security provided by MNDF to members of the People’s Majlis from [October] 20 to 23 was stopped while death threats were made repeatedly to MDP MPs and without the security services investigating the threats and taking action and despite the present danger to the MPs,” read a press statement issued by the main opposition party last night (October 24).

The party contended that providing security to MPs was not optional as Article 105 (b) stipulates that “the security services of the state shall ensure the protection and safety of all members of the People’s Majlis.”

The MDP accused senior officials of the security services of ordering the military to cease providing protection and criticised Speaker Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed for failing to ensure the safety of opposition MPs.

The decision was made to intimidate and obstruct opposition MPs from “freely fulfilling their legal responsibilities” as elected representatives, the statement added.

The parliament secretariat sent a text message to MPs on Thursday (October 23) stating that the MNDF would cease providing security as of midnight.

The MNDF informed parliament that the decision was made after assessing the current situation, the message read.

Meanwhile, death threats were sent via text message from an unlisted number to several MDP MPs and senior members yesterday.

“Tomorrow is the last day for all of you. Watch and see. [We] will kill you,” read the message.

An MDP rally is due to take place at the carnival area of Malé tonight.

On October 19, the MNDF urged MPs to stay in at night and offered to provide personal security upon request.

The move followed the escape of two dangerous convicts from Maafushi jail, who were both apprehended in Malé last week.

The MDP said at the time that the MNDF’s offer for protection indicated the “loss of domestic security and extreme levels of fear.”

“It also shows the extent to which senior officials of the government responsible for ensuring public safety and security have lost control of terrorist activities,” the party said in a press release.

A series of attacks against the MDP’s premises and upon the homes of some of its members in late September followed months of death threats, described as too numerous to publicise by the party’s spokesman.

The Inter Parliamentary Union has previously said the government’s reaction to the death threats would be a test of its democratic credentials.

A delegation from the IPU visited the Maldives late last year, requesting an urgent assessment of the political situation following repeated allegations of threats and intimidation against Majlis members.

“The frequent intimidation, harassment and attack of MPs as they go about their work have been deeply worrying,” read an IPU press release after the delegation’s visit last November.

After meeting with the IPU earlier this month, union member and MDP MP Eva Abdulla raised concerns over the personal safety of MPs and journalists in the Maldives.

Eva – who has been in personal receipt of threats against both herself and her family members – also received a threat suggesting the MDP’s next gathering would be targeted by suicide bombers.

A subsequent rally held in Addu City was disrupted by youths with wooden planks and rocks before the party’s office in Hithadhoo was set on fire.

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Police apprehend Fariyash in Malé, soldiers authorized to shoot in search for Shahum

Maldives Police Services have apprehended escaped convict Fariyash Ahmed at a café in Malé this afternoon.

Fariyash, 26 years, of Gaaf Alif Atoll Maamendhoo Island escaped from Maafushi Jail along with Ibrahim Shahum Adam, of Galholu Cozy in Malé, where both were serving a life sentence for murder on Friday (October 17).

Home Minister Umar Naseer at a press conference today said Fariyash was arrested while drinking a coffee by himself at Tatians café in the Henveiru ward of Malé. He had shaved his beard off, taken off his glasses and was wearing a wig.

Naseer said Fariyash is under interrogation regarding Shahum’s whereabouts, and said an armed group of soldiers will be working with the police in the search.

“An armed team of soldiers will work with a police team in the search for Shahum. They have been authorized to use their weapons should they face danger. They have the discretion to shoot,” Naseer told reporters.

If the commanding police officer believes the team is in a “dangerous situation” the police team will step back and allow soldiers to take over and shoot if necessary, he explained.

Shahum had no choice but to surrender or face “very sad consequences,” the minister warned and said the government will not bear any responsibility should Shahum get killed in the search operation.

“I inform Shahum and all those who know him, hand yourself over. The government will not bear any responsibility for loss of [his] life in what may happen,” he said.

Online newspaper Sun has claimed Shahum was sighted at Le Cute shop in Malé this morning. The police are looking through CCTV footage to identify the man, the newspaper has claimed. The police have declined to comment on the matter.

The minister has also offered a prize of MVR 75,000 (US$ 4,854) for information on Shahum and Abdulla Luthfee who had escaped from authorities in 2010 while he was abroad in India for medical treatment.

Luthfee had been serving a life sentence for his role in the 1988 coup attempt.

Jailbreak

In an appearance on state broadcaster Television Maldives on Sunday night (October 19), Naseer said the two inmates had used a broken saw to cut through 22 bars on a window, climbed onto the Maafushi Jail roof and used a rope made of bed sheets to reach the ground

They had also placed pillow dummies on their beds during a nightly headcount.

The saw may have been acquired from a construction site on the prison grounds, Naseer said.

“This wasn’t planned and done in a single day. It was done under a well-planned systematic attempt,” he added.

“There is no prison in the world from which someone or the other has not escaped from. The strength of a prison system is in how quickly we recapture escapees and return them to their cells,” he also said.

“We will find them. The government is willing to use all the powers vested in them to find them, recapture them and return them to prison.”

He also revealed that investigations were ongoing to determine whether prison guards were complicit in the escape.

“Nothing we have so far found in the investigation indicates any negligence or involvement of prison guards. However, if such a thing comes to our notice, we will take immediate action,” he said

Jumhooree Party MP and former Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz in parliament today called for an independent inquiry into the jailbreak.

Opposition MPs meanwhile contended that the government’s “negligence and irresponsibility” allowed the dangerous criminals to break out from a high security prison.

The Maldives National Defense Force’s (MNDF) appeal to MPs to stay in at night following the jailbreak is indicative of the prevailing state of fear and the government’s loss of control over “terror activity in the Maldives,” MP Imthiyaz Fahmy said.

Public fears over personal safety and security was “a characteristic of a failed state,” the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP added.

The police have conducted searches on Maafushi, Himmafushi, Guraidhoo and Gulhi Islands, and continue to search vehicles and houses in Malé. The Coast Guard is helping the police conduct searches of boats.

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MPs urged to stay in at night as MNDF offers personal security

Members of the People’s Majlis have been asked to avoid going outside at night, as the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) enhances personal security from today onwards.

Described as “a step in ensuring the safety of all members of the parliament”, MPs were informed that additional personal security would be made available to any member who requested it.

“The MNDF also requests you to pay special attention to your safety and protection if you absolutely need to go outside tonight,” continued the message from the Majlis Secretariat yesterday (October 19).

MNDF spokesman Hussain Ali has confirmed that the decision was made after discussions between the Majlis and the Ministry of Defence, though he declined to comment on the specific reasons for the timing of the increased protection.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has today suggested that the move indicates the “loss of domestic security and extreme levels of fear”.

“It also shows the extent to which senior officials of the government responsible for ensuring public safety and security have lost control of terrorist activities,” read a party press release this evening.

The move follows a growing number of threats made against MPs in recent months, with the Inter Parliamentary Union having described the government’s reaction as a test of its democratic credentials.

A series of attacks against the MDP’s premises and upon the homes of some of its members in late September followed months of death threats, described as too numerous to mention by the party’s spokesman.

Attacks on elected officials have become more common in recent years, most notably the brutal murder of Progressive Party of Maldives MP Dr Afrasheem Ali in October 2012.

Earlier this year, MDP MP Alhan Fahmy was nearly paralysed after being stabbed in the back in a busy restaurant in the capital Malé.

A delegation from the IPU visited the Maldives late last year, requesting an urgent assessment of the political situation following repeated allegations of threats and intimidation against Majlis members.

“The frequent intimidation, harassment and attack of MPs as they go about their work have been deeply worrying,” read an IPU press release after the delegation’s visit last November.

After meeting with the IPU earlier this month, union member and MDP MP Eva Abdulla raised concerns over the personal safety of MPs and journalists in the Maldives.

“[Eva] spoke about the lack of thorough investigations of these cases, perpetrators not facing trial, the failure of law enforcement in the face of atrocities committed out in the open, the failure of the People’s Majlis to look into the cases, and the creation of a culture of intimidation in the Maldives,” explained an MDP press release after the meeting.

Eva – who has been in personal receipt of threats against both herself and her family members – also received a threat suggesting the MDP’s next gathering would be targetted by suicide bombers.

A subsequent rally held in Addu City was disrupted by youths with wooden planks and rocks before the party’s headquarters in Hithadhoo were attacked by arsonists.

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Manhunt underway for escaped convicts

Police have launched a manhunt for two convicts serving life sentences who escaped from Maafushi jail on Friday night (October 17).

Police intelligence learned around 8:15pm that cell mates Ibrahim Shahum Adam, 23, from Galolhu Cozy in Malé, and Fariyash Ahmed, 26, from Javahiruvaadhee in Gaaf Alif Maamendhoo, had broken out, police revealed in a statement last night.

Police asked the Maldives Correctional Service (MCS) around 8:30pm to check their cell.

The pair reportedly escaped through a ventilation shaft from the ‘Pentagon’ unit.

Home Ministry’s Media Coordinator Thazmeel Abdul Samadh told Minivan News today that the suspects might still be in Maafushi.

A joint search effort involving police, MCS and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) is ongoing to check the area around the prison as well as warehouses and guest houses on the island, Thazmeel said.

The MNDF’s coastguard is searching the sea around Maafushi, he added.

Police said today that an investigating team and an operation team were sent to Maafushi and were currently searching the island as well as nearby uninhabited islands and resorts.

Thazmeel said nearby resorts have been informed about the breakout and stressed that the government was employing “all available resources” to find the escapees.

Police have urged anyone with information of the escaped convicts to call the police hotline number 3322111 or the serious and organised crime department at 9911099.

“Every prison escape is an opportunity for Prison Officers to identify the loop holes and improve the system while we hunt them down,” Home Minister Umar Naseer tweeted today.

In March 2013, Shahum was convicted on terrorism charges in connection with the murder of Mohamed Hussain, 17, from Maafanu Beauty Flower in Malé  in July 2010.

Fariyash was sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the murder of Mohamed Shihab, from Kaduolhi in Gaaf Alif Villigili, on the island of Maamendhoo in 2006.

Shahum is also on trial for the murder of 21-year-old Ahusan Basheer near the NC Park in Malé. The Criminal Court has concluded hearings of the case and is due to deliver a verdict.

Shahum allegedly stabbed Basheer in February 2011 after he was released by Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed following six months in remand detention. He was later taken into custody from an uninhabited island.

In June 2011, the Criminal Court found Shahum guilty of assault and battery in an unrelated case and sentenced him to one year’s imprisonment.

The victim told the court that Shahum attacked him with a wooden plank after he refused to have tea with him. The victim explained that Shahum was studying with him at an Imam training course and that he had to drop out of the course due to haraassment from Shahum

Shahum was also among nine individuals detained and labelled by police as “dangerous criminals” involved in violent assault.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has meanwhile blamed the government’s “irresponsibility and incompetence” for the jail break.

In a press statement today, the main opposition party contended that public safety has been lost while murders, violent assaults, and drug trafficking has reached “extreme levels” under the current administration.

The public has been expressing concern with the government’s inability to bring perpetrators who commit crimes in “broad daylight” to face justice, the party said.

The MDP called on the government to conduct a thorough investigation and hold culpable officials accountable.

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US naval ship to visit Maldives

A United States naval ship is due to visit the Maldives in mid-October as part of a routine patrol of the Indian Ocean, the US embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka has said.

The USS Rodney M. Davis is “an Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided-missile frigate with the U.S. 7th Fleet”, the embassy explained in a press release.

The ship’s officers and crew are expected to work with the Maldives National Defence Force, including its coast guard, “to improve regional security through close communication, coordination and information exchanges, while supporting at-sea and ashore training opportunities.”

“It will be tremendously beneficial to build on our excellent relationships with the maritime nations of the Indian Ocean,” the press release quoted Vice Admiral Robert Thomas, Commander US 7th Fleet, as saying.

“The area is critical to regional security, and the partnerships we build with this training will go a long way to creating a more professional and stable maritime environment.”

“My crew and I are excited to visit the Maldives,” said Commander Todd Whalen, commanding officer of the Rodney M. Davis, expressing gratitude to the Maldivian government for the opportunity to visit the country.

“We are grateful for the chance to make new friends and work with our counterparts in the Maldivian National Defence Forces.”

According to the embassy, “the Rodney M. Davis is on patrol in the 7th Fleet area of responsibility supporting security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.”

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MNDF website hacked

The website of the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) was hacked this morning and is currently offline.

MNDF Spokesperson Major Hussain Ali told local media that control of the site has since been regained.

“It’s going to happen again,” reads a message on the hacked home page under the date ‘7-11-2014.’

“There are only two ways to live. One is though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle,” read the rest of the message.

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