Tag: President Mohamed Nasheed

President talks climate with German Minister for Environment

President Mohamed Nasheed met yesterday with German Minister for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Dr Norbert Röttgen, at the Federal Ministry for Environment.

President Nasheed thanked Minister Röttgen and Germany’s constructive role at COP15 last year. He asked the EU for support in implementing the Copenhagen Accord.

President Nasheed also sought German assistance for adaptation and mitigation projects. He also discussed the importance of reaching a legally binding treaty in COP16, the next international climate summit to be held in Mexico later this year.

Dr Röttgen praised the president for his role in the Copenhagen Summit and said Germany would continue to support the Maldives in its efforts to tackle climate change.

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President Nasheed meets with financial sector experts in Germany

President Mohamed Nasheed met with officials from the development banking sector in Germany yesterday.

President Nasheed discussed investment and assistance for the Maldives at a meeting with representatives from KfW Entwicklungsbank (German Development Bank), German Investment and Development Company (DEG), and Senior Expert Services (SES).

They focused on the areas of investment in renewable energy, tourism and the fisheries industry.

The president sought assistance from the SES in restructuring state-owned enterprises.

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Government approves project for floating golf course

The Maldivian government has signed a contract with Dutch Docklands of the Netherlands to develop a floating golf course and hotel in the Maldives.

Minister of Trade and Economy Mohamed Rasheed signed the contract on behalf of the Maldives, and Chief Executive Officer Wen Di Cam signed on behalf of Dutch Docklands.

President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed and Ambassador of the Netherlands to the Maldives Leoni Margaretha Cuelenaere attended the ceremony held at the President’s Office on 4 March when the agreement was signed.

Cam said the Docklands was proud to develop the floating centres in the Maldives and the company would seek a good location for the development.

He said the company would start the project as soon as possible after doing the necessary studies.

Press Secretary for the President’s Office Mohamed Zuhair said the project would be “very beneficial for the country.”

He added that it would increase the number of tourists visiting the country.

”Most of our resorts do not have a golf centre due to lack of space,” Press Secretary Zuhair said, noting that ”Golf has a good market in the world.”

Deputy Minister for Environment Mohamed Shareef said the floating golf centres would be “much better and more environmentally friendly than reclaiming land.”

Shareef noted the floating developments would be stabilised by anchoring.

dutch docklands2
Proposed golf course in the Maldives

”It would not be very harmful for the environment,” he said, ”the only damage is that it will block the sunlight from the stones and corals.”

He added that there were showcases of floating centres made by the same company in Australia.

”They are now developing such centres in the Middle East,” said Shareef. ”We would not compromise our environment for anything.”

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is responsible for conducting environmental impact assessments, has not yet been consulted on the project according to its director Mohamed Zuhair.

The project would “definitely have negative environmental impacts”, he said, but added that “it is not for the EPA to assess the risks of this project at this stage. The contractor [Dutch Docklands] is responsible for finding a suitable consultant to assess the risks.”

Zuhair said once project proposal by Dutch Docklands’ is finished, it will be submitted to the EPA who will then screen the project. The EPA will then provide an environmental assessment report.

“They can only start actual work once they have EPA approval,” he noted.

Director of environmental NGO Bluepeace, Ali Rilwan, said as long as the project was conducted in an environmentally friendly manner he thought it was “very exciting” and “innovative and weird”.

“I don’t think there should be a problem,” he said, “but it depends on how they do it.”

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President departs on four-nation European tour

President Mohamed Nasheed has departed this morning on his four-nations European tour.

The president is to visit Germany, Iceland, Switzerland and Finland.

President Nahseed will meet with political and industry leaders, as well as investors and climate experts in all four countries.

The president is scheduled to visit ITB Berlin, an international travel and trade show held yearly in Berlin.

He will also hold a lecture on climate change at the Freie Universität Berlin hosted by the Environmental Policy Research Centre. The Freie Universität is one of the leading research universities in Germany, and ranks among the best in the country.

President Nasheed will then attend a public lecture in Iceland, followed by a speech at the Seminar and Policy Debate organised by the Finnish Institute of International Affaris (FIIA), which produces topical information on international relations with the EU.

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President speaks of improving electricity and healthcare

In his weekly radio address on the Voice of Maldives on Friday morning, President Mohamed Nasheed spoke of providing affordable and reliable electricity, and quality healthcare, in the islands.

He said it was important that all islands receive electricity from their respective provincial utilities company. President Nasheed said that in his recent visits to the atolls he found the utilities companies provided electricity more efficiently than in the previous system, where electricity was managed by communities.

He added, however, that some islands are opposing the policy to transfer the management of island powerhouses to utilities companies.

Speaking on healthcare, President Nasheed said it was an important priority of the government. He said the government is continuously working to improve the standard of healthcare facilities in the islands.

He added that once the nationwide transport system is complete, it will complement the healthcare policy, as it will provide people better access to their nearest health facility, if the service they require is not available on their island.

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Some salaries restored, rest to follow in April

The reduced salaries of staff at independent commissions, courts, parliament and the judicial services have been restored while civil servant salaries will follow in April, the government has said.

State Minister for Finance Ahmed Assad said the salaries had been increased in line with the budget approved by parliament and that the salaries of civil servants and staff at other government institutions would follow when the government’s economic condition stabilised.

“The government intends to restore salaries sooner than April if possible,” Assad said, adding that he would have preferred all salaries to be restored at the same time.

Speaking during his weekly radio address, the president said the government’s present situation was “unsustainable” and the Maldives had “the highest wages in the world relative to expenditure over income”.

“Despite criticisms and calls for protests by several people, public servants appreciate the value and importance of public sector reforms undertaken by the government,” he claimed.

“Fiscal adjustments” were necessary, he said, because of the country’s large financial deficit.

“I [therefore] wish to thank all civil servants very much.”

The president’s press secretary Mohamed Zuhair said he expected that the government’s economic condition to improve by April.

He further added that the decision to restore the salaries was “not related” to Thursday night’s protest outside the president’s residence, Muleeage.

Spokesperson for the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Mohamed Fahmy Hassan sounded disappointed and said it was hard for him to trust the president’s words because they differed from the actions of the finance ministry “and the way things have gone.”

“We do not know what to [do] now,” he said, adding that it was unfair for government staff other than civil servants to receive the restored salaries.

”We have been repeatedly begging the finance ministry,” he said. “The president wishes the best for civil servants, but these things are happening without the knowledge of the president.”

Spokesperson for the Civil Servants Association (CSA) Abdulla Waheed said the government was ruling the Maldives “as if there was no law.”

He said that the CSA was planning to hold a protest in front of finance ministry on Tuesday.

Many civil servants were “afraid to come out for protest because they might be fired,” he added.

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President Nasheed returns home after overseas trip

President Nasheed has returned to Male’ after concluding his trip to Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and India.

The president’s first stop was at Abu Dabi to attend the World Future Energy Summit.

In his address the President said that the change needed to combat climate change was radical, “although we do not possess all the technologies” to do so.

Nasheed emphasised that countries and companies who led the change through their capacity for innovation would be the winners of the century.

He claimed countries would need to learn to live within planetary boundaries, and further added that by the end of the century, “the entire world needs to go carbon neutral.”

The president also told the summit that the Copenhagen accord would need to be strengthened, and that in its current form would not prevent catastrophic climate change.

“The vast majority of world leaders are determined to strengthen the Copenhagen Accord,” he said.

When that happened, he said, “market failures” would be corrected and carbon pollution would be properly penalised.

“To my mind, the smart money is green,” said Nasheed.

The summit billed itself as the the world’s platform for sustainable future energy solutions, providing “an ideal networking event for industry leaders, investors, scientists, specialists, policymakers and researchers to discuss the challenges of rising energy demand and actions to achieve a cleaner and more sustainable future for the world.”

Bahrain

In Bahrain, the President held meetings with senior government officials as well as with the banking, investment, and finance sectors in Bahrain.

Nasheed met Talal Al Zain, CEO of Bahrain Sovereign Wealth Fund,Dr Esam Abdulla Yousif Fakhro, Chairman of Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and, Mr Easam Yousif Janahi, Chairman of First Energy Bank and Gulf Finance House.

The meetings centred on the business and investment opportunities available in the Maldives. Discussions were also held on forging cooperation between Maldives fishing industry and Bahrain fishing companies.

India

In Chennai, India, Nasheed attended the Partnership Summit 2010 organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Nasheed addressed the summit and said “the government was looking for investors for public sector investment programmes, particularly in utilities and other infrastructure projects.”

President Nasheed also visited a wind turbine manufacturing facility in Vengal near Chennai, India.

“The evolution of wind turbine technology means it is now easy to generate electricity even at low wind speeds,” he said.

“This opens up significant opportunities to set up wind parks in newer locations,” he added.

The president was also present at the signing ceremony when the Government of Maldives signed an agreement with Apollo Hospitals to manage Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in Male’.

“We have immense faith in Apollo Hospitals and the pioneering spirit of the group,” he said.

“Under the able leadership of the visionary Dr Reddy, we are certain that IGMH and the Maldives will emerge as a global healthcare destination,” the president said.

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Former president denies human rights abuses in 30-year rule

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has denied that human rights abuses and torture in prisons occurred during his 30-year reign.

Taking questions from listeners yesterday on DhiFM’s “One-to-One” live call-in show, Gayoom categorically denied that he ordered anyone to be tortured.

“No Maldivian citizen was unjustly punished that I was aware of or on my orders,” he said.

He added he was not aware of torture in jails or custodial deaths and it would not have taken place on his orders.

“When I received complaints, I looked into it. I did get complaints of torture in jails or unjust punishment in other ways. Every case would have been investigated,” he said.

In some cases, commissions were formed to investigate the allegations, he continued, while other cases were sent to court.

Responding to a question on whether he could prove his 30-year rule was not autocratic, Gayoom said he always governed in full compliance with the constitution and was re-elected in free and fair elections.

“I did not come to power or remain in power by using military force,” he said.

Appearing on the same show last week, President Mohamed Nasheed, a former Amnesty International “Prisoner of Conscience”, said he recently found a letter to the former president, also minister of defence at the time, from the officer-in-charge of police.

“It says in a lot of cases many citizens were taken before court without any evidence in the way the government wanted,” he said.

At the time, said Nasheed, such things were commonplace.

Asked about the letter, Gayoom said he could not recall a particular letter as he would have received thousands during the past 30 years.

“I might remember if it happened or not if that letter is shown to me and how I acted upon it or if I didn’t,” he said, adding he could not recall it off the top of his head.

If Nasheed showed him the letter, he continued, he would explain how it happened.

Although the pair has not met since the hand-over of power last year, Gayoom said he has had telephone conversations with the president and exchanged text messages.

Fielding questions

After thanking him for “getting rid of drugs in four months”, a caller asked Gayoom about a man from Fuahmulah who was “brought to Male’ on an allegation, punished and killed in Dhoonidhoo” in 1982.

Another caller asked, “Do you know that an island called Mandhoo exists?”

Gayoom addressed a number of issues ranging from tsunami reconstruction, his future in politics and the state of the nation.

The former president said he has not made a decision on remaining as leader of the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party or contesting for the presidency in 2013.

“I am still thinking about it. God willing, the people will know my decision very soon,” he said.

Defending his record on island development, Gayoom said there was only one government school in the atolls when he took office in 1978, but there were schools now in all inhabited islands.

Moreover, he built island offices, atoll offices and atoll houses as well as mosques, health centres and harbours.

Infant mortality was reduced from 120 from every 1,000 births to 10, he said, while life expectancy rose from 48 to over 70 years.

International institutions and agencies have noted that of all the Asian countries affected by the tsunami, he said, Maldives made the best use of foreign aid.

Gayoom said about US$80 million pledged by the institutions and foreign nations was not delivered.

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President opens football stadium in Hinnavaru

President Mohamed Nasheed yesterday opened a football stadium in Lhaviyani atoll Hinnavaru built by Palm Beach Resort and Spa.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the president thanked the management of the resort for its “generous gift” to the people of the island.

The president then watched a friendly football match between a team from Hinnavaru and Palm Beach.

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