Bill on President, Vice President’s salary sent to committee

The Bill on the salaries and benefits due to the President and Vice President was accepted by the People’s Majlis on Tuesday.

The Bill was proposed by Hulhu-Henveiru MP Reeko Moosa Manik and was accepted unanimously by the 59 MPs in attendance. The Bill was then submitted for review by the same committee that is reviewing the Bill on privileges and protection for former presidents.

Like in previous discussions, the MPs who spoke at Tuesday’s sitting were of the opinion that the salaries and benefits for the President and Vice President should be clearly specified in the legislation. They said that their expenditure should be limited dependant on the country’s financial status.

The main area of contention among the MPs regarding the Bill was their stand on the official residence of the President and the amalgamation of two bills; one about the salaries and benefits to the President and Vice President and the other bill proposed by Villi-Maafannu MP Ahmed Nihan on the security and privileges offered to former presidents.

Cabinet discusses Herethere Resort issue

Cabinet members on Tuesday discussed the delays in reaching a decision on the legal dispute between Yacht Tours and Maldives Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) over the Herethere Resort issue.

Noting that many families of employees who had been dismissed from their jobs at Herethere Resort as well as the Government and the shareholders of MTDC were being affected, the Cabinet members expressed their concern over the delay in court.

The Cabinet noted that the reasons provided by the Court for the delay were not adequate in view of the sensitivity of the issue and because of the loss being incurred by the Government and the people because of the delay in Court.

The Cabinet has therefore decided to seek justification for the delay and to request the Judicial Service Commission to take necessary action and seek advice the government under the Article 159(e) of the Constitution.

Malaysia’s Limkokwing gives 200 scholarships to Maldives

Malaysia’s Limkokwing University of Creative Technology has given Maldives an additional 200 scholarships and started accepting applications on Tuesday. The University had earlier announced that they would be awarding 200 scholarships to Maldives.

Speaking at the function held at the Maldives Monetary Authority to begin accepting applications for the scholarships, the Human Resources Minister Hassan Latheef said that those seeking to apply for the 400 scholarships will have to submit their applications within the next three days. He said that the courses are scheduled to begin in August and includes undergraduate courses, post graduate courses and degree courses.

The Minister further said that the scholarships were worth US$5 million and that the University had promised to give a discount of 30 to 50 percent. A further 50 percent discount will be given on the course tuition fees, he said.

The Ministry said that even though only a short period had been given to apply for the current courses, the time frame given to apply for the next batch of courses would be longer.

Health Ministry: Viral fever spreading in all atolls of Maldives

A viral fever is swiftly spreading across all the atolls of the country, the Health Ministry has said.

According to the Ministry’s Centre for Community Health and Disease Control has said that in addition to viral fevers, there were reports that flu, diarrhea, and dengue fever was also spreading swiftly in many islands of the Maldives. An official from the Centre said that the highest number of cases had been reported in six atolls: Haa Alifu, Haa Dhaalu, Lhaviyani, Laamu, Gaafu Alifu, and Gaafu Dhaalu atolls.

The official said that a total 1,463 cases of viral fever had been reported in Malé between 14 June and 11 July. A total of 7,943 viral fever cases were reported between the same timeframe from the atolls, while 32,569 cases of viral fever had been reported up to 11 June this year, the official said.

Two expatriates die after climbing into hotel well

Two expatriate men who climbed into a well in a hotel in Malé died inside the well on Tuesday night.

The incident occurred around 11:15pm.

The well is inside the hotel called Paramount Hotel at Ma. Asbaabuge, which caters to expatriates. When the two men failed to emerge from the well after a long time, the Police were notified and the two men were finally pulled out of the well by a Fire & Rescue team from the Maldives National Defence Force. According to a Police official, the two men were dead by the time they were taken to the Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital.

The well is covered by a lid which has a hatch that barely allows space for a person to climb through. The Police official said that one of the expatriates was a Bangladeshi and the other an Indian.

A similar incident had occurred in March last year when five men had suffocated after climbing down a well in the fish market.