Health Ministry: Suspected swine-flu victim still not tested

The 20-year-old woman who was quarantined recently after she tested positive for Influenza-A has still not been tested for swine flu, the Health Ministry has said.

A statement issued by the Health Ministry said that the blood sample taken from the suspected swine-flu victim had been sent to Sri Lanka for testing on Sunday, a day after she arrived in Malé from Sri Lanka. According to the statement, the blood sample had still not reached the laboratory to which it had been sent to because of some problems that the DHL delivery service was having. The statement did not give specify exactly what problem DHL was facing but said that they were doing everything possible to ensure that the blood samples were delivered to the laboratory as soon as possible.

The Health Ministry had previously said that the young woman was 22 years old, and that she had gone to Sri Lanka on 4th August for medical reasons. She had returned to Malé last Saturday night. So far 75 cases of swine flu have been reported in Sri Lanka.

Only one Maldivian has so far been confirmed for swine flu. The 47-year-old woman was tested after she exhibited symptoms of the disease after arriving in Malé from the UK, after spending one day in Sri Lanka. She was released from quarantine last week, after she recovered from the disease.

One other person, an expatriate woman working in one of the resorts, was tested positive for swine flu in Maldives. The 39-year-old Indonesian woman, who works at the Coco Palm Beach in Baa atoll, was tested positive for Influenza-A on 23 July. She was later confirmed for swine flu and has now been released from quarantine after spending seven days under observation there.

According to the Health Ministry, the screening done at the International Airport from 28 April onwards had so far found more than 30 people infected with Influenza-A.

Civil Service Commission wants to reduce wages of all who receive Government paychecks

The Civil Service Commission wants to ensure that the wages of all Government employees would be reduced in a fair and equal manner, the Commission has said.

Speaking on the Cabinet’s earlier decision to decrease the wages of civil servants in addition to political appointees from 1 September onwards, Civil Service Commission member Mohamed Fahumee said that the Commission was always supportive of issues concerning the stability of the Government but that all employees had to be given equal treatment.

“We believe that wages should not only be reduced for political appointees and civil servants,” he said. “There are other positions that receive a Government salary. The Police and MNDF officials are also on Government paychecks. Same for many working at Judicial. All of them had their salaries increased recently, just like all civil servants.”

He further said that relevant discussions were underway with the Finance Ministry, since they were responsible for the changes in salaries. He however said that so far they had come to a decision about the wage reduction for civil servants.

Dhiraagu web servers, internet network under attack

The degradation to the internet services provided by Dhiraagu was due to a series of Distributed Denial of Service (DDos) attacks to Dhiraagu Internet Network and Web Servers, the company has said.

This is the second time that the hackers have caused disruptions to the internet services provided by the biggest communications company in Maldives.

The attacks began around noon on Tuesday and continued late into the night. Users subscribed to the ISP experienced slow traffic, failure to access websites hosted on Dhiraagu servers and total loss of internet connectivity.

The Marketing Communications Manager of Dhiraagu, Mohamed Mirushaan, said that the degradation to their internet services had been caused due to the attack by hackers. He said that their investigations into the attack led them to believe that that the hackers were using a new method to attack their network and servers. He further said that they had finally been able to resolve the problems late that night.

An announcement released by the company on Tuesday stated that they had “successfully restored normal service for broadband internet customers” but that their web hosting service was not fully restored.

“We are currently working towards fully resolving the webhosting service and bringing all services to normal and further protect the network,” the announcement said.

According to Dhiraagu the DDoS attack was a new method being used by hackers now.

“Some days back hackers used the same method to attack Facebook and Google,” Mirushaan said.

Dhiraagu customers experienced similar problems accessing websites hosted on Dhiraagu servers on Thursday morning too. – HNS

President Nasheed: Government committed to strengthening national economic fundamentals

The Government is committed to strengthening the national economic fundamentals, increasing productivity and addressing the bottlenecks to economic activities, President Nasheed has said. He made the statement in his address on the economic and fiscal policy of the Government during a meeting with the Maldivian business community held at Muleeage on Wednesday.

In his statement President Nasheed spoke on the state of the economy and the economic forecasts as well as the Government’s short term fiscal policy, exchange rate, and monetary policy.

Stating that the economy of the Maldives was facing a critical economic situation, the President said a dramatic fall in fiscal revenue since the latter part of 2008 combined with large fiscal and external imbalances had led to budget deficits of worrying proportions. President Nasheed said that the Maldives could face a severe fiscal and balance of payments crisis in the months to come, unless a substantial policy adjustment is put in place.

He said that the Government was therefore, committed to implementing a policy program to stabilize the economy and put it back on a path of sustainable and equitable growth. He said that the key elements of the policy program include: bringing public finances on a sustainable path, including through a continuous reduction in public debt from 2010; mustering adequate multilateral and bilateral assistance; and, strengthening the liquidity and capital position of the banking system.

The President said the government‘s aim was bringing its finances back to a sustainable medium-term trajectory. In his statement, the President stressed that the government would also take decisive actions on the revenue side. Furthermore, the President said by early 2010, a new “green tax” per incoming tourist at the airport will be introduced. The President said that he was confident that the overall result of the policy program would be fruitful and urged the people to give their support for the benefit of the whole nation.

Maldives signs MoU with Chinese company to build 4000 housing units

The Maldives Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Chinese Government company, National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corporation (CMEC), to build 4000 of the proposed 10,000 housing units in Malé and other atolls.

The MoU was signed at a meeting held at the Economic Ministry on Tuesday. Housing, Transport and Environment Minister Mohamed Aslam signed the MoU on behalf of Maldives while the secretary of committee of CCP Director Yan Wan Seng signed on behalf of CMEC.

Speaking at the meeting, the State Minister for Economic Development Mohamed Adil Saleem said that the Government will complete the payment for the 4000 housing units over a long period.

“The payment for the construction of the housing units will be completed over a long period of time and will incur very low interests,” he said. “We talked about handing over 4000 of the proposed 10,000 housing units to the Chinese Government company because it would be difficult for any party to build the 10,000 housing units in one go and we wanted to keep other options available.”

Out of the 4000 housing units assigned to CMEC, 1000 is to be constructed in Malé area: Villingili, Hulhumale’ and Male’. The remaining 3000 units will be built in the atolls. Work on the project is expected to begin within the next three months. – HNS

Military hospital to be set up at VOM building, helipad at Henveiru Park

A 25-bed military hospital will be set up at the Voice of Maldives building in Henveiru ward and a helipad established in the park in front of the building, the Defence Ministry has said.

Speaking at a news conference held at the Coast Guard building, Defence Minister Ameen Faisal said that the military hospital, being constructed under the aid of the Indian Government, will not limit its services to military personnel.

“Our objective is to provide treatment to those people who are brought there under emergency conditions,” he said. “The hospital will provide its services to any Maldivian who needs emergency medical assistance.”

Minister Ameen said that there were many Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) officers who were trained abroad as doctors and that many more were even now undergoing training in such fields.

A joint press release issued by the MNDF and Indian High Commission said that the Indian Government would provide all the necessary assistance to establish the 25-bed military hospital in Malé, including training the MNDF doctors and paramedics.

The Minister said that the helipad would be constructed in the park in front of the VOM building in order to provide swift medical assistance to those who are brought there in emergency situations.

He further said that the helicopter promised by the Indian Government would arrive in Maldives by the end of next month. The expenses for the helicopter would be borne by the Indian Government for the first three years, he said, adding that they were also training pilots for the helicopters.

The joint statement further said that the Indian Navy and MNDF would carry out joint surveillance and patrolling of the seas in the region. – HNS

President Nasheed meets Asia Pacific Forum Director

President Mohamed Nasheed met with Kieren Fitzpatrick, Director of Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF), on Monday.

Discussions were focused on Maldives becoming a full member of the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (ICC).

Maldives was granted Observer Status at the ICC in 2008.

At the meeting, discussions were also focused on further consolidating human rights in the Maldives and complying with internationally acceptable human rights norms.

The President of the Maldivian Human Rights Commission, Ahmed Saleem, participated in the meeting.

National Planning: Malé inflation rate increased by seven percent in one year

The inflation rate in Malé increased by 7.35 percent during the last 12 months compared to the previous 12 months, the Department of National Planning has said.

A statement issued by the Department said that excluding the changes in fish prices, inflation had rose by 8.21 percent when compared to last year. The inflation rate in Malé in June this year was at 8.63 percent.

According to the Department, the inflation rate had risen by 0.86 percent last June when compared to the same month the previous year. Excluding the price of fish, the percentage is even higher at 3.15 percent.

Despite the overall rise in inflation compared to last year, inflation had actually declined by 0.81 percent in July this year.

Man who refused to stand during trial sentenced to seven months

A man who refused the judge’s order to stand up during the trial held at the High Court on Sunday was sentenced to seven months in jail.

Hassan Zareer, the Assistant Legal Officer of the High Court, said on Monday that the man who had been sentenced for disobeying the judge was Ahmed Naseem of Dhilkushaage / North Ari atoll Himandhoo. Naseem was arrested in connection to the disturbance that occurred in Himandhoo in 2007 and was subsequently convicted of terrorism charges and sentenced to 15 years in jail.

The Court official said that when Naseem had refused to stand up the judge had asked him whether he wanted to be punished. However, Naseem had refused to stand up. The judge had asked Naseem to stand up in order to address him, the Court official said. He further said that Naseem had refused to stand up during previous hearings also.

“Judges won’t mete out sentences every time someone refuses to stand up,” the Court official said. “But this is not the first time that Naseem has refused to comply with the judge’s request. And the judge did try to advice him.”

MPs call for harsher punishments for those involved in gang crimes

MPs called for harsher punishments for those involved in gang related crimes at Monday’s sitting of the People’s Majlis.

Discussing the bill to curb escalating gang violence in the country, MPs said that such a bill had been long overdue. They said that the approved bill should include harsh punishments for those who organize, actively participate and sponsor such crimes and activities.

All the members who spoke at the sitting were in support of the bill, with some alleging that the gangs had flourished as a result of the self-serving actions of some politicians looking for personal gains. Others said that the gangs were thriving because violent criminals were regularly being released into society.

Speaking at the Majlis sitting, Hoarafushi MP Ahmed Rasheed said that criminal gangs had made life very difficult for residents of some islands and alleged that the previous Government had not taken adequate measures to nip the problem in the bud.

Ihavandhoo MP Ahmed Abdulla said that even though such crimes were not rare before 2000, gang violence had increased substantially in recent years. He noted that the despite the increase in such cases, the number of people convicted for such crimes was very low.

While all MPs were in favour of the bill, they also noted that it was important to find out the underlying reasons for the creation of such gangs and find a solution for it.