Two injured in collision between cargo boat, ferry

Two people were injured when a ferry boat from from Kaafu atoll Maafushi crashed into a cargo boat while trying to enter the Malé harbor area.

According to a Police Media Official, two men on the ferry were injured in the accident and had to be given medical treatment at the Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital. The official however did not say how serious the injuries were.

The cargo boat was carrying around 50 passengers when it crashed into the passenger ferry, the official said, adding that the sundeck and several doors of the ferry had been damaged in the collision.

In an unrelated incident, a speedboat crashed into two other speedboats the same day, as an unlicensed driver tried to navigate the speedboat out through the channel into the open sea.

The Media Official said that the Marine Police was investigating the two incidents.

Young man injured in knife attack in Malé

An 18-year-old boy suffered slash wounds to his back when he was attacked while near the Ameenee Building on Ameenee Magu last Saturday night.

The boy was injured during a gang fight between two rival street gangs around 10:00pm. The boy had suffered a seven-inch long wound across his back and stab wound near the shoulder, according to the Maldives Police Service. Police also said that the boy had been treated at the Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital and released.

No one has so far been arrested in connection to the disturbance, a Police Media Official said.

Gang fights between rival streets gangs have become a very common occurrence in Malé and other islands of the country. A young man was seriously injured during such a fight last week in Seenu atoll Hithadhoo. Several people were also arrested in Seenu atoll Maradhoo and Feydhoo the same week.

President Nasheed tops TIME magazine’s “Heroes of the Environment 2009” list

President Mohamed Nasheed was chosen by TIME magazine for its Heroes of the Environment 2009 list. In this week’s issue of TIME magazine, President Nasheed tops the list of leaders and visionaries for his advocacy on climate change.

In his interview with the magazine, President Nasheed said the Maldives was on the world’s frontline of climate change. “And, in a sense, we are its only hope,” he said.

In March, the Government announced its target of becoming carbon neutral within a decade by shifting to renewable energy and offsetting emissions. The TIME article states that environmentalists hail the president as “a climate change standard bearer.”

During President Nasheed’s visit to New York, he was one of the eight world leaders chosen by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, to address the UN Summit on Climate Change. President Nasheed also addressed the High-Level Climate Summit of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), which was the first summit of the AOSIS coalition held at heads of state or government level.

Umar Naseer’s house, car vandalized

Vandals poured black oil on Umar Naseer’s car and splashed black oil across the front door of his house last Saturday night.

Umar Naseer, President of the Islamic Democratic Party (IDP), was in Sri Lanka when his car and house were vandalized. Speaking to Haveeru reporters over the phone, Umar said that his car was parked outside his house H. Dhonjeymuge when the vandals had struck around midnight.

“My wife called me around 2:00am,” Umar said. “Later that morning, she called me up and told me that she had heard a loud noise just before she had gone to sleep. So it’s most likely the attack happened around 2:30am or so.”

Umar said that he believed he was the target of such attacks because there were people who could not digest his criticism against the incumbent Government.

“Due to our actions the Government is under a lot of pressure,” he said. “That’s the main reason I am the target of such attacks.”

In a previous act of vandalism, the windshield of Umar’s car had been shattered. A group of people had also tried to splash black oil on him as he was leaving the TVM building after attending a live program. However, they had not been successful and the black oil had splashed onto a person near Umar.

AP calls on Government not to restore diplomatic ties with Israel

Following the signing of three agreements to restore diplomatic relations between Maldives and Israel last Friday, the Adhaalath Pary (AP) has appealed to the Government to abandon the plans.

A statement issued by the AP last Saturday said that even thought they believed that there shouldn’t be any country that the Maldives shouldn’t develop political and diplomatic ties with, restoring ties with Israel was not something that the citizens of Maldives can easily accept. The statement further said that the Party was concerned about the Government’s decision since the Maldives was emerging as a very vocal opponent of undemocratic practices by other countries.

The statement went on to say that the Adhaalath Party was against restoring diplomatic relations with Israel because it was a country that existed outside the international boundaries, ignored many UN resolutions, and blatantly flaunted its utter disrespect for UN orders.

The Adhaalath Party’s statement also said the current priority for the country was to recover from the severe economic depression that the country was in.

AFP reported last week that Maldives had signed three Memorandums of Understanding with Israel last Friday for collaboration in health and education services and tourism promotion. The President’s Office had confirmed the news later.

President Nasheed seeks international assistance for Maldives at UNGA

In his first address to the General Debate of United Nations General Assembly, President Nasheed has urged the international community to assist the Maldives.

Thanking the international community for their invaluable support in securing democratic transition in the Maldives, President Nasheed expressed his hope that the international community would continue to play a role in making sure democracy becomes a permanent feature.

In this regard, he outlined three key areas in which the Maldives needed international assistance: assistance in democratic consolidation; meeting the enormous economic challenge facing the country; and taking urgent and effective action to tackle global climate change.

Because of reduced tourism revenue and the expansionary fiscal policies of the previous administration, the Maldives was facing an enormous economic challenge which it cannot meet without international support, President Nasheed said.

He said: “[because of] the scale of the problems we face mean we cannot succeed on our own. We therefore look to you, our friends in the international community, to help us get back onto our feet.”

In his address, he also highlighted the new foreign policy of the Maldives. Maldives was seeking relations with all UN member countries, he said. Speaking in this regard he said the Maldives was looking to renew relations with Israel and use that relationship to reiterate its support for an independent and sovereign Palestinian homeland.

President Nasheed also said that he abhors terrorism in all its forms and said the Maldives “is determined to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with all countries in facing down this menace.”

President Nasheed also stated that the Maldives was seeking election to the United Nations Human Rights Council during the current session of the General Assembly.

“We are doing so because we firmly believe in the universality of human rights and its critical importance to achieving the noble goals of the UN Charter,” he said.

The President concluded his address by once again calling on the world community to seal an effective agreement in Copenhagen climate summit to be held in December.

“If we want to save the world, saving the Maldives I suggest is a very good starting point,” President Nasheed said.

Hithadhoo gang-violence victim recovering, says family

The young man who was beaten nearly to death in a fight between two rival gangs in Hithadhoo last Thursday is making a recovery, the family of the boy has said. Doctors had early proclaimed that the young man was not likely to recover.

However, the family also said that the 19-year-old Mohamed Mauman had still not regained consciousness. A representative from the family, Ahmed Mahir, said that Mauman had suffered severe injuries to his head and that doctors had said that blood was leaking into his brain. He further said that in addition to the critical head injuries, he had also suffered severe wounds to his chest and back and that one of his lungs had also been punctured.

“His condition was critical when he was brought here (to Malé),” he said. “His lungs weren’t functioning due to the injury. The injury was caused by the dagger which had been plunged into his back. However, his lungs are now functioning normally. However, he still hasn’t regained consciousness but his condition is now better than when he was brought here from Addu. The treatment being given here is very good.”

Mahir further said that Mauman had been brought to Malé with assistance from the Government and that they were continuing to receive help from the Government during the stay at the hospital.

A family member earlier said that Mauman had been attacked when he was visiting a friend at the hospital who had been injured in a fight between street gangs, adding that Mauman was not part of any street gang and did not take part in street violence. Mauman had arrived in the island a few days back on holiday from working at a resort, the family member said.

“The injuries he had suffered to his head were caused by a sword and sharpened length of iron,” the family member said. “He had suffered severe injuries to his back too.”

The fight between the two rival gangs, armed with swords and blunt weapons, had occurred around 9:00pm on Thursday night and had continued until around 11:00pm, Police said. Officials from the Hithadhoo Police Station cited doctors as saying that Mauman had suffered severe head injuries due to the beating and that blood was leaking into his brain. Several others had also been treated at the hospital for injuries suffered during the violent confrontation.

According to a resident, the most violent clashes had occurred directly in front of the Hithadhoo Regional Hospital. Gang members had taken the fight into the hospital also, according to a resident.

President Nasheed: World leaders must seize historic opportunity at Copenhagen

President Mohamed Nasheed called upon world leaders to seize the historic opportunity that sits at the end of the road to Copenhagen climate summit to be held in December. The President made the statement during his address to the UN climate summit, the largest high-level climate conference ever held

President Nasheed said the world leaders must “discard [the] habits that have led to twenty years of complacency and broken promises on climate change.”

President Nasheed expressed disdain over how, in the past, the issue of climate change was presented.

“For the past twenty years we have stood here warning you of the threat of climate change,” he said. “But we have not told you what the solution is, we have not clearly explained that it is in your interest – not just ours – to pursue that solution, and we have not been willing to prove that such a solution is achievable and mutually-beneficial by pursuing it ourselves – by leading by example.”

He said the solution to climate change lied in major three areas which include:

- The developed countries accepting ambitious and binding emission reduction targets consistent with an average temperature increase of below 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels;

- The developing world being ready to jump, by accepting binding emission reduction targets under the principle of common but differentiated responsibility

- The developed world providing new, additional and predictable adaptation financing.

He blamed the belief that tackling climate change would reduce growth and production as well as mistrust among world leaders and the focus on a negative list of actions as the major reasons for the lack of progress over climate change crisis.

On the perception that climate change is a killer of production and growth the President said, “[the countries] that embrace the Green New Deal will be the winners of the 21st Century.”

“Oil is running out and will become increasingly expensive, while clean technologies and renewable energy are becoming ever more efficient and affordable,” he said.

President Nasheed reiterated his call at the high-level climate summit of the AOSIS members, held yesterday in New York, that a emphasizing a more “positive agenda” of investing in green technologies would be a better alternative to a list of what countries must not do in reaching an agreement over climate change.

Vice President Al Gore in a press conference held afterwards applauded President Nasheed’s speech.

President Nasheed was among the eight heads of state or government invited by the Secretary General of the United Nations to speak at the UN Summit on Climate Change.

Besides UN Secretary General, Mr Ban Ki-moon, President Barack Obama of the US, President. Hu Jintao of China, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama of Japan, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt of Sweden, President Óscar Arias Sánchez, of Costa Rica and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France addressed the Summit.

The Summit, which was held at the UN General Assembly hall, was attended by over a hundred world leaders.

After the Summit, President Nasheed joined world leaders at high-level roundtable session on climate change.

He also participated at a lunch forum held hosted by UN Secretary General for private sector by the UN Secretary General with the purpose of building “positive political momentum towards the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December, by demonstrating explicit private sector support for bold climate action to Heads of State and Government.”

DQP office vandalized

The Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) office was broken into and vandalized on Monday night.

The Secretary General of Qaumee Party, Abdulla Ameen, said that the Party office also housed the Raajje Chambers law firm and that despite the break-in and the vandalism, nothing seemed to have been stolen. He said that that whoever had broken into the apartment had broken all the doors, caused damage to the computers and rifled through documents.

“We are now checking to see if anything was stolen or is missing,” Ameen said. “It seems likely that they were looking for specific documents or maybe cash. In addition to the outside doors, all the doors inside the office were broken by force.”

A Police Media Official said that their investigation was continuing and that no one had been arrested in connection to the incident so far.

Villingilli resort staff suspended on charges of stealing beer, alcohol

Four employees were suspended from the Seenu atoll Villingilli resort for using a guest’s card to steal some beer cans and alcoholic drinks from the resort mini-bar.

One of the suspended staff told Haveeru on condition of anonymity that the four who had been suspended for the alleged “theft” were two housekeepers and two buggy drivers. He further said that they had been notified of the suspension via a letter which stated that they had been suspended indefinitely because they had taken drinks from the minibar. The letter further stated that the resort was conducting an investigation into the matter, the employee said.

However, the staff member said that there was no evidence linking them to the missing beverages.

“They said that the incident had occurred early morning on the 17th of this month and that a card belonging to a tourist who had departed from the resort recently had been used,” he said. “But it wasn’t us. And we didn’t even go to the area where the mini-bar was that night.”

He said that because they had been suspended due to the false allegations, they had lost the respect of their fellow staff members.

The Communications Manager of the resort, Ahmed Shaneez, said on Tuesday that no one had been suspended from the resort on charges of stealing drinks from the mini-bar and said any reports to the contrary were false. He further said that one of those who had allegedly been suspended was still working at the resort. He however said that the resort had taken steps against some staff members who weren’t reporting in for duty.

“Some staff members were suspended for not reporting in for duty on time,” he said. “The letter given to them says much the same. There is nothing about any theft in the letter.”

Villingilli Resort & Spa is the first resort opened in Maldives by the world famous hotel chain Shangri-La. The resort was opened on 26 July this year.