Damage to a main distribution cable during road construction in Hulhumalé caused power outages in some areas of Malé that were provided electricity through the Greater Malé Interconnection Grid. The disrupted grid was brought back into operation more than three hours later.
An MoU was signed between the National Drug Agency and the Maldives Transport and Construction Company to “facilitate opportunities for jobs and apprenticeship programmes” for former addicts who are ready for community reintegration after completing rehabilitation.
A petition with more than 3,000 signatures was submitted to the authorities calling for the release of a 59-year-old woman detained over the alleged sexual abuse of a six-year-old girl in Addu City. The woman, who worked at the island school, is accused of abusing the girl when she took her to the toilet. But the petitioners, including the mayor and deputy mayor, believe that she is being framed to protect the real culprit, alleged to be the victim’s grandfather.
Aasandha is under review to provide more treatments and services that are currently not covered by the government health insurance scheme, the health minister told lawmakers, some of whom also expressed concern about inefficiencies and alleged corruption.
The health ministry is working on replacing foreign doctors who left the country during the pandemic, which caused a shortage across the country, the minister said. Some 26 specialist doctors from Cuba are expected to arrive in early May, he added, noting difficulties in hiring health professionals from neighbouring South Asian countries.
The government relented in the face of protests and decided to weigh for purchase all the fish caught by boats queued at the Kooddoo Fisheries Complex. The state-owned Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company imposed a limit of five tonnes per vessel last week after fish catch in the south exceeded MIFCO’s freezing capacity. The decision to lift controls came after protests outside the Kooddoo factory earlier in the day. Riot police were deployed on the southern island to quell unrest. Some boats had been waiting in the harbour for days.
Boats in the south have been catching 12 tonnes on average with larger boats catching between 25 to 60 tonnes. Some large boats in the south have reportedly stopped fishing until MIFCO removed the limit.
More than 60 boats were queued at Kooddoo with about 900 tonnes of fish. MIFCO expected the weighing and purchasing to take until Sunday.
The privately-owned Ensis Fisheries has also been operating at full capacity at its Hulhumalé factory to buy fish from southern boats.
Former president Abdulla Yameen denied bribery charges raised over the lease of Vaavu Aarah for resort development, claiming that US$1 million deposited into his account by a shareholder of the resort operator was an unrelated currency exchange transaction. The opposition leader’s lawyer also challenged money laundering charges.
The prosecution observed that Yameen would have been constitutionally prohibited from conducting any business while in office. But the judge sustained an objection from the defence on the grounds that it was outside the scope of the trial.
Co-defendant Yousuf Naeem, a former lawmaker who is accused of bribing the president for a no-bid lease, also claimed that it was an unrelated transaction.
After hearing preliminary arguments, Judge Ahmed Shakeel decided there was enough evidence to proceed to trial. He granted a 15-day period for pre-trial motions.
Yameen is also standing trial on separate money laundering charges over the lease of the Raa Fuggiri island.
The Housing Development Corporation threatened to sue the Hiya Union over the group’s call for tenants to not pay rent for the 7,000 social housing units in Hulhumalé. Complaints will also be lodged with the authorities as the call for noncompliance with lease agreements constitutes a crime, the HDC said.
The state-owned company – tasked with the urban development of the manmade island suburb of the capital – started collecting rent after the government deferred payments for the first six months after the flats were handed over. Despite repeated pleas and protests by the tenants’ union, the HDC says it cannot reduce the monthly rent from MVR8,500 (US$519) – inclusive of a maintenance fee – as the company has to repay loans. The opposition-aligned Hiya Union has been demanding a monthly rent of MVR5,600.
Of the HDC’s US$700 million debt, US$400 million was taken for the Hiya project, which was awarded to the China State Construction Engineering Corporation in 2017.
The transport ministry scrapped a requirement for a minimum number of practice hours at a driving school before applying for a driving license. The application can now be made without going through a driving school. The rules were relaxed after complaints from people from islands that do not have driving schools who were forced to travel to Malé to obtain a license.
Individuals unaffiliated with driving schools were also authorised to become driving instructors.
The Vaavu Atoll Council filed complaints with the police over the alleged dumping of food waste into the sea by the Alimatha and Dhiggiri resorts.
A 15-year-old regulation that permitted resorts to dump organic waste was recently amended to outlaw the practice. Fines of up to MVR100,000 (US$6,485) were also introduced. The old rules required resorts to ensure that currents carry dumped food waste away from islands. But resort waste routinely washes up on the shores of nearby islands.
