After peaking at more than 2,700 cases on 31 January, daily covid cases have been steadily declining with 1,955 cases detected on Friday.
The Dredging Association of Maldives accused the Environment Protection Agency of compromising standards to approve an environment impact assessment (EIA) report for a land reclamation project to connect Komandoo with an uninhabited island in the same lagoon. Concerns included insufficient project justification, failure to properly survey wave dynamics or carry out public consultation, and sourcing sand from Raa Atoll based on an old EIA report without a new study.
State Minister for Youth and Sports Assad Ali was sacked after the criminal court sentenced him to 15 days in jail for contempt. The national team footballer stood as a guarantor to allow former tourism minister Ali Waheed to travel to the UK for medical treatment last year after he was charged with sexually assaulting staff. But Waheed failed to return as promised and the court recently ordered the police to bring him back to face trial. Assad was sentenced in absentia after he also failed to appear in court. According to some media reports, Assad has fled to the UK.
A 43-year-old Maldivian man is in custody in connection with a rape reported in Hulhumalé last week, the police revealed.
An expatriate was arrested in Malé for allegedly stabbing his wife. A video of the police escorting a woman in a bloodstained dress emerged on social media. According to media reports about the suspect’s remand hearing, the 27-year-old Indian man confessed in court to stabbing his wife during a domestic dispute. He then stabbed himself in the stomach “out of fear” when the police arrived.
Fully vaccinated people who are direct contacts of a Covid-19 patient no longer have to quarantine if they do not have symptoms, according to new rules from the Health Protection Agency. However, direct contacts would have to take a PCR test five days later.
Arts and Culture Minister Yumna Maumoon congratulated Yameen Rasheed, creator of the popular animated satire Maakana Show, for winning the Critics’ Choice Award at the World Film Carnival, a monthly live screening festival in Singapore. The local artist won for his short film Paragons of Boulevard.
Some 39 marriages will take place on 2.2.2022, the family court said.
The net salary of the state utility Fenaka Corporation increased from MVR4,650 (US$300) to MVR9,222 with the implementation of the new minimum wage.
The opposition coalition accused the government of interfering with the judiciary to fast-track former president Abdulla Yameen’s money laundering trial after the criminal court amended its hearings schedule. The date for delivering a verdict was pushed up from November to June. But the criminal procedures code requires both parties to agree to schedule changes, the opposition noted.
The state utility Fenaka Corporation installed solar panels on the roof of its Noonu Miladhoo island’s powerhouse, becoming the first newly designed Fenaka powerhouse to have electricity generated by renewable energy. The 26.28kWp solar PV meets the whole electrical requirement.
Transparency Maldives expressed concern with rumoured plans to criminalise speech that adversely affects foreign relations. “Information on foreign policies should be proactively disclosed to the public in a transparent and accessible manner, instead of seeking to criminalise freedom of expression,” the NGO said.
Five agreements were signed between the Maldives and Turkey during Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu’s visit, including the establishment of a Joint Economic Commission to boost trade. Other agreements were signed for cooperation in agriculture, environmental protection, foreign service and cultural development. The Turkish foreign minister held official talks and paid a courtesy call on President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. In his remarks at a joint press conference, Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid revealed that the Turkish government has agreed to allow Maldivians to travel visa-free to Turkey.
An additional 210,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine donated by the United States arrived. Administration of the booster dose for all adult residents with the Pfizer vaccines donated by America is currently underway.
