Hulhudhoo Today

Herathera Staff drowns in Hulhudhoo-Herathera Channel

2011-06-06T23:28:00.004+05:00

Mr. Ahmed Sood Ali

The eighteen years old Herathera Staff, Mr. Ahmed Suood Ali of Ujala, S.Hulhudhoo drowned away with the heavy open sea current that was passing through the channel at around 14:30 pm today.

He was walking along the channel with his picnic mate Ms. Mahin, whose cry for rescue prompted Suood’s cousin Ms. Sajidha about the helpless situation they were entering into.

“Just a moment after replying “NO” to Mahin and Suood request to join with them to walk along the channel, I heard Mahin shouting for help. I saw her drowning and Suood missing.” Fear struck cousin of Suood, Ms. Sajidha said.

A night view of the channel

Security guards at Herathera Island resort heard the shout for help by Mahin and they initiated the rescue process by sending their workshop staff Mr. Mohamed Niyaz and Mr. Affan. Niyaz rescued Malha to the safe area while search for Suood continued.

“Suood was found few meters way from the epic center near the bridge between Hulhudhoo and Herathera. They are believed to have started walking along the channel from the mouth facing open sea and his body had washed few meters west underwater.” Mr. Affan, who searched and lifted Suood’s body out of the sea bed stated.

Disaster point mouth facing open sea

Immediately after removing his body from sea bed, Hulhumeedhoo Hospital was informed about the seriousness and urgency of the situation. “I called up on Hulhumeedhoo Hospital to send their Ambulance” Ms. Zulaikha Manike said.

Ambulance arrived at the scene shortly, but just as a taxi. It was not prepared to cater for the emergency requirements. “It had no oxygen facility, no nurse, and no emergency facilities” Mr. Ahmed Lirar who rushed Suood with Ambulance to hospital stated. According to Lirar, Suood took two deep breathes on their way to hospital.

Huge crowed of Hulhudhoo boys and girls and members of family and relatives filled up the hospital to find out his situation. As Doctor confirmed his fatal demise, the frustrated crowed hammered the management of the hospital verbally.

During 2009 a 14 year old boy from Meedhoo died of a similar incident, where he was drowned in to the channel between Meedhoo and Ismehela Hera. Read

Since Maldives is surrounded by sea, knowing swimming and rescue techniques while at sea is largely important.

myMaldives...sun, sea, sand & sky...

2011-02-14T16:57:00.000+05:00

Fullmoon as observed from Herathera Chennel

2011-02-14T16:54:00.002+05:00

Maldivian skinny Hulk

2011-02-14T16:53:00.000+05:00

Softer Sunset

2011-02-14T16:50:00.000+05:00

Reflection over a mistycal morning

2011-02-14T16:41:00.000+05:00

VB wins the curtain raiser

2011-02-14T16:36:00.002+05:00

Male’, MALDIVES – VB sports won Milo Charity Shield game by beating 10-men Victory by 4-1. The game was deadlocked at 1-1 at the end of regular time but VB appeared too strong for Victory in the extra period of the game. Last season’s top scorer Ashfaaq started the season where he finished with some quality movements and two goals.
It was Victory that took the lead. In the 16th minute Shimaz headed Mukhthar’s cross from close range to send the ball to the far corner.
The whole game changed in the 30th minute when referee mistakenly red carded Victory defender Shafiu for a hand ball. But TV replay clearly showed the player headed Abu’s header from the goal line. Abu then stepped into take the penalty and made not mistake in the 34th minute.
In the 52nd minute, Ashfaaq went close to his first of the season, but his shot missed by inches.
In the 66th minute Ashfaaq’s effort to score was blocked by his brother Ashfaan.
Just five minutes into the extra period, Ashfaaq scored from some individual skills as his shot found the net from the near angle.
In the 108th minute, Assad Ali extended their lead taking advantage of some poor defensive display from Victory. Two minutes later Ashfaaq doubled his lead, this time he moved too quickly to be spotted by Victory defenders and send the ball past Faisal.

Ali Ashfaaq was named as the man of the match.

I knew Sadat

2011-02-14T16:30:00.000+05:00

Al Jazeera looks at the life of the late Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat.
Mohammed Anwar al-Sadat was born in 1918 into a modest family in a poor village in the Nile delta.

Influenced from a young age by nationalist politicians such as Kamal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish republic, Sadat hoped to end the British occupation of his country.

He graduated from the military academy when he was 20 years old, but being an army officer did not prevent him from joining underground resistance movements.

With the second world war raging, Sadat calculated that Egypt's best chance of overthrowing British rule lay in a German invasion. In 1942, he was accused of consorting with a Nazi spy network in Cairo, fired from the army and imprisoned.
He was released from prison in 1948 and shortly after joined the nationalist Free Officers Movement, which had been founded by Jamal Abdul Nasser.

In July 1952, the young officers carried out a military coup that culminated in the overthrow of King Farouk and which subsequently brought more than 70 years of British colonisation to an end.

In 1969, Nasser, appointed Sadat as his vice-president. Within a year, he was president.

Spotlight

Sadat inherited a nation in turmoil, one whose army was still reeling from its crushing defeat to Israel in the 1967 Six Day War.

Sadat turned to the Russians in an attempt to re-build the Egyptian army's arsenal, but - unlike his predecessor - he believed it was a mistake to rely solely on Soviet backing and instead began to court the US.

On October 6, 1973, in a move calculated to attract US attention, Egyptian forces crossed the Suez Canal, capturing a narrow strip of land. After three weeks of fighting and with a fragile UN ceasefire in place, Sadat's grand plan came to fruition.

In November, Henry Kissinger, the US national security adviser, arrived in Cairo for talks. Agreements between Israel and Egypt were brokered and the following year Richard Nixon, the US president, visited Egypt for the first time.

A series of diplomatic efforts ensued which ultimately led to an historic peace agreement between Egypt and Israel and Sadat's highly symbolic visit to the Israeli Knesset.

Sadat stepped into the international spotlight while the whole world watched, but the Egyptian president was also being closely observed by forces within his own country who opposed his moves.

On October 6, 1981, while watching a military parade in Cairo, Sadat was assassinated by four gunmen from a militant Islamist group.

While some saw him as a visionary others perceived him as a traitor.

I Knew Sadat talks to his supporters and his critics, and uncovers a life that in many ways changed the way Egypt is seen by others and by itself

Mubarak's dangerous 'groupthink'

2011-02-12T03:27:00.000+05:00

Through his stubbornness Hosni Mubarak has managed to transform himself from a 30-year "loyal ally" into an 82-year-old liability.

Almost all dictators cling to power as long as they can. They get use to being the boss and it becomes a way of life for them. Mubarak is no different. But clearly the love of power is not all that is going on with him.

Mr. Mubarak suffers from the same syndrome as did Louis XVI just prior to the French Revolution. Louis lived in the royal complex of Versailles. He rarely visited Paris, which was just 25 miles away, and knew almost nothing of the daily lives of his non-noble subjects.

Like Louis, Hosni too lives in isolation from the people who go about their business beyond the walls of his presidential palace. Thus, when Mubarak says he loves Egypt and will never run away from his country, he is talking about a place as distant from that of the ordinary citizen as the moon.

A sure sign of this disconnect came with the Feb. 3 interview he gave ABC’s Christiane Amanpour. According to the correspondent, Mubarak said he was "fed up with being president and would like to leave office now, but cannot, he says, for fear that the country would sink into chaos."

This is surely a sign that the Egypt he knows is not the Egypt commonly recognized by his people or the rest of the world.

From outside the presidential palace it is starkly clear that a sort of popular chaos is what already besets Egypt and the only way to calm it is for Mubarak to leave office and probably the country as well.

The vast majority of Egyptians can see that this is so. President Barack Obama can see this is so and has probably emphasized the fact to Mubarak. Even the King of Saudi Arabia can see what is happening and has offered Mubarak asylum in his country. So why can’t Hosni Mubarak see it?

Along with the isolation that rulers, and especially dictators, experience comes the phenomenon of "groupthink."

In his 1972 book, Victims of Groupthink, Irving L. Janis shows how governing political elites create self-reinforcing decision making circles. In other words, in the last 30 years Mubarak has surrounded himself with like-minded advisers and aides.

These are people who have a vested interest in his regime. They constantly reinforce his world view and second his decisions. There are no devil’s advocates here.

Being a military dictator also probably drives the groupthink outlook.

Generals give orders, they do not normally take them. And, all too often, it is the orders given that are meant to shape reality and not the other way around. It is assumed that whatever deviation there is between the two can be swept away by force.

Until now this has been the Egyptian dictator’s expectation. His choice of vice president, Omar Suleiman, is a product of Mubarak’s artificial groupthink world and no doubt selected to keep that world intact.

Therefore, Suleiman’s initial impulse was to reflect his master’s preferences.

Days and days of demonstrations by tens of thousands of Egyptians demanding Mubarak’s immediate departure were deemed impractical and disrespectful of a man who has so long "served his country."

But Suleiman, until recently head of the regime’s intelligence services, now appears to have his doubts. Making reality match Mr. Mubarak’s fantasy will almost certainly require such force as to guarantee the radicalization of the protest movement.

Most of the conservative talking heads both in the US and in Israel fear the potential of an Iranian-style outcome for Egypt. That is why many of these voices -- from Glenn Beck to Benjamin Netanyahu -- have called on Mubarak to get tough lest we end up with ayatollahs on the Nile.

But Egypt is not like Iran, neither the Iran of 1979 nor 2011. There is no rational reason to believe that the Muslim Brotherhood will suddenly turn into the Sunni version of a Republican Guard.

However, if the Egyptian government does "get tough" and ends up applying force, there is yet another scenario that presents itself, and that is the recent history of Algeria.

Back in 1991-1992 the Algerian military crushed the country’s Islamic political movement, the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), just at the moment when it had won democratically conducted national elections.

A military dictatorship was established which proceeded to arrest or kill all the moderate FIS leaders (those who had "worked within the system"), thus opening up the movement to much more violent factions.

Indeed, these factions were ready to be as violent as was the country’s military. The result was decades of vicious civil war.

One assumes that Omar Suleiman knows of the Algerian experience, and one assumes that someone from the State Department has filled in Barack Obama. Maybe they are both hoping that all the Egyptian protesters will just get tired and go home now that negotiations are said to be underway.

This is unlikely to happen. With thousands of protesters still in the streets, the opposition is most likely telling Suleiman that their reality is much more real than that of his dictator boss.

If Suleiman is wise he will get the message and make it crystal clear to Mr. Mubarak that he has quite suddenly become a liability his nation can no longer afford.

For unless Mubarak can shake off the groupthink, Egypt risks spelling liability, Algeria. Now that will be chaos for you.

Plot-survivor Mubarak brought down by his people

2011-02-12T01:13:00.000+05:00

CAIRO - He survived 10 attempts on his life, and at 82 his health was a subject of speculation. But in the end, it was his people who brought down Egypt's modern-day pharaoh.

Pulling off a second surprise in as many days, President Hosni Mubarak on Friday stepped down and handed over power to the army from whose ranks he emerged, his deputy Omar Suleiman announced on television.

Late Thursday when he had been expected to quit, Mubarak said in a televised speech he would stay on until September, to the fury of hundreds of thousands of demonstrators waiting to celebrate in central Cairo.

The party was delayed for one day, in an emotional roller-coaster for the mostly youthful demonstrators.

Until the outbreak of anti-government protests on January 25, Mubarak seemed insurmountable as president of the most populous nation in the Arab world.

His rise to power came unexpectedly, when his predecessor Anwar Sadat -- who made history by signing a peace deal with Israel -- was gunned down by Islamist militants on October 6, 1981 during a military parade in Cairo.

He took office a week after the assassination, and since then he ruled without interruption under a draconian emergency law that remains in force.

Islamic fundamentalist groups -- including Al-Jihad, Gamaa Islamiyya and Talaeh al-Fatah -- were responsible for most of the attempts on Mubarak's life on both Egyptian and foreign soil.

The first direct attempt to kill him came in 1993, a year after Islamists launched a campaign of violence aimed at toppling the secular Egyptian government, when a bid to fire rockets at his plush Cairo residence was foiled.

Later murder attempts involved a variety of schemes, including a plot to car-bomb the presidential motorcade in Cairo.

In 1995, militants opened fire at the presidential motorcade in Addis Abiba. The previous year saw an attempt to kill him with explosives as he was due to meet Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi at a military airport.

In September 1999, Mubarak was slightly wounded when a man with no apparent links to any Islamic group stabbed him in Port Said.

Health-wise, Mubarak's reputation as for vigour -- he was once known to play squash almost daily -- was dented in 2003 when he fainted while addressing parliament.

Officials blamed his collapse on a cold and the fact that he had been fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

In 2004, he underwent surgery in Germany for a slipped disc, intensifying speculation on potential successors.

Then last March he returned to Germany for the removal of his gall bladder and a growth on the small intestine. Rumours that he had died under the surgeon's knife were quashed when state television showed him recovering.

Mubarak's health was usually a taboo subject in Egypt and the father of two, whose wife Suzanne is half-Welsh, kept his private life a carefully guarded secret.

In 2007, speculation about his health snowballed to the extent that Mubarak had to make an unscheduled public appearance to lay rumour to rest.

The octogenarian, with jet black hair -- possibly dyed -- and aquiline nose, was born on May 4, 1928 in the Nile Delta village of Menufiyah.

He rose through the ranks of the air force and fought in repeated wars with Israel, to claim hero status, before supporting Sadat in pursuing peace with the Jewish state in 1979.

Throughout his years in power, Mubarak maintained the unpopular policy of peace with Israel and accommodation with the West that cost Sadat his life.

His government, overseeing a developing nation of 80 million people, has been the frequent target of domestic opposition -- ranging from the Muslim Brotherhood to secular and liberal dissidents.

The regime quashed militant groups which carried out attacks in the 1980s, the 1990s and, more recently, 2004 and 2006 when the tourism industry was targeted.

His government's ties with the United States and Israel made him a target of criticism across the region, especially during the 2006 Israel war in Lebanon and Israel's Gaza offensive in 2008-2009.

Domestic opponents accused Washington of turning a blind eye to human rights abuses, corruption and the Mubarak regime's failure to push ahead with badly needed reforms.

MDP rewrote its history again in Hulhumeedhoo

2011-02-06T12:35:00.002+05:00

Hulhumeedhoo Community yet again proved their adherence and commitment to Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) in the second consecutive election, this time in Local Council. History was rewritten yesterday where as similar land slide victory was made during Maldives first ever parliamentary election during 2009.

Both victories are similar in its nature. During parliamentary election Mr. Ilyas Labeeb was sworn in by the most votes in the Maldives for one constituency. Mr. Hassan Shahid became the his successor to gain the same number of votes for the same constituency, but for the city council. Right now one thing is very straight and clear. Hulhumeedhoo has barred entry of any political party other than MDP, and so is the mood of entire Addu City.

Another main lessons learnt over the last two elections were that Dhivehi Raiyyithunge Party (DRP), less in number though, are strictly behind their leader who were ousted by people's referendum in the presidential election in 2008.

Hulhumeedhoo community is foreseeing a bright and prosperous future, being the forerunner in brining MDP and democracy to the Maldives.

Herathera Island Resort begins supplying safe drinkng water to Hulhumeedhoo

2011-01-27T17:04:00.001+05:00

Herthera Island Resort has begun supplying safe drinking water to Hulhumeedhoo last week. Safe drinking water shortage has started to create lots of problem in the two stranded islands of Addu City recently, as there has been no considerable rain fall for the past three months.

Anyone who wants water can simply get to the water dispenser provided near the channel detween Hulhudhoo and Herathera Island Resort.

Herathera with the help of Maldives Police Service had undertaken supplying of safe water to Hulhudhoo Meedhoo comunity during 2009.

Rafael to miss Man Utd FA Cup tie against Southampton

2011-01-26T19:37:00.000+05:00

Manchester United right-back Rafael will miss Saturday's FA Cup tie with Southampton after being taken off on a stretcher at Blackpool with concussion.

The Brazilian, who collided with Marlon Harewood in the second half of United's 3-2 win on Tuesday, went to hospital for X-rays.
Rafael, 20, was later released and returned to Manchester with the team.
"It's a straightforward one. He has concussion and will miss Saturday's game," said manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Rafael's injury was the main reason 10 minutes of added time were played at Blackpool where United came from 2-0 down to secure victory with two goals from Dimitar Berbatov and one by Javier Hernandez.
As is the case with concussion injuries, the defender will be given a break from physical contact before he resumes training.
Rafael had only just returned from a one-game suspension following his red card against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on 16 January.
He has been a key member of a Manchester United side who have only lost once in all competitions - a 4-0 defeat by West Ham United in the Carling Cup - and he has played 20 times this season.

Tunisia issues arrest warrant for ousted leader

2011-01-26T19:24:00.000+05:00

The restive North African nation of Tunisia has issued an international arrest warrant for its ousted president, Tunisian media reported. Tunisian Justice Minister Lazhar Karoui Chebbi on Wednesday announced that the warrant had been brought against Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, according to Tunis Afrique Presse, or TAP, the country's official news agency.
Ben Ali, who ruled Tunisia since 1987, fled to Saudi Arabia earlier this month amid mass public protests against the government for corruption, poor living conditions, high unemployment and repression.
The grass-roots protest has emboldened people in Egypt and Algeria to take their complaints to the streets.
It also has generated admiration across the world. For example, in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, President Barack Obama made reference to Ben Ali's rule, saying "the will of the people proved more powerful than the writ of a dictator."
An interim government was formed after Ben Ali's departure, and protesters are demanding that none of the people in the government should have links to the ousted president's regime. Changes in the government makeup were expected on Wednesday, TAP reported.
The government will provide compensation to the families of people who died in the recent unrest and others who were injured. It will also pass along aid for jobless higher education graduates, TAP reported.
More than 100 people were killed in protests in recent weeks, the United Nations has said.
Tunisians have expressed outrage over the actions of the president and his family.
Last week, Tunisia's new government interrogated 33 people from Ben Ali's entourage, a top official said Friday, while 1,200 others who have "spread terror among the population carried out unacceptable acts" have been arrested, TAP reported.
Tunisia's Interior Minister Ahmed Friaa announced the arrests in a news conference, saying that "33 members of families close to the former president have been brought to justice and are now being interrogated."
"These people's jewels and huge sums of money in their possession have been seized," the TAP news agency reported, citing Friaa, a holdover from the previous government.

Some of the 1,200 people arrested by the new government have been released, Friaa said, while 382 others face charges such as carrying illegal firearms, looting and committing violence.

Ilyas Labeeb reaffirms his parliamentary promisess to Hulhumeedhoo people

2011-01-22T18:21:00.002+05:00

Talking to the heavily yellow dressed MDP "lashkar" at Seenu Atoll School, for relaunching of City Council Campaign, the MP for Hulhumeedhoo Mr. Ilyas Labeeb reaffirmed his parliamentary promises as attainable before his five year term ends.

He laughed while saying "Relocation of Atoll Office to Hulhumeedhoo or rather providing the same services from Hulhumeedhoo will also be accomplished soon". He stated that Ismehela Hura will be developed for tourism and we would see it coming to a reality real soon.

He promised again that Health Center will be transformed into a well equipped Hospital in four month time. He noted that the process of transition began just after the establishment of Southern Health Cooperation Services, and thanked its management and other government authorities for their continued support.

Ilyas Labeeb requested his MDP supporters and all the people of Hulhumeedhoo to support Mr. Hassan Shahid and elect him as the member for Addu City Council from Hulhumeedhoo Constituency.

Five pilot whales rescued by Hulhumeedhoo youth.

2010-12-11T17:25:00.001+05:00

Five of nine pilot whales, that washed ashore on the eve of this years Fisherman's day (December 9,2010), were rescued by Hulhumeedhoo youth near the beach of Stelco. During the past two weeks similar whales were found dead on the beach of Maafushi and were buried by the authorities.

"We saw these dolphins stranded near the beach at around 9:30 this morning, two were found dead" Ameer, the first witness said. They undertook the rescue operation immediately and managed to hauled the five live mammals back into water. Later today another two dead were found, one near Stelco and the other on the beach of Ismehela Hera.

Reason for the continued washing ashore of these underwater giants are unknown so far, but many suspect it as a result of human disturbances and changes in marine ecological system.

A 'red carpet' welcome to Miss France contestants

2010-11-11T18:46:00.000+05:00

Maldives offered the warmest welcome to participants of Miss France 2011, the organising committee said Thursday.

Special Envoy to the President Ibrahim Hussein Zaki, Tourism Minister Dr Mariam Zulfa, Sunland Hotel Directors and senior officials of Maldives Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) welcomed the 33 participants on Thursday. Cultural activities were also held at Male International Airport.

Organising Committee General Manager Sylvie Celia told journalists that Maldives offered an extraordinary welcome.

“This is the best welcome we received in the past five years that we have been working with this company. The red carpet welcome, the small children there and Maldives is very beautiful,” Celia, who won the Miss France title in 2002, said.

“The photos taken in Maldives will be published on a French magazine from today onwards. The event is very much supported by the French public.”

Miss France 2010 Melaka Menard said she never expected such a welcome from Maldives.

“This is the first time I have been in the Maldives. I am very pleased to be here. Maldives offered us a very warm welcome. After the trip I will talk about Maldives in France,” she said.

Miss France 2011 partner, Sunland Hotels, brought over 80 people along with the 33 contestants.

A Sunland Travels official said a fashion show would be held in Coco Palm Boduhithi where the candidates will be staying from November 11-18.

“Australian swimming wear and Maldivian designers’ dresses will be shown at the fashion show,” the official said.

According to Sunland Hotels, video and photo sessions and learning to cook Maldivian dishes will take place in Coco Palm.

The Miss France 2011 contest will be held on December 4 in Caen, France.

Maldives also hosted a Miss World event earlier.

Reef fishery on rise

2010-10-29T15:01:00.001+05:00

Colors of Sunset: the very Maldives!

2010-10-29T15:00:00.000+05:00

Sunrise!

2010-10-29T14:58:00.002+05:00

Hulhudhoo Firefighters!

2010-10-29T14:57:00.001+05:00

It was a nice sunset though!

2010-10-29T14:56:00.000+05:00

Hulhudhoo Harbor!

2010-10-29T14:54:00.000+05:00

We will bring international journalists to cover next big protests- DRP

2010-10-27T16:35:00.001+05:00

Main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has said that they would be bringing international journalists to cover their protests in the future.

Speaking at the media conference held yesterday at DRP office, Galolhu dhekunu MP and the president of Youth Wing of DRP said that they would invite journalist from around the globe to cover their protests against the government in the future. He added that DRP has already begun work to accomplish this.

Mahloof also condemned Maldives Police Service for obstructing the work of the journalists who were covering the “Unbahjehi vazeerun” protest organised by the opposition on Monday.

Mahloof described last night as a “Black day” for the media of Maldives. He said that the party has started work to bring to the attention of the international community the tactics employed by President Nasheed’s government in breaking up opposition protests in the capital.

Furthermore, he said that the footage of the wanton vicious beatings of police last night.

Mahloof also said that a team from DRP will leave to Sri Lanka to discuss the issues with international media.

He alleged that President Nasheed is not ruling by democracy but with military rule.

DRP announced that the next protest will be held next Thursday night at 08:45.

Hulhudhoo community shed tears of disaapointment on Mr. Ahmed Mihad's departure

2010-06-23T19:14:00.007+05:00

Hulhudhoo community shed tears of disappointment on Mr. Ahmed Mihad's sudden departure from School to go for higher studies in Sri Lanka. Mr. Ahmed Mihad, who took charge of Hulhudhoo School last year, is one of the 63 principles and deputies selected from schools countrywide for Masters in educations and PHDs.

Mr. Ahmed Mihad joined Hulhudhoo School on four year term mid last year, with joy and enthusiasm to take the school to the level of the frontrunners in country. With the warmest of welcome in which he was received by Hulhudhoo people, he assured his commitment to work hard to restructure and streamline the major policies outlining the discipline of students, which at that time was most alarming.

With his outstanding quality of leadership and remarkable power to behave with students, Mr. Ahmed Mihad rerouted the school within few months of his first year. His approach to achieving higher standards was based on two main aspects- providing up-to-date training programs and teaching skills for teachers and assuring students adherence to the discipline code of schools.

As schools are adhering to a create more friendly atmosphere with parents and the management, a 100% progress had been achieved with in the first quarter. Through his influential public speaking ability Mr. Ahmed Mihad was able to strengthen the corporation between parents and the school management. As a result of that, even during this preceding economic downturn, parents and school management were able to make to the "Seven Seas" Athletics Meet in Gn. Fuvahmulah. Laying foundation for Hulhdhoo School Cadet was another biggest accomplishments of Mr. Ahmed Mihad.

After wining the hearts and minds of each and every student and their parents, news of Mihadh's sudden departure from Hulhudhoo School for the good brought melancholy to entire Hulhudhoo community. There was hardly a student, teacher or parent who hadn't shed their tears on the day he left Hulhudhoo. The big question of all the parents remained "what would happen to their school and children next?".

Pressure mounted like dazzling rain for the members of School Board and other respective authorities. "It's been months since I received a phone call from a Hulhudhoo School parents, but today in abundance", Superintendent of Education Unit of Southern Province Ms. Fathimath Naseer stated. She said search for school heads was initiated but indicated that it wouldn't be soon enough before we find one good, as over 60 heads and deputies from various schools are selected for the courses which is due to commence in July in Sri Lanka.

Hundreds take part in tsunami drill in HulhuMeedhoo

2009-07-04T14:25:00.006+05:00

Panic spread among the hundreds of people along Bahaaudheen Magu Saturday, as the tranquil morning was shattered by a loud boom, followed by a magnitude-8.7 earthquake near Nicobar Island at 9:40am.

The panic grew as the tsunami siren wailed from HulhuMeedhoo, warning that the quake could potentially cause a tsunami. People wasted no time in leaving their children in the school and ran in a chaotic crowd to the nearest evacuation facilities setup in Hulhudhoo Football Ground.

There was, of course, no tsunami that day: The excitement was part of a tsunami drill program jointly conducted by Maldives Meteorological Service (MMS) and Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (adpc).

Hundreds of people namely students, parents, police and MNDF personnel were involved in the drill, many of whom could not stop from crying in real panic. "I'm still traumatized by the 2004 tsunami," one resident, Aisha, said as she fled. "I just don't want it to happen again."

The minister of state for National Disaster Management Center (NDMC) Mr. Abdulla Shaid said the drill was important for all those living in tsunami-prone regions. "Through the drill we learn what we should do when disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis hit," he said.

Mr.S H M Fakhruddin, a technical specialist of adpc, said many lessons could be learned from the drill, including identifying weaknesses in the disaster handling system."The drill has shown us many things we have to fix in the future, but they are all still within the tolerable limits," Fakhuruddin said. He praised the MMS administration's initiative in conducting the drill, which, he said, was a "breakthrough".

This is the first drill of its sort in the Maldives and MMS in association with adpc will conduct further disaster-handling simulations in various islands across the country. According to MMS they are planning to conduct similar simulation drill in Fuvahmulah next year.

Fakhuruddin said the evaluation of the tsunami drill conducted in HulhuMeedhoo on Saturday would be used as a reference for tsunami handling for other islands and countries whose territory lies on the Indian Ocean. He added the event would also be held in memory of the 2004 tsunami.

Some of the pics from the drill

Is investing on agriculture despite ailing market viable?

2009-06-30T13:46:00.006+05:00

Meedhoo people, unlike rest of Addu, have been engaged in farming, either at home or on the piece of land obtained from the government, for the past two decades. I remember when I was a child people, especially Hulhudhoo, heading towards Meedhoo every day evening during Ramazan to buy fruits and vegetables. At that time there might be few farmers with limited produce and yet they had huge demand. However with the help of Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture and increased number of investors in agriculture, today Meedhoo has the capacity to produce and supply vegetables to nearby resorts continuously; yet channeling their produce to the end-user is widely unknown.

Mr. Ibrahim Rasheed, 30, has joined Meedhoo farming population in late 2007 and today, he is one of the leading farmers and suppliers of agricultural products in Addu. “During last year we were able to supply 100kg of Brinjal alone to Herathera Island Resort on a daily basis and monthly yield from agriculture mounted to Mrf50,000” Ibrahim Rasheed stated. He explained “I was satisfied with the income generated from farming although my farm was run below capacity”. He further stressed “poor” market as the reason for running his farm below capacity then and quoted as justifying “if circumstances changes I would quadruple my productivity”.

Explaining the many problems Rasheed faces in the industry he said selling his produce below market rate, multiplying arrears and securing crop are inevitable. He said “as there are many local suppliers in Addu and elsewhere in Fuvahmulah, our produce had to be sold below market rate”. Agriculture needs continuous investment, season after season. “If we don’t get money for what we sell duly or in a month, then we wont be able to invest for the next season” he said. According to him there are unpaid bills pending for his supplies to Herathera Island Resort and other retailers in Addu. Securing crop is one of the biggest problems faced by farmers. Rasheed highlighted lack of constitutional punishment for continued vandalism on their farm fields.

As the ministry of fisheries and agriculture is encouraging farmers and farming in the country by means of training, subsidies and loan schemes, many people have started to enter into the industry. Local farmers have approached banks to obtain loans to reinvest in their farm. Since Ramazan is ahead, farmers want to cultivate as many varieties of fruits and vegetables as they can. Ramazan is considered a good season for agricultural products every where in the country and yield from its harvest hits highest point.

Investing in agriculture is essential. However as the economic downturn and global pandemic of ‘swinflu’ is affecting the economies globally, it is advisable for farmers to secure their market before clinging on spending huge amount of money on farming. Government authorities and ministry of fisheries and agriculture must pay greater attention on establishing means and ways for farmers to settle their problems peacefully. Unless these problems in the industry are correctly addressed, investing in agriculture is not feasible.

Did Michael Jackson Die As A Muslim?

2009-06-29T10:43:00.007+05:00

The biggest news all over the world on 25 June was the death of one of the most famous musical artists in recent history, Michael Jackson. As the hour long television specials, radio playlist tributes, and music video marathons already began on the same day, many Muslims are left wondering, “was Michael Jackson a Muslim?”

The short answer? It’s hard to say.

The long answer? Initially it began with rumors years back that he had joined the Nation of Islam. On top of that, Jermaine Jackson, his brother, is a known and confirmed Sunni Muslim, which added another ingredient into the mix. Read

Anti-drug day marked amidst staggering cases of drug abuse in Hulhumeedhoo

2009-06-27T15:39:00.007+05:00

June 26 marks the UN's International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, a date which has been marked in the Maldives recently following the dramatic increase in the number of cases of drug abuse and its related crimes. The President’s radio address to the nation yesterday highlighted the government’s efforts to curb growth of drug abuse and trafficking and stressed on the issue of strengthening health services.

A rally calling for a permanent solution to the widespread drug abuse and trafficking problem in Maldives was held in Hulhumeedhoo on Friday afternoon. The rally was organized by the Seenu Atoll School (SAM) in association with Maldives Police Services and held to coincide with the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. A stage show was also performed by Hulhudhoo youth to educate the youth and parents about the devastating effect of drugs and reasoned why to refrain from smoking.

Hulhumeedhoo councilors, Island Chiefs, other government officials, Police, students and teachers took part in the event. The march began at the Atoll School and proceeded through Bahaaudheen Magu to the both ends of Hulhumeedhoo, where students and others spoke out against drug abuse and its trafficking. Speakers highlighted that there is a direct link between drug abuse and growing social unrest in the society.

The trend of drug abuse and its trafficking in Hulhumeedhoo has multiplied in the last two years. The staggering number of fresh entries into this evil bewitchment in the island is frustrating. Government authorizes, police and other related agencies remain helpless in tackling and preventing its growth.

The drugs are gaining popularity among newly affluent young Maldivians who view the use of such substances as a status symbol and smart.

Heavy Load Maldives awarded certificate of appreciation

2009-06-25T11:54:00.005+05:00

Hulhudhoo Office has awarded certificates to Heavy Load Maldives and to their Manager Mr. Abdulla in a special gathering held at Southern Point Restaurant last night. The certificate was awarded in appreciation of their help to protect 2.8 million rufiyaa worth sea wall that was build south east side of Hulhudhoo last year. Heavy Load Maldives is owned by the famous actor, reformist and MP for Hulhu-Henveyru, Mr. Moosa Manik.

According to Hulhudhoo Councilor Mr. Ibrahim Didi 27,432m³ of earth was plunked to fill the gap between the 1200 feet long sea wall and the main land. Mr. Didi thanked Mr. Reeko Moosa Manik on behalf of the people, Hulhudhoo Office and Island Committee for successfully accomplishing such a big project. “The cost of this project would certainly mount to Mrf 500,000.00 and it would be almost impossible for us to proceed with such a project at this time of global economic downturn”. Filling the gap would provide reinforcement for the seawall to survive in the long run.

While speaking at the reception last night the Island Chief Mr. Mohamed Jameel announced that Heavy Load Maldives would also help us cleaning Hulhudhoo Waste Management area. “We are very thankful to Mr. Abdulla who has formally agreed to help dump the waste and clean up the whole area before their departure from Addu”, Jameel added.

Heavy load Maldives has just completed their prime task of making channel between Hulhudhoo and Herathera.Nevertheless as part of their corporate social responsibility, Heavy Load is undertaking small projects of Hulhudhoo on request by Hulhudhoo Office.

Police arrests a burglar red handed

2009-06-22T15:42:00.004+05:00

Police have arrested a 25 year old youth in connection with an attempt of burglary on Finifenmaa Store around 23:40 hrs last night. The burglar was caught red handed while trying to break down the door of the shop. According to the owner of the shop the burglar was Abdulla Wasiq of Kudhimaage, S.Hulhudhoo.

Finifenmaa Store has become the center of attention of all the drug addicts out on the streets of Hulhudhoo for ages. In the last six months the shop was robbed twice. The owner of the shop Mr. Solih explained as saying “a burglar, a drug addict, attempted to enter into the Finifenmaa Store by breaking the door lock”. He added that the thief used a screw driver and a hammer to break the lock before police arrived and took him under their custody.

Mr. Solih stated that the same guy broke in to his home recently and got away with a Pocket PC and a Sony Cybershot camera. He complained that police has released him without sending the case to prosecutor general’s office. According to police they had not gained adequate evidences against the suspect for prosecution.

The shocking news of death of the 14-year-old Seenu Atoll School boy, Yoonus Hussain left entire Hulhumeedhoo gripped in grief

2009-06-15T00:20:00.004+05:00

The death of the 14-year-old Seenu Atoll School Grade 8 boy, Yoonus Hussain, has left entire Hulhumeedhoo gripped in grief. He died of drowning into the channel, which is being excavated between Meedhoo and Hera, on Sunday evening around 15:45 hrs. Hulhudhoo Meedhoo Hospital confirmed his demise shortly after he was brought there.

Yoonus Hussain, along with five of his class mates, went for swimming to the channel between Meedhoo and Hera after coming from school. According to one of his companion, they were playing fun games in the channel before Yoonus Hussain and he drowned into a deep dugout. “Yoonus Hussain was already dead when he was taken out from water“an eyewitness said. According to reliable sources within Meedhoo, Yoonus Hussain did not know swimming or his friends who accompanied with him.

Today it has become an obligatory measure for schools, NGOs and other responsible authorities to make people aware about safety at sea. Learning to swim must be made compulsory within school levels and special training programs need to be conducted. Similar cases of deaths occur very often throughout the nations but people pay little or no attention whatsoever.

Trench hollow out between Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo raised controversy

2009-06-13T12:45:00.006+05:00

An unprecedented trench hollowed out between Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo has raised tension between both the islands last night. According to the information received to Hulhudhoo Today, an excavator lend by Shangri’ la to excavate the channel between Meedhoo and Hera, was used to dig out the road which runs east of Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo. However the purpose and the people behind this wicked attempt of trying to leave Hulhumeedhoo people under jeopardy still remain unknown.

According to Hulhudhoo councilor Mr. Ibrahim Didi, he had asked Meedhoo island Chief Mr. Abdulla Rasheed for an explanation of excavating trench. Abdulla Rasheed justified as saying “it was the will of the majority of Meedhoo people out on streets to clean the island yesterday”. We enquired Meedhoo councilor Mr. Hassan Shahid if he had learned about such plan to scoop out a trench on the road before. He replied that he had attended all the meetings in FMD regarding the planning of island cleaning program but never come across anyone saying about excavating a trench to block the road.

At the wake of this evil act to block the road by a small segment of Meedhoo people, triggered protests near Hulhudhoo office last night.Hundreds of people gathered near Hulhudhoo Office and pressurized the newly appointed councilor to immediately take actions. Hulhudhoo councilor Mr. Ibrahim Didi, after talking to Atoll councilor, arranged Heavy Load vehicles to fill the trench before 00:00 hours. However differences in opinion among the people out on protest failed to find reconciliation to the dispute and they marched towards the main border to excavate a channel. With spade and other tools Hulhudhoo people did scoop out 5 x 1 feet area of land near old Health Center building before police came and advised them to stop.

The relationship between Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo people, particularly among the youth, has been strengthening for the last five years. Street fights and vandalism on either island properties almost vanished. Everybody was free to move from one island to another, thus promoting social and economic benefits. We strongly advise on youth of these two islands to refrain from activities which may hinder peace we have setup between these two islands.

Electricity Network expansion to Hulhumeedhoo farm fields underway

2009-04-04T21:42:00.004+05:00

Hulhumeedhoo powerhouse has started works to provide electricity to Hulhudhoo farm fields today. This is in conjunction with the minister of Fisheries and Agriculture Dr. Ibrahim Didi’s promise during the opening ceremony of newly developed road that leads to farm fields in February 2009. Dr. Didi promised to Hulhumeedhoo people that he would enhance means and ways to develop agriculture in Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo and that he would prioritize providing electricity.

Hulhudhoo Today has learnt that the current power network expansion project carried out by Hulhumeedhoo powerhouse is to enable farmers to easily access to electricity needs at a reasonable cost. Under this project three distribution boxes near farm fields of each island would be setup and it depends of farmers to get connections from these boxes.

Some farmers are still dissatisfied. According to them, they would have to spent further Mrf10,000 to get power connection to their relevant farm fields. However ministry has recently announced that they would soon start providing soft loans, with 3% interest rates, to farmers. This is likely to ease the tension of the farmers experiencing short term financial difficulties in expanding their business.

During February ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture has conducted a ten day workshop in Hulhumeedhoo to improve the knowledge of farmers. The workshop was a success as it had helped many farmers enrich their understanding towards various diseases to crops.

Power network expansion project to Meedhoo farms will kick off upon completion of the development of preceding roads. Unlike Hulhudhoo, Meedhoo is rich in farming and the scope for expansion of agriculture is higher.

FSM to setup fuel storage tanks in Hulhumeedhoo

2009-04-02T12:04:00.004+05:00

Fuel Supplies Maldives have signed contract with southern province office yesterday to set up a fuel storage facility in Hulhumeedhoo. The contract was signed by the Deputy Managing Director of FSM Ibrahim Ziyath and Addu Atoll Councilor, Mr. Abdull Sadiq.

Storage facility would be set up adjacent to Public Works unit of Hulhumeedhoo and it is the most desirable place for setting up the facility. FSM requires 4900f² of land for this facility. High profile citizens from Hulhumeedhoo along with their respective Island Chiefs accompanied the delegation of FSM to observe the site.

According to FSM the main aim of the storage facility is to make fuel available to Hulhumeedhoo community as they are distributed elsewhere in Addu. FSM have set up similar storage tanks in Hithadhoo and local distributors buy in abundance to resell to the public. FSM also indicated that the storage facility is temporary and will be replaced with a new facility close to the proposed jetty which would be common to Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo.

Setting up a fuel storage facility in Hulhumeedhoo would ease the shortage of fuel supplies in Hulhumeedhoo whereas community would enjoy reduced expenditure on fuel.

Are we negligent about birth of world class tourism in Addu?

2009-04-01T16:01:00.006+05:00

Tourism and hotel management is synonymous with Addu people since its birth in 1972. Tens of thousands of Addu people work at different hierarchical levels of tourism industry in the country. As the geography of the atoll and political stand of former administration hindered growth of tourism in Addu, children’s of Addu, at their very young age, sailed toward jobs in the hotel and tourism industry across the nation. However tourism has started to take effect in a larger scale in 2006 when Maldives Tourism Development Corporation made $44million investment to develop Herathera Island Resort, which latter failed to harbor the need of Addu community at large. Today one would wonder why on earth the people so dedicated to tourism is incapable of helping $100million worth investment by Shangri-La at Viligili?

Shangri-La Maldives Resort & Spa at Viligili, which is due to open in July 10, 2009, is seeking 30,000 m3 of white sand to develop its beach. According to Shangri-La, they would be able to open the hotel for business in July only if they get the required amount of white sand before monsoon. Dr. Simad Saeed, while meeting with the members of Hulhudhoo Island Development Committee and vessel owners last night, stated that Shangri-La might have to postpone the opening of the hotel until January next year if the problem of making beach is not resolved.

The quality and the quantity of white sand required by Shangri-La are available within Addu’s vast shallow lagoon west of Meedhoo “the Kedevaa Hera”. Kedevaa Hera is the area decreed by the members of Atoll Development Committee for extracting sand for civilian purposes and during the development phase of Herathera huge amount of sands were sold to Herathera by a group of Meedhoo people. Hulhudhoo Today has learnt on various occasions that two different parties had failed their attempt to extract sand from Kedevaa Hera and sell them to Shangri-La for unidentifiable reasons. Certainly the crux of the problem here is the huge amount of money involved in supply of white sand to Viligili and every party wants to grab most share of it. Ultimately none of the parties are able to undertake the project alone due to the pressure from other parties and islands.

Indeed, opening of Shangri-La Maldives Resort & Spa at Viligili is a long lasting dream of Addu people. Members of Hulhudhoo Island Development Committee and vessel owners collectively agreed that they are ready to accept extracting sand from Hulhudhoo lagoon. “Extracting sand might cause environmental degradations in the long run, but if Shangri-La guarantees environmental safety they could dug out sand from Hulhudhoo” stated committee. Committee further stated that Shangri-La could also dig the channel leading to deep sea as it has become shallow. “The channel needs to be dug 1.5 meters out to allow easy passage of the huge fishing vessels and cargo boats and I think Shangri-La would get huge amount of sand from there itself, apart from the proposed area for harbor”, suggested a member.

Dr. Simad Saeed, acknowledging the voice of committee and vessel owners being unified decision of Hulhudhoo community, stated that he would deliver this positive and uniform feedback to Shangri-La and that he would arrange a meeting with Shangri-La to further discuss the matter. He also assured to bring it to the attention of Shangri-La that none of the Hulhudhoo personals are taken for jobs at Viligili.

Shangri-La Maldives ‘sand examinations’ stopped

2009-03-29T13:53:00.006+05:00

Two huge burgesses with heavy load pumps and excavators are stopped from extracting sands from Meedhoo lagoon by a group of Meedhoo people yesterday. Extractions of sand are believed to be used for making the beach of Shangri-La Maldives at Villingili.

Shangri-La needs huge metric tons of sand for making its beach. Shangri-La has not contracted out the project to any of the local extractors to supply sand, but there are reports that few of the locals are selling sand to the resort. During early March a group of people had called on the province office to bring a halt on illegal extracting and selling of sand from Hithadhoo lagoon.

However Hulhudhoo office had offered to make a deal with Shangri-La recently. According to that, Shangri-La pumps out as much sand as they want from a specified area which Hulhudhoo people could develop as their port. Further it said that they should sheet-pile the harbor and dug a channel.

Last week a fleet of two huge burgesses with pumps and excavators sailed across the face of Hulhudhoo towards “Kedevaahera” where predominantly Meedhoo people extract sands for civilian and small scale business purposes. News then spread across Addu that they are undertaking sand examinations, however a group of Meedhoo people sailed to them and denied their undertakings.

White sand has become scarce in the region and extracting and transporting them from other atolls in the country would cost millions of dollars. Gdh. Fares-Maathoda is ready to supply as much sand as required by Shangri-La, however the cost of transporting and other logistics makes the project volatile. Unless the issue of getting required amount of sand is solved the dream of opening the seven star resort at Villigili will remain a shattered dream.

Earth Hour 2009

2009-03-28T13:53:00.005+05:00

At 8:30pm on Saturday 28 March millions of people around the world will unite and switch off their lights for one hour, Earth Hour. This event is a global public awareness campaign about the effects of climate change.

In 2009, Earth Hour will take place in more than 80 countries around the world, proving that climate change really is a global threat and that it will take all of us to work together to solve it. We are hoping that Earth Hour reaches one billion people.

Maldives is to mark Earth Hour, an annual event organized by World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) to increase the awareness on the effects of global climate change. The main event will be to switching off non essential lights from 2030 hours to 2130 hours.

Lightening strike on Herathera

2009-03-25T11:23:00.005+05:00

A deadly lightening struck the IT Department of Herathera island resort and a fishing vessel in the dock yesterday morning. Network and main server of the hotel was severely damaged and the fishing vessel was taken to Maradhoo Slipway for repairing.

“Network is totally uprooted, PABX system and main server is down since yesterday” reported a Herathera staff. Further he said “phone lines, mobile services and internet access is also down”. According to him they are unable to pursue their normal routine works since the incident occurred yesterday morning.

Hulhudhoo Today has learnt that the vessel was a fishing vessel from Huvadhoo Atoll who had come to sell fish to Herathera.

Lightening has become a threat to Herathera these days. A day before communication and network systems were destroyed by lightening, power house became the victim of it around 3:00am on Monday morning.

According Ibrahim Rasheed, GM of resort, it was unclear what had caused the blackout but believed that lightning strikes over night might have caused some damage to the power generator. He added that they are not able to find any damage or problems with the generator. Read

On the other hand there are rumors that the cause of the blackout on Monday morning was due to running out of fuel in the resort.

The scale of the damage caused by lightening and time for recovery is still uncertain however staffs and management of the hotel is working hard to ease the tensions that might surface up.

What determines a candidate as best?

2009-03-24T13:05:00.004+05:00

The quest for selecting most eligible and most potential candidate as ‘peoples’ envoy’ to the parliament is deviating the actual purpose of their candidacy today. In this year 465 candidates are contesting for 77 constituencies of the parliament and each candidate propagates his or her own way to serve people. Cash rewards, valuable assets, air tickets, job security, family intrusion and illusive obsessions are some of the depraved elements of campaign strategies adopted by most of the candidates in Maldives.

Any candidate elected to the parliament upon aforementioned elements is highly unlikely to represent the public. Indeed, for them their private benefit would outweigh those of public as they would have given bribes in some way or the other to grab most votes.

Today it’s a common phenomenon on the ground and various levels of campaign activities that candidates boast about things they, as natives, have done for the islands in the past. Some candidates claim that they have helped to develop infrastructure of the islands, promoted educational fields, enhanced job opportunities and granted money for the needy. Indeed it’s an obligatory duty of the riches and no candidate should claim parliamentary seat as a reward for that.

Honesty is the basic guide line to become a good MP. A good MP never promises the unattainable nor swank about what he or she has done well for the people in the past. Ability to give tough and rational feedbacks and capacity to reason on issues discussed at parliament floor, free from obsession, is instrumental for a good MP. Academic excellence and professional exposure is necessary to lead arguments at parliament. If he or she is hesitant or incapable of providing adequate justification on his or her believes and thoughts then he is incompetent. In the Maldives, Reeko Moosa Manik and Ibrahim Ismail are the two outstanding members of the parliament who had great hand in shaping and modernizing the constitution of the country.

We hope that our people choose a candidate who is second to none than those mentioned above. This is the first time in the history that a constituency for Hulhumeedhoo is placed and electing the right and competent candidate for the job is essential for the wellbeing of islands and the country at large.

Hulhumeedhoo constituency-a fierce battlefield!

2009-03-22T20:32:00.004+05:00

Countdown for this year’s parliamentary election slated for May 9, 2009 has begun with the release of eligible candidates names by Maldives Election Commission on Saturday. As per the list published at election commission website, 465 people are contesting for various constituencies through out the country, where as twelve of them are contesting for Hulhumeedhoo.

75% of candidates are contesting on their own for Hulhumeedhoo constituency while three dared to compete with their respective party tickets. Ms. Fathimath Badhoora, only female candidate for Hulhumeedhoo, is the contender of Dhivehi Raiyyithunge Party (DRP) while Mr. Ahmed Ibrahim Didi is challenging from Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) and Ilyas Labeeb from the ruling party, MDP. Individual contenders are Mr. Ibarahim Zahid, Mr. Mohamed Shibath, Mr. Ibrahim Hameed, Mr. Moosa Fathuhy, Dr. Abdulla Afeef, Mr. Sadurudheen Rasheed, Mr. Ali Rasheed, Mr. Abdul Haadhee Fahumee and Mr. Mohamed Rasheed.

Hulhumeedhoo is the only constituency where most number of candidates is contesting and it is believed that the islands would blow with the waves of campaign activities by twelve candidates. Pressure on Hulhumeedhoo public have been unpredictable had two of the contestants did not drop their names from running the contest. However a segment of the community believes that more candidates mean more choices for people.

NPS sports meet 2009

2009-03-21T12:44:00.009+05:00

A one day sports meet conducted by Nasriyya Pre-School (NPS) at Hulhudhoo football ground ended yesterday. The meet was held between the houses of the school. A number of students participated in which event was honoured by Mr. Ahmed Musthafa.

A number of games were played in the event. Noticeably relay race, sprints, rabbit race, drills etc are among the many performed.

Sports meet is one of the major extra curricula activities conducted by the school every year. It is only event that accounts almost all the students in the school and every student dreams to take part in this event.

NPS is facing shortages of new entry to school. According to reliable sources within the school, there are approximately 60 students in the school, which depends on the fees collected from the students. However the ministry pays for the teachers and supervisor.

Crooked mystery-history answers

2009-03-18T15:37:00.004+05:00

It was on last January that a number of Hulhumeedhoo staffs were terminated from Herathera Island Resort for soaring global economic crisis. Perhaps that could be the best option for an infant hotel like Herathera to withstand the preceding economic shocks. However, taking more of Hulhumeedhoo staffs up for various jobs at Herathera a month later is dubious.

Twisting, shuffling and swapping of employees for political and financial benefits are a practice exercised by some of the hotels in Maldives for decades. There is no labour law that protects labour rights in the country. Hoteliers and business men are well aware of these loop holes in the constitution of the nation and they utilize it as and when they want it.

Working at Herathera is more than a dream for Hulhumeedhoo people and those who secured jobs from Herathera recently must be grateful for the management of the hotel. As unemployment is one of the key factors affecting rise in crimes and social unrest within the society, fall in unemployment would surely contribute to harmony and spread of peace. However, infringing the rights of those staffs sacked on January 2009 might overshadow the reputation of Herathera management as we are still experiencing the adverse affects of global economic crisis.

Employing more staffs to Herathera, at a time when most of the companies are adhering to ‘redundancy’ as a policy to economize, is disputable. Some people believe that the current strategy of taking more of Hulhumeedhoo staffs up in Herathera is politically motivated. Mr. Ibrahim Zahid, who is a close ally of Yacht Tours Managing Director Mr. Jabir Abdulla, is reportedly contesting for Hulhumeedhoo constituency. Perhaps this could be the sole reason behind hiring more and more people from Hulhumeedhoo towards constitutional election.

Indeed this is a very important and inevitable move by the management of Herathera though. And it would have been much better if the eight employees, sacked due to the preceding economic crisis last January, were brought back to their positions accordingly.

Unemployment will be reduced-Ilyas Labeeb

2009-03-17T16:50:00.006+05:00

Ilyas Labeeb promised creations of hundreds of jobs under his long term plans to develop ‘Hera’ as a tourist resort. “Opening of a tourist resort at Hera is a long lasting dream of our beloved Meedhoo people and it’s my mission” said Ilyas while meeting with his supporters in Meedhoo on last Friday. He also highlighted the business opportunities that would be opened for Hulhumeedhoo people when the said project gets realized.

As part of Ilyas Labeeb’s campaign promotion he met with his supporters in Meedhoo on last Friday near Shamsudheen School. Hundreds of people visited to listen to his speech in which he urged people to attend to all the gathering conducted by all candidates. “You must listen to all candidates, analyze each ones proposal for the development of Hulhumeedhoo and country, and vote based on your judgments” advised Ilyas. He strongly emphasized on ‘voter education’ as the basis of his campaign strategy. According to him, voters must know why he or she votes a particular candidate.

He addressed on various socio economic concerns faced by our community today. “There are too many loop holes in the system and I promise to help you curb them” vowed Ilyas. He drew attention on deteriorating situation of drug abuse and its illegal smuggling into our community. He promised he would help rehabilitate the addicts and put an end to illegal smuggling.

Ilyas shared his notion to specialize Health Center in one particular field or two. “We have all the required facilities to provide quality dental services within Health Center and preparations from the side of Health Center remain incomplete”, delighted Ilyas said. He also indicated that efforts to bring a gynecologist and a pediatric are underway as Hulhumeedhoo people faces lot of difficulties travelling Hithadhoo to see these special doctors.

As emphasized by Ilyas, everyone must listen to the promises made by all the candidates and evaluate the credibility of them before clinging on to vote a particular candidate.

New Line boat rescued after running aground seashore

2009-03-15T12:22:00.004+05:00

New Line boat which ran aground seashore 200 meters west of Hulhudhoo jetty yesterday afternoon around 3:15pm, was rescued around 4:00am today. The boat was heading towards Feydhoo for departure to Male’ when it ran seashore. Yesterday’s journey was its first after a lengthy break for renovation and improvements.

The reason for New Line running ashore is not know, however an eyewitness near the disaster suspected that it occurred due to a mechanical malfunction. “Steering system had failed and captain lost control over the vessel” said an eyewitness. Further he justified said that sea was very calm and that there was absolutely no wind.

Crew of New Line tried to recue the vessel as it ran aground seashore and many residents joined the rescue efforts latter. All of their communal efforts went in vein leaving the boat stranded. “How can you pull the vessel, it is fully loaded; unload few and wait for high tide” suggested a local.

The vessel was finally rescued around 4:00 on Sunday morning. Many people had helped in the rescue operation that lasted for four hours.

New Line is one of the two cargo boats operating between Hulhudhoo and Male’. It has returned to its operation after renovation. Another vessel, Speed Boat is also undergoing major renovation works.

Disaster Management Center provides water to Hulhumeedhoo people

2009-03-13T18:03:00.005+05:00

Maldives Disaster Management Center (MDMC) has started to provide drinking water to Hulhumeedhoo people today. Safe drinking water shortage has started to create lots of problem in the two stranded islands in Addu since last month, as there has been no rain fall for the past five months. MDMC is seeking help from Herathera Island Resort to provide water to meet the immediate demand for them.

“We sought help from MDMC for water and they replied very quickly”, a Meedhooan said. MDMC then sought help from Herathera who has the capacity to desalinate water for almost 5000 people residing in Hulhumeedhoo. Public works unit of Hulhumeedhoo are using their trucks to carry water from Hearthera-Hulhudhoo channel to water tanks located in various public areas.

“Herathera with the help of Maldives Police Service will start filling up the water tanks in Hulhumeedhoo public areas today”, Island Chief Mr. Ahmed Shafeeu stated today, after the Friday Prayer. According to him this process will continue till people are able to fill up their water tanks. He also advised people not to waste water as the drought still continues. “I advice owners of fishing vessels to avoid taking water in huge volumes temporarily as they are provided as two liters per head” said Shafeeu.

“It’s a part of their (Herathera) corporate social responsibility to provide these sorts of help to the neighbouring communities” referred a Hulhudhooan. Further he said “We are happy that we have started to receive water thought later and on notification by MDMC”. As for now people are worried that drought may persist for a long time and that many water-borne diseases may start to surface up.

Hulhudhoo School inaugurates PTA and School Board

2009-03-13T15:41:00.004+05:00

Hulhudhoo School has inaugurated its PTA members and members for newly formed school governance body ‘School Board’. Prefect board and heads of various clubs were also sworn in. The chair of the ceremony, Mr. Ali Khalid, distributed certificates to members of PTA and School Board whereas Assistant headmaster of Hithadhoo School Mr. Afeef distributed name tags for Prefects.

“This is a very happy moment for our school to introduce school board” Mr. Thaweel Abdul Muhsin said. “School board will function like parliament of the country, who would make policies on how the school should function, assist school administration with technical and management expertise and corporate with Education ministry to improve schooling system” Thaweel said.

“You must adhere to modern approach of learning and teachings” Mr. Ali Khalid, the most admired and potential headmaster of all times in Addu Atoll stated. “You don’t necessarily be working hard always, rather you must act wisely” he drew an example from the past and shared with the audience to think. According to him it would be very easy for Hulhudhoo School to grow faster and quote “You are very lucky, you have bunch of educated people in your island and I believe every one of them would be more than happy to help you”.

Senior member of Ministry of Education Southern Province Mr. Ahmed Abdulla guaranteed that he would work very hard to reconcile teacher shortage and a Headmaster. “I have listened to the concerns of School parents, these issues were already raised to us and I assure you that I would do justice with you on arrival of the State Minister Ms. Fathimath Naseer who is visiting Nepal” he said.

The members of the School Board are Mr. Ahmed Musthafa, Mr. Hussain Fahumy, Ms. Shamsiyya, Ms. Dhusooma, Ms. Mariyam Manike, Mr. Shareef, Mr. Azleem, Mr. Mujthaba and Ms. Fareedha Moosa.

Hulhudhoo youth endorsed Ilyas Labeeb

2009-03-10T20:14:00.005+05:00

Hulhudhoo youth, in a special gathering held at Hulhumale’ International School last Friday, endorsed Ilyas Labeeb as their candidate for the upcoming parliamentary election slated for May 9, 2009. The gathering was called for introducing the candidate to Hulhumeedhoo people living in Hulhumale’ and launching Ilyas Labeeb’s campaign T-Shirts.

Mr. Ali Manik (Kalhi Ali), a prominent figure in bringing change in last year’s presidential election in Hulhudhoo, honored the launching of T-Shirts. Another new campaign song by the famous vocalist Mr. Mohamed Azleen (Azky) and Lajuna was then introduced by Mr. Ahmed Zahid, the president of Hulhudhoo Sports Club.

Introducing the meeting at Hulhumale’ International School Mr. Ahmed Zahid highlighted the commitment from Hulhudhoo youth to Ilyas Labeeb’s constituency. He thanked Mohamed Azleen in particular for composing such beautiful songs to boost campaign.

On Sunday Mr. Ibrahim Zareer introduced the same T-Shirts to Hulhudhoo people at Dimish Kara campaign ‘Harage’. Many youth participated in the event that was arranged without any prior notice or announcement. “We would provide this special campaign T-Shirts to everyone who is engaged in the campaign, it would spread our message” said a member of campaign team.

Campaigns for various candidates are expected to take its culmination latter next month, however every candidate believes that this year’s parliamentary election wouldn’t be as easy as they had anticipated.

18 year old Hulhudhooan stabbed to death in Male’-suspect taken into police custody

2009-03-09T21:24:00.004+05:00

A teenager has been stabbed to death during a disturbance involving youths on Majeedhee Magu around 23:15 last night. Mr. Abdulla Farhad, 18, Lilly Maage, S.Hulhudhoo died while undergoing treatments for wounds caused by stabbing a knife, at IGMH around 3:30 in the morning.

Speaker from the Maldives Police Service stated that Abdulla Farhad was stabbed in the lower back of his body, near Luxury Shopping Center around 23:15 last night. Mr. Mohamed Nabeel, 21, M. Asareege has been taken into police custody around 19:00 tonight, however police is due to make a thorough investigation in connection to this brutal murder. According to police, Serious and Organized Crime Unit of Maldives Police Service is undertaking investigations and search for other alleged people in relation to this murder is underway.

Even though he was found laying with wounds near Luxury Shopping Center, the actual place where he was stabbed is unknown. Many believe that he was attacked near Central Clinic, however others think that he was attacked in the park opposite to Sosun Store. Indeed he must be walking home after closing business at the mobile shop he works.

A member of deceased family said “there were no wounds on his body other than the wound at his lower back”. He further said “the knife was pierced inside his body severely that bleeding in and outside his body wasn’t stoppable, despite four doctors’ efforts at IGMH”. Doctors transfused blood as well before he died in their hands at 3:30 in the morning.

Murder, gang fights, vandalism etc is on rise in Maldives despite protectionate measures taken by the respective authorities. Many criticize the government for civil unrest and loss of freedom on the roads. Others argue that our Muslim brotherhood has abandoned us leaving behind the duty of care for each other.

Ten days workshop conducted by Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture for Hulhumeedhoo farmers ended last night

2009-03-07T21:05:00.006+05:00

A ten day workshop conducted by Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture to educate and train famers about various diseases of crops and steps toward diseases-resist crops ended last night. “This workshop is organized by the ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture in association with Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo Offices on request by Hulhumeedhoo farmers during the minister’s visit to meet with them last December” said Mr. Mohamed Aslam, the course coordinator.

Speaking about the farmer’s participation in such a workshop, Mr. Mohamed Aslam said that it was ‘satisfactory’. “Initially 38 farmers turned up for the first day of the workshop, 28 of them got registered and only 18 of them completed the workshop”, said Aslam. According to Aslam lot of people, irresponsible of their field, attend these sorts of workshops.

However farmers who completed the workshop were very optimistic. “The workshop was essential for us, we came to know many things we would otherwise had no idea about”, said Mohamed Shareef. Shareef further said, “I gained more knowledge and techniques in this workshop than the previous course I had attended last year”.

Meedhoo is an agricultural island for decades however Hulhudhoo people started engaging in agriculture recently. A number of vegetables and fruits are grown in these two islands alone. Most of the locally grown products are Cucumber, Cabbage, Tomato, Chili, Watermelon, Banana etc. There is a greater scope for Hulhumeedhoo farmers to sell their products to the rest of Addu. Today Fuvahmula farmers are using the opportunity to keep up the supply of vegetable products to meet ever growing demand for them in Addu.

The opportunity to enter into this market is still open for the Hulhumeedhoo farmers, but only if they work as a group and go for specialization. When one farm cultivates Tomato the other must grow Cucumber and so on. This cartel would benefit all the members within it and each one would contribute tones of vegetables collectively to the market weekly. If this practice is followed there is opportunity for them to stay in market.

Swimming trail to mark International Woman’s Day in Hulhudhoo

2009-03-06T16:42:00.004+05:00

The unfinished channel between Hulhudhoo and Herathera has become the ‘new artificial beach’ for many Hulhudhooans keen on maintaining their fitness and shaping their body. Everyday a number of women, as old as fifteen to fifty, gather in this historic place for swimming and enjoying a free time in their usual daily busy schedule. Yesterday evening a swimming trail was held by Hulhudhoo Womens Development Committee (HWDC) to mark international womens day. “There will be a ‘family evening’ on Friday at Hulhudhoo football ground, as part of the celebrations of International Womens Day. As Womens day fall on a weekday we planned to pre-celebrate” said Ms. Nazhath Shafeeq, the president of HWDC.

Speaking about the significance of the trail Ms. Nazhath Shafeeq said that it was very important for the swimmers to assess where they stand today. “Such a trial, from time to time, would encourage the swimmers and attract more people for swimming” said Nazhath.

The trial was broken down into two categories, twenty meter free style and 4 X 30 meter relay. Ms. Aminath Manike, Hikiunimaage, S.Hulhudhoo won the free style swimming where as team led by Mariyam Razana took the lead in the trial. Ms. Aminath Manike has participated in two of the swimming trials conducted by Hulhudhoo School.

Swimming is a good exercise. It involves the use of almost all the muscles required for movement, without the weight of your body pounding you with each move like when you are walking or running. As water resistance is greater than air, the muscles have to work harder. Regular swimming would build your muscle strength, endurance and cardio-vascular fitness. It would improve the body’s use of oxygen and increase lung function. Swimming also stimulates circulation, promotes proper breathing, burn calories and combats the aging process. On the other hand swimming develops a positive mental attitude and higher self-esteem.

This year’s Official International Womens Day theme is ‘women and men united to end violence against women and girls’. Organizations, governments and women's groups around the world choose different themes each year that reflect global and local gender issues

Maldives economy under jeopardy!

2009-03-05T14:40:00.003+05:00

Maldives had been one of the fastest growing economies in South Asia and within the Developing Countries of the world for the past three decades. Major economic indicators depicted sound and steady growth. Inflation and exchange rates were monitored closely. Per capita income of the country was recorded the highest at US$3,460 among neighboring nations. Despite these developmental gains World Bank has warned a sweeping downward economic trend if the present budget deficit persist for another year or two.

“Maldives economy under jeopardy” is the talking point of every economist, businessman, banker, policy maker and the common man today. The budget deficit of the country, which was just 1.9 percent of the economy in 2004, has expanded to 7.3 percent in 2006 and is set balloon to 23.9 percent in 2007, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Country’s external debt is way ahead of 80% of GDP and imports exceeded exports by US$704 million in 2007 deteriorating the deficit on the country’s balance of payment.

“The reason behind the creation of a Black Market of Dollar trade and the involvement of agents in the trade is due to the policies of the previous government” said the special Envoy of the President. He also told that previous government had lacked any money in reserve when its 30 year old dictatorship fell, just like the case in all other countries transitioning from dictatorships.

The main bank of the country has stopped its lending since late 2008. Auditor general report highlighted that 75% of loans are sanctioned into the hands of few major parties where four parties enjoyed 60% of it. National Reserve of the country diminished dramatically during 2008, because previous government lent money to its counterparts to mobilize support for DRP presidential candidate last year.

The economic cycle of the country is almost on halt. The country’s major GDP composers are at stake. Tourism is sailing through the global economic crisis. Poor fish catch over the last four years is failing to contribute its share progressively to the world supply. Construction industry is waiting for banks to finance their projects.

Maldives economy will soon move to a recession if the country’s debt is not dealt rationally and quickly, problem of dollar shortage is resolved and soaring commodity prices are stabilized accordingly. Therefore banks must start lending to enhance business to refinance and individuals to complete their unfinished construction projects. Should the current economic crisis created deliberately by the previous administration persist for a long time, the dependability and trust in financial institutions and the government at large will collapse.

Hulhumeedhoo women played a friendly netball match to mark National Day

2009-03-03T13:56:00.005+05:00

“This is just the beginning, we have a long way to go” said Ms. Shibana Hassan, the captain of Hulhudhoo ‘Dimish Kara (DK) Team’ and queen of yesterday’s friendly netball match. The match was played at DK ground as part of the ongoing National Day celebration in the island and to introduce DK to rest of Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo. Hulhudhoo team, comprised of mostly DK players, won over the mightier Meedhoo side by a narrow margin, 15-14.

Meedhoo players have been very friendly and instrumental in developing the netball players in Hulhudhoo. “We are very thankful to Mr. Ibrahim Saeed for sending his players to help us learn the game” said a DK based Hulhudhoo netball player.

Meedhoo players were delighted with the resilience shown by Hulhudhoo team. They have immediately invited Hulhudhoo team for a second match at Meedhoo. “We are more than happy to perform in Meedhoo and we believe Meedhoo side is much stronger even thought they lost the game” said a DK player. She expressed that playing away would be a new experience and would certainly improve our exposure to different levels of spectators.

As DK is the emerging district in Hulhudhoo, localization of people from rest of the island is on surge. More and more people are attracted to DK every day. The park developed adjacent to DK ground by its people alone has now become the entertainment center of Hulhudhoo. Socially immoral behavior, infatuated by abuse of drugs, by few of DK locals had totally washed its name from Hulhudhoo for decades. However, DK with enormous contribution from each of its households has successfully overcome those socially unacceptable issues. As for now, the future of DK and Hulhudoo at large is seen very bright, however the sustainability of it depends very much on its determination with a fraction of government’s consideration.

President Nasheed delivers his first speech to the People’s Majilis

2009-03-02T15:58:00.004+05:00

The first democratically elected President of Maldives and the leader of Maldives Democratic Party (MDP), Mr. Mohamed Nasheed delivered his first presidential speech at the People’s Majilis (the parliament) today. Despite huge criticism by opposition political parties, the opening ceremony of the parliament for the year 2009 went smooth and as planned.

President Nasheed’s speech to the parliament drew attention on stabilizing the current economic downturn and managing subsequent shortfall of National Reserve as a basic priority of his government. “We will make our economy stable, allow foreign investments inflow and reduce irrational government expenditure” President Nasheed stated. According to him government expenditure was very high during the past three months. He said “we are obliged to proceed with the previous spending capacity of the government as there are unfinished projects by previous government”. He anticipated this spending may take another six months to complete. However he confirmed that his government will not go for borrowing from foreign banks, should they are able to tackle the economic crisis in the country.

“We will bring foreign investments equivalent to $500 million to cater for the basic needs of improving public sector development programs in the whole nation” President Nasheed stated. He explained that “these investments will help develop our roads, schools, health care services and enhance supply of safe and clean drinking water and better power facilities”. Government has opened a gateway for foreign investors to invest in areas of their interest in this country and an agency by the name of Invest Maldives has been entrusted within the government.

President Nasheed criticized the former government as ‘failure’ and quote “The previous government had sought money supply as the measure to tackle the economic downturn, and subsequently created much havoc in the economy. Printing more notes and injecting them into the economy raised the country’s debt over Mrf 4 billion in the year 2008”. He explained that we are facing short supply of US Dollars today as an adverse affect of printing and injecting more Rufiyya into the economic system. Further he said that wherever the Auditor General enters, number of cases leading to corruption and illogical expenditures start to unfold. He highlighted that last year alone huge amount of loans were sanctioned into the hands of very few people and quote as ‘politically driven’. He stated that his government will not borrow money from foreign banks and governments to finance these debts on Maldivian people rather he would introduce the country for more foreign investors.

Leaders of other political parties are continuously criticizing this government for a reason or the other. Islamic Democratic Party leader Mr. Umar Naseer is the leading critic of Nasheed’s coalition government. He along with his followers kept raising their voices against proceeding of the opening ceremony of People’s Majilis for the New Year and they claimed that it was contradictory to the article 296 of the revised constitution. According to article 296, a parliamentary election must be held before February 15, 2009 and that the first meeting of the newly elected parliament must commence on March 1, 2009. However Mr.Umar Naseer and two of his followers were taken into police custody and the crowd dismantled subsequently.

Dhivehi Gaumee Party (DGP) skeptical about MDP possession

2009-02-28T22:43:00.003+05:00

“MDPs approach to win most of the seats in the upcoming parliamentary election is an indicator of its disguised aspiration to switch the administrative mechanism of the country” Mr. Ahmed Ibrahim Didi, Dhivehi Gaumee Party’s contestant for Hulhudhoo Meedhoo constituency stated, while addressing to the audience in their first introductory meeting to Addu people last night. Even though the meeting was called for introducing its contestants for various constituencies in Addu, most of the speakers utilized the opportunity to criticize the ruling party.

“If we remain silent before the very dynamic political arena of this country, who would bear the responsibility of desired and actual change we dreamt of, after ousting thirty years of brutal dictatorship” questioned Dr. Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, who is a council member of DGP and a cabinet minister of the MDP coalition government. He stated that every individual has got the right to equally enjoy the benefits of introducing true democracy in this country and no individual or organization could alter this by any mean(s). Further he stated “No individual or organization should try to alter the legislation of the country and none should be allowed to do so”. According to him public grievances are rising against the current administration today, for most of decisions are taken without obtaining adequate information from the designated bodies.

DGP introduced five of its members for five different constituencies in Addu. They include Dr. Ahmed Abdulla for ‘Beyru Magu’ district, Hithadhoo, Dr. Ali Shareef for Koruvalu district, Hithadhoo, Mr. Ahmed Didi for Hulhumoo Meedhoo, Mr. Hassan Adil for Maradhoo and Maradhoo Feydhoo and Mr.Imad Solih for Feydhoo. All the candidates, except Dr. Ali Shareef, spoke before the audience in their first introductory meeting with Addu people. Dr. Ali Shareef is reportedly on a journey to Australia. While addressing to the audience Mr. Ahmed Didi, editor of famous political magazine Sandhaan, repeatedly called on President Mr. Mohamed Nasheed to “return to his promises”.

Dr. Hassan Saeed, former attorney general and one of the council members of DGP has stated that his party believes in principle and that contestants were selected based on their principle and procedure. He also told that his party provides necessary information on religious, political, judicial, and economic matters to its contestants. According to him “unless educated personals take the responsibility of administration of this country, it is almost impossible for this country to cope with the pressure of modern world”.

Eventhough the turnup for DGP's first official meeting was considerably low, hundreds of DGP members and supporters have visited the meeting which was held at Muhibbudheen School in S.Hithadhoo.

National Day Celebration continues in Hulhumeedhoo

2009-02-28T16:57:00.009+05:00

Children’s Evening conducted by www.meedhoolive.com and www.hulhudhootoday.com at Seenu Atoll School as part of national day celebrations in Hulhumeedhoo ended yesterday. Hundreds of children from Meedhoo and Hulhudhoo participated in the event, where winners of Island Casual’s Annual Promotion 2008 were announced.

“This is the first event of this magnitude involving leadership of Hulhumeedhoo youth, I am very pleased to see them working together for the betterment of our islands”, said a woman. Children were treated without any discrimination, rich or poor, Hulhudhoo or Meedhoo and every participant was addressed as a member of the evening. Though turn up from Meedhoo side was high towards start up, children from Hulhudhoo side started to flock as the evening proceeded.

‘Every child gets a prize’ was the motto of the evening. The organizers of the event emphasized heavily on children participation in all the games. Games included relay race, sprints, hit the rat, basket, musical chair, sack race, singing and many more. Facial painting was conducted separately in a different stall. All the children participated in almost all the games and won several prizes with varying prices.

“This is just the beginning of enhancing our socio partnership within the community and we plan to strengthen this further and involve every corner of the society’, stated Hulhudhoo Today’s editor, Ahmed Azleem. He also quoted saying children evening as ‘essential’ for the children of both the islands. According to him, poor infrastructure at parks and unavailability of required equipments in those parks seldom amuse the children who love to visit those places.

Mr. Fathimath Nisreen, Coazy nest, S.Hulhudhoo came first of

Island Casual’s Annual Promotion 2008 which was held between November 11, 2008 to January 11, 2009. She was awarded a Washing Machine. Mr. Hassan Saeed, Palm Shade, S.Hulhudhoo won a Mixer as second place in the draw and Mr. Mohamed Shiaar, Dhonaabuge, S.Meedhoo won the Rice Cooker as third place. Mr. Ahmed Latheef, Island Casual owner, said that he was very delighted with the respond he had received after launching the promotion last year, and that he planned to launch the promotion this year as well.

National Day celebration are still underway in Hulhumeedhoo. Today evening a netball match between young stars and the rest is scheduled to be played at Dimish Kara. These are signs of progress Hulhumeedhoo people have achieved interms of social responisibility and partnership.

66th National Day Celebrations underway in Hulhumeedhoo

2009-02-26T22:08:00.005+05:00

Following the recent upheaval over party politics in Hulhumeedhoo, people have started to come back to their normal lives. They have started to gather in national events like today’s, signifying their commitment for freedom and sovereignty. Predominantly women involvement in the national day parades today symbolized the importance and attention they pay on this sort of activities. However, few people are disgraced with the scale and unity of the activity in which hundreds of students took part from three schools.

“This is really symbolic in terms of preserving freedom, sovereignty and national integrity” a participant shared his feeling. He further stated that he was delighted to see such a huge turn up for the National Day Celebration which is something merely exercised recently.

Maldives national day is an important day, as it is observed to celebrate the victory of Muhammad Thakurufaanu over the Portuguese in the year 1573. According to the Islamic calendar, the National Day of Maldives falls on the 1st of Rabee ul Awwal, the third month. Read to know about the story of freedom of Maldives from the colonial rule of Portuguese. In the year 1558, Portuguese attacked Maldives and killed the then Sultan of this country and established their own rule. It was later in 1573; Muhammad Thakurufaanu arrived here along with his companions and succeeded in ending the fifteen-year colonial rule.

National Day has brought all of us together and feelings of preserving “freedom and sovereignty” are utmost. However one would wonder why there are huge differences in celebrating these incidents and how well the community responds to these sorts of national events. “I wonder why men keep themselves secluded from these kinds of national events” a woman told. She complained that men think more about politics and forget how to preserve what they had achieved.

Even though happiness overwhelmed many faces today, few, in reality, were excited over the preceding of today’s event. Egoism and feeling of promoting our own agenda was imminent from the root mach today. “Every school had tried to mark the event individually” stated a man. According to him ‘unity’ is mere a word that is found in books and is commonly used as a tool for attracting people today. He further told “Had three schools joined together to celebrate the event collectively, then the magnitude of the event would have been much better”.

Indeed, National Day is a very important day for any Maldivian to understand as our nation is always vulnerable to foreign invaders. We must educate all the children of the heroic event that took place in 1573 which gave us independence from 15 years of colonialism by Portuguese, and make them ready for next generation of Mohamed Thakurufaan. View Photos

Survey team begins their work in Herathera

2009-02-24T23:16:00.002+05:00

A team consisting of five to six members has arrived at Herathera today for surveying the construction of the channel that separates Herathera (Handhufushi) from Hulhudhoo. The director of MTDC, owner of Cyrix Computer Training Center, Mr Ahmed Shareef is accompanying the team, who are flying Herathera on YTM tickets. Mr. Saleem, YTM special lawyer is also in the convoy to observe and assist the team. The project is contracted to Heavy Load, a company owned by MP Reeko Moosa Manik for a sum of Mrf22,509,211.38 (USD 1,751,689.60) Refer

Since last month the construction of the channel is on halt as Yacht Tours accuse MTDC for failure finish the channel within the stipulated time frame. As per the contract, by November 2008 MTDC should have completed the construction of channel.

According to reliable sources, the survey team will continue their work until tomorrow. They will study the reasons for failure to complete the channel in time, assess the progress made on the ground and will present their findings to the court that is due to make a ruling on the disputed construction of the channel.

Dredging of the channel is a mandatory condition as per the contract. YTM claims that they are losing market unpredictably and the company is facing huge financial drawbacks due to this failure from MTDC. However MTDC denounced the accusation and quoted “We have dredged the channel before the end of November 2008”. YTM responds that making a thirty feet wide channel is not enough and that it should be 27m wide as per the contract.

The environmental cost on both Hulhudhoo and Herathera is on rise. Tidal waves from open sea are increasing the pressure within the channel forming strong current which keeps washing away the land on the both ends. People are raising their concern over this at local level, however if

The sooner do the team presents their report to court, the quicker the resumption of construction of the channel.

Drinking safe water vs availability of water storage facilities

2009-02-23T14:51:00.003+05:00

“Drinking rain water has been practiced in Hulhumeedhoo since our memories” told a Hulhudhoo local who is concerned over deteriorating drinking water situation in the island. Many people built water storage tanks using cement during early 1990s, latter people adopted using ‘black rubber tanks’ issued by the government. Today, every household demands for these water storage facilities, but few have received them from the government over the past ten years.

In Hulhudhoo many people have registered their household names with Hulhudhoo Office as immediate needy for these facilities. “We have registered our household name no sooner did the request for registration was issued by the government” said a Hulhudhoo woman. So far selected people from the island have benefited from this program. However, former minister of environment Mr. Ahmed Abdulla had revealed in February 2008 that Mrf13 million was spent in 2007 on providing water tanks to atolls and that Mrf19 million would be spent during 2008. He had also mentioned that foreign donors were demoralized and some even stopped funding as few islands were using the tanks that were sent in the firs phase. “Maradhoo has received 381 tanks last year and thousands of tanks are being unloaded to Hithadhoo now, what about us” complained a Hulhudhooan. Distribution of present water storage facilities in the country is carried out as part of tsunami recovery efforts and providing safe drinking water to the people by Ministry of Environment and foreign donors.

In this season most of the households are suffering water shortages, making them use public water storage tanks to meet the day to day needs. There tons of water storage capacity in Hulhudhoo alone. These massive tanks are place in Hulhudhoo Office, Corner Park, and Mosques. Every night fishermen take hundreds of liters of water from these massive public water storages, leading to faster diminish of water supply. “Look, these storages are setup for the people who has no fresh and safe water storage facilities in their home, but the local fishing vessels are taking hundreds of liters of water from these places every night”, complained a frustrated local.

If the current water drought persists for another twenty days in Hulhumeedhoo, analysts say "there would be a catastrophe in the island". There are almost four months before the usual rainy season to come, until then we must find out appropriate measures to utilize the public water storage facilities.

Red House wins Hulhudhoo School’s Inter-House Athletics Meet

2009-02-22T02:23:00.001+05:00

Red house emerged the winners of the Hulhudhoo School Inter-House Athletics Meet.

Red house won the tournament competed by the four houses of Hulhudhoo School by earning the highest total number of points from all three age categories. They won the meet by achieving highest points, 140.

The Athletics Meet was held over two days and began last Friday. The runner up team was Red House.

Officials at the Meet said that over 200 students competed in the Athletics Meet. Mr. Ahmed Anaan Waheed won the trophy for the best all rounder in man’s category with 15 point where as Ms. Muniath Moosa Didi won the trophy for best all rounder in woman’s category with 11 points.

According to many parents the Meet went very smooth. They drew attention on organizing committee’s decision as ‘unfair’ to disqualify Yellow house in 4 X 100m relay final, boys under 13 years old. However, the in-charge of the organizing committee justified their cause to disqualify yellow house members, as they failed to come back from collision among its athletes.

This grudge has become more personal for the yellow house members. They would never accept that they lost the tournament and refused to take the trophy they earned.

Ilyas Labeeb vows to contribute his support to ‘Dimish Kara’ development.

2009-02-21T05:01:00.003+05:00

Ilyas Labeeb has publically stated that he would facilitate means and ways to help ‘Dimish Kara’ (DK) achieve its goals set for development. He said this in the grand opening ceremony of Ilyas Labeeb’s campaign Harage at “DK Usfasgado” last night. “I will facilitate and assist you develop your park which has become quite significant for the people of DK momentarily” Ilyas said. DK Park is being developed east to the Beach House by its people. Further he acknowledged the requirement of DK people to make a new road that would connect them to the mainland and highlighted his role in current road making process. On the other hand Ms. Aminath Nafiza accepted two volley ball gifted to them by Ilyas.

Even though the reception was meant for DK, few people from other parts of the island and Meedhoo participated in the event. “As the three campaign sites have now been officially launched in Hulhudhoo, Ilyas Labeeb’s campaign sites in Meedhoo will be formally instigated somewhere in March 2009”, Mr. Mamshooq stated, a senior Ilyas Labeeb’s campaign team member. He thanked the people on behalf of campaign team for attending the reception and quoted that it was not necessary for them to be a supporter of Ilyas to attend these sorts of gathering but listening to his words mattered much more.

Mr. Ahmed Zareer, Ilyas Labeeb’s campaign manager, drew attention on one major advantage of Ilyas Labeeb, his ‘age’. His age has become the daily “manthara” for the rest of the candidates to promote their candidacy. “Any man or woman who turns eighteen is eligible for close engagement in politics everywhere in the world today, unless he or she fails to meet the required conditions” said Ahmed Zareer. He also said that anyone who turns sixty five must retire and let the younger generation take the responsibility of taking the nation to attain new heights.

As campaign for Ilyas Labeeb continues, more and more gatherings are planned ahead systematically. For now, Ilyas Labeeb is the favourite to win the seat of Hulhumeedhoo given the unpredictable response he and hsi campaign team are recieving both at home and in Male'. View Photos.

Hulhudhoo School’s Inter-House Athletics Meet begins

2009-02-21T02:55:00.003+05:00

Hulhudhoo School athletics meet began with a colorful opening ceremony at Hulhudhoo football ground yesterday. The competition is held among the four houses of the school, namely Red, Green, Yellow and Blue. The Athletics Meet will be held for two days, and events for the Friday were mostly sprints of various lengths for various age categories.

Officials at the Meet said that over 200 students are taking part in the competition and that age categories are Under 13, Under 11, and Under 9. As the Meet is held every other year, any student studying at Hulhudhoo School gets the opportunity to take part in the event three times before they graduate from the school. “In order to ensure that the most number of students participate in the event it’s necessary for the school to make it an annual event” said a teacher.

As the Hulhudhoo School is a primary school, some of the events are excluded from the Meet, considering age and capacity of the students. Javelins, Shot-Put and water sports activities are among them otherwise practiced normally at secondary levels.

In Hulhudhoo any things take its culmination. Parents pay great attention on co-curricular activities like Athletics Meet. They would encourage their respective Houses excessively and would keep the noise at the ground constantly. “We sometimes feel difficult in preceding these sorts of events due to parents influence and interruption” said a member of organizing committee. According to him, that shows the scale of parents’ attention on their children’s growth though. And he appreciated their endeavor in making such events success always.

As the Meet is held for two days the event would be complete by Saturday. More drama and hapennings are expected in the final day of the event, which is largely seen by students, teachers and respective parents as a victory whatsoever. View Photos

Ilyas Labeeb introduces his campaign website in Hulhumeedhoo

2009-02-20T12:34:00.004+05:00

Ilyas Labeeb met with his followers and supporters at the reception held last night to introduce his campaign website to Hulhumeedhoo people. Hundreds of people from Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo participated in this gathering which is the first of its kind since the campaign began. The unpredictable turn up last nigh reverberated the memories of gatherings Hulhumeedhoo people made to excel thirty years of dictatorship in the country back in October 2008.

People from both the islands talked about thier decision to support Ilyas Labeeb's candidacy for the uppcoming parliamentary election. They believed Ilyas Labeed as the most 'potential' candidate for the contitutional essembly.

While addressing to the people, Ilyas Labeeb requested the people to go and listen to each and every candidates policies and promisses. According to him, understanding the candidates is essential today and appreciated the people of Hulhumeedhoo saying the most polictically 'educated and resilient' community in the country.Ilyas Labeeb confirmed that he would setup agental service facility in Health Center.

He highlighted proudly that Hulhumeedhoo has four dentists and establishment of such a facility in the island would certainly enable them to provide service to thier own people. He also highlighed his efforts to keep specialits in the Helath Center. "We are working very hard to bring two specialist, a Gynecologist and Paediatrist, to Health Center" stated Ilyas.

Ilyas Labeeb thanked the people for believing him and send his heartfelt thanks to the robust campaign team in Hulhumeedhoo and those based in Male'. View photos

American Navy Ship in Addu

2009-02-17T22:32:00.001+05:00

The second American Navy ship arrived Addu yesterday in less than three months. In the first week of December 2008, much bigger American navy ship turned up in Addu and conducted training with Maldivian military personals in Gan. “The navy was carrying a fresh and young fleet of American soldiers to Afghanistan”, said man who did not want to be identified. During their stay in Addu, they granted many high-tech machineries and amours to Maldives National Defense Force.

The ship that arrived yesterday is marooned few kilometers east of Gan. There was a sightseeing trip around Addu and Fuvahmulah yesterday by US soldiers on a helicopter. “What was happening around, we saw a helicopter flying across Hulhumeedhoo yesterday evening around 17:40”, an astonished woman inquired. Feelings are mixed among the civilian population in Addu. Some see presence of US Navy ship in Addu as a pride and opportunity, while others are skeptical about their frequent visits to this region.

“What is American Navy doing here in Addu, you guys get bucks like $10s and it is a good business for local people right?” mocked a RAF personal spending his holiday at Ocean Reef in Gan. Further he said everything has changed since we left Addu and quote as saying Hithadhoo has totally changed. Number of RAF personals, who were based in Gan during the World War II, visit Ocean Reef to refresh six decades of their memories.

Indeed, both countries being powers in world stage in terms of arms and economic growth, they exploited the poor and small countries like Maldives. “We are not happy with RAF personal’s concern over American navy presence in Addu either, just dive and see how much iron and waste had been dumped into our coastal areas, especially south of Gan” stated a Hithadhooan.

However, the pains of RAF presense in Addu during WW II exist even today although much appreciation went their way as they left. For a country like Maldives, sovereignty and protecting national pride is upmost and anything that may interrupt these may harm the feelings of people especially who bore the burdens of RAF presence six decades ago.

Province wide workshop is underway in Gan

2009-02-16T22:35:00.001+05:00

A training workshop on end to end local level early warning system & coastal community resilience is underway in Dhoogas, Gan. The workshop conducted by Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (adpc) in association with Maldives Meteorological Center was inaugurated by Minister of State for Home Affairs Southern Province Mr. Mohamed Naseer. Participants from all the islands & Fuvamulak in South Province are taking part in this workshop. The workshop will last for three days.

Lectures of the workshop are specialists based at adpc headoffice in Bangkok, Thailand. They are Mr. S.H.M. Fakhrudddin and Mr. Atiq Kainan Ahmed. Both the lectures had visited Addu last year and conducted more interactive dialogs with the people.

The workshop is mainly stressing on two main important issues. Firstly an end to end local level early warning system and response, which solely draw attention on how well people are addressed when a hazard hits particular locality and subsequent react from the people. We know Department of Meteorology is very active in terms of publishing and presenting weather related forecasts and foreseen hazards everyday on television and radio stations, but as people take them as routine they do not pay due attention. This is one of the aims of the workshop. Secondly the coastal community resilience is another key issue being addressed at the workshop. For a country like Maldives, resilience towards foreseeable hazard is vital because of inadequate preventative measures on the ground. Our country is a low laying island nation vulnerable to sea level rise and tsunamis.

Though there is absolutely nothing we could do during a calamity, there are measures that could be taken post and pre calamity strike. If there is a team of trained people in each island, they would know how to react to the hazard to minimize the damage on human lives and livelihoods. As Department of Meteorology is active, forecasts will be ascertained duly beforehand a hazard occur. We have seen the devastation caused by the Indian Ocean tsunami in the 2004 and the deadly affects of cyclone in 1991. In the case of 1991 cyclone, which destroyed many houses and out rooted number of trees in Addu, met office were aware of its occurrence but has failed to disseminate it.

Once the workshop is complete we presume participants from the respective islands are fully aware of the significance of early warning systems and coastal community resilience. The knowledge they gain from the workshop would be shared with the community they represent, making the society less volatile to natural calamities, which are “unstoppable” unless man made.

Ilyas Labeeb’s official campaign website launched at MES School

2009-02-15T22:10:00.002+05:00

Ilyas Labeeb’s official campaign website was launched at Male’ English School last night. Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture and the chief guest of the evening Dr. Ibrahim Didi honored the launching of the site www.voteilyas.org. Ilyas Labeeb is the candidate MDP has chosen for Constitutional Assembly’s Hulhumeedhoo seat. Hundreds of Ilyas’ supporters and family members attended the event. This is the first gathering of such magnitude, conducted by Ilyas campaign team, since his campaign began in late December 2008.

“We are backing Ilyas Labeeb’s candidacy for he is the best and only candidate worth winning the seat, considering his capacity and credibility”, Mr. Amjad (Amoo), a prominent MDP member justified. He referred Ilyas Labeeb as the ‘youngest and most potential’ candidate. Further he stressed “the main concern of the remaining candidates is Ilays Labeeb’s age, which is absolutely baseless and illogical, for they know he is the leading contestant on the ground”.

Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture Dr. Ibrahim Didi highlighted some of the key motives for his decision to accept Ilyas Labeeb entry into MDP initially. “We cannot accept membership of an individual to our party just like that today, we verify his creditworthiness and make researches on his track records” said Dr. Didi. As per Didi, Ilyas Labeeb had qualified to be a member of MDP, which was the foremost reason why he is supporting Ilyas Labeeb. He also highlighted the worrying factor of rest of the candidates as his positive motive for standing behind Ilyas. “I don’t see a bright future without educated, young and versatile candidate like Ilyas” added Dr. Didi. He said he is committed to back Ilyas Labeeb’s candidacy.

Mr. Ahmed Azleem drew attention to some of the serious issues faced by Hulhumeedhoo today. He described Hulhumeedhoo as a “desert” due to continuing mass migration to Male’ and elsewhere in the world in search of proper education and health care. He blamed on the previous government for poor public infrastructure and subsequent affects of it in Hulhumeedhoo. Finally he urged Ilyas Labeeb, who had been endorsed by him, to take those issues to the present administration and to find a lasting solution at his earliest.

Ilyas Labeeb then came on stage and electrified the audience with words of hope and quote as saying “if you people elects me”. He said, “according to him, any candidate sitting in the constitutional assembly should not be restricted to his or her constituency only, rather he or she must be working for the well being of the nation too”. He tackled with the accusation of the opposition candidates as well. “Age is not a decisive factor for winning the seat if your belief is still like of those 1970s, so I invite other candidates to come for a debate with me on a stage like this if they dare”, replied Ilyas Labeeb. Indeed, he was very delighted with the huge response he has been receiving from Hulhumeedhoo people and thanked everyone for their love and care for him. Mr. Mamshooq delivered word of thanks for everyone on behalf of Ilyas Labeeb and his campaign team.

Growing bondage in “Dimish kara” is attracting more people towards that locality

2009-02-13T14:25:00.004+05:00

For decades, “Dimish Kara” (DK) was isolated from the Hulhudhoo mainland with just one gateway, the ‘zubaidha magu’. Twenty-five percent of Hulhudhoo population lives in this area. During the 1980s until early 1990s, Dimish kara was the heart of Hulhudhoo for growth and education. After almost a decade, today we are seeing the reiteration of the same activity in the DK locality.

“Life has started to boom in this locality, with increased inter-social relationships” said Fathimath Didi. Everyday people gather up in DK football ground and beach, play games of different sorts while others keep busy preparing tea or refreshments for the whole participants. “DK is more like a carnival, as sun breaks the noon people of the locality flocks in to football ground or the beach,” Mohamed sultan described. Further he said, today we receive hundreds of people from other localities to take part in our games and just to enjoy the evening with us.

Now DK people are moving on to another stage of development. They are making a park on their own, which is largely viewed by the society as a sign of progress. From old aged to youth, everybody’s involvement resembles mere difference in their effort to develop their locality. “Opening up of Ilyas Labeeb’s campaign office here in our area restored our souls; most of us believed that we are expelled from the Hulhudhoo society” a DK youth stated.

“We appreciate Dr. Didi for bridging the gap between us and mainland by opening up a new road, and we are longing to see the building of another essential road which leading to shops, Daizy Store and Seven Three,” a woman said. Indeed, along with the changes to the environment, the expectation and the attitude of the people towards government are transforming. However, for many, the new life that has emerged in the DK locality is synonymous with the change of administration.

Dispute over government’s pension scheme for the old aged!

2009-02-11T11:13:00.003+05:00

“My father retired from the government job, yet he didn’t receive a single coin as pension,” said a woman who is frustrated with the current administration. “None of our family members will vote for a MDP candidate, actually we were behind him till yesterday”, she added. According to them, their family is rejected from the society for being hard-line DRP supporters during the presidential election last September, although a recent independent survey conducted by www.hulhudhootoday.com found out that the said family was a hardcore supporter of “MDP candidate” for Hulhumeedhoo.

Roumers about ignoring the needy is out bursting the four corners of Hulhumeedhoo. “We know who received pension money and why. Those who have close ties with Anni and MDP are given priority,” said the woman. Another man complained, “My father is 115 years old according to national identity card, bedridden at Hulhumeedhoo Health Center but has not received old aged pension money”.

Hulhudhoo Today has learned several causes for failure to reach pension money to every deserved individual. Failure to complete application forms by the office, confusion over age, unavailability of identity cards and other relevant documents were among those noted. “My grandmother received rufiyaa 2000 as pension whereas my grandfather did not” said a Hulhudhooan living in Male’. Further, he inquired the crisis with Hulhudhoo Office and came to know that the problem was due to failure to fill up the forms properly.

“We will pay for two months this time for those who did not receive their first payment”, National Social Protection Agency stated. On the other had the government’s stand in this regard is providing pension money to every individual above 65 years, which government will certainly execute, they say. Unless the preceding misconception is resolved, the hatred against government and its interests will continue to rise.

Ilyas Labeeb meets with his Meedhoo supporters living in Male’

2009-02-09T00:52:00.003+05:00

Ilyas Labeeb met with some of his beloved Meedhoo supporters living in Male’. The gathering, organized by Mr. Ali Shaheem, was held at Salsa Café on fifth of this month. The main objective of the get-together party was to seek support for Ilyas Labeeb’s candidacy for the upcoming parliamentary election. Though Ilyas Labeeb is born to Hulhudhoo parents, he, apart from his profession, has very strong and unbreakable bondages with the people of Meedhoo irrespective of age and family class.

Prominent individuals attended the meeting from Meedhoo. Mr. Fayaz, Deputy Minister of Health, spoke to his natives and quote “we need a candidate who is coming from ruling party and that is Ilyas”. Further, he said that they would work together in the MDP government to bring more developments and prosperity to Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo. Mr. Ali Shaheem, Mr. Ahmed Zareer and Dr. Ibrahim Didi also justified their position to stand by with Ilyas Labeeb.

On the other hand, there was a family gathering at Kalaafaanu School on 30^th of January. Hundreds of Ilyas Labeeb’s family members attended the party where everybody was delighted with the way Ilyas is being presented to the people of Hulhumeedhoo. Several members of his family utilized the opportunity to speak in support of his candidacy, revitalizing the family corporation.

Being at the center of attention, Mr. Ilyas Labeeb gave a message to members of his family, “Allow me to represent you in the parliament and watch how I make this government heal the pains of thirty years of suffering you have been through”. He urged everyone to hold on his rope and carry the same message to the people of Hulhumeedhoo. View Photos

Prizes awarded to the winners of Quran Recitation Competition

2009-02-06T23:03:00.005+05:00

Prizes were awarded to the winners of Quran recitation competition at Seenu Atoll School. The competition, which was held during the month of Ramazan, was organized by Foundation for Meedhoo Development (FMD) to commemorate the sad demise of Mr. Mohamed Jamal, Riyaz, S.Meedhoo. Students from Shamsuddheen School, Hulhudhoo School and Seenu Atoll School participated in this competition. Students as young as six years to sixteen years took part in this tournament.

Religious reciters known as ‘qaris’ from Hulhumeedhoo judged the competition. They include Abdul Kareem, Ali Naseer, Shareef and Abdulla Najeeb.

“Quran propagates the message of humanity, prosperity and peace,” Mr. Ahmed Shathir, the chairman of FMD stated while addressing to the audience. He also highlighted the importance of conducting that kind of competions consistently for the well-being of the society and its harmony.

The participants hoped that with more such competitions, the faith and love among people of all ages would revive. Muslims believe the Qur'an to be the book of divine guidance and direction for mankind, and consider the original Arabic text to be the final revelation of God.

Islam holds that the Qur'an was revealed to Muhammad by the angel Jibril (Gabriel) over a period of 23 years. The Qur'an purports to be the main miracle of Muhammad, thus its inimitability validates his status as a prophet.

Muslims regard the Qur'an as the culmination of a series of divine messages that started with those revealed to Adam, regarded in Islam as the first prophet, and continued with the Suhuf.

Costs on human lives overshadow the benefits of Industrial achievements

2009-02-05T14:11:00.001+05:00

The beginning of 21st century has revolutionized the Tuna Fishery in the Maldives. Southern fishermen were few steps ahead in this technical advancement in the industry, while Hulhudhoo fishing people in particular are the ones still leading in the field. Since 2001, six fiber glass second generation mark III vessels were built in Hulhudhoo. On the other hand the equvadhoo boat yard set up in Meedhoo in the year 2005 is a huge sprayer of fiber in to Hulhumeedhoo atmosphere lately. Thousands of people have come in contact with the sites where fiber was used without necessary and unavoidable precautionary measures.

Inappropriate prevention measures at these sites have largely been affecting the lives of Hulhumeedhoo people for the past seven years. “A very high percentage of fiber is contaminated with the water in Sunset Restaurent”, a middle aged man from Meedhoo said. He justified saying that the Department of Public Health conducted a survey recently, found out the fiber contamination and reported the matter to the relevant authorities including Hulhudhoo Meedhoo Health Center. He also quoted a Doctor saying “I sniffed fiber as I landed in Meedhoo”. According to the doctor, in less than six years time, people of this community will start to suffer continued inhale of fiber and its contamination in water which we used to drink.

So far no actions have been taken by respective authorities as to hinder the free spray of fiber powder into the Hulhumeedhoo atmosphere. In the last three years five people have died of lung cancer in Hulhumeedhoo. Scientists say inhale of fiber and smoke of rubber flames largely contribute to cancer and other related diseases. “Labours at these sites do not use masks or any other preventative equipments while at work, I am sure their lungs would have badly affected now” said a Meedhooan.

Indeed, if the residents of Hulhumeedhoo do not consider the free spray of fiber and stay negligent, the entire community will be under jeopardy sooner.

Unrest in Herathera towards uncertainty over court ruling.

2009-02-04T20:58:00.002+05:00

Unrest in Herathera is overwhelmingly on rise these days. According to various sources close to Herathera management, a “waiter” was suspended unconditionally yesterday for trying to obtain alcohol from “Dhora” bar. In other incidents, one of the directors of Yacht Tours got a heavy bang while trying to control a dispute that erupted in the middle of the night between HODs yesterday.

“The waiter ordered barmen to provide alcohol of his choice” explained an eyewitness. When the barmen refused he march inside the bar, smashed on the face of Indian barmen and got away with bottles of alcohol. Tourists present inside the bar reported the matter to the management immediately as that fearful and cowardice act took place before their very eyes. Management was left with no choice other than sending him home for a week or so. “He, after successfully disrupting the peaceful protest last Friday, thinks as if he is an executive of the hotel and had been sleeping in an executive room with Zahid” mocked a Herathera staff. He said Ibrahim Rasheed (GM, Herathera) and Ibrahim Zahid (Director, YTM) were uncomfortable taking such a harsh action against their own “puppet” though, which kept helping them polish the nasty things they do in the hotel one after the other.

Mr. Zahid got a heavy hit from a drunk last night. “Actually Zahid intervened to control a dispute that erupted between Heads of Departments, where the Head of Diving School, dissatisfied with an issue, targeted to smack down GM, Ibrahim Rasheed” told a staff who doesn’t want to be identified. As per him, Mr. Zahid immediately confirmed a ticket to fly back to Male’. However, he is still in Herathera, unaware of what is happening.

Signs of grief and dissatisfaction are pulling the strings of all the HODs as the extended deadline of fourteen days period ended on February 4, 2009. As for now, if the court ruling goes in favour of YTM, the future of tourism at Herathera with the current management is largely undesirable.

Emerging soccer legends in Hulhudhoo worry over poor infrastructure.

2009-02-03T17:09:00.002+05:00

In the late 1980s, Hulhudhoo was renowned throughout the nation as Brazil of Maldives. During then as many as three teams from Hulhudhoo played in the national stadium and team Cononta still hold the record in the second and third division FAM. Then we saw a drastic downward trend in soccer during 1990s making loopholes in the foundation laid by the heroes of Cononta, Verona and Lynon. However as Hulhudhoo Sports Club started a festival in the name of HSC Festival in 2001, young soccer talents began to emerge. Today we are very proud to see our teens seeking talent from the soccer player Mr. Abdulla Haaris.

Haaris has been very successful in shaping the motives of the teens who otherwise most of the time keeps hanging around the island disgracefully. There are around twenty-five teens attending his camp everyday at Hulhudhoo Football Ground. “I am very happy to see Haaris leading these children to right track” delighted a woman residing near football ground. She praised ex addicts participating in the game and helping Haaris to form younger generation of Hulhudhoo footballers.

Unavailability of proper football ground is one of the major problems facing any soccer player in Hulhudhoo today. The present ground is never maintained during the year, leaving grasses to grow above two to three feet every year, until HSC hires a lawn mower and cut the grasses. Another main problem faced by modern football players today is lack of lighting facility in the ground to play their game in the night. Either teens find it difficult to play in day light for the fear of getting tan or they just like to play in the night.

Indeed the need for a better football ground with proper lighting facility is necessary for Hulhudhoo today. “Except Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo, rest of the islands in Addu has high quality football pitches with adequate lighting facility, why not we? Is it because they are “Adduans” and we are “Seenu” Atoll people?” complained a youth. Hithadhoo alone has three high quality pitches, so do Feydhoo and Maradhoo.

Certainly, we hope youth concerns, relating to these sorts of socially vital issues, will shortly begin to reach the ears of the respective authorities as, first time in history, a constituency for Hulhumeedhoo has been declared. View Photos

Hulhumeedhoo gears up to eradicate ‘Mosquito’.

2009-02-01T23:39:00.005+05:00

Hulhudhoo youth conducted a meeting at Hulhudhoo Meedhoo Health Center on finding ways to fight eradicate the mosquitoes and overcome the consequences of its single deadly bite. Outbreak of Dengue’s deadly virus has been imminent recently in Hulhudhoo. A boy who became the victim of lethal bite by a mosquito a month ago is fighting for life in Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) today.

Hulhudhoo Office, Health Center and Dr. Afeef, personally, assured their interest and support for this campaign. “We are very happy to see the youth initiation and involvement in such a vital and unprecedented social issue, which we failed to continue consistently”, Ms Aminath Mohamed Didi, In charge of Health Center, said. She confirmed that Health Center would assist and support the youth in this process. “Spraying of chemicals will simply flee the mosquitoes temporarily”, Dr. Afeef stated. According to him, mosquito eggs must be destroyed primarily. He also said, “It’s important to know that mosquitoes which spread dengue viruses grow in clean areas unlike other sorts of mosquitoes”

Although much of the invitees could not attend the meeting due to rain, everybody felt the importance of immediate action on this issue. Hulhumeedhoo Police chief Adhil confirmed their support and gave their commitment to involve in the cleaning process practically. In the coming days the organizing committee will undergo workshops to prepare for surveying. No sooner do the survey finish, then the task of cleaning, spraying and educating people will follow.

Unprecedented outrage against the protesters calling Yacht Tours to leave Herathera!

2009-01-30T23:05:00.004+05:00

Today will be remembered as “Black Friday” in the history of Hulhumeedhoo. Hundreds of people, men and women, were marching towards the channel that separates Handufushi from Hulhudhoo to accompany and support the protesters, especially staffs who were dismissed unfairly, while the wicked management of Handufushi perpetrated a group of twenty young men from Hulhudhoo to disrupt the serenity of the protest. And they disrupted the protest. Certainly, their evil actions gained even bigger support for the protesters.

Twenty feet behind Star Force personnel kept observing the scene as they were officially invited to monitor the situation for the organizers foresight awaiting fears. Albeit, police did nothing to prevent the peaceful protesters calling for immediate halt on violation of labour rights. “Star force came here to protect Jabir and Yacht Tours at the cost of all these people” chanted a woman.

Ms. Aishath Dhiye, Seltan, S.Hulhudhoo was hit by a member of the mob. They felt absolutely no mercy before beating against their own people for the sake of a thing or two they get from Handufushi management. Mr. Zahid called on Abdul Sameeu and said, “No one can take this island from Yacht Tours, just wait and watch we will win the case”.

Indeed, Handhufushi management did a great job today. Their repeated immorality helped the protesters gain support and unify against their cause. View Photos

Government intervention into Herathera dispute continues

2009-01-30T00:34:00.005+05:00

Like the previous administration led by Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom, Herathera has become the "political manthara" for current administration. It seems that MDP coalition government is really playing the dirty game called "politics" in this crisis. President Nasheed's repetitive call on MTDC to go for talks with Yacht Tours is skeptical. Its very clear that MDP coalition has a great duty of care to protect each other, for the efforts they (Dhiyaana, Jabir, Gasim & Sawad) input in the second round of presidential election. We know Yacht Tours claim of millions of rufiyaa from the government truly indicate the political blackmail by Mr. Abdulla Jabir to pressurize the government to turn the decision on Yacht Tours and MTDC dispute. Read more