Spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef 'Mundhu' said the government dismissed 205 political appointees from 15 ministries over the past three months as part of its downsizing policy, targeting state ministers, deputy ministers and political directors. Further dismissals are planned, he said. Mundhu said the MVR13 million (US$843,000) MTCC taxi app contract covers a four-service transport network, taxi, bus, RTL ferry and cargo ferry, rather than just the Malé Taxi app. The taxi app itself cost around MVR4 million, including backend systems and servers, he said. He defended the no-bid award as legally permitted under public finance rules, dismissing corruption allegations.
Munduu said the government is investigating allegations published by the Wall Street Journal that the country has been used as a transshipment hub for military-grade electronics, microchips and aircraft parts destined for Russia in circumvention of Western sanctions. He acknowledged that VIA may lack the capacity to detect such items, saying the government would look into whether additional training or equipment is needed.
The spokesperson's briefing was held informally at a café after the scheduled press conference was cancelled when Adhadhu's journalist refused to leave the venue at PSM. Adhadhu said Leevan Ali Naseer attended having submitted his name to the President's Office in the usual way, and was told his name was not on the list of journalists permitted to take part. Mundhu said in a video message that Adhadhu is not part of the media group the President's Office maintains under a gazetted procedure, that the paper was removed from it two or three months ago over what he called unlawful acts at the President's Office and criminal proceedings against it, and that the conference was cancelled because Leevan would not leave and was obstructing it. Adhadhu said the President's Office has never notified it in writing of the ban, that it has written twice asking for the decision in writing without reply, and that it wrote to Muizzu again on Thursday.
President Muizzu said the government plans to hire around 2,000 additional staff for the health sector this year, and will open two new GP clinics in Hulhumalé Phase I and Phase 2, responding to a doctor who raised concerns during the president's public audience programme about understaffing at Hulhumalé Hospital following a wave of medical officers leaving for further studies last December.
Muizzu announced an MVR1 million contribution to Nepal's Prime Minister's Disaster Relief Fund following floods and landslides that struck Nepal on 26 August.
A 42-year-old man was arrested from a southern island after being accused of sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl and offering her money for sex, prompting residents to gather outside the island's police station. Local media identified the man as a Bangladeshi. The arrest comes amid a surge in reported child sexual abuse cases, with 27 cases reported in August alone and around 200 so far this year.
MMA amended the Payment Services Regulation to require payment acquirers to settle transactions into beneficiary bank accounts within two working days, and raised minimum capital requirements for licensed payment service providers, to MVR2 million for e-money issuers, payment acquirers and remittance providers, and MVR1 million for payment initiation and account information services.
Police arrested nine Bangladeshi nationals at a Malé guesthouse on Tuesday during a drug enforcement operation. They were handed to Immigration for deportation.
