Thursday
26th Dec 2024
Dhivehi Edition
Hearing held at the Information Commissioner's Office regarding Uthuruthilafalhu agreement.
The Information Commission has ordered the Ministry of Defence to disclose more information on the "Development, Support, and the Maintenance of the Maldives National Defence Force Harbour Sifavaru at Uthuru Thila Falhu" agreement that had been signed between India and the Solih administration.
Dhiyares, the sister-newspaper of The Maldives Journal, had requested several pieces of information from the Ministry of Defence by order of the Information Comissioner's Office in October. The Ministry had chosen to not comply with that order.
Dhiyares had submitted the issue of the Ministry's non-compliance to the ICO. At a hearing today, the ICO ordered the Ministry to provide Dhiyares with the following information within the next 4 months:
1. Details on whether the Maldives could, without India's permission, permit another country to utilise the facilities developed at Uthuru Thila Falhu.
2. All of the powers of the Working Group established to supervise Uthuru Thila Falhu, as per the agreement; the Ministry is also requested to provide the relevant clause, verbatim.
3. The details and profiles of all members of the Joint Resident Team assigned to oversee the day-to-day management of Uthuru Thila Falhu; the powers of the Joint Resident Team; the Ministry if also requested to provide the relevant clause, verbatim.
4. Details on whether or not a runway for the landing and take-off of airplanes will be established at the base.
5. Details on if the Maldives may cancel the agreement without India's consent.
6. Details on if any member of the Indian military would be allowed to be present at Uthuru Thila Falhu for any reason and for any length of time. The Ministry is also requested to provide details on whether these Indian military personnel would be allowed to be armed.
Although the Ministry had provided answers to some of the above questions, some of the questions had been given incomplete answers.
Regarding the question on the Working Group and its powers, the Ministry claimed that there was no such group; there was a Joint Project Monitoring Group, instead. The Ministry said that disclosing more information about the Group would affect the ties between the Maldives and India and posed a threat to national security.
Despite this, the Ministry was unable to explain how disclosing that information could pose a threat to national security. The Information Commissioner ordered that the requested information be disclosed. The Information Commissioner also noted that the Ministry had failed to properly answer the question regarding the runway, as well. The ICO ordered the Ministry to provide a clear answer to those questions, as well.