- IDC provides its aircraft free of charge for official use by the president.
The Islands Development Company has said it provides its aircraft free for
official use.
A communique from IDC writes: “When IDC provides its aircraft for official use
by the President, the only direct cost attributed to that trip would be the fuel
cost.“In the case of the recent trip to Mauritius, this amounts to R40,000.”
It was the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism Sylvestre Radegonde who informed the National Assembly this week when questioned by leader of the opposition Sebastien Pillay that State House did not pay IDC for the aircraft for President Ramkalawan’s recent state visit to Mauritius.
- Ambassador of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta pays courtesy call on National Assembly speaker
The Ambassador of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Francesca Alexandra Azaïs, met with the speaker of the National Assembly, Roger Mancienne along with deputy speaker Gervais Henrie at the National Assembly on Monday.
Mrs Azaïs congratulated speaker Mancienne on his new role as the head of the National Assembly and took the opportunity to present him with a copy of her book entitled ‘Tropical Plants in Seychelles’. The book is a collection of her hand-painted artwork, which she hopes will be a fond memory of her artistic devotion to the Seychelles.
During the discussions, Mrs Azaïs also gave a brief account of the history of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta’s diplomatic mission in Seychelles which started from the year 1914 to date. She expressed that she looks forward to the continued and excellent cooperation between the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and Seychelles for the years to come and hopes to work even closer to further consolidate the bilateral ties for the benefit of the people and the country.
Both the ambassador and the speaker reaffirmed their enthusiasm and hope for a closer working relationship in terms of parliamentary relations.
- President Ramkalawan completes day-long working visit to Praslin
President Wavel Ramkalawan visited essential facilities, services, ongoing developments and sites for different proposed projects on Praslin.
He was accompanied by a large delegation consisting of Vice-President Ahmed Afif, Designated Minister Jean-François Ferrari, ministers, principal secretaries, chief executives and police deputy commissioners, members of the National Assembly ‒ Churchill Gill of Baie Ste Anne Praslin, Wavel Woodcock of Grand Anse and proportionate member Doyace Porice.
The aim of the day-long visit was for President Ramkalawan to discuss on site with officials in his delegation on solutions that will spearhead failed promises in relation to the essential facilities, services, ongoing developments and sites for different proposed projects he claimed were conveyed to the people of Praslin in the past but have not materialised.
President Ramkalawan stated that Praslin and La Digue have been living for too long on promises that have never been materialised and the time has come now to pass on to action.
- President pays a five days visit to UAE
He will be accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Sylvestre Radegonde; Ambassador Jean Claude Adrienne, the head of the Seychelles mission based in the United Arab Emirates, and the 3rd Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Jonathan Pool.
The President left Seychelles on the 12th Dec and is expected to return to the country on Thursday December 17, 2020.
In the absence of the President, Vice-President Ahmed Afif will hold the portfolios falling under the President, and will also discharge any function that the President is required to discharge under the Constitution.
- Ambassador Dick Esparon pays farewell call on President Ramkalawan
Outgoing Ambassador Dick Esparon paid a farewell call on President Wavel Ramkalawan at State House.
The discussions held between President Ramkalawan and Ambassador Esparon focused on the work that he had been doing in his capacity as secretary of state for poverty alleviation and also in his different assignments as ambassador.
On behalf of the people of Seychelles, President Ramkalawan conveyed his sincere appreciation to Ambassador Esparon for the invaluable contributions he has made in his various capacities. He also expressed hope, that despite his departure from the public service he will continue to contribute to the country.
“As a Seychellois with immense potential, I am convinced that whatever path you choose for the future, you will indeed continue to make important contributions towards the building of our nation. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you for your dedication during your many years of service to the people. As you embark on your new journey, my door remains open should you wish to extend your support and knowledge for the greater good of our country,” said President Ramkalawan.
- Reinforce our commitment to fighting corruption at all levels in our society’
On International Anti-Corruption Day we would like to reinforce our commitment to fighting corruption at all levels in our society. The World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Transparency International define corruption as abuse of entrusted power for private gain.”
President Wavel Ramkalawan said in his message on the occasion of Anti-Corruption Day which falls on December 9 each year. He also added:
“We note the failures of some government ministries, departments and agencies in their appropriation of public funds from the Auditor General’s report of 2019. We urge our public servants to work with integrity, to be transparent and accountable for all decisions they make when dealing with public resources. During this time of economic hardship, we are all responsible to eliminate wastage in the public sector.
- Assembly approves amendments to Business Tax law, supplementary appropriation bill
Assembly members approved amendments to the Business Tax Act as well as to the supplementary appropriation bill and a motion before completing its work for this year before going into recess.
Minister for Finance, Economic Planning and Trade Naadir Hassan presented the amendments to the Business Tax Act. He noted that the main reasons for the amendments were to meet European Union obligations in relation to taxation.
He reminded Assembly members that in 2019 the Business Tax Act was amended to cover a territorial tax system under which only revenue amassed in and coming from Seychelles were to be taxed in line with the Business Tax law.
Minister Hassan explained that this tax system was viewed by the European Union’s Code of Conduct on Business Taxation grouping as ‘harmful’ or not in line with tax standards and as a result placed Seychelles on a list of countries not cooperating with the EU tax system.
- Supplementary budget exceeding R1 billion gets unanimous yes
The National Assembly yesterday approved the supplementary estimate of R1,139,732,490 for the year 2020, laid before the assembly by leader of government business Bernard Georges, in accordance with S154 (6) (b) of the Constitution.
The supplementary budget was approved by 27 votes in favour.
In introducing the supplementary appropriation, Honourable Georges who explained that government can at any moment lay before assembly supplementary estimates if the assembly has already approved the annual budget, in consideration that all expenses are dynamic, and cannot always remain within the parameters of an approved budget.
Supplementary appropriations are permissible by the Constitution, in two circumstances; firstly, when government anticipates that it will exceed the approved budget, and it seeks permission to make the supplementary expenses as per S 154, while S 154 6 (b) applies when the government has already made the expense and it then comes to the National Assembly to ratify the expenditure.
- Five active cases in Seychelle
Three more Covid-19 cases have been recorded bringing the total of active cases in Seychelles to five, while the number of recorded cases stands at 187.Public Health Commissioner Dr Jude Gedeon gave these details during the week’s Covid-19 press update at the Sheikh Khalifa Diagnostic Centre. He was accompanied by Health Care Agency (BCA) chief executive, Dr Danny Louange and they also discussed the current status of the pandemic in the country, the quarantine facilities and the roll out of the new vaccines. “Last week we detected three more cases which brings the total to 187 recorded cases in Seychelles,” said Dr Gedeon.He continued by adding that out of the 16 active cases from previous week, 14 patients have recovered with only five patients, including the three new cases, are still in isolation.The three new cases are two South Africans and a British visitor who are all being isolated at their respective resorts. “Since the start of the month we have also conducted 1,970 PCR tests and we are predicting that we will surpass the number of tests conducted in November,” added Dr Gedeon.
- Communities to co-manage protected marine areas
The Minister for Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, Flavien Joubert, on the 11th of December presided over the community launch and the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the first co-managed marine area in Seychelles.
The ‘Locally Empowered Area Protection’ (LEAP) project is part of a regional project being implemented by Nature Seychelles, which seeks to set up the first co-managed marine area in Seychelles, notably in the Port Launay and Baie Ternay national parks.
The aim is to get the involvement of the local communities in the management of protected marine areas while they get to make sustainable effective usage of their natural resources for economic benefits.
Their involvement in co-managing the protected marine areas will be alongside Nature Seychelles – the project implementer; and the Seychelles National Parks Authority (SNPA) – the designated authority for the marine national parks and government.