Traffic, localised celebrations targets for National Day Committee |25 June 2004

The National Day Committee chairman, Minister Designate Danny Faure, said yesterday that though the committee was “very happy” with the various activities implemented this year revolving around National Day, organisers have begun noting possible ways to improve celebrations for next year.

Minister Faure, speaking to the press following a National Day Committee “post-mortem” to assess and recap last week’s events, said that ameliorating the traffic congestion following the military parade and performance at Stad Linite would be one of the issues that the committee – together with the police – will try to resolve.

The minister also spoke of broadening National Day celebrations around Mahe to better integrate individual districts into the event. Increased decorations all around the island – as opposed to just in Victoria – would help to create a festive and patriotic ambience around the whole of Mahe, he said.
For the first time, this year’s National Day included similar celebrations on La Digue and Praslin that were deemed successful, he said.

Increased public access to flags, pictures and multimedia like CDs or DVDs about National Day is another possibility, and organisers will be looking at how the committee’s R1,000,000 budget would be able to accommodate such materials, he said.

The committee also hopes to spruce up the poetry and song competitions by opening a much larger participation window for the competition – the 2005 edition will be launched this August – and by adding more categories so that older contestants can participate.
Minister Faure added that the committee will be working with the Seychelles Football Federation to install a better sound system at Stad Linite.

Part of the committee’s satisfaction from last week’s National Day celebrations was based on participation, he said, noting that at least 12,000 people attended the parade and address by President James Michel at Stad Linite, in addition to a packed street party in Victoria and the activities on Praslin and La Digue.

The committee also felt that some of the additions to this year’s celebrations, such as the variety show and display from the Young Citizens Movement, were welcome improvements to the overall product.
Minister Faure also commended the “remarkable work” of Antoine Marie-Moustache in organising the annual agricultural and horticultural show, which has long been a staple for celebrations coinciding with National Day.

Minister Faure, who succeeded Vice-President Joseph Belmont as committee chairman for this year’s National Day, said he was particularly heartened by the display of the 10-metre Seychelles flag on Friday night, which flew from a helicopter circling Stad Linite during the parade.