All’s set for privatisation-Hydroponics Unit first to go |01 June 2005

Preliminary procedures to privatise the farm, which is based at Anse Aux Pins, have already started and the process is expected to be completed by end of June.

Announcing this on Tuesday Minister Jacquelin Dugasse, who is also the chairman of the Privatisation Committee set up in February this year, said the government has decided to privatise the Hydroponics Unit first because of its relatively small size, in comparison to other SMB units.

And because it deals mainly in one activity, this will render it easier to assess and sell its shares.

Speaking to the press on Tuesday Minister Dugasse said government had delayed the privatisation of the SMB and the State Assurance Corporation of Seychelles (Sacos), originally scheduled for April, to allow it to complete the procedures guiding the privatisation of parastatals and public enterprises as set by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Besides the World Bank, the strategy has also received the support and approval of the private sector in Seychelles. A consultant from the World Bank was in fact in the country in March to assist the government with its privatisation strategy.

Minister Dugasse explained that government had in the past successfully privatised a number of companies such as the ULC and Conserverie de l'Ocean Indien (now IOT). 

But this, he said, was done on negotiative terms, whereas now it has to follow norms and guidelines laid down by international organisations such as the IMF and the World Bank.

The strategy outlines the scope of the privatisation programme and objectives, the time-frame, the principles of privatisation process, methods and institutional arrangements.

The privatisation programme, Minister Dugasse said, would be implemented by a Privatisation Unit to be set up in the Department of Finance.

A Privatisation Commission will also be set up early this month to replace the Privatisation Committee. Its role will be to advise the government on the process and make recommendations, once the asset to be privatised had been identified.

The Commission, which will constitute representatives from the public and private sectors, will be appointed by the President.

An independent Transaction Advisor will be appointed to undertake the auditing of the accounts and to perform independent evaluation of the assets of public enterprises to be privatised.
All privatisation transactions, Minister Dugasse said, would be conducted in an open and transparent manner, through the tendering process, to be monitored by the National Tender Board (NTB). The NTB, which is made up of both public and private

sector representatives, will oversee all transactions to ensure that the process is transparent and fair.

In line with this, all bids will be opened in public and upon completion of the sale, the names of the buyers, the price paid, the conditions of sale, the valuation of the assets and the details of offers, will be made public, Minister Dugasse said.

With regard to the principles guiding privatisation, Minister Dugasse said all sales will be on a cash basis and secured terms of payment not linked to divested assets.

The privatisation of Sacos is planned to start in September and within 18 months the government is expected to have completed the first phase of privatisation which will also include seven other SMB units. 

The second phase will span over a period of five years and will see the privatisation of other public enterprises.