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Archive - Archive 2004 - July 2013

National Assembly-2011 IOIG account closes, savings to go into Major Games Trust Fund |28 September 2012

The chairperson of the 8th Indian Ocean Islands Games organising committee (COJI), Minister Vincent Meriton, made the announcement in the National Assembly on Tuesday while presenting a comprehensive report on the Games’ organisation and an audited account of funds raised through public donations.

Recalling the special circumstances under which the 8th IOIG was organised last year, when the public was asked to contribute to its organisation with government’s focus on the infrastructural aspects only, Minister Meriton said a sum of SR43,546,494.00 was collected.

This sum, collected by the Games’ main fundraising committee, came from the general public, the business community, the diplomatic circle, friendly countries and friends of Seychelles both locally and abroad.

SR33,052,123.00 of that sum came from direct sponsorship while the remaining SR10,494,371.00 was paid as participation fees by countries which took part.

Spending in the three major areas of general organisation, sports organisation and Games Village amounted to SR40,623,208.00, meaning a saving of SR2,923,286.00 which will be transferred into the Major Games Trust Fund.

Minister Meriton said that revenue was also collected by the National Sports Council through the sale of tickets at sports venues throughout the Games (SR649,786.00) and a lottery (SR1,172.580.00).

Those two sums totalling SR1,822,366.00, which would have also gone into the Major Games Trust Fund, was used by the NSC to partly finance Seychelles’ participation in the All Africa Games in Mozambique which took place a few days after the IOIG.

The use of this revenue was authorised by the Ministry of Finance, considering that the All Africa Games is one of the major games the trust fund has been created for.

Minister Meriton explained that another source of revenue that will go into the Major Games Trust Fund is money collected from the sale of assets, mainly those used at the Games Village and restaurant. These include beds, mattresses and cutleries.

A small number of items were also given to charitable causes and in cases of emergency.
Minister Meriton said that although the assets were sold at a reduced price, a sum of SR1,014,573.20 was, nevertheless, collected. The sale took place through auction, with supervision and assistance from the Ministry of Finance. The money is currently in the Ministry of Finance’s coffers and will be transferred into the Major Games Trust Fund in due course.

The National Major Games Trust Fund was created in 2008 to raise funds to assist the country in organising or taking part in major multi-disciplined games. These include the Indian Ocean Games, CJSOI Games, All Africa Games, Francophonie Games, Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games. The fund is run by a Board.

Where the provision of infrastructure is concerned the minister said that the government invested SR23,570,935.52 in the renovation of facilities including the Palais des Sports, Victoria Gymnasium, Stade Linite, the Roche Caiman Dojo, the NSC Hall, etc, for the Games.

The government also allowed COJI to use houses it had completed under the Perseverance Housing Project as the Games Village. The houses have now been allocated to the public.

A new School Meals Centre, also at Ile Perseverance, built to replace the one in Victoria, was also put at the disposal of COJI to be used as the Games’ main restaurant.

The government did not charge COJI for the use of those facilities and the agreement was that the Games’ organising committee pays the utility bills.

Apart from the Seychelles government, the People’s Republic of China also made a substantial investment in infrastructural development through the complete renovation of the National Swimming Pool at Roche Chaiman to the tune of just over SR25 million.

Putting the presentation of his report into context, Minister Meriton said it came one year after the closure of the Games as required by the Games Charter.

According to the Games Charter COJI, which had a legal status, has to be liquidated one year after the closure of the Games. This is principally to give the committee enough time to settle all its commitments and sort out any issue which may arise.

COJI was registered as a legal entity with the Registrar of Associations in 2009. Minister Meriton explained that although the Seychelles COJI did not encounter difficulties the committee had to follow the directions given by the Games Charter.

Also as is required by law, a copy of the audited accounts has been deposited with the Registrar of Associations.

Minister Meriton overwhelmingly thanked all those who have contributed financially or otherwise to make the 8th IOIG the most successful ever for Seychelles. He paid tribute to the over 2,000 volunteers and members of the secretariat and subcommittees who gave their time and effort free of charge in support of the Games.

He thanked the sportsmen and women for their outstanding performance and the people of Seychelles in general for their support.

The results were the best Seychelles has achieved in the IOIG to date. With a total of 57 gold medals Seychelles finished second on the medals table, just one gold medal behind Reunion, a powerhouse in sports in the region.

Minister Meriton said the 8th IOIG which took place under the banner Nou Zil, Nou Zwe (Our Islands, Our Games) was a vivid example of what could be achieved through unity.

“The Games demonstrated that when we are united as a nation we can achieve things that may seem impossible to do,” he said.

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