President Danny Faure visits Sir Selwyn Selwyn Clarke Market |31 July 2017

Market-goers, sellers get pleasant surprise

Early morning market-goers and sellers got a pleasant surprise on Saturday morning as they crossed path with President Danny Faure inside and outside the Sir Selwyn Selwyn Clarke Market, in Victoria.

The president stopped at most of the stalls to talk to the vendors and farmers. He even bought vegetables, crops and black pudding (bouden) at the butchers’ shops as well as Regatta lottery tickets in the name of the School for the Exceptional Child.

The president mingled with fishermen who were happy to see him enter the stalls to talk to them and they brought their concerns to his attention. The main one is the need to have more fish stalls as the actual ones have been shortened to make way for the fish cleaning stall.

Among the complaints the president heard were a lack of roofing especially where the vegetable stalls are located, and an increase in the cost of living which has resulted in a drop in the sale of meat.

“The fish stalls were longer but part of those was taken and it has since been given to fish cleaners. We need more stalls as more fishermen come to the market,” fisherman Cliff Morel told Seychelles NATION.

Edwin Baptiste, 54, has been working as a butcher since he was 16 and he said business is getting tougher.

Speaking to Seychelles NATION, Mr Baptiste said: “The number of butchers has reduced considerably, but still the market has shrunk. We used to sell meat with hotels and they no longer come to us as they import meat for their clients’ consumption. The buying power of Seychellois has also decreased and at times it takes me between one month and six weeks to sell a stock of meat that has cost me R80,000. It is not easy as I have to pay rent, pay for the utilities, pay the workers on a weekly basis and pay for transport. This is quite a lot and you have to work hard”.

As for farmer Michael Belle, he said he has applied to have a plot of land on which to grow his produce, but has not been successful.

“I am not discouraged as I am growing crops and vegetables on a plot of land next to my parents’ home in Sans Soucis. I work together with my wife,” said Mr Belle.

After President Faure had walked back to State House, Seychelles NATION spotted Seychelles Agricultural Agency (SAA) chief executive Finley Racombo doing his shopping in the market and brought to his attention the concerns of the market users.

Mr Racombo assured Seychelles NATION that the SAA is aware of all the issues and that remedial work on the market will start next week.

The accompanying photos show President Faure interacting with sellers and market-goers during his visit to the market on Saturday.