October month to be dedicated to sustainable energy awareness |26 September 2017

The Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change has announced that it will dedicate the whole month of October to awareness on sustainable energy.

This forms part of efforts to promote and foster a culture of sustainable energy use.

This was revealed yesterday when the ministry and the agencies under its authority held a press conference to provide details on its progress and performance.

The press conference forms part of the government’s initiative to improve on its accountability, transparency and good governance.

Present at the conference were Minister Didier Dogley; principal secretary for environment Alain Decomarmond; chief executive of the Public Utilities Corporation (PUC) Philip Morin; chief executive of Land Waste Management Agency (LWMA) Michel Vielle; chief executive of the National Botanical Garden Foundation Raymond Brioche; chief executive of the Seychelles Energy Commission Tony Imaduwa and the chief executive of the National Parks Authority Flavien Joubert.

During the conference Minister Dogley reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to safeguarding people’s property and safety, as proven by work undertaken to improve drainage systems in case of floods and other disasters.

“Throughout this year the ministry has also put a lot of effort in amending our laws and policies to make sure they reflect the times we are living in now,” Minister Dogley stated.

He also made mention of a new water policy which his ministry plans to implement soon. He clarified that such a policy on water has never existed before.

PS Decomarmond on his part provided details on the new and stricter measures to add more economic value to our coco-de-mer.

These include importers’ permits that are going be more severely regulated and an increase of the preservation reserve from 20% to a whopping 40%.

For this to materialise PS Decomarmond launched an appeal for those who have coco-de-mer trees on their property to help the ministry in its bid to conserve these endemic nuts.

An interesting subject of discussion which emerged was the tax exemptions currently in place on imported electrical devices that are energy efficient.

The ultimate aim of the exemption, much like the ministry’s Switch to LED campaign, is to promote and foster a culture of sustainable energy.

In this regard the ministry will, for the first time ever, dedicate the whole month of October to awareness on sustainable energy.