Anse Boileau, Baie Lazare and Takamaka |23 March 2018

Minister happy with housing progress

The Minister for Habitat, Infrastructure and Land Transport Charles Bastienne, visited three housing projects in the Anse Boileau, Baie Lazare and Takamaka districts yesterday to ensure that construction work is on schedule.

At the end of the visit he expressed his satisfaction with progress on the projects.

The ministerial delegation who included the principal secretary for the Ministry of Habitat, Infrastructure and Land Transport (MHILT) Denis Barbe, special advisor Gerard Hoareau and other MHILT members also visited available land banks in each of the districts.

The first visit at Anse Boileau was at the ex-Cable & Wireless project where 18 units are being built by Sai-Fu Enterprise Company limited.

Construction for this project started in October 2017 and is expected to be completed in August 2018.

A batch of six more units will be built following the completion of this phase.

The Ex-Hunt project at Anse aux Poules Bleues in Baie Lazare which started in mid 2017 has 24 units.

The contractor Qingjiang International is expected to hand over the project on May 31 but they have requested 2 months of extension.

The project comprises 8 two-bedroom units and 16 three-bedroom units.

The Ex-Desaubin project comprising 40 units will be completed next month.

Six of the units have already been allocated to sitting tenants, 20 will be allocated to Takamaka residents and the remainder will be added to the national quota.

The projects in Anse Boileau and Baie Lazare are Seychelles government-funded while the Ex-Desaubin project is being financed by the government of the United Arab Emirates through a grant being managed by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD).

The Holden Pierre land bank, Anse Boileau, is providing 25 plots, while Dame Le Roi, Baie Lazare has 26 plots and in Takamaka there are nine plots in Anse Forbans and five at Ros Koray.

Representatives from each district also attended the visit and they included the member of the National Assembly (MNA) for Anse Boileau Philip Arissol, Anse Boileau district administrator (DA) Valcy Naiken, MNA for Takamaka Paul Ernesta and DA for Baie Lazare Mike Morel.

The minister said he is satisfied with the progress of the project which falls under the 24 houses in 24 districts in 24 months.

“Without any difficulty we are going to achieve this objective as far as these three districts are concerned,” he said.

Minister Bastienne said since his appointment all contractors are being given at least 40 weeks to complete a project compared to the past where contracts would even exceed two years.

“We are ensuring that extensions are being given on reasonable grounds and there are also applicable penalties on the contractors whereby they have to pay the ministry a sum for every week or month which the project is delayed,” he said.

Minister Bastienne cited the construction of sewage system, sitting tenants and rocky terrains as some of the reasons for slight delays to the projects.

A new building design is being used for the Ex-Hunt project which the minister explained is because he had noticed from previous projects the rooms were too small.

“We felt it was not appropriate as with big families a three-bedroom house could not accommodate extra beds so we came up with a new design which will satisfy the tenants and this may have caused a delay in the commencement of a few projects,” he said.

For the land bank projects, he wanted the leaders of the district to appreciate for themselves what the government is doing.

“Today was an opportunity for me as a representative of the government to see the progress on the housing projects and equally the land bank projects,” he said.

He also pointed out that his ministry is ensuring that infrastructure are in place before land plots are allocated from the land bank.

MNA Arissol said the project is a good beginning to relieve the housing pressure in Anse Boileau and he hopes that the residents of Anse Boileau will be a priority when the houses are being allocated.

Mr Morel said Baie Lazare faces housing pressure as much as other districts and for the land bank 11 people have qualified according to the new point system and for the Ex-Hunt project the second phase will accommodate 56 units in total.

MNA Ernesta thanked the government for responding to the housings needs of the Takamaka residents.

“I am hoping that following the completion of this phase there can be another project to allow more residents to benefit from housing,” he said.

He noted that Takamaka has great potential in terms of land bank projects that can be subdivided and he is urging the government to develop infrastructure such as roads to allow access to these land banks so that they can be allocated to those who need them.

The accompanying photos show some of the projects Minister Bastienne and his delegation visited.