Vice-President holds first quarterly press conference for 2018 |07 April 2018

Vice-President Vincent Meriton held his first quarterly press conference for this year where he addressed questions concerning departments under his portfolio.

These portfolios include the blue economy, information, investment and industry, civil society and religious affairs, the inner and outer islands, information communications and technology.

Below are some of the issues discussed during Vice-President Meriton’s press conference.

Development on outer islands

In regards to the future developments on outer islands Mr Meriton stated that the Islands Developing Company (IDC) is in the process of revising its development plans for the outer islands. Once completed, the plan will be taken to the Cabinet of Ministers for approval.

It is hoped that the plan of action will attract both local and foreign investments.

“This will help the government analyse how we can encourage economic development on these islands, not only through the tourism sector but various other domains such as agriculture,” he explained.

“We realise that there is a huge amount of capital in the country that is just waiting for an opportunity to be actively invested. Foreign investors will also have a role to play in these developments.”

Mr Meriton added that Coëtivy Island -- which once hosted the Seychelles Marketing Board (SMB) shrimp farms and shrimp processing plants -- might be one of the various islands included in IDC’s plans.

State of the department of foreign affairs

According to Mr Meriton the department of foreign affairs has recently finalised its strategic plan which has enabled it to readjust its operations and undertake internal changes.

He stated that the department of foreign affairs is in the process of recruiting new staff members to replace the significant number of foreign affairs employees who resigned due to discontent.

“The department has recruited seven new employees so far, and it has held discussions with the Department of Public Administration and the Ministry of Finance to reinforce the foreign affairs department.”

Focus has been put on finding the right personnel to represent Seychelles in the countries and international organisations in which Seychelles’ representatives are present for bilateral and multilateral purposes.

“The recruitment process also includes looking internally to identify employees with certain specific qualities and competences in order to place them in divisions that could put these qualities to good use as well as to place them overseas,” Mr Meriton said.

He stated that the post of principal secretary for foreign affairs held by Michelle Murray, who also resigned, will not be up for vacancy since the secretary of state for Foreign Affairs, Barry Faure, holds the position of executive head.

Air Seychelles

Although the local airline does not fall into the VP’s cadre of responsibilities he opted to answer a question on the possibility of Air Seychelles and Etihad Airways breaking their contracted alliance. This was suggested during the National Assembly’s deliberations this week.

“Air Seychelles has always acted as an assurance policy for the country since it was needed to sustain our tourism industry when certain airlines were not flying into the country.

“Now we have more than eleven airlines flying in, and with the aviation industry being a cutthroat and competitive one, Air Seychelles needed to readjust its strategy to face such an eventuality.”

He emphasised the fact that each and every company has its periods of success and downfalls.

He added it is unfortunate that Air Seychelles and its staff have to go through the latter but also said that it is of paramount importance to take care of the staff who will be made redundant.

“A lot of statements have been made concerning this case but what remains important is that Air Seychelles continues to exist as our local airline rather than close down completely due to heavy losses.”

Access to internet and regulations on service providers

“Aside from the free Wi-Fi points we have placed on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue, the government is looking into providing Wi-Fi on a school based level to encourage better quality of learning,” Mr Meriton said.

The Department of Information Communications and Technology (DICT) is expecting to receive all the necessary equipment to fulfill this project by July 2018.

Providing easy and affordable access to the Internet are some of the priorities of this department, and Mr Meriton said that the government is working on regulations that will remove barriers that hinder a competitive market for internet service providers (ISPs).

“We have looked into ways the government can collaborate with ISPs to lower the cost of Internet.”

“And one of the interventions that can have such an impact is to have more competitors on the market. Government is considering how to ensure a level playing field and allow these competitors to come onto the ISP market.”

Following demands of ISPs, the government is also looking into how to distribute antennas on the three main islands to facilitate communication between the service providers and their clients.

Regulations to guide how ISPs deliver their services through the establishment of minimum standards -- which is to be policed by DICT and other regulators -- are also in the works. It is hoped that this piece of legislation will be approved and implemented by the end of this year.

Indo-Seychelles military facility on Assomption

Mr Meriton revealed that the bilateral agreement signed between India and Seychelles in order to set up a military facility on Assomption is undergoing internal consultations due to the fact that it was not well received by the public and members of the National Assembly.

“A declaration will be made very soon to find a feasible way to build this facility because the country really needs it,” Mr Meriton stated.

Concerning the leaked Assomption agreements, Mr Meriton related that important developments have occurred in regards to the investigation and necessary actions will be taken when it is completed.

In regards to certain racist and xenophobic actions against Indians that have cropped up party to this agreement, Mr Meriton said: “The world respects and appreciates the fact that Seychelles is a place where people of various colours and ethnicities merge together. These recent developments that have coincided with the Assomption project is unfortunate and regrettable.”

He highlighted the dangers that xenophobic comments and action can bring with it such as racial violence.

Social media awareness

“Social media users should become more conscientious of their rights and responsibilities while using these online platforms. It is used for interaction between friends and groups, and to educate oneself,” Mr Meriton said.

He reinforced the idea that it should not be used for nefarious purposes such as insulting someone and spread falsehoods.

He recommended that users also fact check online information and their sources.

“We have to be careful of the information we receive off Facebook and learn to appreciate the official sources of information that are timely and accurate, and then compare these two sources.”