Live Presidential press conference - ‘We will create a facility on Assumption by ourselves’ |05 June 2018

President Danny Faure has pronounced that Seychelles is to undertake the construction of a small military facility on Assumption without the assistance from India.

He made this much awaited declaration yesterday evening during the live broadcast of his sixth presidential press conference, his second for 2018, at State House.

This follows opposition from local activists and some National Assembly members over the signed agreement between the governments of Seychelles and India. The agreement was originally signed in 2015 between the two parties with the objective of constructing a military facility on Assomption.

He further confirmed that the dossier of Assomption will not be on his agenda during his first state visit to India which is to start on June 25.

“I have decided that we will not continue with this project but I would like to add that if we, as a state, want to help address the problems occurring in our territorial waters it is important that we reinforce our maritime security,” President Faure provided.

Additionally, President Faure sent out a strong message to all Seychellois to not underestimate the gravity of the problems.

The “small” facility the President referred to is expected to be built after scientific impact assessments have been conducted.

The yet unconfirmed amount will be financed through the 2018 budget and, in that regard, President Faure requested for the support of the legislative branch of the government to push through with this initiative.

“It is important that there is a Coast Guard presence on Assomption that we will construct ourselves, as Seychellois, to better patrol the area. It might take us a year or two but we will have to do it on our own,” he reiterated.

On his government

On the subject of the executive branch of the government, President Faure mentioned that even amid the recent ministerial changes all ministries should remain firm in continuing with the already established policies.

 “Every minister that changes portfolio should follow this idea of policy continuity and not start new priorities.”

“The change in my cabinet that was undertaken in April was at the head of ministries. Principal secretaries and chief executives in the government remain the same,” President Faure stated to clarify the point of criticism that his government had no continuous progression.

“I had wish to position capable Seychellois citizens with the right background into certain positions but I was not able to and had to find other ways to deal with this,” he further explained, referring to when the majority party in the National Assembly blocked the nomination of three prospective ministers earlier this year.

President Faure also described the music stadium project as one which lacked proper reflection and execution.

With the music stadium’s total final cost reaching R41 million, almost triple the original forecast, President Faure acknowledged that the construction of the project needs to be completed.

R10 million is needed to complete the infrastructure aspects of the development, R9 million for the technical elements such as lighting and sound while the other R18 million has already been spent in the first phases of the music stadium, clarified President Faure.

He revealed that the additional budgetary deficits will be financed by the state and that, if anything else, the government and relevant authorities have learnt a great lesson. “No such situation should ever repeat itself,” said the president.

La Gogue dam

“The situation concerning La Gogue Dam should never have escalated to this point,” affirmed the president.

President Faure explained that it was not his responsibility as head of state to interfere with cases such as that of La Gogue and that it was up to the authorities concerned to deal with these issues appropriately.

However the president, yesterday evening, gave the three ministries involved in the project and negotiations a deadline of 14 days to conclude the matter.  These ministries are the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change, Ministry of Finance, Trade, Investment and Economic Planning and Ministry of Habitat, Lands, Infrastructure, and Land Transport.