British High Commissioner bids farewell-UK envoy says change visible |11 July 2007

H.E. Ms Skingle, who was accredited in July 2004 said among the areas where change has been very visible is in liberalisation.

She was speaking after paying a courtesy call of President James Michel and Vice-President Joseph Belmont at State House.

She said that changes from President Michel’s stated programme of liberalisation are very noticeable.

 “It is has been a very interesting time in Seychelles. It has been a time of change and I’ve been very lucky to have interaction with a lot of decent people and I can see that they have quite a lot of hope for the future for progress,” H.E. Skingle said, adding that there has been a lot of interaction in diplomatic circles at all sorts of levels.

She recalled the recent visit of Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex, who came to meet participants of the President’s Award Scheme, and that the visit was the highlight of her tenure here. She referred to it as a good example of interaction between young people.

H.E. Skingle said that while here, the Earl went to Praslin and saw a beach restoration project to which the British Government contributed.

Another highlight was the award ceremonies she presided over in which she awarded Seychellois Suez Canal war veterans their medals.

She said her talks with President Michel yesterday centred on bilateral relations and “how we can go forward together.”

H.E. Skingle, who has also been the Dean of the Diplomatic corps, said that there has been a lot of interaction between them and with Seychelles officials, saying that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been “quite accessible.”