State-of-the-art swimming pool for Praslin |12 October 2013

Praslin will soon get its very own swimming pool which will be built of Eve island.
A memorandum of understanding was signed yesterday afternoon at the National Sports Council (NSC) conference room by the NSC and Vijay Construction for the construction of the swimming pool complex which will benefit mostly Praslin and La Digue residents.

Community development and sports principal secretary Denis Rose said the project dates back to 2011 when the government completed the demarcation of the different plots of land on Eve island and made a commitment to the youths and the people of Praslin and La Digue that it would do everything necessary to build a swimming pool on the island.

The government has now made good on that promise and by the middle of next year, residents of the two islands will benefit from a state-of-the-art 25m swimming pool.
PS Rose explained that the complex will feature the latest technologies, with a smaller pool for those learning to swim also to be added.

Mr Vijay Patel, whose construction company Vijay Construction has been tasked with building the facility, stated that he believes swimming is very important to an island nation such as Seychelles, adding that this will help the population to continue to learn to swim.

The total cost of the facilities will be R15 million, with the government funding R10 million and Vijay Construction donating the remaining R5 million.

Seychelles Swimming Association (SSA) chairman Kenny Roberts was very happy with this announcement and said that plans are already in place to get more competitive swimmers from the two islands.
He also stated: “This new swimming pool will reduce greatly the maintenance cost as it is more modern and the equipment used are more effective that those being used the Roche Caïman pool.”

He added that he hopes to get more competitions to be organised on Praslin as the pool will be good enough to host international level competitions.

Construction work is expected to begin by the end of November, and residents of the two islands can look forward to a new attraction once it is finished by the middle of next year.

S. N.