Public meeting on La Digue |20 June 2023

Tracker for visitors ready for July

The GP tracking bracelets for visitors on La Digue, which was announced in August last year, will become operational next month, according to Vice-President Ahmed Afif.

He made the announcement yesterday during the public meeting on the island chaired by President Wavel Ramkalawan.

Vice-President Afif was answering a question from a resident who is also an officer of the Seychelles Parks and Garden Authority, who wanted to know the government’s plan, since visitors were still getting lost while on trails.

Mr Afif explained that the GPS bracelet is being introduced by a private operator, and this has been facilitated by government.

“So the clients will pay a fee for this GPS bracelet, which is small and light and wear it like a badge. It emanates a little signal, which will provide their location at all times and this would be tracked via a mobile phone. If they do get lost on the trail, they will be able to activate a button which will pinpoint their exact location and ensure swift rescue,” he explained.

Vice-President Afif added that all the necessary equipment has been installed on the main towers on La Digue, which means the whole island will be covered.

There was also a proposal for all the roads, including the secondary ones, to be identified with proper signage boards to facilitate the lives of visitors on the island.

Although President Ramkalawan welcomed the idea, he informed the meeting that none of the roads on La Digue have been proclaimed meaning they were technically illegal roads. He said that once this exercise was done, the roads would be properly identified and labelled.

Another concern raised was the cost of construction materials to the island, with one resident claiming it was too pricey, which President Ramkalawan said was a major concern for most inhabitants as the prices were exorbitant, which was unacceptable.

He said so far talks to identify a spot on La Digue where materials, transported in bulk, could be kept, thus reducing the number of trips and eventually the cost, have not yielded results.

“What is happening presently is that UCPS and the government are in talks to see how their facility on Ile Eve on Praslin, could also store in bulk, and transportation between Praslin and la Digue will be shorter. This, we hope, will eventually bring down the cost. It is a private company but we are looking into how we can assist and we will try all ways and means as the prices today are unacceptable,” said the President.

A resident also raised a concern about pollution caused by PET bottles in the environment, claiming that Diguois were not interested in collecting pets for recycling.

The minister responsible for environment, Flavien Joubert, confirmed that it was a concern and already they were looking into ways to address the problem namely to buy back in mass on the island, process and re-export and they were also considering reviewing the levy on PET bottles to make it more attractive to people collecting the empty bottles.

Access to Anse Source D’Argent was also raised with one resident querying about a fee payable to conduct weddings at l’Union Estate, which she said should not be applicable if the event was to be held on the public beach. The resident stated that the only way to access the beach was through l’Union Estate and the R1200 marketing fee should not be applicable in that instance. The director of the estate said the matter could be discussed further and they could all come to an agreement.

Venues for social activities for young people was also raised, with a young girl stating that those not interested in sports were being neglected as there were no venues where they could perform the activity of their choice such as music, dancing, movies among others. They were informed by the minister responsible for youth, Marie-Celine Zialor, that they could make use of the school’s space at all times.

She also told the meeting that they should not rely solely on government to plan activities for young people but this could rather be taken up by private individuals and businesses.

“And the government will give all our support,” said Mrs Zialor.

Other issues raised were road access, traffic lights, security, sports facilities among others.

La Digue’s public meeting at the community centre started with an introduction by the President who outlined the various capital projects on the island, and their budget. These included the newly built St Mary’s hospital, which will be opened on August 15 this year if everything goes according to plan, the PUC sewage project, upcoming new school for both primary and secondary and the renovation of the police station. 

The Minister for Lands and Housing, Billy Rangasamy, also informed the meeting that the housing project was also active on the island and the government plans to invest R70 million into housing on La Digue for the next three years.

Today’s meeting will be at Beau Vallon in the community centre starting at 5pm.

Patsy Canaya