Year 2014 news highlights |31 December 2014

As we come to the end of 2014, Seychelles Nation presents its readers with a month-by-month review of the major local news that have marked this eventful year.


January

The international airline ranking company Skytrax promotes Air Seychelles to a four-star airline among only 36 others worldwide, and the continent’s second best!

The Skytrax airline rankings are decided each year by the votes of 18 million passengers from 100 different countries based on an extensive audit programme which examines more than 800 different areas of product and service delivery, using rigourous quality criteria.

The grading system is recognised as the key benchmarking tool for customer satisfaction by the global airline industry.

The latest Seychelles flagged purse seiner, the IZARO, is officially launched in Bilbao, Spain.
The IZARO, a 1900 m3 tuna purse seiner vessel, has been built at the Spanish shipyard Zamakona S.A., based in Puerto Pesquero, on a contract which represents a total investment volume of €30 million.

The vessel was designed and developed by Cintranaval-Defcar, Bilbao.
The 88 metre-long and 14 metre-wide new vessel is equipped with state of the art fish detecting technology, -60 freezing capacity and tuna handling systems.
The IZARO also has 20 cargo tanks for freezing and storage with a total cargo volume of 1,330 tonnes of tuna.

Departman Lazenes i inisye en nouvo progranm ki apel ‘Valer Pour Mwan, Valer Pour Nou Tou’.
Son bi se pour reanmenn en kiltir bon valer dan nou sosyete.

Progranm ‘Valer Pour Mwan, Valer Pour Nou Tou’ i vize a bann adolesan e bann zenn ki atraver zot bann aksyon dan lekol, kominote e landrwa travay pou kontribye reanmenn bann bon valer dan nou sosyete.

Progranm ‘Valer Pour Mwan, Valer Pour Nou Tou’ pou adopte en valer diferan tou le mwan, e devlop li pandan en peryod 3-an. Valer ki’n swazir pour son premye mwan lenplimantasyon i ‘determinasyon’.

Seychelles hosts the first in a series of talks with Tanzania on the possibility of making a joint submission of an area of the extended continental shelf in the Aldabra region to the United Nations Commission.

This is in accordance with the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Patrick Herminie, attends the Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) in Wellington, New Zealand (January 21-25).

Held every two years, the conference aims to maintain, foster and encourage impartiality and fairness on the part of speakers and presiding officers of parliaments; promote knowledge and understanding of parliamentary democracy in its various forms and develop parliamentary institutions.


February

Francis Rachel Street is now officially a one-way road, a move which forms part of a bigger plan that will be implemented in phases to ease traffic congestion in Victoria.

A major project initiated last year to carry water from three rivers to the La Gogue dam is completed.
The project involved the construction of three barrages at Rhodas, Le Niol and Mount Simpson rivers, a 200m cube water tank and the laying of approximately 8km of pipeline.

The project has cost around R37 million and its main aim is to increase the volume of water entering the La Gogue dam.

President James Michel delivers his 10th State-of-the-nation address to the Seychelles National Assembly, placing emphasis on the principles of determination, responsibility and national unity in advancing the country's socio-economic achievements.

Vice-President Danny Faure arrives in Chennai, India, to represent President James Michel as chief guest at the 15th anniversary of the MIOT International Hospitals.
The government of Seychelles has been sending patients to MIOT on overseas specialised treatment since 2005.
MIOT International Hospitals is a leading multi-specialty hospital which has received international patients from over 129 countries.


March

The Seychelles government enters into an agreement with a foreign investment company, JACCAR Holdings, to build and operate a 425-metre commercial fishing quay at Ile du Port.

Under the agreement, a Seychelles-based joint venture (JV) company will be created to run the project on a “Build-Operate-Transfer” (BOT) basis. This means that the new company will construct and manage the quay, and transfer it to government after recovery of the construction cost.

The JV will consist of the Société Seychelloise d’Investissement (SSI) on behalf of government (40%), JACCAR Holdings (40%), and other private Seychellois shareholders (20%).

The project will be financed on an 80%-20% debt-equity basis and expected to cost between US $15 to US $20 million.

Parti Lepep i organiz en senpozyonm anba tenm ‘En nouvo Sesel, en nouvo frontyer pour le prosen 50-an’.
Sa i tonm dan kad son zibile lor ki i pou selebre le 2 Zen prosen.

Lobzektif sa senpozyonm se pour konsolid Parti Lepep koman en striktir politik e revwar son misyon pour prepar e diriz lavenir Sesel pandan sa prosen 50-an.

The University of Seychelles (UniSey) and the Seychelles Investment Bureau (SIB) sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) which will permit students to access SIB’s investment database, continue to benefit from its internship programme and have better interaction with the business community.

As part of the agreement, SIB will also be able to attract potential foreign lecturers and students to the UniSey.

Six women are rewarded for their service and contribution to their community.
They are Anita Gardner (Health and Social Development award), Edwina Adrienne (Community Empowerment), Christel Jacques (Protection of the Environment), Anne Noelia Souris (Peace and Harmony Initiatives), Jessy Freminot (Promoting Art and Seychellois Culture) and Lucy Hickerson-Luc (Promotion and Development of Small Enterprises).

The Seychelles Women’s Community Awards 2013 is an initiative of the Seychelles Women’s Day Association (SWDA) to recognise the involvement of women who are making a difference in the local communities. It is also an opportunity to appreciate women who have their community at heart and work tirelessly and selflessly to make it a better place.

April

Air Seychelles starts an all-cargo domestic service between the two largest islands of the Seychelles archipelago, Mahé and Praslin.

Operated by Air Seychelles’ Shorts 360 aircraft and specifically timed to connect with flights from Abu Dhabi and Johannesburg, the once per week cargo service targets perishable commodities destined for hotels and other tourism establishments on Praslin.

The Air Seychelles’ Shorts 360 aircraft has been retrofitted to operate as a mini freighter, and can now carry up to 3,500 kilograms of cargo with a volumetric capacity of 1,309 cubic feet.

The Minister for Health Mitcy Larue officially launches the HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccine programme.
The HPV programme is a vaccination campaign within a wider national immunisation plan and is aimed at protecting young girls and women from cervical cancer.
 
Under the programme, which will be carried out with the partnership of the WHO, the Ministry of Education and the Cancer Concern Association (CCA), all young girls from the age of eleven years old will be immunised.

A new energy firm, Ophir Energy Plc, teams up with WHL Energy Ltd to explore oil in Seychelles waters.
To formalise this venture, an agreement is signed between the Seychelles government and Petroleum Seychelles and WHL Energy Ltd and Ophir Energy Plc.

WHL Energy Ltd is the company who took over the contract for oil exploration from Petrol Quest in October 2010 and its contract ended last year. With the signed agreement the Seychelles government has extended its contract for another three years.

The agreement means that Ophir will become the senior party of this venture; it now acquires 75% interests in the joint venture going forward. Up until this period, WHL has been a 100% holder of this acreage but the signing of this agreement changes that and Ophir becomes the operator of the joint venture.

Ophir Energy plc is an African focused, upstream oil and gas exploration company which is listed on the London Stock exchange. Ophir has an extensive deep water acreage position in west and east Africa acquired since its foundation in 2004.

The National Consumers Forum (Natcof) celebrates its twenty years of existence with three major celebrations: an international conference, an exhibition of the unit’s work done during these twenty years and an award ceremony recognising founder members of the association.
The celebrations fall under the theme ‘Celebrating 20 years of Consumer Protection’ in Seychelles.

Seychelles receives a new naval vessel from China which will help boost the operational capabilities of Seychelles’ naval force.
Baptised Etoile, the new Type 62 Class gun boat has a maximum speed of 26 knots and cruising speed of 16 knots. It was built by South China Repairs Shipyard in Guangzhou and has been designed for multipurpose missions including patrol, surveillance, anti-piracy, anti-illegal fishing, anti-terrorism, etc.
Etoile is equipped with one 6.5-metre speed boat that can be automatically launched and hauled from the stern. The speed boat has a maximum speed of 30 knots. It also has GPS plotter and depth sounder.

Two Seychellois pilots on Air Seychelles’ domestic operations are promoted to the rank of captain.
The new Twin Otter commanders -- Julius Gabriel and Ashley Confait -- have successfully completed the company’s rigorous Command Upgrade Programme which include training on aircraft technical elements, emergency procedures and Crew Resource Management (CRM), as well as leadership and decision-making.

A news agency aimed at sharing local news and feature stories with the world through a daily online ‘as it happens’ news service is officially launched.

The Seychelles News Agency is expected to be the new voice for Seychelles and Small Island Developing States in the world. It will give daily 'as-it-happens' news and features focusing on the islands' environment, defence and maritime security, energy, tourism and business development as well as news and views from other Indian Ocean islands, as well as key African events.

A new book entitled ‘Island Nation in a Global Sea: Making the new Seychelles’ written by President James Michel is officially launched.

The book, which is a collection of speeches and analysis of those speeches, is the third from the Seychelles’ president after ‘A Man of the People’ (2010) and ‘Distant Horizons, My Reflections’ (2011).

The book launch is part of activities marking President Michel’s 10 years in office.
Mr Michel says his new book recounts an extraordinary story of the many challenges and sacrifices in the making of the New Seychelles and the Seychelles brand and also of the delivered promises of the past 10 years.  

May

The Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS) releases a new commemorative coin in remembrance of the canonisation of Catholic pope of the 20th Century, John Paul II.
The new coin which shows a statue of Saint John Paul II with an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe are made entirely from keys donated by Mexicans.
The Seychelles coat of arms is featured on the back of the coin.

An electronic Grey Book which brings together the most frequently cited legislation in Seychelles in a single, freely accessible resource, is launched.   
The Seychelles E-Grey Book is an electronic publication of 80 statutes and accompanying subsidiary legislation which are likely to be in most common use in Seychelles’ jurisdiction.

The E-Grey Book forms part of the Seychelles Legal Information Institute (SEYLII) and can be accessed at www.seylii.org

Seychelles signs a fisheries access agreement which will allow Seychelles flagged vessels to continue their operations in Mayotte waters, regardless of the transition of this Indian Ocean island to the European Region as of January 1, 2014.

The agreement will allow eight tuna purse seine vessels to operate in the waters of Mayotte under the jurisdiction of the EU for the next six years against the payment of licence and catch fees coming directly from the ship-owners.

Seychelles and Madagascar conclude a new bilateral air services agreement which provides a renewed and forward-looking framework to govern air access between the island states for decades.

It also heralds an era of enhanced connectivity, supporting cultural and trade development.

A new training vessel to be used by students of the Maritime Training Centre (MTC) is officially launched.
The highly modern and technical Virgo II has been funded by the EU at a cost of US $375,145.

The Virgo II was built in Sri Lanka and was supervised by a technical team headed by Beatty Hoareau.
With the new vessel, students will gain more frequent access to the sea.

June

Cable & Wireless Seychelles (CWS) signs a two-year accord with the Ministry of Education to renew their agreement of providing free internet to all government schools.
The first agreement between CWS and the ministry was signed in April 2007. Building on the foundation that was laid eight years ago, the focus of this renewed agreement is to contribute towards the ministry’s effort to provide quality education to all.

De madanm santener – Virginia Philoé ek Esmy Eloïse Payet – i mor menm zour (le 8 Zen).
En zabitan Roche Caïman, Madanm Philoé ti ne le 13 Mars 1911 e i ti annan 103-an, tandis ki madanm Payet ti annan 100-an.

The first ever House, Garden and Hospitality Expo to be held in Seychelles is officially opened at the National Sports Council Hall at Roche Caiman.
Held under the theme Tou, Tou, Tou pour Lakaz ek Lotel, the expo has been organised by the Small Enterprise Promotion Agency (Senpa), the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) and the Publi-Promo Ltd based in Mauritius.

The aim of the expo is to enable the professionals and the public of Seychelles at large to have access to the latest products and services in the house, garden and hospitality sectors while expecting the commercial and industrial community in Seychelles find interesting partners for long-term partnership.

The Seychelles Peoples’ Defence Forces (SPDF) receives a donation of two military vehicles from the Indian government.
The two Land Rover type Tata four-wheel drives have been built to the latest military standards and designed to transport troops.

The Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) launches its first business centre and website.
The centre, located on the second floor of Ebrahim House on Francis Rachel Street, is officially opened by SCCI chairman Marco Francis in the presence of British high commissioner Lindsay Skoll and the managing director of Airtel Seychelles, Amadou Dina, both co-partners in the projects.

The business centre, which is dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship skills among youths and female entrepreneurs especially, has come about with the collaboration of different partners notably the British high commission which provided the computers, printer and scanner and Airtel 1MB free internet for the chamber.

The Seychelles People’s Defence Forces (SPDF) gets a new medical centre and barrack donated by the President of the United Arabs Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The clinic and barrack are situated at the Defence Forces premises on Ile Perseverance.
The clinic is equipped with three examination rooms, blood collection room, a chief medical officer’s room, treatment room, an emergency room and pharmacy and it has the capacity to check over 50 patients per day.

The barrack is designed to take in 64 persons including trainees and academy staff.

The University of Seychelles (UniSey) and the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) of China sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) so that both parties can develop academic relations.
Founded in 1951, the UIBE is China's leading university in economics, finances and international business. It offers a large number of high quality Bachelors, Masters and PhD in English for international students and Chinese language programmes.

Le Président de la République de Cabo Verde, Son Excellence Dr Jorge Carlos de Almeida Fonseca arrive aux Seychelles pour effectuer une visite d'Etat (du 16 au 20 juin 2014) et participer aux célébrations de la Fête Nationale du 18 juin.

July

Air Seychelles takes delivery of two new DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 400 aircraft from Viking Air Limited of Canada.
The new aircraft will be used for services between Mahé and Praslin, as well as other islands in the Seychelles archipelago, including Bird, Denis and Frégate.
The aircraft have been named ‘Isle of Bird’ and ‘Isle of La Digue’.

Seychelles becomes the second island nation in the Western Indian Ocean to have a Navtex (navigational telex) broadcasting station.
The facility is a donation from the government of Japan through the implementation of the Djibouti Code of Conduct of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

The equipment donated to the government of Seychelles are the Navtex broadcast station, radio and satellite voice communication which will be under the responsibility of the SMSA (Seychelles Maritime Services Administration) but operated by the SCG (Seychelles Coastguard).

With the Navtex broadcasting station the SCG will be able to disseminate navigational and meteorological warnings, rescue information and pirate attack warnings to vessels in the vicinity of Mahé up to 400 nautical miles.

A new monument evoking our freedom as well as our unity as a people is unveiled.
The ‘Freedom Monument’, which represents the people of Seychelles and the fight they have been thorough to gain freedom and for us to be where we are today, is inaugurated by President James Michel to coincide with the 38th anniversary of the country’s Independence Day.

The monument has been designed by sculptor Tom Bowers and it shows a man and a woman standing raising a flag over their heads. It is in solid bronze and it was made in Cape Town, South Africa by Bronze Age Foundry of Cape Town.

The ‘Freedom Monument’ is located on 5th June Avenue on the site where the Liberation Monument, better known as ‘Zonm Lib’, used to stand.

August

The fish processing facilities at the Providence fishing port are officially opened.
The facilities, to be managed by the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA), will promote fish value addition for higher value of fish products for the market.
The facilities, which consist of three fish processing factories with three units for each one, has cost the SFA R32 million financed under the Seychelles-EU Fisheries Sectorial Development Programme.

The construction was completed within a 15-month period.

The Public Utilities Corporation (PUC) signs a contract with Finland-based company Wartsila for the latter to supply, install and commission two 8 megawatt (MW) engines at the Roche Caïman power plant on Mahé and one 2.3MW engine at the Baie Ste Anne power plant on Praslin..
The generators are expected to be fully operational in the middle of next year.

The Minister for Environment and Energy, Professor Rolph Payet, has been appointed by the secretary general of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon as the executive secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions.
He will take up the new post in October 2014 in Geneva.

President James Michel sends a message of sincere congratulations to Professor Payet, wishing him every success and expressing his full cooperation and support in his tasks and challenges that lie ahead.

September

Ethiopian Airlines returns to Seychelles to a colourful welcome at the Pointe Larue International Airport.
The airline’s passengers are greeted on arrival with yellow roses and traditional music and dance by local artists.
Ethiopian Airlines is operating three flights a week and its local sales agent is Mason’s Travel.

Seychelles and Sri Lanka sign a memorandum of understanding to promote investments between them.
The two-year deal, which is automatically renewable, was entered into by the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka and the Sib.
The MoU will be implemented by a joint committee that will consist of an equal number of officials from both countries.
 
October

The Minister for Foreign Affairs Jean-Paul Adam official opens Seychelles’ consulate general in Shanghai.
The consulate general will have jurisdiction over Shanghai itself and the provinces of Anhui, Zhejiang and Jiangsu.

Seychelles and Mauritius sign new twinning agreements between Victoria and two municipalities and six district councils in Mauritius and renew two existing accords.

The new twinning agreements are between the Municipal Town Council of Beau Bassin/Rose Hill and the district of Mont Buxton; between the Municipal Town Council of Vacoas/Phoenix and the district of Plaisance; between the districts of Moka and Pointe Larue; Savanne and Port Glaud; Pamplemousse and Grand Anse Praslin; Rivière du Rempart and Beau Vallon.
The agreements renewed are between Anse Royale district and the district of Flacq and between Anse Boileau and Rivière Noire.

The Seychelles Trading Company Ltd (STC) opens a much bigger supermarket at Anse Reunion on La Digue.
As a result, the company’s smaller supermarket that was opened in February this year at La Passe is now closed and will be turned into a showroom for construction materials.

November

Air Seychelles collects two trophies for ‘Indian Ocean’s Leading Airline – Business Class’ and ‘Indian Ocean’s Leading Cabin Crew’ at the World Travel Awards presentation ceremony at the ExCel Exhibition Centre in London, UK.

Justin Freminot, a communicable disease control officer of the Public Health Authority of the Ministry of Health, wins the Outstanding Male Role Model Award 2014.

Mr Freminot, a Beau Vallon resident, beat five other finalists to win the award.
Other finalists are Lt Col. Michael Rosette, 50, who is the deputy Chief of Staff of the Seychelles People’s Defence Forces;  Frederick Barrat, district administrator of Cascade; Michel Ange Willis Rabat, a storekeeper at Domaine de la Reserve; Dary Maringo, a Rack Pusher Dumper at the Indian Ocean Tuna Limited and Daniel Augustin, head gardener at the Seychelles Tourism Academy.

The National Men’s Award is an initiative of the National Family Council of Seychelles and is sponsored by the British high commission.

President James Michel officially launches the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis) ministerial conference at the Savoy Resort and Spa at Beau Vallon.
The two-day conference aims at adopting a legally binding document on climate change which will be brought forward at the United Nations Climate Change Summit to be held in Paris next year.

It also serves as a preparation for climate talks next month in Lima, Peru.
In his speech, President Michel warns that climate change is the greatest threat of our time as our survival depends on the sustainable development of our planet.

He further stresses that the targets set by small island states (Sids) are for the ultimate survival of the whole humanity.

A new patrol ship named Constant joins the fleet of the Seychelles Coast Guard (SCG) unit of the Seychelles People’s Defence Forces (SPDF).
The ship has been gifted to Seychelles by the government of India.

Constant’s commanding officer is Captain Ivel Ernesta, the youngest commanding officer in the SCG.

The coastguards now have four patrol vessels in its fleet measuring more than 40 metres long. The other three are Topaz, Andromache and Etoile.
The two others are La Flèche and Vigilante measuring over 30 metres long.

December

Finance, Trade and Investment Minister Pierre Laporte presents the 2015 Budget to the National Assembly.
The national budget for 2015 amounts to R5,937,647,000.

The ministry with the biggest allocation remains Health (R617,596,000) but the money will be split between the Ministry itself (R204,293,000), the Health Care Agency (R374,285,000) and the Public Health Authority (R36,018,000).

The ministry with the second highest allocation is the Ministry of Education with R479,086,000.

Andrew Padayachy, owner of Padayachy Funeral Services and Padayachy Video Rental, is named Seychelles’ best entrepreneur for 2014 by the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industries (SCCI).
A past Air Seychelles employee and taxi driver, Mr Padayachy receives the Best Entrepreneur Award during the Business Awards gala held at the Eden Bleu hotel.

The Islands Development Company (IDC) buys a Dornier 228 aircraft which will give a boost to the company’s mandate of providing flights to the outer islands.

The aircraft, bought from Summer Set Charters in South Africa, is flown in and officially delivered to the company on December 11, 2014 by two South African pilots, Captain Christiaan Kriel and First Officer Riaan Scheffer.

The Dornier 228 is a twin-engine STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing) utility aircraft with a capacity for 18 passengers or a cargo carrier with a maximum payload of 1900kg.
 
The aircraft can operate at a maximum cruise speed of 200Kts (TAS) or 370km/hr and a single engine cruise speed of 160Kts (TAS) or 296km/hr.
It has a maximum endurance of seven hours flight time and a range of 1400NM (2592KM) and it is an ideal aircraft for landing on short runways.

Air Seychelles welcomes its third Airbus aircraft and first Airbus A320.
The Airbus A320, baptised Amirantes, will be adding three new direct flights on Air Seychelles’ schedule that is Madagascar, India and Tanzania.

The general council of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) approves Seychelles’ accession package to the organisation, including the Accession Protocol.
Seychelles will officially become a member of the WTO 30 days after the ratification by the National Assembly of its Accession Protocol, which is expected to be completed by latest, in the first quarter of 2015.