10th Indian Ocean Islands Games |31 July 2019
Vice-President Meriton (right) is welcomed by Prime Minister Jugnauth
VP thanks Mauritius, holds talks with Prime Minister
Vice-President Vincent Meriton has thanked the government of Mauritius for investing in and hosting the 10th Indian Ocean Islands Games, which the hosts won for the first time in 40 years.
He conveyed those sentiments while paying a courtesy call on Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth at the Batiment du Tresor in the Mauritian capital Port Louis on Monday morning.
Accompanied by Information principal secretary Denis Rose and Seychelles honorary consul in Mauritius Guy Fok, Vice-President Meriton also talked about bilateral and multilateral cooperation issues, and exchanged souvenirs with the Mauritian Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Jugnauth said the Games were a big sports festival for all Mauritians, athletes and visitors from participating countries, adding that he was happy with the results achieved by the host nation.
He said that in terms of lodging, administration and logistics Mauritius did its best to satisfy everyone and thanked Team Seychelles for participating and the results achieved.
For his part Vice-President Meriton congratulated the Prime Minister and Mauritius for their feat both in terms of organisation and results.
He said the Games were a feast for the youth of the Indian Ocean who he explained, were already looking forward for the 11th Games in the Maldives in 2023.
Both Prime Minister Jugnauth and Vice-President Meriton spoke of the need to boost efforts to introduce sports to the youth at a very young age which, apart from allowing them to obtain better results at the Games, would also further help in the fight against social ills.
They also pledged to work with the International Games Commission (CIJ) in whatever way possible to assist the Comoros to eventually be in a position to organise the Games presumably after the Maldives in 2027.
On bilateral cooperation Prime Minister Jugnauth and Vice-President Meriton spoke about boosting cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking in the Indian Ocean Region, cooperation in fisheries, the Blue economy and other areas.
On multilateral cooperation the two leaders welcomed the support of both countries on several international issues relevant to them.
The Mauritian Prime Minister was very appreciative of Seychelles’ support on the Chagos issue.
Vice-President Meriton returned home on Monday evening after representing Seychelles at the Games as guest of the Mauritian government.
The 10th Indian Ocean Islands Games were held over 10 days in Mauritius. It ended on Sunday July 28 with a glittering closing ceremony.
Mauritius finished first on the medal table with 92 gold, 79 silver and 53 bronze medals. This was the country’s first victory since the Games were started in Reunion in 1979.
Madagascar finished second with 49 gold, 47 silver and 31 bronze medals followed by Reunion in third spot with 46 gold, 48 silver and 74 bronze medals.
Seychelles came out fourth ahead of Mayotte, Comoros and the Maldives with 28 gold 32 silver and 50 bronze medals.
The 28 gold medals were only two short of the projected total of 30.
