Regatta site at Beau Vallon |05 February 2020

The area where the Regatta and Bazar Labrin takes place is now owned and managed by SSI (Photo: Louis Toussaint)

Société Seychelloise d’Investissement announces redevelopment plan

• Vendors will be allowed to operate seven days a week

The area where many events including the Bazar Labrin take place at Beau Vallon has been the talk of the town and members of the public have been waiting for some clarification.

The Société Seychelloise d’Investissement (SSI) together with Enterprise Seychelles Agency (Esa) met the press yesterday at Beau Vallon to give an update on the development plan of this particular area of some 34,000m².

“How does the SSI come in play? As everyone is aware the property where the Regatta and Bazar Labrin take place is owned by the SSI since July 2019 and the government decided to pass on all the activities to SSI. Since the acquisition of this plot of land from an offshore company, Esa was still taking care of the Bazar Labrin. But now we have done the smooth transition and SSI will as of now manage everything,” noted SSI chief executive Rupert Simeon.

He also clarified that “in regards to activities such as Bazar Labrin and Regatta they will still continue this year and the redevelopment plan will just take care of the stalls, washroom facilities, security and cleaning. The vendors will not be affected as they will be given stalls depending on their activities. For example food vendors will be given proper facilities where they will be able to do live cooking and meeting all the public health requirements.”

Mr Simeon noted that there are some vendors who are operating here but have not been registered and the SSI is in discussion with them. “There will be four categories of stalls – food, artisanal, alcoholic beverages and non-alcoholic beverages. Other developments will include the development of a basketball court, a cable car station (still in discussion with the developer), a cultural heritage site, a children’s playground and a café,” added Mr Simeon.

Mr Simeon also expressed the vendors are still waiting on the development and have decided to continue with the Bazar Labrin but with a new set of rules. The area dedicated for activities will stay the same for now and a building is expected to be constructed far from the lagoons. The redevelopment plan will go on in phases and the SSI hopes that by October the area will be ready.

As of March, the SSI is arranging to place temporary toilets and security at the area. There will be an information board about the opening hours of the toilets and a hotline will be available during working hours for any enquiry. Currently there is a project concept tender being drafted where the SSI will be inviting architects to submit a plan.

Angelic Appoo, chief executive of Esa, said that the list of all the registered vendors – 36 in total – who usually sell their products on Wednesdays at the Bazar Labrin has been submitted to the SSI.

“We also had some new applicants whose names have also been transferred to the SSI. At the same time we are having an agreement with the SSI to make sure that the price of stalls stay at a reasonable price so that the vendors can earn a decent living. The existing vendors will have the right of first refusal and will get priority to get the stalls. All the donations and budget we received last year for Bazar Labrin, we will be diverting the funds to other projects such as setting up of new sites which government is allocating to us to help entrepreneurs. One of these sites is the Anse Royale beach park,” Ms Appoo said.

Vidya Gappy