Seychelles gets R16m grant from Japan |30 July 2020

Ambassador Makoto and SS Lloyd after signing the agreement (Photo: Anel Robert)

By Vidya Gappy

The government of Japan has extended a grant of 100 million Japanese Yen (R16 million) to Seychelles designed to provide medical equipment to strengthen the country’s public health and medical system in response to Covid-19.

The grant agreement was signed yesterday by the residing Japanese ambassador to Seychelles, Tominaga Makoto, and the secretary of state for Health, Marie-Pierre Lloyd, at the Sheikh Khalifa Diagnostic Centre.

Ambassador Makoto noted that “The pandemic is still prevalent in the entire world and the number of people infected exceeds 16 million and we are lucky that in Seychelles there are no people infected and no death. Covid-19 is a real human security crisis. To tackle this crisis, we need to take measures to minimise the effects on the economy and the social life of the people and also to enhance inclusive measures by not abandoning anyone. In this vision and responding to the request of the government of Seychelles, the government of Japan decided to provide this grant to the government of Seychelles for the purchase of medical equipment such as bedside accessories, wheelchairs, ambulances among others. The government of Japan is contributing on the international level to tackle this crisis.”

Thanking the government of Japan on behalf of the government of Seychelles, SS Lloyd noted that this grant represents a great milestone in our cooperation and bilateral relations.

“On August 1, the country opens its borders to the world. Therefore in consultation with all stakeholders we developed and agreed a national integrated framework to ensure that each and every sector and individual is ready for this. We recognise that there is a very tight balance between protecting the health of our population and that of our visitors on the one hand and kick-starting the economy on the other. This grant provided by the government of Japan will reinforce our efforts to build our capacity and our resilience as we prepare for the threat of another wave of infection when our borders re-open.”

SS Lloyd also said that the funds will help the department of health to acquire necessary medical equipment and other resources to support the health care delivery and maintain continuity of care.