1st phase of Baie Ste Anne Praslin passenger jetty completed |26 August 2020
An aerial shot of the Eve Island Annex (Photo source: SPA)
The 1st phase of the Baie Ste Anne passenger jetty named Eve Island Annex has been completed.
Situated more towards the centre of Baie Ste Anne, work on the jetty undertaken by Vijay Construction was completed two months ago after several months’ delay.
The jetty will become operational once a ticket office and other essential amenities have been put in place.
Some two years ago the Seychelles Ports Authority (SPA) initiated the project to build a passenger jetty on Eve Island Annex.
The first passenger jetty on Prasin was situated opposite the Grand Anse police station but was moved to Baie Ste Anne over 40 years ago because of berthing difficulties for passenger vessels. For all these years now the small Baie Ste Anne jetty has been used for both passenger services and transshipment of a large variety of goods and this always caused a lot of congestion and inconvenience which have increased over the years with the arrival of more cargo vessels, cruise ships as well as the inter-island ferries Cat Cocos and Cat Rose.
Dean Zelime, the deputy director for project implementation at the SPA, said the delay in completing the 1st phase of the project has been due to the back filling process which encountered some hitches with regard to the quality of the material to be used for back filling works.
Meanwhile the new facility is expected to bring a lot of benefits for the inner islands as well as for inter-island ferry users and cargo vessels.
“The project is a comprehensive and significant development and its 2nd phase will include a terminal which we want to become a game changer for Praslin as it will be a hub to serve La Digue, Félicité, Curieuse and other islands in the vicinity. We want improved comfort and security for both local and foreign visitors,” Mr Zelime stated.
Once the Eve Island Annex jetty becomes operational, the Baie Ste Anne jetty will be transformed to serve leisure crafts.
Meanwhile work on the 2nd phase of the project is expected to start before the end of the year and is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.
Marie-Anne Lepathy