Minister Derjacques impressed with professional team at land transport department |18 November 2020

Following his visits at Port Victoria and Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority last week, Transport Minister Antony Derjacques yesterday visited the department of land transport and the road transport commissioner’s office as part of his familiarisation tours to have a closer insight into the roles and functions of this department located at the Quadrant building.

It was also the opportunity for senior members of various departments to bring up their main constraints and difficulties in the running of the department of land transport.

After visiting all the officers, Minister Derjacques talked to the press and noted that “after my tour of the office, I am pleasantly happy to find out that the department of land transport has many capable staff and it seems that they are doing their job well. I also found out that there are many young people at the department who are still on the ‘My first Job scheme’ and ‘Unemployment Relief Scheme’. Because of the freeze imposed by the government to employ people, there is a lack of human resource. I understand we are in a major financial crisis. But in order for this department to work efficiently we will need to confirm the ones who are on different schemes and also fill the vacancies. I can see that this department has a lot of work to do, mainly concerning the supervising of works on our roads,” added Minister Derjacques.

He also noted that together with professionals working for the department, they will be able to work to resolve many issues.

“I know Seychellois are concerned with traffic jam and roads that have not been surfaced, mainly in south Mahé. Seychellois also want to know what will happen in the long term – if we have a plan for Victoria, if we have a plan for marine connections among others. I would like for Seychellois to come forward with different possibilities of travelling in Seychelles in order to make the life of Seychellois easier. Many of us have to spend a minimum 60 minutes driving from south Mahé to town and all this time is precious for the economy and for our stress level. As a person living in south Mahé, I witness this scenario every day. We need to tackle all the issues and I am sure that with this team, including the principal secretary and the chief executive, we will do a good job,” added Minister Derjacques.

Minister Derjacques noted that there have been major improvements in town as traffic is flowing quite well. He is more concerned about the roads in south Mahé.

“We will also have to see if the roads in Baie Lazare, Takamaka will stay the same or we will have to think about alternatives. On one side there is the mountain and on the other the sea. In Reunion Island, first they built a road on the mountain and then they had to construct an alternative super highway over the sea. What is our future and vision in Seychelles? This is what this department will work on,” stated the minister.

After visiting the three departments, Minister Derjacques noted that there is a lack of money as we are in an economic crisis. The Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) is losing R10 million per month, Air Seychelles is already in a financial crisis but the Seychelles Ports Authority (SPA) is still operating and is not budget dependent. The SPA still has enough finance to expand the port and the plan is still ongoing. In the last budget, the department of land transport already experienced a budget cut of 20-25%. Once again the Minister of Finance is proposing for a budget cut for this department for 2021. All institutions/departments and authorities are facing the same situation with this financial crisis. Each individual needs to realise that we are in an economic crisis and we need to work hard and take our responsibility. As the Governor of the Central Bank has been saying every week, we need to be careful with our expenses and make sure our children get their basic necessities and not to spend on unnecessary items. This coming year is a year of sacrifice, but we also have the possibility of having a vaccine and we might see a change in our economy. Till this happens, we all have to take our responsibility and we should stop spending like we are doing right now,” said Minister Derjacques.

Since we are celebrating Road Safety week, Minister Derjacques is urging all the people to use the roads safely and diligently.

The selection of photos show Minister Derjacques on his familiarisation tour yesterday.

Vidya Gappy

Photos: Thomas Meriton