National Assembly - Media, youth & culture committee visit Today in Seychelles and Cinea |26 August 2019

Visiting the site of the Music Stadium under construction

The Media, Youth & Culture Committee (MYCC) of the National Assembly met the management team of Today in Seychelles and Cinea separately on Thursday August 22, 2019.

The meetings included site visits of the Today offices, the Music Stadium and the facilities at the International Conference Centre (ICCS).

The meetings and site visits were aimed at providing the Committee with open discussions and an overview of the challenges currently at the forefront in the print media industry and the creative industry of which Cinea is mandated to develop and regulate.

In the morning, the Committee met the managing director of Today in Seychelles, Veronica Maria, who was accompanied by Jenifer Bipat, chief editor; Nelson Esparon, newsroom manager and Christopher Lucas, assistant editor whereby the chairperson of the Committee, Hon. Gervais Henrie, had the opportunity to explain the new mandate and scope of the MYCC, as well as openly discuss certain challenges and future developments within the media sector.

Following the fruitful meeting with the management team of Today in Seychelles, the Committee then met the chief executive of Cinea, Galen Bresson, the deputy CEO, Gustave De Comarmond, and other representatives from the organisation on the construction site of the Music Stadium currently being built.

The members of the Committee openly discussed the challenges and budgetary constraints of the construction of the Music Stadium with Mr Bresson and his team.

As a result of the points raised during the site visit, Hon. Henrie said that “the committee supports Cinea’s plan to ensure the completion on the Music Stadium project. However we are mindful of the agency’s challenge to maximise the venue’s potiential so that it will be a profitable venture in the long run”.

Following from that a visit of the facilities of the ICCS and a meeting with the Cinea team were held later on in the afternoon and Hon. Henrie, also went on to add that “the committee is shocked by the current state of the ICCS and makes an urgent appeal to the relevant authorities to stop further deterioration of the infrastructure and secure appropriate funds to refurbish the centre”.

The MYCC plans to continue carrying out site visits to the different organisations of youth and culture to ensure monitoring and a better understanding of the policies and working environments of these sectors. The scope of work will also include making reports and recommendations and inquiries, as well as study and make proposals for the review of legislation within these portfolios.

The MYCC is a standing Committee which comprises the following members: Hon. Gervais Henrie as chairperson, Hon. Flory Larue, as vice-chairperson, Hon. Jany De Letourdi, Hon. Paul Ernesta, Hon. Chantal Ghislain, Hon. Simon Gill and Hon. Wavel Woodcock, as well as Alexandria Faure, committee secretary and Samia Lebon, committee secretary assistant.