Inner islands commemorate World Habitat Day |11 October 2022
Last week, Seychelles joined other countries around the world in celebration of World Habitat Day. A week-long of activities were scheduled under the theme ‘Mind the Gap. Leave No One and Place Behind’.
As part of the activities, a delegation from the Ministry of Lands and Housing journeyed to Praslin on Thursday to ensure that the inner islands also join in the celebration.
Led by the Minister for Lands and Housing, Billy Rangasamy, the delegation comprised various officials from different departments of the ministry. They had the opportunity to visit the Praslin office in the Pension Fund Complex at Grand Anse, interact with the staff as well as view an exhibition on ‘Mid-Range Condominium’ which had been set up on the ground floor, in the same building. The exhibition aimed to launch this new product on Praslin and residents could apply for and learn more about housing projects in the pipeline for both Praslin and La Digue.
The minister and officials of the Seychelles Infrastructure Authority and Seychelles Planning Authority then met with members of National Assembly (MNAs), district administrators (DAs) and liaison officers of both inner islands to discuss the specific housing situations in the different districts.
“Today’s meeting with the different district stakeholders was a very fruitful one. Together we could have some technical exchanges and open discussions about their vision for their specific districts and what they believe would be best in terms of housing development for the specific needs of their community and how we as the ministry can help in improving the habitat of the people. This will be very useful to allow us to make targeted decisions on which specific projects would best suit each district. We could discuss our range of products on offer so that we take into account the reality of habitat requirements of the community instead of imposing certain projects which might not be relevant to them.” Minister Rangasamy shared his satisfaction after the meeting.
The delegation then joined other lands and housing officials at a ‘Careers Fair’ at the Praslin secondary school, a joint venture of the ministry and the school. Six various departments of the ministry were showcasing their work and career opportunities related to their sections. Students from both Praslin secondary and La Digue schools with an interest in careers related to lands and housing had the opportunity to interact with the professionals from the ministry and share their views.
“I would like to eventually further my studies at the School of Advanced Level Studies (Sals) or Seychelles Institute of Technology (SIT) as I wish to study architecture. I believe it is a very interesting career and I have been doing some research about it. There is a demand for it and the salary is also good. So I came today for some more information about architecture and I am happy with what I learnt,” young Praslinois Iuana Capricieuse, who is currently in her final year of secondary studies, shared with us.
Minister Rangasamy thanked all students for their enthusiasm in the lands and housing related careers and he called on them to keep working hard towards their goals.
“Today we are sowing the seeds and we hope that in the future we will reap the harvest of many young professionals in this field which is of high demand. There are many opportunities out there and currently 10-15% of our ministry staff are expatriates. Nationally over 95% of handy workers in the construction industry are expatriates and we hope to see more locals in these positions. So start thinking and striving towards careers which will ensure the sustainable development of our country; your future lies in your own hands so take matters in hand as of today.”
The visit continued in the afternoon at the ‘Pti Lavil’ area where the proposed ‘Mid-Range Condominium’ site is located followed by the proposed ‘High-End Condominium’ site opposite the ‘Pti Lavil’ entrance by the main road.
The principal secretary for Lands, Muriel Morgan, gave an insight into the projects. “Next to this ‘Pti Lavil’ land bank area which has already been allocated, we have PR6674 of 11,000m2 and we plan to construct ‘Mid-Range Condominiums’ on this site. And on the other side, next to the main road, surveying work is on-going to cater for ‘High-End Condominums’. So this will ensure a comprehensive housing development across the board which comes through new products that we are introducing to applicants. This will ensure less dependency on government budget and more on the applicant’s ability to secure a house in a timely manner.”
“As part the Habitat Week activities, we are educating the public about the different designs and unit models so that people can start thinking of applying based on their financial abilities so that we can secure a group of individuals for the different products. So far on Praslin, we have about 100 housing applications but that is before we take into account their financial abilities to deduct if they will be able fit into these different products. Our aim is to include everyone and cater for everyone at different financial levels. ‘Mid-Range Condominiums’ would cater for individuals with a household income of R12,000 to R15,000, ‘High-End Condominiums’ would be for higher incomes and affordable housing for incomes lower than R12,000.”
“At the end of the day, it depends on your financial and repayment ability. We know that in life, we work hard to ensure a good career and income so that our housing solution is dependent on us instead of waiting on the government to provide for us.”
“Preliminary work is already ongoing and we are calling on Praslinois who are interested to come sign up for the product at our office on Praslin. We hope to continuously have the self-financed condominiums similarly to land bank individual plots. So the more we have people with the affordability, the more we are encouraged to find more potential sites for development. Designs are already approved, so work should be starting as soon as possible. We hope to have been able to assist as many applicants with self-financed condominiums by 2024 and 2025.”
“There are also a few vacant plots from the ‘Pti Lavil’ Land Bank but that has been reserved for relocation programmes which are ongoing for the Baie Ste Anne PUC power station area and the Praslin Airport buffer area.”
The principal secretary for Housing, Denis Barbe, briefly highlighted the application processes. “Interested applicants are being called on to apply for the condominium units based on their affordability. We will send out more details about the layout to qualifying applicants so that they decide which one best suits their needs. We shall then check their repayment abilities as well as application dates. Therefore, it is bound to be a very transparent process. We are also currently fine tuning the guidelines for affordable housing to ensure that it is more specific to the needs and financial ability of applicants.”
The delegation then moved to Marie Jeanne Estate Phase 3, where 2 new 8-unit blocks has been approved and is expected to start soon. A Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) and a recreational area are also being proposed which will cater for the entire phase 3 area, including the 4 existing blocks.
As per the chief executive (CEO) of the Seychelles Infrastructure Agency, Jitesh Shah, they are yet to finalise the configurations of the new units; whether it will be 2-bedroom or 3-bedroom units. This will depend on the specific requirements of applicants and they shall discuss with district stakeholders for finalisation.
There is an ongoing high-level assessment of housing demands in the country and that will include Praslin as well. Discussions with district stakeholders will give the ministry a better understanding of the needs out there so as to plan for targeted housing development.
“We are very satisfied with the visit to Praslin today. We had a good ‘team-bonding’ day which is very important and we also had the opportunity to meet with some students. This gives us much hope for a bright future when we see students working towards a career related to lands and housing and also works in line with our principle of not leaving anyone behind. The students’ input are very valuable to us and we appreciated spending time with them. We also managed to visit 3 sites for construction of more units. We are offering a range of products and we hope to be able to touch people from all walks of life and ensure everyone can have a convenient housing.”
Text & photos by Nadia Bedier
