President Ramkalawan officially opens La Passe jetty |28 August 2023
President Ramkalawan and Minister Derjacques unveiling the plaque to officially open the port (Photo: Romano Laurence)
The Diguois community rejoiced during the official inauguration of the redevelopment of the La Passe jetty, which took place on La Digue yesterday.
It was President Wavel Ramkalawan who unveiled the plaque alongside Minister for Transport Antony Derjacques in the presence of Vice President Ahmed Afif and wife Stella Afif, Designated Minister Jean-François Ferrari and several other ministers, Seychelles Ports Authority (SPA) chief executive Sony Payet, chairman of the SPA board Gilbert Frichot and other stakeholders.
The R33.8 million redevelopment project started after much consultation with the Diguois community and partners. It is a joint venture between the government of Seychelles, SPA and Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA).
The La Digue jetty project includes a new passenger terminal to separate cargo and passenger movement, fuelling facilities by the Seychelles Petroleum Company (Seypec), a 126m long ramp, pontoons, marina facilities for yachts, extended groins and channels to facilitate mooring of boats as well as a traffic management plan for movement at sea.
“Today we celebrate the collaboration between two authorities under the direction of the president. As the Ministry of Fisheries we did our part in improving facilities for fishermen, while the SPA did its part for passenger and cargo movement to and from La Digue. After much discussion we were able to synchronise the work to be done so that we could have maximum done in minimum time,” said Designated Minister Ferrari.
Minister Derjacques, on his part, thanked all stakeholders who have played a role in making the project a reality, especially SPA staff and contractor United Concrete Products Seychelles (UCPS) who has been very flexible in accommodating the many requests.
“We can proudly say that this is a 100% Seychellois project with all local partners giving their very best,” added Designated Minister Ferrari.
President Ramkalawan also praised the good collaborative work of all partners and encouraged such collaborative efforts to ensure that projects are smartly planned and executed. Nonetheless, he reiterated the need to ensure that there is a balance between new development and maintaining the Diguois charm.
“Today is a very proud moment for me as I trace back my visit to La Digue in November 2020 when we made the engagement that this much-awaited project will come to reality.
“The setting up of the ramp will allow more and bigger boats to bring more construction materials and we hope this will help to lower the cost of such materials and general construction costs on La Digue. Such development projects are very costly so let us be more understanding when we introduce a passenger fee; that is merely a method for SPA to recover some of the costs incurred on such projects and ensure that we can continue with future developments. Let us view it as a contribution that we as individuals are making towards our facilities,” President Ramkalawan expressed.
Ongoing work will continue on the project, especially for a new passenger terminal building with modern facilities such as the one on Praslin, to ensure that passengers enjoy a more comfortable and safe service. This will be in the new port area by the passenger terminal while cargo services will remain on the older part of the La Passe jetty.
Last week, SPA partnered with the La Digue school to plant various endemic plants like bonnen kare and bwa-d-nat on the reclaimed area in front of the Tarosa restaurant. At the end of yesterday’
ceremony, President Ramkalawan, Minister Ferrari and Minister Derjacques also symbolically planted a plant each in the same location and this was followed by a tour of the facilities.
Nadia Bedier
