National Assembly |11 October 2023

Ministry of Lands and Housing in question time

There are still work to be done to improve productivity and communication within the Ministry of Lands and Housing, despite several improvements to date, said Vice-President Ahmed Afif.

He was speaking during ‘question for oral answers’ in the National Assembly yesterday morning when answering questions related to the lands and housing portfolio.

The vice-president was deputising for Minister Billy Rangasamy who, according to deputy speaker Gervais Henrie, was unwell.

One of the questions put to Mr Afif was tabled by Honourable Henrie but was asked by the elected member for English River, Andy Labonte, since the deputy speaker was filling in for Speaker Roger Mancienne.

It related to the internal challenges affecting productivity and service delivery and measures being taken to better manage the ministry and improve service as promised during a workshop held in March 2021.

Vice-President Afif said the ministry has a huge responsibility, and was faced with high public expectations, in a sector with limited resources.

« So there is a high expectation for the staff to deliver and if the answers are not in favour of the public, they are blamed for not delivering, which is not always the case,” he stated.

“However we accept that we need to do more work to improve with regard to productivity, communication and the way we advise the public,” added Vice-President Afif.

He said there were ongoing training to address this and raise the standard.

The ministry also has a case management system to better monitor and follow public correspondence and continues with its rebranding to improve its image.

Other questions related to ongoing housing projects with the elected member for Baie Ste Anne, Churchill Gill, querying about the status of the 342 affordable housing units budgeted for 2023 at a cost of R253,929,000.

The vice-president said that 17 projects covering various districts had been planned for 2023 and 2024.

“Nine projects in 2023 are in the following stages; four at implementation stage, two have been tendered out and three will be tendered once planning approval is granted. The remaining eight will be done in 2024,” he explained.

With regard to Mr Gill’s question related to social housing budgeted at R118 million, Mr Afif said these will be done under the Saudi development fund. Already an agreement has been signed, and the government awaits other loan procedures under this agreement, he stated.

According to him it will comprise seven individual projects, with a total of 172 units to be built.

“Documentation for four of the projects are expected to be completed before the end of the year and the remaining three will be early next year, if everything goes according to plan,” he added.

With regard to the Nageon estate housing development project, he informed the National Assembly that seven families on five different properties stand to benefit.

He was answering a question tabled by the elected member for Pointe Larue, Conrad Gabriel, who wanted to know the status of the project and its total cost.

The National Assembly heard that the cost of the project will be known after the tender process was completed. The Seychelles Infrastructure Agency was proposing a batch tender instead of individual ones to limit expenses.

For his part, the elected member for Grand Anse Praslin, Wavel Woodcock, wanted to know the status of the project to widen the buffer zone at the Amitié airport.

Vice-President Afif informed him that this will depend on the final plan to enlarge the airport.

“At the moment it is at discussion stage with the transport department and the SCAA. What is realistic for now is that if we enlarge it a little, very few people will be affected,” he stated, adding the final decision will be between the SCAA and ICAO which establishes aviation standard.

The elected member for Au Cap, Kelly Samynadin, tabled a question on the progress of renovation work at the Dolphin Court flat. She was informed that the next stage would be a meeting with the residents, to share the design and cost.

According to Mr Afif, the plan was to meet with the residents by the end of October.

Patsy Canaya