Ceps reacts to budget 2024 |11 November 2023

Mr Laurence (Photo: Patrick Joubert)

•           Establishes special email address for public’s comments

The Citizens Engagement Platform Seychelles (Ceps) has said it wants to move away from just commenting on the budget and to concentrate more on how it is implemented over the years, with the assistance of the members of public.

It was Ceps’ chief executive, Alvin Laurence, who made the comment during a press briefing at Ceps’ headquarters, Orion Mall, yesterday afternoon, when giving the platform’s reaction to the 2024 budget speech made by the Minister of Finance, National Planning and Trade, Naadir Hassan, on November 23, 2024.

“We now have a special address, budget@ceps.sc where people can email us on whatever concerns they have, or contributions they have, so that we can put this together and bring it to the attention of the government,” said Mr Laurence, adding at the same time, see how things are moving on the ground.

“Be it for projects, be it for addressing vulnerabilities and especially where education and health are concerned, because these are areas where we believe there is a lot to do and where we are determined to do our fair share of contributions,” he said.

Mr Laurence noted the email address is to encourage the public’s continuous engagement and to monitor the implementation of the budget throughout the year.

With regard to money allocated to the Ministry of Health, he said the civil society believes that a large portion should be set aside for health prevention programmes so that people get to live a healthy life instead of falling sick to receive health care.

He noted that too much money was placed on providing health care in the past rather than on health prevention.

Speaking on the budget allocation for the education ministry, Mr Laurence said that Ceps is contributing towards the diverse education curriculum that is not only academically-based but that will prepare students for jobs needed for the development of the country.

Mr Laurence also commended the government’s announcement for the 150% tax deductions for businesses making donations towards projects and programmes for the well-being of the community. This was one of Ceps’ various inputs and Mr Laurence said they were happy their proposal was given due consideration.

With the limited amount of donors in the country, he stated that NGOs are very concerned with the fact that they have to compete with government entities for donations.

He said the proposal was for the government to implement an equitable fair distribution when assisting NGOs, considering the national grant allocation was at times not sufficient and should also be increased.

Meanwhile, the chief executive said that while Ceps was very encouraged with funds allocated for projects, it also feels there should be better monitoring of those projects to ensure that they do not pose a danger to the public while they are being implemented.

He cited the current west coast road project as an example where work is at times done on both sides of the road, leaving limited space for pedestrians, or installation of barriers to prevent accidents.

Given that the budget concerns everybody, he called on workers to become more productive so the country would depend less on importation and increase its exportation.

Ceps is also inviting anyone wishing to join its team that monitors the budget implementation, to contact the organisation.

Patrick Joubert