aTP- Arab tourism portal News- Welcome to Edition #3 of 2017. Many thanks for all the feedback and good wishes. To the tourism trade and your staff members in Seychelles, I can only reinforce that we are and will remain together as partners in tourism.
To the readers from the four corners of the world, I appreciate your continued interest and thank you for following my work.
Again, a big thank you to all the online Newswires who reposted the Tourism Report. Friends indeed, this is what you are.
In this edition, we have reposted links to our first and second editions in case some of you missed them.
We are also reposting some of the links from Newswires who are dutifully reposting our publication.
Last week we spoke in our editorial about Tourism and the importance of understanding this industry. This prompted a lot of feedback from the local tourism trade and interestingly also from staff who depend on tourism for a living.
The environmental lobby groups also took time to speak up about the island of La Digue and the need to preserve it by making it an example of an eco-friendly island and a sustainably managed one.
This is indeed an excellent project for the Seychelles Ministry of Environment to adopt. In the world of tourism competition is getting tougher and sustainability is a word we need to embrace today as it will give Seychelles the edge it so needs.
On 29th June, Seychelles celebrated its Independence from Great Britain. Forty-one years have elapsed since the day we achieved our Independence in 1976.
British Governor Colin Allan signs the Independence Declaration & James Mancham, the island’s Founding President
Sir James Mancham, the First President, and Albert Rene, his Prime Minister
Seychelles then had a grand coalition between the two main political forces, however this marriage of convenience was to be short lived; just before the first anniversary as an Independent State, a ‘coup d’etat’ took place, consequently installing a new government.
Seychelles today has had four Presidents since our Independence namely: Sir James Richard Mancham (1976 – 1977), Mr France Albert Rene (1977 – 2004), Mr James Alix Michel (2004 – 2016) and since 2016, Mr Danny Faure.
In the Third Republic, a shift in the political landscape has occurred and for the first time in the history of our country, the Executive and the majority of the Legislative branches of Government are from two different political camps. However, it would appear that, despite all pretences, Seychelles is today even more divided than ever.
The islands have made progress in a lot of areas but a sad practice lingers which shows a lack of respect of citizens’ democratic rights, and this is the ‘with us or not with us’ strategy by politicians. This shows that the word ‘democracy’ today has been demeaned to mean compulsory adhesion to a political party forgetting the rights of people to simply be a Seychellois and to support who they want and when they want.
In discussions with the ordinary man and woman on the street during the Independence Anniversary celebrations one can appreciate their sense of dejectedness in being able to say that politicians today from both sides of the camp are still not working to benefit the lives of the average Seychellois.
The common view is that no one is working to truly look at issues which plague the average Seychellois family, such as cost of basic necessities and essential facilities such as water and electricity. Endless Motions and Committees are still not addressing what touches the ordinary man and woman in their daily life, but Seychelles can confirm it has managed with an Opposition Controlled National Assembly to have a One Country with two Pension Systems, one for the people with the official retirement age and one for a select few even though this was deemed illegal recently before the Courts (Ian Delorie v/s The Republic).
After 41 years since Independence the Government land issue in Seychelles is one area where progress is slowly being made in uncovering past abuses of power, but sadly here only a select group of people are being singled out instead of a wider call for all those in power, whichever side of the political camp they may fall, to declare their ownership of land which they acquired from the State, and to examine whether any rules and regulations were broken when they made their acquisition. However, as slowly as the Seychelles giant tortoise moves along, such irregularities will undoubtedly come out one by one. The ‘pandora’s box’ is now open.
