Gilbert Bouchereau (centre, back row) – Class 71 at Seychelles CollegeThe former minister of tourism for the Seychelles has become a consultant and newsletter publisher of Saint Ange Tourism Report.
Last week he wrote about Brondy Hertel of Bel Air, Seychelles then he touched on a guard dog at North East Point that was bashed as thieves tried to break into his home.
In previous editions, we also wrote about his friend, the Night Club Owner Simon Esparon, who sadly lost his life. The number of such cases happening every day makes it impossible to comment on each one.
I feel for the family of the sad and pitiful case an old mother, grandmother and great-grandmother of some 98 years old at Anse Forbans, who had intruders inside her home, and so many other cases we have not touched on at all.
This is why the question we need to be answering is: Do we know who we really are? Someone writes that Seychelles is going through a wave of organized crime. Others speak of yachts leaving Eden Island at night, as others organize Crime Watch groups keeping Seychelles constantly updated through Social Media. The reality remains that Seychellois are feeling ill at ease, and what is being felt by locals will be felt by visitors looking for that special get away holiday. Social Media saw this week worrying posts from Praslin, with dogs let loose on tourists on what was a day excursion on one of our idyllic beaches. The post shows Police on the scene and referred to a person even being bitten. The Dogs Control Act must be brought into force where Dog Owners will take their responsibility, as the posts from Praslin does little for the island’s tourism industry.
Something must be done to bring back normality, and this should be done now.
Commissioner of Police, Labonte needs the help and the necessary support, and the country owes that not only to him, but also to the people of Seychelles as a whole.
U.S. President Bill Clinton stated as he was saying “Americans Must Decide Who We Really Are” :- “Who wins in this kind of environment? Those who already have it made; they’ll make more. The least responsible members of the political media, who will prosper covering each new controversy and outrage. And the enemies of democracy, who feed the discord and hope that Americans will finally concede that informed self-government no longer works — and perhaps is no longer even possible — in the modern world. Twenty-five years ago, when I was elected president, I said that every American should follow our Constitutional framers’ command to form a more perfect union, to constantly expand the definition of “us” and shrink the definition of “them.” I still believe that. Because I do, I favor policies that promote cooperation over conflict and build an economy, a society and a politics of addition not subtraction, multiplication not division. Unfortunately, too many people in power across the world seem determined to do the reverse. If we do that here, we will miss this moment to build our brightest days. Therefore our most important challenge is deciding who we Americans really are — as citizens, communities and a nation. On that, all else depends.”
Seychelles deserves better and the new culture we are living in needs to change for something better. Our peace-loving islands need to be saved for every Seychellois to be able to stand up once again and feel we are One People in our One Country. A message received from “Mr R” said:- “The importance of the good people in our life is just like our heartbeats.. It’s not visible but silently supports our life”. Let us all be good people and make Seychelles proud.
Air Seychelles has announced that it is reconnecting the islands to China and will restart its flights to Madagascar. Air Seychelles needs to be seen to be our partner, our Insurance Policy and OUR airline. We need our National Airline, and our Air Seychelles needs us more than ever before. Competition is coming, and this can be the opportunity to bring out the best from the Staff Team and by the airline. Edelweiss will join new comers British Airways (BA), JOON of Air France, Austrian Airlines and Seychelles Airline to link Seychelles directly with their non-stop flights to Europe and Air Seychelles needs at the same time to hold its own to be the airline of choice.
A message on Linkedin last week said: “Hi Alain, We have not met yet but I hope to! We have been homeowners on Eden Island since 2010 and come here often! I am sitting on a flight HM61 26/11/17 on way back to SA for a week. There were only a small number of pax boarding at Mahe. The rest were flying to SA from Mumbai. One can often book tickets from SA to Mumbai cheaper than to Mahe or Praslin 🙁 I have friends coming in Dec who have to fly via Addis Ababa on Ethiopian as Air Sey is full). But mostly as I have come to experience – the seats are taken up by passengers who won’t spend a cent in Seychelles !!. Hard to understand why Air Sey undermines tourism to Sey for the sake of flying what must be loss making passengers from SA to Mumbai or visa versa??. I have taken this up with …, but clearly that was a waste of time. Seems like his agenda and that of tourism at Sey were not aligned. I really hope you can see this issue as you know the tourism side better than anyone else in Sey!. Please take up this issue if you can”(Name withheld).
This is but one of the many such comments received from Tour Operators in South Africa and from the local tourism industry. It is Christmas time and therefore a good time for reflection…
We need to feel proud of our Airline, as we need to be proud of our people especially when they go the extra mile. Trisha Dubignon from Joëlle Fabre’s Coral Models Seychelles pulled the prize of the “Face of the Year” at the Swahili Fashion Week in Tanzania early December. Congratulations to Trisha Dubignon and to Joëlle Fabre and the Coral Models Seychelles for making Seychelles proud and not letting our size scare us from participating in international competitions. We are an able and indeed very capable people, we must all just have faith in ourselves as Joëlle Fabre and the Coral Models Seychelles showed they have.
Currently reading:
0