Christopher Gill’s column

Rene Made Praslin BeautifulChristopher Gill

...... AND on the Seventh Day, God oops.... sorry, sorry, Rene,...Made Praslin Beautiful”!

This is the phrase we must conclude after listening to Mr. France Albert Rene speak in a rally held on April 22, 2007. Mr. Rene went to all lengths to try to make the People of Seychelles believe “he made Praslin “Beautiful”. Mr. Rene is suffering from delusions of grandeur...grander than even God! 

 If we follow Mr. Rene’s logic and believe him, we will have to believe that that he created much of what makes Praslin what it is today. Praslin’s beauty is alluring to the most discerning visitors from around the world. It is so beautiful to our guests who come here, year after year, in spite of having a communist government running the Country. This little ideological fact Guests ignore, to soak in the unique beauty of Praslin. Let’s see what he must have created.

 He must have created : 1.The Vallai De Mai, 2. Anse Lazio 3. Anse Georgette 4. Cote D’or, our four main tourist attractions that generate the revenue his Government relies on every month to pay the bills and debts his Party creates in our names.

 Mr. Rene of course did not do all that. We know. He was just kidding. Let’s see what he has really done on Praslin recently for him, over the last 15 years for us.

 He has built about 200 houses when the demand is about 2000. This was done from 1994- 2007. It works out to about 14 houses a year. On average, a little over what I personally did on Praslin  between 1999-2003.

He has built an Airport with money from China. This is real nice, but he has not paid the money back. Our children will have to do that but they will not get to have the Coy Fish we paid for. Someone took that already.

He built a Hospital on a marsh and underground river; wonder if he can walk on water? Doubt it! The hospital is now cracking and literally falling and breaking in half. We will have to rebuild this hospital soon. To show we can forgive, we should first leave the old granite plaque with his name in place. If not for posterity, then to just remind us of  that we should not ever build concrete buildings on water.

 He has Built a Desalination Plant at God only knows how much money borrowed, it cost us. Our children will repay this, but they will not get much water from it. The SPPF has not built any holding basins for water and they cannot keep the filters clean to process sea water. For some reason the SPPF believe that because we are surrounded by water, we do not need to save water. They do not, for one moment, think that it is a problem that all the water that surrounds us has a high salt content. We cannot use it to water tomatoes. Praslin, like Mahe suffers from water rationing and shortages throughout the year.

 He has built a new school in Baie St. Anne with foreign money from Abu Dhabi because his Government cannot fund it on it’s own. I wonder if we will be able to maintain it.

 He has built roads along the coast, on the beach to destroy our natural beauty and intrinsic economic value which tourist come here for: The Beach. Hence, reducing our economic potential on Praslin. Most of the roads he built should have been placed on the back side of plateau areas to maximize beach properties and tourism revenues. How much this decision has cost us in tourist euros must be in the Millions and Millions. Had he placed road where they should have been and not on the beach, today we would not have to fake our wealth. With  a half trot planning effort, we would really be rich and our People  would not have to jump and dance on a football field in the hope of trying to get a house or prevent from being evicted from one.

 He did build a beautifully small jetty twice in 15 years, which cannot handle the flow of traffic created by the business community of Praslin. We press the throttle for Praslin’s development, his Government slows it down because he does not like who the business community are. He will try to change that over time. But what is worth noting in a society, as a Leader it does not matter whether or not you like someone. You cannot like every one. Nor can you reasonably expect everyone to like you.  But a good and true leader, as opposed to an impostor leader, taps the resources and abilities of everyone.

He creates an environment where everyone can excel.

He does not withhold planning approvals for a Chain link Fence to a hotel for 10 months, while 17 tourist couples and families (about 40 people) get robbed in 3 months.

That, Sir, is democracy in action for the betterment of everyone.

Crime is out of control on Praslin. Hard drugs have taken over the lives of young men. Mr. Rene’s Party in Government does not know about this beautiful side of Praslin. Well, wake up Comrade, smell the red roses; you will find our young people sniffing cocaine and shooting heroin under the voulutiye trees of Cote d’Or and the back hills of “Moulinie Estate”. Do you have a Ten (10) Year Plan for that?

The Police are under-equipped and loosing the battle against crime. They do not even have enough torches and phones to go around. Two torches are shared between the Grand Anse Police and Baie St. Anne Police. One Izuzu Truck is shared by Grand Anse and Baie St. Anne Police.You would not happen to have anything to do with that, would you?

We have many hotels excelling on Praslin. But they have limited Human Resources, which prevents them from prospering in your “Seychelles Unlimited”, in which you want to take us “Beyond 2000”, maybe “Infinity and Beyond”, like Buzz Light-Year, takes our children, and double our GDP in Ten (10)Years. To get there, maybe your friends can donate the Casino building to STB for a Hotel School Campus on Praslin. Then we could train our People on location, where the demand is prolific and unlimited. The Casino of course, will finally start to become a valuable partner in the economy and we will not have to find excuses for it not working so well in spite of having the right owners.

 A valuable national resource as Praslin cannot be placed in slow motion. The slower you make Praslin move, the poorer we get. Those most poor, will have less valuable opportunities in the future and the public housing lines will grow. But over the next Ten Years, they will know that you have only 10 houses promised to 1000 people and it will not be worth it to go dance and jump on the football field  in the hope of being seen and being fast tracked for one of those 10 houses.

 It was God that created Praslin and made it beautiful. Wake up from your dream world. The 1960’s  Pan African Movement is over. Dictators are vanishing from the political landscape in Africa faster then you can say:

 “Long Live All Freedom Loving Seychellois”!

SPPF CAMPAIGN AND TRICKS

INTIMIDATION TACTICS

No sooner had the campaign posters been tacked to plywood and hung up on electrical poles had the SPPF mobilized the Army to make their presence felt and known in this election, even before the Candidates could register their Political Party Broadcasts. Intimidation is always a favorite tool for Dictators as is calling their opponents the same to make them look like equal participants in a race.

This Election is not about choosing between a Communist Dictatorship or a Freedom Alliance Dictatorship. It is about removing one more stone from the Dictators crumbling walls. Do not be fooled by the double speak which Communist are famous for! When you get in the voting booth and are confused about who is the Dictator, remember it’s the guy with all the guns in the political rallies. Step out of line by speaking freely and not from a script... they will probably shoot you! The record speaks for itself. 

 ARMY ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL

SPPF held a rally at Gregoire’s Complex in La Digue on Saturday April 21, 2007 and on Praslin at Baie St. Anne on Sunday April 22, 2007. On Thursday and Friday the military boat Topaz, a ship donated by the Indian Government to the Government of Seychelles, with the expressed intent, that it be used to patrol our waters to safe guard our economic interests, was once again, plying our Inter island waters between our Inner Islands, to safeguard the SPPF and provide overwhelming intimidating force in their defense as the rallies took place on La Digue and Praslin. Soldiers wore green olive camouflage uniforms, sported AK-47s at political rally.

 Can the Commissioner of Elections advise us under what pretense does the Army participate in political party rallies with guns and automatic rifles?

 In the last Presidential Elections I confirmed no less than 150 soldiers being deposited on the Jetty and then they sprawled their way across the hills of Cote D’Or, Salazie and on to Anse Boudin. If this is the chosen mode of operation, they have done the same for these rallies and will be back for voting day to ensure no one steps out of line against the Communist SPPF Government. If that does not amount to a Military State (wherein the Army is loyal to a Party and not a Constitution) in action, under the guise of being called “Democratic”, I do not know what is.

 When International Observers come for this Election, it may be a good idea to send a delegation to all Army camps and get a briefing from soldiers themselves and their higher officers to get to the bottom of the matter raised for the sake of our democracy. The Alliance should register a complaint concerning the use of the Army in the Election while it is still early.

 Aside from Topaz, Gemini, a luxury yacht, painted in grey, to camouflage it’s luxury of course, was also present plying the waters of La Digue and Praslin between April 21- April 22nd. Never in the history of man, has any leader dreamed of painting  a luxury yacht, “Battleship Grey” to hide it’s luxury and claim that it is a patrol boat. Even the mighty United States of America Navy had been fooled by Mr. Rene and listed Gemini as a patrol boat in it’s survey of Seychelles military capability.

 HIDE THE ROLEX USE PLASTIC WATCHES

Mr. Rene and his SPPF, who speak the communist talk to simple people, can teach the rich and famous dictators of the world a lesson or two in how to keep and enjoy all your luxuries and at the same time, tell the People you are a simple man like them. Another trick is to wear plastic wrist watches for rallies to fool the simple minded. In this Election, expect all the Champagne Communists to leave their Mont Blanc’s bought at the SMB Duty Free Shop on departure, at home. Expect all the Cartiers and Rolex’s to be placed away in a nice safe place away from public view. They will intentionally wear old clothes and “savat my dan pous” to make you feel comfortable and homey with them. Do not be fooled. They will play music which they cannot dance to in order to get you to dance to the tune. Do not dance!

 PROMISE 10 HOUSES TO 1000 PEOPLE

If you do not have a House, they will promise you one and tell you to distribute their papers in order to be given priority for housing. If they have 10 houses about to be finished in a “District” (a communist term for “Parish”) they will without a doubt, promise the same 10 houses to over 1000 people.  After the Election they will tell you, you are on the list for the next batch of houses. That next batch of houses will take 15 years to build and it will be another 10 houses in your “Parish” not your “District”. Another example of a “Kreol Communist” tricks.

 Beware. They will tell you that is not true. They will say “at Ile Preservance we are building hundreds of houses”. Yes SPPF, you are building hundreds of “apartments” not houses on that Island, which is practically below sea level. Does the phrase “climate change” mean anything to you? Today, our region is very likely going to face the biggest Tsunami in our history much bigger than the one 3 years ago, as predicted by geological scientist. Thousands of people will loose their lives because you chose to send us simple Seychellois to live, below sea level, while you enjoyed the view from your luxury mansions on San Souci. How can you callously risk the lives of so many People only because of their innate need for a home?  

 WORK HARD, HARDER, HARDEST, TO PROP UP FAILURE

Their Leaders will tell you to vote this person or that person because he or she works hard, harder and hardest! Do not be fooled. Of course they work hard, harder and hardest! They do so because they have to prop up a failing system that has failed the People of Seychelles and today the same failed system is failing even the SPPF. Therefore, the MNAs do have to work hard. Mr. Rene’s recipe for solving the problems we face is work, work, work to death. Once his MNAs have had it with trying to work hard, to save his failed system, he replaces them with younger less knowledgeable more optimistic blood than the persons he retires. SPPF cadre absorb the human loss for the old ideas of stubborn man which remain entrenched in the 1960’s pan African nationalism and communism. The People of Seychelles pay the price in lack of freedom and an uncertain, grim, future because of lack of good new ideas on how to make things work.

 The thing about Communism is this: People want to believe in its ideals. Even the Ah-mane’s and Catos of this world want to believe that if he shares a flat and pull his money with three others (lessor or equal humans), they will all be better off. But it just does not work. Why? Because the smartest and greediest one in the lot always starts to steal and live better than everyone else. He takes more than his fair and equal share. Communism has proved that from Stalin to Pol Pot, from Vietnam to Seychelles from South America to South Africa in the 1960’s. Most of these places have changed ideology today. Seychelles is behind again. That is why right after the word “Communism”, you will always find the second “c” word.....”Corruption”....and after that, the third “c” word....Crime. It all goes together in a nice little package to screw up a society, with a royal touch!  

 As you go to vote, do not let Mr. Rene wrap your brains with his communist chains. Set yourself free, send him a clear message: “We know your system has failed- stop trying to fool us, like you fooled our Parents- let us live with Freedom as our mantle not your Army Bayonets and Bullets”.

 Long Live all Freedom Loving Seychellois

April 27, 2007
Copyright 2007: Seychelles Weekly, Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles