Pagetemplate

Ralph Volcere’s Week

VICTORIA’s INFERNAL TRAFFIC JAM

Motorists have been lamenting about the terrible traffic jam that persists in Victoria at peak hours. This is especially pronounced in the morning around 8.00 O’clock, 12.00 noon and at 4.00pm. So far the government has not announced any plan to curtail this annoying problem which continues unabated in town.

Motorists have also complained that they pay millions of rupees in Road Tax to the Government every year based on the engine capacity of their vehicle. Yet the money is not being spent in any way that will alleviate the traffic problems in Victoria, such as, putting more traffic lights at roundabouts and re-surfacing of the roads in town and around the country which are full of pot holes and are damaging people’s cars

It is unacceptable for a country like Seychelles which prides itself on having achieved a high level of development and having made significant progress to have only one set of traffic lights for the whole country! It is clear that the Mayor of Victoria is not doing anything at all for our capital city and has failed to take up this matter, amongst others, with the government. That is why there are now calls for the post of Mayor of Victoria to become an elected post like the Mayor of London rather than one which is appointed by Government.

Since its inception we have had only one Mayor of Victoria and it is not clear what her terms of reference are and whether she would serve for an indefinite period in that post. The people have a right to know and to question this situation. It is hoped that SBC will take up this matter with the people concerned and enlighten us on the matter immediately. President James Michel the people are judging you by your action and by that of the people you appoint to discharge the duties of your government - Will you look into this matter urgently before it gets out of hand?

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

There has been a long list of incidents involving brutality by the security forces in the run-up to the presidential election and certain individuals have taken it upon themselves to prolong this state of fear indefinitely. One particular security firm that has become a law unto itself is SPSS, own by Cliff Loizeau. This firm is now a Law Enforcement Agency in its own right. Its personnel are threatening people everywhere and punishment is being dished out indiscriminately. The Victoria Hospital casualty department stands witness to this fact. It seems, at least from what SPSS are saying that their mandate comes directly from State House. If this is the case, we the private citizens of this country must challenge this situation by taking matters into our own hands

As a result of the numerous brutality cases by the security forces, be it by private or public forces of innocent people in this country, we have decided to circulate a petition to gather a minimum of two thousand signatures against police brutality, security firms brutality, task force brutality and any other forms of brutality in our country, be it domestic or otherwise - Physical or verbal - we need to put a stop to all form of brutality and to other forms of anti-social behaviour in Seychelles!

On reaching our target figure of two thousand signatures – we will assemble one hundred people to walk through the streets of Victoria to demonstrate against brutality in all its shape and form - before presenting a copy of the petition with signatures at the gates of State House, the office of the Commissioner of Police, to all the Religious Leaders and Embassies in the country. We will call on all Authorities to act now to put a stop to all and every form of brutality in the country. This will be our appeal, a peaceful one. We hope, that by participating, you, together with us, can put a stop to brutality once and for all.

The President of the Republic is directly responsible for the safety of every citizen. In the event that the President cannot protect us from being brutalised, harassed and violated we will have no choice but to come down on the streets of Victoria in large numbers to protest against the people responsible for these atrocities.We are all hoping it will not come to that and that President Michel is in a position to accord the population the safety that is required to live in peace in Seychelles.

POLICE OFFICERS IGNORANT OF THE LAW!

Certain Police officers believes that they are above the law and can break the law in the pursuit of their duty. On Wednesday I visited the Police HQ in Victoria to seek an appointment with the press officer in the police force. I stood in a queue waiting for my turn to speak to the receptionist, when a hired vehicle pulled up outside in Revolution Avenue and parked in the left lane leading to St. Louis, ignoring the double yellow lines clearly demarcated on the road side. It must be noted further that this street is a one-way street.

The driver dis-embarked, entered the reception area and went straight to the front of the queue, without any form of apology, handing a document to the receptionist. The receptionist queried the fact that the document must be put in an envelope. He engaged himself in a conversation with the receptionist. By then I had sussed that the driver of the vehicle parked outside on double yellow lines was indeed himself a police officer.

I decided to challenge the gentleman due to the fact that he was breaking traffic laws by parking his vehicle in a one-way street on double yellow lines. “I am a police officer,” he said gallantly to me. “Does that give you the right to break the law, “ I asked. “Yes, it is an emergency,” he replied. With that he went out got into his car and drove off.

This little incident was witnessed by another six people standing there in the reception area and by the gentleman who was mending the reception at the time, Mr. Samson, who afforded a smile at the shortcoming of his colleague. This is the sort of mentality that new Commissioner Gerard Waye-Hive is up against. A police force out of control with no regards to the law that they purport to be enforcing. Commissioner Waye-Hive needs all the help we can afford him.

A lawyer has also related a similar incident to me where the police officers searched the premises of one of his clients. Despite his protests the police officers failed to inform the gentleman of his constitutional rights i.e. right to remain silent, right to contact an attorney of his choice and the reason for the search and arrest. This also clearly shows that either the police officers were ignorant of the law or erroneously thought that they are above the law. The Commissioner of Police needs our help and support to rid the police force of the few bad apples affecting a basket of perfectly good apples.

OBSERVING THE OBSERVERS (WAS THE ELECTION CREDIBLE?)

According to the Seychelles Nation of Friday, 18th August, 2006 the July 28-30 presidential election was credible. The front page article gave the impression that the result of the election was the free will of the electorate and the Commonwealth was quoted as being in agreement with that assumption.

The Commonwealth’s so-called Expert Team was rarely seen around the country observing the situation in the run-up to the election. They were often seen having long lunches at posh restaurants after which most of them retired to their hotels for a siesta or to the beach for a swim. The observers, during their mission here to monitor the election, behaved like tourists on a short vacation in a paradise destination. The Commonwealth Observers were late arriving in Seychelles and they were most visible on election day visiting polling station were everything was conducted in an orderly fashion, more or less.

What may very well be the case is the fact that the election was “perceived” to be credible which would indicate that there was a “perception” of credibility rather than the election being actually credible!