TROUKLER

A SHAKY BRIDGE - THE SPPF’S WAY FORWARD

A great deal of propaganda has been made by government recently about its ‘decision” to rebuild the old bridges around Victoria. Never mind the fact that all of these bridges are more than fifty years old today, the SPPF government has finally realized that these shaky bridges are a reflection of its shaky (“oops shady?”) mismanagement of the economy. We can all remember the huge debacle that was called the “construction” of the Cascade Bridge. A bridge built with sand, a little cement, a few rocks and a piece of steel form, usually used as a stabilizer and shaper for poring concrete to give it form (shape). The bridge contained (no steel, no reinforcing, no understanding of bridge construction).

Several misguided attempts were made resulting in a half baked bridge, susceptible to the ravages of a small Tsunami. Little wonder that the UNDP has insisted on Seychelles making use of external experts in both the design and construction of the Cascade Bridge. The hope is that we might be able to use the bridge in December 2006 now. It is a pity they won’t be around to see the construction of the other bridges.

If the example of “sound construction” is evident in the causeway near the Tyfoo restaurant at Au Cap, then we are in big trouble. The concrete (at least concrete was used this time around), is several centimeters higher that the surrounding road surface (it should have been just under flush with the road), to allow for a reasonable level of tar. It will be interesting to see how the “engineers” manage to level the concrete to ensure that the road is even at that point.

A perfect example of the efficiency of the SPPF government road construction is the Mont Fleuri crossing in front of the National Institute for Education. The tree stump and a huge pile of debris stand directly in the path of the crossing, which is both unsightly and dangerous.

A monument is to be built at the roundabout at Providence, may I dare to suggest that the “steel carcass” of the Cascade Bridge might be a suitable monument to incompetence, at this “juncture” to reflect on as we pass through the round about.

TIME IS MONEY

A lot has been said by the government to encourage Seychellois to return to the Central Bank and other commercial banks the hordes of small currency (change) that is accumulating in little jars, boxes and drawers in many homes. We are bombarded every night on our televisions with government’s advertisements calling on us to take our small coins to the banks. 

There are basic reasons for this accumulation of coinage in our homes. Firstly, the costs of goods in the shops has increased markedly over the years, to such an extent that there is little value in carrying about and using the small currency, especially the five cent, ten cent and twenty five cents pieces.

A simple sweet for a child costs a full rupee these days. This is borne out by the fact that one can find many of these coins simply dropped on the roads and pavements and left there. Even our children refuse to take them as “pocket money” because they understand the worthless nature of these coins.

Similarly, the glass bottles and large PET bottles are discarded for the same reason. There is little value in spending the time to store, carry and accumulate and transport bottles to a shop to receive a meager sum which in essence can purchase very little these days. Secondly, the low level of interest set and imposed by the government on the banks, does little to encourage a “savings culture” in Seychelles. Thirdly, as anyone is painfully aware, a trip to any bank to deposit this coinage, especially the governments Central Bank, which is open for “limited periods” only half day, Monday to Friday is a nightmare.

This so called austere institution is still lost in the days of old, where coinage, no matter how much volume in weight and number, is counted, coin by coin by human hand. The Banks overseas adopted efficiency measures on coin collection and counting more than thirty years ago, by introducing at first, simple metal or plastic counters capable of packing coins and weight machines to provide accuracy on weight and number of coins in each package. These were later (twenty years ago) exchanged for computerized counting machines.

Time is Money to everyone, yet we, the poor customers are left to endure the hardships of waiting in long bank queues followed by the indignity of hand counting (sometimes many thousands) of coins in front of a teller before they are accepted. In Seychelles however, we do things the "Seychelles Way”.

It is no wonder that we are in an economic mess, when our government can not even do the simplest things to manage our money more effectively. It is highly possible that the first bank to introduce an efficient coin counting and packing mechanism will be inundated with customers willing to part with these now “useless” coins.