Welcome to Alice in Seychelles Wonderland
Last week we were told that an NGO is going to manage the conservation of the outer islands. Let alone the fact the Island Development Co. (IDC) has managed to destroy the environment of many of the outer islands with failed projects, but let us examine rather who the NGO is.
The agreement that IDC, a government Parastatal, signed last week with the Island Conservation Society (ICS) is being hailed by Mr. Glenny Savy, the strong man of IDC, as bringing in an organization which he will listen to. Well, Mr. Savy this means you will be listening to yourself because you are a founder member of the Island Conservation Society and a Member of the Board of Trustees. And who is Mr. Skerret, the Chairman of ICS.? An accountant by profession, isn’t he a close associate and partner of yours in several companies and tourism developments?
And to have the Ministry of Environment also sign the agreement is really a joke because Mr. Rolph Payet, the PS of the Ministry, is also a Founding member of ICS. Hang on a minute! Aren’t NGOs supposed to be independent? Isn’t LUNGOs always saying that NGOs are separate from Government? Doesn’t the name NGO mean just that - non-governmental organization. Well, if Mr. Glenny Savy and Mr. Rolph Payet, both civil servants, are responsible for outer islands and for the environment respectively, doesn’t that put them in conflict with the management of an environmental NGO which should be independent?
Welcome to Alice in Seychelles Wonderland. Here things are topsy turvy. NGOs like ICS are run by Government civil servants and their pals in their very own private sector. What’s the reason? Well, to stop other people from getting onto THEIR islands. Never mind that these are not THEIR islands but rather State Land – belonging to the Republic of Seychelles and therefore to all Seychellois today and for generations to come. These people are not even willing to stop at state land. The take-over two years ago by ICS of Aride, a Reserve owned by a British NGO, was a successful grab of yet another island as was clearly shown when Mr. Savy and his friends showed off the island to the Minister of Environment
What a farce. Mr. Savy, if you want to keep 70% of the land of Seychelles exclusively for your own private pleasure, please do not BS us with nonsense about environmental protection. Just do it!!
