SEYCHELLES WELCOMES CHINESE PRESIDENT
The Seychelles government will roll out the red carpet to welcome Chinese President, Hu Jintao, today at the Seychelles International Airport.The visit will mark the first time that a Chinese leader has set foot on Seychelles soil. Who is Hu Jintao and why has he included Seychelles in his itinary? ... read more
Will President Michel plead on behalf of the Vatican?
It will be remembered that soon after the last Presidential Election President Michel made it a point to fly to Rome in order to be received and photographed with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican. ... read more
Mancham ponders the China factor
As President of Seychelles in 1976, James R Mancham, established diplomatic relations bewten Seychelles and the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) abandoning his long established friendship with Taiwan. On the occasion of the forth coming State visit by the President Hu Jintao of modern China, the state controlled Seychelles Nation sent a series of questions to the former President. Now, it appears, Nation will not publish his response in its entirety. In the interest of history and in view of the fact that Mancham is not just an elder statesman but also an international one, we have decided to reprint his answers in its entirety.... read more
Human rights in China
The PRC is a one-party State in which executive, judiciary and trade unions are subject to Party dictates, and in which censorship is pervasive. In 2005, controls on journalists and religion were revivified and people were imprisoned, often in degrading conditions, for offences which include accessing foreign websites, informing people abroad about regulations, advocating ethnic rights, being involved in worker protests or overstepping the lines as a journalist. ... read more
Things Are Getting Worse Not Better
The shortages of essential commodities that used to be the monopoly of SMB, which surfaced again so soon after the New Year is a foretaste of things to come in 2007. This week cooking oil, sugar, onions, cheese, ham, bottle water and construction materials were not readily available on the local market, at least in the market where most of us shop using the currency which is the legal tender – the rupee. .... read more
Launching of the U.S. Embassy’s Virtual Presence Post website for Seychelles
The U.S. Embassy in Port Louis is pleased to announce the launch of its Virtual Presence Post (VPP) Seychelles Internet website on Thursday, February, 7, 2007. A Virtual Presence Post is a new tool of U.S. diplomacy in the 21st century. ... read more
A pigeon amongst cats
MINISTER Vincent Meriton should be congratulated for taking the initiative to organize an evening of songs and poetry to launch the theme “Ansanm Pour Lanmour Sesel,” which means Together for the Love of Seychelles. But one concert alone will not bring about the practice of the noble principles and virtues of the Seychelles First policy. ... read more
“Seychelles has barely changed, it is still as beautiful as ever!”
Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly met Mr. Robin Langtry White, famously known as Pym to his friends, and with his lovely wife Selina Langtry. They had come to Seychelles on a cruise ship, passing through Port Victoria this week on its way to Perth, Australia. According to Pym, that was not his first visit to the islands. ... read more
The life story of a Chinese migrant who made Seychelles his home away from home
When my father arrived in Seychelles in the early twenties, it took him one month to get here from China by slow steamer. There was no direct shipping route between Seychelles and China then as now. The boat journey took him to Calcutta, then 3 day train ride to Bombay and a six day boat ride to Mahe. This week the President of China, Mr Hu Jintao, if he had flown directly from Beijing, would have made the journey in about 12 hours. ... read more
Editorial
CHANGE IS GOOD, MR. PRESIDENT
President James Michel, we at Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly have made it our life long mission to inform you of all the things that are wrong in our country and which need to change. You are the only man in our country who can change things; who has absolute power to change things for the better. Change is good. Your people crave for change. ... read more
The special relationship between President Mancham and the late Prime Minister Gandhi
Sir, I was glad to read in your last issue your account of the reception recently hosted by H.E. the Indian High Commissioner to Seychelles on the occasion of India’s 58th Anniversary. In that article you showed a photo of founding President James R. Mancham in discussions in New Delhi with the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. ... read more
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL!
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. ... read more
Maritime museum project hijacked by Port Authority!
Having read with interest, an article entitled ‘PORT AUTHORITY SEEKS LEAD ROLE’ in the Seychelles Nation on Tuesday 6th, this week, we decided to look further into this matter because it was not the first time a project of this nature was being spoken about or proposed. ... read more
DIPLOMATIC RESPONSE
Excerpt from a speech delivered by Diana Skingle – British High Commissioner and dean of the Diplomatic Corp on the occasion of the Diplomatic and Consular Corp reception held at the Wharf Marina on 5th February, 2007, hosted by Minister of Foreign Affairs Patrick Pillay. ... read more
Mauritius opt for economic dynamism and pragmatism
Unlike our own 2006-2007 budget which promised little and delivered even less, the Mauritian Minister of Finance has obviously taken the bull by the horns and proposed a dynamic and pragmatic 2006-2007 budget. The budget was so impressive that the Mauritian Minister of Finance, Honourable Rama Sithanen, was voted “man of the year” for 2006. ... read more
Seychelles to get IT training center?
News that three Indian Experts completed a feasibility study for the setting up of an IT Training Centre in Seychelles is great news to all with the furtherance and the spread of technology in Seychelles at heart. Such a centre is needed and the partnership of a leading player in the global IT field is much welcome ... read more
