As Reported In the June Issue Of The Indian Ocean Newsletter (I.O.N.):

Civil Servants Get The Bounce

Hundreds of civil servants have been quietly fired without the government saying anything about it in public.

A “restructuring program” has led to the dismissal of several hundred civil servants in a wide range of government departments - transportation, tourism, social affairs – but for the moment workers in the education and health ministries have been spared. Dozens of those who got the chop are university graduates who had been department chiefs or even held the rank of general directors.

Many didn’t receive letters saying they were being let go but were merely told about it verbally, sometimes by their subordinates who replaced them.

The wave of dismissals can’t be described as a political purge against the government’s opponents because it also affected people who had always backed the administration, such as certain district administrators who are fervent supporters of the ruling Seychelles People’s Progressive Front (SPPF) and even campaigned actively for its candidates in the past two elections.

Elsewhere, a 200-strong paramilitary unit, the National Guard, was stood down. Stemming from the militia that dated from the time Seychelles was a single-party state and the men spent their time guarding beaches against an invasion by foreign mercenaries, the National Guards switched to protecting officials buildings and the homes of government ministries.

I.O.N. The dismissals, which could eventually affect 10% of the civil service, weren’t even mentioned by President James Michel when he gave a television interview on the first anniversary of his election to the presidency in late July. For want of an official statement, the measures are being interpreted as the upshot of recommendations of the World Bank (a delegation from the bank was in Victoria last week). A new visit by World Bank experts between now and the end of the year could well result in the finalization of a loan to Seychelles, which is currently being negotiated. The dismissals fell in the midst of a sharp depreciation of the Seychelles rupee: it has dropped 30% against major foreign currencies since the beginning of the year.

Aboo Aumeruddy - SEYCHELLES/MAURITIUS

The chairman of Corvina Investments, a holding company that runs several firms in Seychelles, has decided to return to Mauritius, his home country. Aboo Aumerruddy set up shop in Seychelles in the 1980s as a consultant for UNESCO and then went on to become the financial adviser of president France Albert Rene and the Governor of Seychelles’ Central Bank. It was during that period he forged close ties with Italian millionaire Mario Ricci, founder of Corvina, who has since died. In a recent memo to Corvina’s staff, Aumerruddy indicated he was returning to Mauritius for a few years for personal reasons but that he would remain a stakeholder in Corvina. He was replaced by Guy Adam as chairman of the company which also counts Glenny Savy among its shareholders. Corvina is the parent company of numerous firms, including Bunson Travel Agency, 7 Degrees South, Mahe Shipping and Seychelles.