Dear Editor,
Please allow me some space in your esteemed newspaper to air my concern about the recent announcement by what looked very much like the Minister of Finance, Mr. Danny Faure. Forgive me if it was not him as my poor eye sight was failing me yet again. As I was saying, I was quietly sitting in my tin shack somewhere “dan leo” on Wednesday 16th April 2008. I was minding my own business, whilst my mind wandered into oblivion trying to figure out how to pay the next PUC electricity bill. By the way, my electricity bill, like that of my minimum wage neighbour, had gone up from a meager R200 per month to R1000 per month overnight.
The man on my 10” TV screen who looked and sounded very much like our very own Danny Faure was babbling some nonsensical nonsense which suddenly caught my attention. I was aghast when the man suddenly and without warning dramatically, without the slightest sign of hesitation or uneasiness, explained to me on my 10” 14 year old shabby little TV screen, at peak time 8' O'clock news, that the benevolent SPPF Government has ordered the Social Security Fund (SSF) to give the newly formed Seychelles Trading Company (STC) R.500, 000 every month to buy rice for the starving Seychellois masses. Now I am a simple minded Seychellois who had the misfortune of not being gifted with much intelligence and please don't get me wrong. But my understanding was that STC is a private company which has taken over the operation of SMB which had been unceremoniously closed down by the SPPF government.
Now using the small amount of grey matter left in my over heated brain cells I thought I had this all figured out. Let me guess. Did I get something wrong somewhere or was that what was told to us the long suffering public only a few weeks ago by Mr. Patrick Vel. At least from my understanding of the scenario, this was given as the justification for the hundreds of layoffs of SMB workers recently. Now it appears as if SMB had not been closed down at all. Instead it has metamorphosed into STC and it will continue to receive subvention from the government to operate in the same way that SMB operated. Plus ça Change! Is it just me or is the government actually going round in circles recycling old ideas and repackaging them as new ideas to pull wool over our eyes? Does the government really think that we are all that stupid?
SMB used to receive all its foreign exchange from Central Bank when Mukesh Valabhji was Managing Director and Rene was simultaneously Chairman of SMB and President of the
Only the geniuses in the SPPF could have come up with this ingenious plan. If all the geniuses in the SPPF government put together could not come up with a more original plan than this laughable rip-off, God help us all!
Araze
Mr. Volcere,
For a while I wanted to write about the unfairness in sport but I was not sure which magazine will be the best, now that I have found Weekly as the best I would like to forward my points.
For so many years we have seen the preferences in sports in
One particular top Cyclist has been receiving almost everything he want for the sports just because he is an SPPF and like to go on television to speak for the campaign of SPPF. He is being protected everywhere and gets everything while the other cyclists beg but rarely gets something.
The Cycling Association makes him first choice over all others every year even if he is not an example and discipline cyclists. NSC supports him in everyway and he is untouchable. Seychelles Olympic National, officials are his friend and support him every year.
He gets equipment but never share but always sells. During the Indian Ocean Games he was treated and looked after far better than other cyclists in the time trial by both the coach and the Chairman of cycling with the best equipment and everything. Why did the coach concentrate more on one person and feed him with better information to win over others.
Cyclists are tired of the preference that is being made for him and many of them has said that they will not ride this year and see if the cycling association can make races with him alone. All overseas training the Olympic Seychelles Committee gives him alone equipments and money. All the allowances he gets but other cyclists do not get any. For more than 8 years Seychelles Cycling has been investing money in him as if he is the only cyclist. Many cyclists had stopped cycling in the past because of him. Cyclists get punished when they do bad things but many times him and his parents has made big problem in the sports, doing bad things at the finishing line but he has never get punish but gets rewarded.
I believe that he is being protected by people in sports. Please those who like cycling do something for the other bicycle boys. Because of politics the boy is protected with too much preference. I do not know if there will be many cyclists riding again this year. Can someone in the National Assembly please ask questions for the cyclists to the Minister of Sports?
A long suffering cyclist