Have Mercy On SPPF
The Ministry of Finance team went into “pow wow” mode last week to announce to the Public that another "new measure" would be taken as of September to address the increase in fuel prices. The “pow wow” which took place in a messy, messy room of Ministry of Finance looked more like an old used up shed that stored items to be burnt. Files were thrown all over the place, Ahmed Afif the Principal Secretary slouched in a couch looking disillusioned and Danny Faure our Minister of Finance, tried to appear all "Albert Rene" like, as he dictated to us through the SBC camera telling us "DO NOT PLAY POLITICS WITH FUEL PRICES". This statement of attrition by Minister Faure is an act of begging for mercy by SPPF, it shows that they know not what they are doing to our economic crisis, but shows they have now entered a new phase of internal depression and resignation to failure and collapse, and are close to publicly admitting that they have no clue how to run our Country. In the National Assembly Faure has told us we are lucky we have fuel! If that is such a task why do we need SPPF?
Rome was not built in one day; its downfall did not come over night, albeit inevitable. SPPF now are telling us to be grateful for having a basic component as fuel in the supply line. Defeated mentally they are. But what is worse, is that they do not have a clue where to go from here, so while they sit in fat chairs with fancy Arabs, they run commercials on SBC to encourage our school children to go plant bananas in school uniforms.
People of Seychelles, open your eyes, as long as Minister Faure and SPPF slaps us with 45% -50%tax increases on fuel while the price of oil reaches $136.00 per barrel, and SPPF misuses those funds with lavish personal expenditures and fat cat salaries and Wall Street style fancy luxuries like personal yachts, fancy cars, fancy offices, lavish renovations, overseas leisure-love trips with girlfriends by the bunch, we will have to discuss the politics of fuel prices. For it is only political pressures that can reduce this 45%-50% tax on our heads and make SPPF accountable to the People of Seychelles. We the People must negotiate from a position of strength against the SPPF, not from a position of weakness. But we must realize the position from which we stand and not let our strengths go un-noticed by ourselves.
Those that choose to adopt the strategy of grabbing a begging bowl and crawling to State House are free to do so. But when SPPF breaks its promises to you, blame yourself for wasting your time, don't blame SPPF for lacking any credibility, when you knew that was the case before you crawled your way to State House, on your belly, to beg, not for your supporters sake, but for yourself.
I offer you a word of advice Cap Wearers: "to beg for your Freedom is to give in to your captors and is an overt admission that you don't have any Freedom in the first place"....don't you read Nelson Mandela's Memoirs? If you don't, you better start, because the long march to Freedom is longer when you fatten yourself along the way and pick up a swimming pool, luxury sedan, and a little business. As you take, you make your march longer! Keep on marching man, but don't waste our time leading the march!
Can you picture Nelson Mandela driving in a luxury sedan around SOWETO waving at anyone who would look at him and then dipping in the swimming pool at home, after a hard day of politics, ever being able to end Apartheid in South Africa? Of course not.
So if the Cap fits, let them wear it!
According to the SPPF experts at Finance, the history of fuel goes like this. In 1998 our annual national fuel bill was $6 Million. Then as the "unpredictable and unforeseen" world commodity price for Brent Crude Oil jumped per barrel in 2007, Seychelles fuel bill also jumped from this manageable $6Million per year (when SPPF could fake progress) to $5 Million per month (when SPPF could fake no more).This brought our national fuel bill to $60Million-$68 Million according to the SPPF story. SPPF implies that this is not fair.
In 2008, the national fuel bill now stands at $10Million per month and in the course of 2008, it will cost Seychelles between $120 Million- $140 Million to keep the Country supplied with refined petroleum products. The price of Brent Crude Oil peaked at $136.00 recently and the price of refined fuel is over $170.00 per barrel. Not told in this historical fable is that we never undertook to refine fuel ourselves and to resell stocks to the region to make our own costs sustainable. Instead, as is puffer-ed by the CEO of SEPEC, we embarked on a jovial expedition to build double haul tankers that is a great investment. But, we no longer build them. CEO of SEPEC will tell us that double haul tankers are too risky these days and the price of steel is too high. He will tell us that an oil refinery in Seychelles is not feasible, but we can have prawn farms in Coetivy. La,La,La,La, La, La, La.
From where we stand today, SPPF have fallen into macro-economic quick sand. They are currently above their nose in quick sand. Mr. Afif says, "every once in a while we will have to borrow money to keep maintain our fuel import requirements". Why is that Mr. Afif? Did you not import fuel in the past? Yes, but the fuel was not used wisely. So our Government does not have adequate hard currency receivables from fuel consumption because we were just having a party on People's backs. You and your friends thought the party would never end, so you just kept on partying on and on and on; like "Bal Bo Bes", you took it into the morning and kept on partying, until our bones and body could take no more, except for a little Beef Bone Soup! So here we are, wow! What a party it has been for SPPF. Party is over!
I fully understand that we must pay for fuel we use SPPF. As we import, we must settle our accounts. But that does not include the 45%-50% excessive surcharge you put on fuel SPPF. Without compromise immediately reduce this tax burden on the People of Seychelles by 20% for this Fiscal Year in September. Next Year, reduce the tax burden on fuel by another 5%. As you reduce the tax burden, also reduce your ministerial expenditures. As you do that, take necessary steps to curb corruption in your ministries. Additionally, auction off soft assets that are beyond a necessary means standards. That is, if you do not really need it, sell it to someone else who might want it and is willing to pay fair market value for it. Additionally, ask Francis Savy to return St. Anne Island to the People of Seychelles, a portion of which he bought for Rupees 1.00 and is now selling/promoting a project worth $450 Million on it. Yes SPPF, you can sell leases! Yes SPPF, the People of Seychelles can use that $450 Million to recover from 34 years of failed policies under SPPF and stone age Crom magnum SPUP.
Do not tell us to go plant “gro manze” and vegetables now just to feed you SPPF. When the going gets tough, you will tell us to farm pigs, but do not butcher them since you will need them to display signs of success when your fake GDP figures burst officially. Just like now SFA is telling us we can have bourgeois under our seas but we cannot catch them and we now must fish for makro or kaka matlot to earn a living.
When fuel price hysteria hit SPPF in the beginning of the year, and they decided that we have to start paying for fuel, and Government could no longer subsidize the foreign exchange component of the fuel purchase SEPEC makes, SPPF told us through Mr. Ahmed Afif and Minister Danny Faure and Captain Adam, that fuel is purchased every three months, so they could set the price every three months. Logic being, as one consignment entered the Country, they could determine the CIF plus tax incident and hence set the price for three months for Consumers.
Now, they take from beard, and put in moustache to say that we will not assess the price every three months, but every month. What has changed SPPF? Are you trying to steal and scam people's money at the pumps to build up a reserve of funds to beat them to death in the next Elections with their own money? Come clean for once SPPF and admit that you are trying to scam money off the pumps. People of Seychelles, make SPPF accountable. I can show you the light in darkness, but it's up to you to take a step in the right direction.
OPEC has said it expects the price of Crude Oil to go to $200.00 per barrel by the end of the year. Other analysts have said that the price will go to $150.00 by September when the USA driving season kicks in. Some financial and commodities houses have said that they expect it to go to $ 250.00 and mass hysteria is taking the futures markets on oil and food futures. To combat this plan, SPPF has announced a new strategy to borrow more money to meet the fuel bill consignments already entered the country and used. God only knows what other strategy they will come up with, but you will hear of it soon enough.
Late last year Danny Faure had the nerve to tell us to "Curb Consumption" without a concrete plan for his Government and his Ministers to do the same. Mr. President Michel told us to take the bus, while he was being driven around the Clock Tower in a nice BMW and a trail of Land Cruisers behind him to protect him from Boss.
SPPF fails over and over to understand the real issue behind "Consumption". The real issue behind "Consumption" is not "Consumption" itself, but its patterns and effects on our economy and our People. If we use fuel to joy ride in a helicopter around islands to look at scenery day in and day out, and produce nothing valuable for our country from that excursion year in and year out, that type of Consumption pattern is wasteful. Prolonged for 34 years, it is disastrous for our economy our People and our Nation.
If we take a big grey Navy boat to trail us in our luxury yacht to go fishing with new girlfriend every time we can get away from wife, and produce nothing from the trip, prolonged over 34 years, it is a waste to our Country. We would all be better off today SPPF, if you had just stayed home and honored your wife.
If a few of our Princes have their own planes and tax free fuel concessions and they resell that fuel on the domestic market to other planes and boats in transit, and this has been happening for 34 years SPPF, it is a waste to our Country. After 34 years of this frolic, our Country is bound to suffer from this pattern of fuel consumption a la fou! The effects are catastrophic if left unfettered.
If Government raises electricity rates of the most productive sector of society, Tourism, and that industry overtime, down sizes operations, surely Government will have less hard currency to pay for fuel bill imports. Additionally, if Government imposes a Retention Scheme and allows foreigners to retain up to 100% of their receivables, of course you will have to borrow money to pay for your fuel bills. The People of Seychelles pay the price for SPPF madness and their misunderstanding of "Consumption".
If Government squeezes Seychellois out of the business sector who traditionally do re-invest their money-profits into the Seychelles, of course, Government will one day, run out of foreign exchange. Why is that so Mr. Afif may ask? Because, king brain (a compliment) as you squeeze a Seychellois in his own land, you restrict his performance, and allow a foreigner to prosper, the more the foreigner prospers, the faster he will want to repatriate his profits, this means less money for you to do what?!!!........PAY YOUR FUEL BILLS!
So as you borrow our future away SPPF.....remember ....the Arab can go back to Arabia...and he will, the South African can go back to Cape Town...and he will, the Yankee can go home.....and he has, but where will you my dear SPPF go to?
Have mercy on SPPF.
May God Bless All Freedom Loving Seychellois!