THE SEYCHELLOIS FISHERIES DILEMMA
IT is a real pleasure to tune in to Mrs. Moustache-Belle whenever she gets the clearance to encourage healthy debate on her “Face a Face” program on a monthly basis. The last edition tackled our fishing industry in the context of the growing food crisis affecting the world.
There seems to be some important issues that need to be addressed as a matter of urgency if we are to better tackle the problems faced by this industry such as:
Uncharted waters around our granitic islands resources being pillaged?
The black market effect escalating prices seem to be beyond control
Increases in fuel costs the local population pays the price
Millions of rupees worth of concessions provided to people who have only profited personally rather than plow back into the industry
There is no doubt that there have been several missed opportunities for 'Seselwa' who seem to be condemned to traditional fishing. Why don't we have any Seychellois owned industrial fishing companies? The Seselwa engine needs fuel! Could we not have made some joint ventures with the foreign companies exploiting our territorial waters? What happened to Rene's grandiose idea of a Seychelles Incorporated?
The panel of speakers consisted of the following:
Randolph Payet - This government official produced an unwavering loyal stalwart performance synonymous of a confused puppet who does not really know his right from left. He keeps making excuses for failed policies which clearly shows that SFA has never had a proper plan for our fisheries industry. He keeps harping on about the Strategy 2017 without giving any concrete plans on how to achieve the goals set out in this plan. The SFA does not have any negotiating power nor skills in handling our prime resources. No wonder we are doomed and our fishing industry is in the quagmire we find ourselves in today and for many more years to come unless there are some radical changes at the very top…
Beatty Hoareau: His background as a banker, gives this representative of traditional boat owners an interesting insight into how this industry functions and what constraints that it is under. He painted a very realistic picture of the current state of affairs and offered some very interesting suggestions on how to better solve this crisis. He advanced some good ideas on how to better control our fish stock and how the authorities can better assist our Seychellois fisherman in these hard times. He stressed on the fishing industry's role in ensuring food security as well as the impact on tourism growth on our fish stock.
Albert Napier: He provided the most down to earth view with very simple yet clear cut reasoning on the dire situation. Fishermen need to be given the right concessions and tools so that they can deliver the goods remove unnecessary GST on the raw materials required to do the job. He pointed out one very important point that seems to elude everyone 'if the government really wants to give the fishing industry its true importance as the second pillar of our economy, then give it its dedicated ministry headed by a minister who can give it the undivided attention that it requires'…
Radley Weber: He surely demonstrated his knowledge on this industry for having headed the IOT factory for several years. He firmly believes that the country has been short changed due to the very short term view of the whole picture. Agreements signed are not to the benefit of our country but contributing to the exploitation of our precious resources by companies that are off-loading the stock on the international market. He highlighted the fact that industrial fishing is the segment that really brings in the revenue due to the high volume whereby there is control of the value chain.
There are indeed some good points that were raised in this amicable debate with JM-B as the affable moderator. But like everything with the SPPF government, we can argue till kingdom come. No changes will ever be effected because there is one beast that is eating everything up and this is CORRUPTION. As long as government keeps protecting those that are in their good books and keep victimizing those 'ki pa ek zot', things will never change for the better.
'Zot larg lanmen nou peser nwa ganny en pti bouyon kot lakour!’