IN 2003, 3.9% of land in Seychelles was owned by foreigners, according to the Ministry of Land Use and Habitat.
Speaking in the National Assembly, the minister then responsible for Land Use, Mr. Joseph Belmont, said this amounted to just 850 acres. He said that since 1993, the government had decided to minimise the occupancy of land by foreigners to 5%.
In the case of privately-owned land, cabinet approval is necessary before any purchase by non-Seychellois, who he said must deposit a certain amount of foreign currency into the Central Bank before any transfer is effected... Where is the money? The figures given, however, did not include properties, including islands owned by government, mostly through the Islands Development Company (IDC) and leased out to foreigners, mostly for tourism development. These leases can vary from 60 years to 99 years.
Dozens of islands have either been leased or sold over the past 5 years and that must have caused the percentage of land held by non-Seychellois to spiral beyond what Mr. Belmont was professing. It has probably gone up ten-fold.
Some 30 projects for large resorts on Mahe and other granitic islands are all on sites averaging 100 hectares (250 acres). In comparison, approval was given for only 14 locally owned small hotels and restaurants last year.
As for the proviso that a certain percentage of cash in foreign currency is deposited in the Central Bank before any transfer is effected, this is done on a very selective basis; “pick and choose” according to the Ministers' whim.
Stamp duty on property sales to non-Seychellois is supposedly 30% of the declared value. But, many foreigners easily find a cheap way around this by purchasing Seychellois citizenship and paying only 5%. Make them Seychellois and sell them our land cheaply with fat backhanders for the top boys.
Such dealings could partly explain why foreign exchange linked to investment arriving in our country was way below expectations; from $948 million going by President Michel's figures to only $ 268 million which he said passed through the local banking system. And President Michel is telling us that he is working hard, hard, hard. Unfortunately all these hard work is not bringing in any result. If you ask France, it is time for Michel to go...