Sir, I 1976 the D.P. under the leadership of Mr. James R. Mancham proved to every Seychellois that power sharing philosophy was the only way to prosperity for the Seychelles, when Mr. Rene was appointed Prime Minister.
The decision of Mr. Mancham to make such appointment was because his wisdom inspired him to use the second commandment that God handed to Moses. 'Love Your Brother Like You Love Yourself'.
Mr. Rene with his “Love Yourself More Than Your Brother” philosophy took power by a Coup d'état and the DP was sidelined.
During the last election, the SNP and DP formed an alliance, later in the Assembly the SNP leader Mr. Wavel Ramkalawan decided to replace the DP proportional member, Mr. Franky Elizabeth, because he was demonstrating to the SPPF and SNP how democratic he was. Again DP was the victim.
Message to the SNP and SPPF is clear; they will never be able to destroy the truth. Even if you try to hide it when it is rediscovered it will come out twice as strong.
DP's the only political party that stands with any democratic principles. DP is the only party that can lead Seychellois people and Seychelles to prosperity.
Don't worry we'll meet in the next election. Time Will Tell.
Gerry Sopha
Sir, I read an article in Regar April 25th 2008 issue by Ramkalawan regarding "Keeping Commitments". He wrote about the SPPF not keeping their word in regards to the increase of salaries for workers after the Seychellois people, the poor in particular, are now going through the most difficult period as our economy falls and cost of living goes up.
He says, " The issue of keeping commitments is one for which the people have a responsibility. As long as we accept to be fooled, then there is not much hope in seeing this Country move forward, Rather, we will continue to see mediocrity applauded with no real standards to guide our people towards greater prosperity. This does not give much hope."
When a Leader fails his People like Hitler failed Germany, he blamed the People of Germany for his failure. Ramkalawan is no Hitler, but the example does apply. A leader does not take a huge salary increase for himself and forgets about his people, then blame another Party for not keeping its commitments.
Did Ramkalawan keep his commitments to the Democratic Party when he removed Frank Elizabeth from the National Assembly and blamed the removal on a territorial dispute between France and Mauritius over an island (Tromlin) occupied only by a bunch of seals? No, he did not keep his commitments. He kept his bed feathered at DP's expense just like he took a huge pay packet to help him through the bumpy ride ahead as the cost of goods become unbearable, he over eats in abundance.
The Leadership of SNP can choose to remain silent over Ramkalawan's charades. As it does, they will be just as guilty for deceiving the people of Seychelles, when it really mattered. Those that stand up for principles and what is good and right will not be forgotten by the People of Seychelles in our hour of need and despair under SPPF incompetence and utter failure.
Next time you pick up a Regar, better start reading between the lines; even the cartoons are censored. That is indefensible. Sometimes a captive starts to think like his captor. If that cap fits..... wear it man.
Read my Lips!
Sir, Please allow us if you don't mind to say our two cents worth on this very oily business. No one seems to be getting it right, not even the great captain, who is now beyond retirement age and still would not go to the sunshine of California. In his State of the Nation Address President Michel told us that all the foreign exchange that was coming in the country was going towards paying for the importation of fuel. He told us that the bill for the remainder of the year from February when the speech was delivered to the National Assembly was USD 60,000,000 (sixty million dollars).
It must be remembered that President Michel was talking in his capacity as head of state as well as an experienced finance minister, having held the finance portfolio for more than a decade before becoming president. What we the long suffering citizens deduced from this statement from President Michel was that the country, over a period of twelve months, would be earning no more than sixty million dollars in foreign exchange earnings and that every little cent of it would be going towards keeping the wheels turning on our motorcars. And if you wanted to keep the wheels spinning on your Cadillac you will have to put up with the shortages of hard currencies for other things. But this is not the end of this little tale, read on…..
However the story which came out of Sepec at the time and we have no reason not to believe them was that a loan had been raised from a Malaysia bank to settle the country's fuel bills. Who was speaking the truth Sepec or President? No one knows, they alone can answer that question.
But we have heard plenty on the subject of revenue accrued as a result of the country's activities in the oil industry. We have five tankers crisscrossing the oceans transporting oil products to the four corners of the world. Where are the foreign exchange earnings from the tankers? No one knows, they alone can answer that question.
We re-export and it is paid for in foreign currency; dollars, euros or pounds, over fifty percent of our fuel imports is re-exported according to Sepec. Where is the foreign exchange we earn as a result of this particular activity? No one knows, they alone can answer that question.
According to the great captain we are also involved in providing storage facilities to Total and we are paid rent for storage in dollars. Where is the foreign exchange we earn from this operation? No one knows, they alone can answer that question. It seems that there are no clear answers to our questions.
Recently we learned from the Official Gazette that the Seychelles Government is taking another loan of USD 20,000,000 (20 million dollars) from the Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) to pay for fuel imports. Sepec will use the loan to pay Total, the same company, which is paying us to store fuel for them at our oil depot at the New Port, strange, but true.
Now another piece of information to boggle your mind; the big boy at the central building (CB) is telling everyone in his ever decreasing little circle that a very rich man has already given a grant of over thirty million dollars (30m) to pay for fuel imports.
The final question in this complex saga is who is getting all greasy in that slimy oil business? No one knows, they alone can answer this question. But what is certain. The people - you and us - are picking up the heavy tab!!
Mwan