These days we hear a lot about running Government like a business. That sounds good, but when you do that, you need the right people running the Government to get proper results which will benefit the People of Seychelles the most. The right people who run businesses successfully and can run a government along the same successful lines are those that know what a business is and have run businesses from conception to realization successfully, without hand outs from Government or from international organizations to make bumpy rides soft. Smart thinking and hard work is indispensable in business as opposed to just hard work. Grave diggers work hard. But they do not work smart. It is better to have an excavator or back hoe do the job than three (3) men. In
By the end of last week, Standard and Poor’s financial house in London, down graded Seychelles long term rating to a “Negative”. This means the
Standard and Poor’s said that if there is a continuation of fiscal slippages, arising from expenditure overruns and if our heavy debt burden is not reduced, it will downgrade Seychelles again. This is the complete opposite of what Mr. President said when he came back from seeing the POPE. In that interview with SBC, he said, “I am happy to announce that we have paid all our debts”. It is not nice to lie after just meeting the Pope of the Catholic Church at the
On Sunday, the SBC televised a meeting with Ministry of Finance bureaucrats and Mr. Louis D’offay from the Seychelles Hotel Association (SHA) advising us of an increase in GST from 7% to 10% then on to 12% and 15 % every year after 2007. In an attempt to plug the holes in their sinking economic financial ship, the SPPF are “killing the goose that lays the golden egg” for
Mr. Afif says this exorbitant tax is for Government providing infrastructure for the hotels to succeed. Well, then why do we still have roads not paved, no sewer hook ups, no adequate water supply till today after spending $30 Million on a desalination plants on Mahe, Praslin. Why do we not have adequate electricity grids to run our hotels. Instead we have to walk about in evenings regularly and lie to tourist and tell them, “ah two bats were making love on the electric wires and they got caught ...sorry about the blackout!
Mr. Afif wants us to pay more for GST but the Government cannot bring crime under control to prevent our hotels from being robbed, burgled and ransacked. Our Guests cannot enjoy the beaches and nature trails without first being robbed or knifed for what little possessions they carry with them while on holiday.
While Government increases GST for hotel establishment up to 15% does Mr. Afif and Mr. Faure knows that most tourists pay for their stay with credit card. Those card services charge them 17% to 21 % per charge and after 30 days some cards add another 30% on outstanding bills. This increases the cost of a holiday to exorbitant figures. As the price of fuel goes up the prices of airline tickets will soar and make
As for Restaurants, did the SPPF Minister ever think that 15% GST on a restaurant plus 12% GST for goods purchased and served plus 15% standard service charge for waitresses will mean a 42% increase in the cost of a bill. If the bill is settled by credit card, add another 21% which makes the bill 63% over and above the real establishment charge. SPPF is killing the goose that lays the golden egg. It is also crushing the eggs so no one gets to enjoy them, not even themselves. That is not good business sense. Good business sense not only keeps the goose alive, but it encourages the goose to produce more and more eggs, not less. What can you expect from a bunch of political science (communist type) school teachers and postal clerks. For restaurants it will be our waiters, bartenders and waitresses and their families that pay the immediate price for SPPF’s mumbo-jumbo professional taxation scheme.
As the SPPF assault the good People of Seychelles with their debunked economic policies, the Leader of the Opposition has forsaken the value of a unified opposition to offer the People of Seychelles ample “kan-kan” to pass the days as we make our way to our graves.
The Leader of The Opposition has taken up the cause of
As for Glorieuse and Tromlin, the only contact I ever had with these islands was when I was in La Reunion doing one of those emergency shopping trips and medical treatment excursions to keep my family and businesses up to speed. It was late afternoon and my wife was spending too much time in a St. Denis pharmacy for my own personal comfort. So I told her I would go and have a beer in the tavern near by and asked her to meet me there when she was done picking up medicines we do not get in Seychelles beyond the UN-WHO quota.
In the tavern, I sat next to two French sailors that were going on and on about the beautiful women of
The wardens on Aldabra are put on notice, our sea cows are going beyond our territorial waters to do very un-natural things with some French sailors based in St. Denis. The Leader of The Opposition has protested French claim to the area...seriously now!