Seychelles, under President James Alix Michel, is fast getting a reputation for being one country with two concurrent systems; one for the rich and one for the poor. The phrase one country, two systems was originally coined by the communist Republic of China to expound on their communist political system and their parallel thriving free market economy. Similarly here, the SPPF government has adopted two policies; one for big foreign owned building contractors and yet another for the small Seychellois building contractors. The same applies to the struggling tourism industry where there is one set of rules for the foreign owned five star hotels and another yet significantly different set of rules for the small Seychellois hotels.
The small Seychellois building contractors have finally plucked up the courage to complain about the way the SPPF government is treating them. They have, for example, complained that they cannot get any cement as all the cements are sold to big contractors who pay in forex whilst still on the cargo ships and before they dock at Port Victoria. They say that the same apply to timber and other construction materials. The rule, it seems, is simple; those who can afford to pay in forex get the construction materials and those who cannot don’t. One small contractor complained: “It seems that the rupee has no value at all. Nobody wants to accept rupees as legal tender nowadays. What on earth is going on?” he asked. This has also led some quarters to remark that
It is a known fact that five star hotels are exempted from all government taxes, GOP included, and enjoys all sorts of benefits and concessions which their local counter parts do not. They also import their goods duty free and are given a “Carte Blanche” to do pretty much as they please. The government has recently given the same concessions to a special group of building contractors who have been awarded the Ile Perseverance contracts. These big contractors, mostly Indian companies, have been accused of forming a cartel and imports more construction materials than are actually needed for the project because they do not pay taxes thereon and then sell them on for a profit to their Indian counter-parts. The small Seychellois contractors, like the small Seychellois hoteliers, have found the courage to finally voice their dissention about the two tier system which places them at a disadvantage vis- a-vis their bigger and more affluent buddies. One country, two systems? You bet!