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Showing posts from September, 2014

Not much progress made for approval of second Seychelles Airlines

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There has been a constant stream of messages and emails from contacts in the Seychelles of late, over the fate of the application launched by the owners of Intershore Aviation, owners of the Seychelles Airlines trade name. With months gone by already has apparently no progress been made but by the look of it, and according to feedback received when making further enquiries, it seems that the application has been put on ice by the powers that be, citing issues over the trade name chosen by Intershore. Wrote one regular source: ‘I told you when you wrote about this first, that they will be blocked at every corner. The last thing Air Seychelles now needs, in their own thinking, is a rival eating into their market share. Their new expansion plans will probably cost them an arm and a leg to get the routes to Dar es Salaam and Madagascar into profit territory. India should be a different thing, there is demand, but again there is Mihin already offering flights via Colo

Seychelles Facing Total Implosion As Key Opportunity Is Missed By PL!

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In life, timing is everything and sometimes, when one misses an opportunity, they pay for it for years and decades to come. This week TOP RESA the annual Paris Tourism Trade Fair was in full operation and Seychelles had a golden opportunity to re- launch her image to finally plant a seed that would reverse the downward trend in the French market suffering -14% decline monthly. Instead, Minister St. Ange and his A-TEAM ( they are an A-Team) went to Paris empty handed, because PL government slept and vacillated on the primordial issues too long, focusing only on internal Budget deadlines, and ignoring core TOURISM TRADE deadlines like opening of TOP RESA. Critical Note: Budget is where we decide how to spend money we will earn from Tourism. It is not the other way around PL. The Competition is Wide Awake PL At TOP RESA, Mauritius and Maldives turned up with digital banners spread every where that said: DIRECT FLIGHTS! DIRECT FLIGHTS! What could poor St. Ange and hi

Harmon Chellen Might Have Died in Police Detention

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The mysterious death of Harmon Chellen in the Seychelles has a new plot twist: the minister of justice of the island proclaimed that the man might have died when he was in detention at the police station to where he was summoned because of the accusation of attempt to rape levelled at him by an employee of the hotel he was residing at. Some weeks ago, on the 19th of August , Harmon Chellen, the former director of the École Hotelière SGD, was found dead in the sea of Seychelles . He had travelled to the island after having been invited as guest of honour to a graduation ceremony. On the last day of his visit, his dead body was found in the ocean by an inhabitant of the region of Port Glaud . The cause of death has remained unknown. Two autopsies were done to decipher the circumstances that could have led to the tragic event: the one done by the Seychelles authorities yielded nothing, while a second one performed in Mauritius revealed injuries on the corpse at the level of t

"I Want More Freebies" Says James Michel at the UN

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Seychelles President James Michel addressed the UN Climate Summit in New York this morning with an emotional appeal on behalf of islanders all around the world, for world leaders to take decisive action now to reach an agreement to halt climate change. He asked them not to ignore the truth about climate change, and warned that it is time for action and not just for speeches. “We have been given four minutes to address this plenary. It doesn’t matter. It is four minutes too many, I say! For now is not the time for speeches, but for action. We have heard it all before: the well-crafted speeches, the promises and the exhortations… We have also heard the scientific facts, the complaints, the pleas for help from those on the front line: Small Island Developing States.” President Michel reiterated his statement made in Samoa at the UN SIDS Conference earlier this month, where he had called climate change ‘a crime against humanity.’ “Climate change – on our current, av

US Dollars 40,000 Trip for James Michel But No Forex In Seychelles Banks

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Seychelles President James Michel heads to New York this weekend to attend the United Nations Climate Change Summit, at the invitation of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The Seychelles President will be accompanied at summit by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jean-Paul Adam, the Secretary General in the Office of the President, Lise Bastienne, the Ambassador to the US and Permanent Representative to the UN, Marie-Louise Potter and the Ambassador for Climate Change and Small Island Developing States Issues, Ronny Jumeau. President Michel made strong statements on the issue of climate change recently in Samoa at the UN conference on Small Island Developing States: "It is time that we recognise climate change for what it is: a collective crime against humanity. Climate change will be the single largest reason for displacement of peoples in the next 50 years. Climate change is already robbing a generation of its livelihoods. Climate change is robbing isla

Etihad Turning Seychelles Into A Big Spoke When it Should Be A Hub

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Did everyone hear about the great news of Air Seychelles acquiring under lease, a Airbus 320 to fly regionally 115 passengers at a time to Madagscar, Dar E Salaam? This recent announcement adds Jo’burg  South Africa to a regional spoke controlled by Etihad using Air Seychelles name and position in Africa for front door entrance into the market. Feed The Hub-Feed The Hub The business model proposed by Etihad and Minister Joel Morgan, Chairman of Air Seychelles, [seems to be playing along], is to use secondary regional feeder routes via Seychelles to increase traffic into the Abu Dhabi, UAE hub, by- passing the Dubai hub or La Reunion hub, or South Africa for Eastern Africa. All this is just wonderful news for Seychelles, according to Etihad/Air Seychelles Monoj Papa. Tourism Not A Priority To Etihad- Air Seychelles The message of this new regional routes declaration is clear and no one should be fooled by the declaration: “Tourism is not a priority For Etihad-Air Seychelles”. They ju

Seychelles Being Over-Run By Internet Age

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Welcome Baby Pure FM The PURE FM RADIO station will turn One (1) year old this week. It should have been 40 years old by now. This is an indication of how far behind the times Seychelles is. Ironically, internet radio is the trend today. Pure FM may be around for another year. Cable At The Table Cable and Wireless, a company that was running a monopoly for years and generations in communication, took on Airtel in 1998 but then Airtel was a non starter. The little competition Airtel provided, allowed Cable and Wireless to wake up, and they invested heavily in fibre optic infrastructure in Seychelles, to connect us with AFRICA ONE via the Tanzania feeder. It is an investment that exceeds 35 Million USD. The problem for Seychelles is that the Government of Seychelles has allowed Cable and Wireless to fix internet connection rates at excessive rates, to allow it to recover its investment in a short term spread. Internet infrastructure return on investment is never short term. Ai

Freedom of the Press

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Seychelles Seychelles Freedom of the Press 2014 The media environment in Seychelles over the past decade has been characterized by government monopolization of radio and television, liberal use of draconian libel laws against opposition newspapers, occasional attacks against and harassment of media workers, and extensive self-censorship. However, conditions improved somewhat in 2013 due to a recent reduction in the cost of broadcast licenses, the issuing of new licenses, and the launching of the first private radio station as well as a new print outlet. The constitution protects freedom of speech, but it also limits this guarantee with provisions protecting the reputation, rights, and privacy of citizens and the “interest of defense, public safety, public order, public morality, or public health.” It grants the minister of information the power to prohibit the broadcast of any material deemed contradictory to the “national interest.” Since the co

Emirates Hirers Seychelloise to Run Airline, Air Seychelles Does Not!

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After rising through the ranks since 2004, Denise Rassool was recently appointed the head of Emirates Airlines to Seychelles with a score of people under her responsibility.   Oomar Ramtoola, the head of Emirates to the Indian Ocean, thus welcomed dedication without flaws in the company's new Director.   For his part, the Minister of tourism of the Seychelles, Alain Saint-Ange, congratulated warmly Denise Rassool for his exemplary career within Emirates Airlines.   As a reminder, Emirates Airlines, renewed its support to the Seychelles in the context of the promotion of the destination last May and has decided to increase its weekly flights to the archipelago with two additional flights from October 28.   The airline company of Dubai dessert today Seychelles, with 12 flights scheduled each week with the Airbus A340-500.   Emirates Airlines is an airline company in full expansion, with more than 180 aircraft that make up its fleet. With more than 12

Seychelles Faces The Black Hole Again!

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No sooner than the Tourists arrived in country in the last week of July and Two (2) meager weeks in August a former peak period, Mr. President kicked the local scene and headed to Washington DC, to meet leftist borderline Communist Mr. Obama, who has taken to shaking hands with dictators, murderers, killers and crooks. Then after leaving Mr. Obama (whose career and place in history is washed up now) Mr. President headed to Zimbabwe to meet and greet President “Humus” Robert Mugabe the shame and disgrace of Africa who now heads SADC. After a tour of Victoria Falls named after Queen Victoria, like Seychelles Hospital, before the name change to please the Shiekh of camels and numerous hedge funds exceeding $40 Billion, with a investment strategy to buy anything in the World, Mr. President head to New Zealand to with begging bowl in hand spilling the same old “Small Island States” argument of why we under perform each year, every year and we need some scholarships. Yet Mr.

Avana Petroleum Limited receives a default notice in Seychelles

September 2, 2014 by Samuel Kamau Mbote     Vanoil Energy Ltd announces that its wholly owned subsidiary, Avana Petroleum Limited, has received a default notice under the joint operating agreement in respect of Seychelles Areas A and B, due to non-payment of its share of joint account expenses in the amount of USD $732,755 plus interest. In a statement by the chairman of Vanoil Energy on behalf of the board James Passin says Avana has not remedied the default within the time period required under the JOA, and is currently in discussions with East African Exploration (Seychelles) Limited (“EAX”) with respect to an extension of the payments. Vanoil holds a 25% working interest in Seychelles Areas A and B with its partner Afren. Areas A and B comprise 14,319 km2 in total and are located on the Seychelles micro-continent in shallow to deep water in the northern half of the Seychelles plateau in a region. Amoco previously drilled three exploration wells in the area

Parti Lepep Donor Goes Bankrupt

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CHENNAI: NRI businessman C Sivasankaran who rode the telecom wave for two decades is officially bankrupt. The serial entrepreneur has applied for bankruptcy protection in a Seychelles court to ward off a claim by his Bahrain-based telecom partner Batelco, which won a court decree for its $212million claim on its investment in S Tel, for which Sivasankaran stood personal guarantee. S Tel's telecom licences in India were cancelled along with 121 other licences by the Supreme Court in the 2G case. The 58-year-old Sivasankaran, or Siva as he is referred to in business circles, filed for insolvency in a court in Seychelles early August. He is a citizen of Seychelles. The Supreme Court of Seychelles ordered Siva insolvent on August 26 (last Wednesday) and has since appointed a receiver.  "It is hereby declared that the debtor Chinnakannan Sivasankaran is bankrupt and a bankruptcy order is made accordingly in terms of Section 14 (1) of the Insolvency Act 2013. The