Speaker of the Assembly should be referred to the Anti Corruption Commission
Got land?
This is always a key issue in Seychelles especially when it comes to politics. The issue arises from before 1976 where land was concentrated in the h...ands of the few to the present where...well land is still concentrated in the hands of the few! Although now, it has changed hands though!
We were shocked here at Seychelles Sunday Lobby to learn that a former Lepep Minister owned over 50 pieces of land. This is just shocking in a country where most people are desperate to get a flat or 500sqm of land to built a small house. These things are unacceptable which is what prompted us to research more into this land issue and it came to our discovery that there are other former Lepep Ministers who owns generous amounts of land. Although now he is on the side of the opposition, the current Speaker, former ambassador and former Minister has been involved in questionable land deals in his days. Different posts has made allusions to deals that he has been party to but we want to make reference to the property where he lives currently at Port Launay.
From our understanding our good speaker bought the parcels J1750 and J1751 for a mere 33 thousand rupees back in 1998. Whilst it is true that back then land was cheaper, the size of these plots would still warrant a much higher price in 1998. What is interesting is that the good Speaker only built on parcel J1750, we learnt that parcel J1751 and J1702 is part of a nature reserve because of the population of Fruit Bats that inhabits it. Typically all land that is considered to be a nature reserve is supposed to remain in the possession of the government so we are curious as to why this piece of land was sold to the good speaker.
Even more fascinating is the fact that parcel J3391 and J1702 is also under the ownership of the good Speaker. Research reveals that this land was transferred to him to act as a buffer. What we learned was that the good Speaker did not want anyone to build near his home so parcel J3391 was transferred as a buffer, and looking at the size of this piece of land, another person could have easily benefited from it and built their home. Instead the lepep government catered to the ego of 1 man. What is very interesting is that whilst only 33 thousand was paid for both parcel J1750 and 1751, the much smaller parcel of J331 was bought for 42, 240 rupees. More interestingly the parcel J1702 was sold for 190 thousand in 1998, although it is much smaller than J1751 and almost the same size as J1750. These prices just does not make sense! The size of the land and the corresponding prices does not match and evidence suggests that J3391 is a much recent acquisition as the other 3 pieces of land was purchased when Joseph Nourrice was Principal Secretary and this particular one, when Chritian Lionnet was Principal Secretary.
So now, the good Speaker owns 3 pieces of land at Port Launay where he is not building anything on it. One of those pieces of land is a nature reserve where no development can be done, although we learned that there has been attempts by the good Speaker to sell and/or develop this land himself but the government saw reason at least and refused. It is unclear if this will continue under this cohabitation that is happening and with the current president jumping through every hoop to keep the opposition happy.
Regardless, we hope that residents of Port Glaud especially those who has been waiting for years to get a piece of land is happy to learn of this information. This knowledge that our good Speaker owns large amounts of land in their district whilst they wait for years for 500sqm or a government flat. It is clear that our political elite, regardless of where they are on the political spectrum have benfitted and are benefitting...whilst we the people wait. When will they be held accountable?
Perhaps the Anti-Corruption Commission can also look into this matter?
Courtesy of Seychelles Sunday Lobby
This is always a key issue in Seychelles especially when it comes to politics. The issue arises from before 1976 where land was concentrated in the h...ands of the few to the present where...well land is still concentrated in the hands of the few! Although now, it has changed hands though!
We were shocked here at Seychelles Sunday Lobby to learn that a former Lepep Minister owned over 50 pieces of land. This is just shocking in a country where most people are desperate to get a flat or 500sqm of land to built a small house. These things are unacceptable which is what prompted us to research more into this land issue and it came to our discovery that there are other former Lepep Ministers who owns generous amounts of land. Although now he is on the side of the opposition, the current Speaker, former ambassador and former Minister has been involved in questionable land deals in his days. Different posts has made allusions to deals that he has been party to but we want to make reference to the property where he lives currently at Port Launay.
From our understanding our good speaker bought the parcels J1750 and J1751 for a mere 33 thousand rupees back in 1998. Whilst it is true that back then land was cheaper, the size of these plots would still warrant a much higher price in 1998. What is interesting is that the good Speaker only built on parcel J1750, we learnt that parcel J1751 and J1702 is part of a nature reserve because of the population of Fruit Bats that inhabits it. Typically all land that is considered to be a nature reserve is supposed to remain in the possession of the government so we are curious as to why this piece of land was sold to the good speaker.
Even more fascinating is the fact that parcel J3391 and J1702 is also under the ownership of the good Speaker. Research reveals that this land was transferred to him to act as a buffer. What we learned was that the good Speaker did not want anyone to build near his home so parcel J3391 was transferred as a buffer, and looking at the size of this piece of land, another person could have easily benefited from it and built their home. Instead the lepep government catered to the ego of 1 man. What is very interesting is that whilst only 33 thousand was paid for both parcel J1750 and 1751, the much smaller parcel of J331 was bought for 42, 240 rupees. More interestingly the parcel J1702 was sold for 190 thousand in 1998, although it is much smaller than J1751 and almost the same size as J1750. These prices just does not make sense! The size of the land and the corresponding prices does not match and evidence suggests that J3391 is a much recent acquisition as the other 3 pieces of land was purchased when Joseph Nourrice was Principal Secretary and this particular one, when Chritian Lionnet was Principal Secretary.
So now, the good Speaker owns 3 pieces of land at Port Launay where he is not building anything on it. One of those pieces of land is a nature reserve where no development can be done, although we learned that there has been attempts by the good Speaker to sell and/or develop this land himself but the government saw reason at least and refused. It is unclear if this will continue under this cohabitation that is happening and with the current president jumping through every hoop to keep the opposition happy.
Regardless, we hope that residents of Port Glaud especially those who has been waiting for years to get a piece of land is happy to learn of this information. This knowledge that our good Speaker owns large amounts of land in their district whilst they wait for years for 500sqm or a government flat. It is clear that our political elite, regardless of where they are on the political spectrum have benfitted and are benefitting...whilst we the people wait. When will they be held accountable?
Perhaps the Anti-Corruption Commission can also look into this matter?
Courtesy of Seychelles Sunday Lobby
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