SBC to give “due consideration” to grievances

www.today.sc
Thursday 28 January 2016
Newsline
n News
n Sports
n Business
n Life
n
Desroches Island
Resort: Four Seasons on
Desroches
(page
2)
SR 10/-
Fair and balanced reporting
SBC to give “due
consideration” to grievances
A second set of discussions is set to take place next Thursday.
Read more on page 2
n Basketball: Terry Celeste elected head of coaches’
commission
(page 4)
n
Interview with Gulab
Rai, GM of Berjaya Resort
(page 7)
and Casino
Opposition meets SBC board and CEO at Hermitage. (Photo courtesy of Seychelles Weekly)
Inheritance
Ramkalawan
to pay siblings
SCR772 000
n Seychelles celebrates
India Republic Day with
Kathak dance
(page 11)
Mr Ramkalawan has to buy his siblings’ share despite having
already bought the land from his mother.
The politician’s brother and sister were
contesting the sale of a property between
their mother and Mr Ramkalawan and
asked the court to declare it a gift.
Read more on page 3
12.85
13.40
12.80
13.30
13.85
14.50
13.90
14.55
18.30
19.30
18.25
19.25
p2
Thursday 28 January 2016
Desroches Island Resort
Nichole’s take on …
Taking stock of Four Seasons on Desroches
our education
Around 160 staff, including 40 Seychellois,
made redundant.
A
By N.Tirant
The smiling faces of 14 retired teachers taking their leave of
the profession as they received tokens of gratitude from the
Vice President last week may have said it all! And the tragedy
was that their departure at this time of dire need can only aggravate an even more tragic situation.
The ceremony, marked by the absence of the Education Minister, was troubling even if the teachers were too diplomatic
and forthright to say anything!
It was for the love of her students that she had held out 46
years as a teacher in the face of “great difficulties”, explained
one of the longest serving teachers. But with both good times
and bad in her career, she admitted being gratified today seeing some of her students succeed in their own careers.
The other 13 teachers had all spent varying lengths of time,
ranging from 27 to 46 years, in the world’s most noble profession. But they were all leaving, whether to stay home, help out
in church or simply enjoy a life without pressure. They seemed
hardly perturbed by the fact that our schools will be short of
14 qualified and experienced teachers at a time when morale in
the national education system is at its lowest and the ministry
faces intense pressure to produce better results. The authorities, meanwhile, seemed unconcerned about what they could
do to retain at least some of these assets for a longer time!
From SCR 181 million allocated to the ministry of Education
and Youth in 2006, we have steadily increased the Education
ministry’s budget over the years. This year education will receive SCR 479.1 million, up from SCR439.4 million in 2014,
and SCR413.8 million in 2013. But whilst more opportunities
have come online across the nation, results from the system
have got steadily worse. The latest overseas examination results have not yet been published but everyone believes they
are nothing to be proud of.
The reality remains that whilst our youth can go from crèche
to university within our national education system with more
opportunities becoming available each year, many are ill-prepared for the world of work and lack the skills, stamina and
motivation required to fill the many jobs that are supposedly
created each year in our economy. The conclusion many draw
from this is that the quality of our education is not keeping
pace with the quantity. And the lack of qualified teachers is
not helping!
The Education ministry continues to boast a list of long term
objectives for our children, ranging from literacy in our three
national languages to equipping them with basic arithmetics
kills, and enabling them to make judgments based on an understanding of the outcomes of the choices and decisions they
make in every-day life.
But whilst it may be relatively easy to give our children the
level of proficiency in the language of instruction so that theycan learn core subjects, it will need a much higher degree of
teaching to help them “acquire a rational outlook on natural
and social events through observation and understanding of
their immediate and extended environment.”
We may simply be failing to provide our children with
the“foundations for the development of basic occupational and
life skills” and the “positive traits of character, ethical values,
and positive attitudes towards themselves, society, work, the
community and national development” that can really make a
difference in the long run.
Despite the huge education budget, and the many gifts we
receive from all quarters, the sector seems to be losing momentum. From library books to entire school buildings, the gifts
have poured in throughout recent years. And yet we remain
short of everything, from desks to text books, including qualified teachers.
At the start of last year the President shared his plans for
2015 in an interview with this newspaper. He focused on facilitating the entrepreneurial spirit of our citizens to grow our
economy, but said little on education. Instead he pointed to the
fact that we’d already met most of the Millennium Development Goals ahead of 2015.
“Our next objectives are to improve on the goals, such as
higher quality universal education,” was all he could offer on
the subject. Even efforts to use his “think tank” for ideas of how
to move the education agenda forward seems to have met with
limited success. Despite starting discussions on strategies for
enhancing education in August 2014, its promise to dedicate
a future meeting to education alone was never fulfilled. The
forum simply ran out of time and was put to bed last August
as interest shifted to the Presidential election announced six
months early on 1 October 2015.
Meanwhile, our “learning society” is losing control of its destiny as it disconnects with the values that constitute its identity. The nation is waiting with bated breath for the education
minister’s audit and the new vision for our people now that our
policy of “education for a learning society” has clearly lost its
lustre.
Around 160 personnel of the Desroches Island Resort will be
made redundant.
fter months of speculation about the identity
of the new lessee of the
Desroches Island Resort (DIL),
this newspaper can now confirm
that the establishment has been
leased to Four Seasons Hotels
and Resorts. The newly refurbished tourism establishment
will be operational in 2017.
A message announcing the closure of Desroches Island Resort
was posted on the resort’s website: “Hotel closed for refurbishment and re-branding with effect
11 January 2016”. It was in the
middle of last year that Desroches
Island Lodge (DIL) announced
that it had sold its property to an
unnamed buyer, and since then
no information had been forthcoming.
Back then the company issued
a statement saying, “Desroches
Island Lodge Limited (DIL) are
excited to announce that we have
concluded negotiations for the
sale of the hotel and business
situated on Desroches Island,
subject to the Government of
Seychelles consent and approvals. We will continue to operate,
manage and market the hotel in
the normal manner for the remainder of 2015, but envisage
handing over possession and
control to the new owners on 11
January 2016. DIL will therefore
not take any further bookings
beyond 10 January 2016 accordingly. The new owners will close
the hotel for a period during
2016, in order to rebrand, refurbish and enhance the facilities”.
TODAY has learned that around
160 staff, of which some 40 are
Seychellois, have been made redundant, effective end of January,
and have been paid all their dues.
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts is presently running a 67-villa hotel in the Baie Lazare district
in the south-west region of Mahé.
Desroches Island Resort, which
presently boasts some 20 villas,
will be its second property in Seychelles. The outer island, which
is the main one in the Amirantes
group, is situated 230km to the
southwest of Mahé.
SBC to give “due consideration” to grievances
Continued from page 1
A two-hour meeting between
the SBC and opposition leaders took place at the corporation’s headquarters at Hermitage yesterday morning.
The meeting was presided
by the chairperson of the SBC
board, Patrick Nanty and was
attended by all SBC board
members as well as the CEO,
Antoine Onezime. Representing the opposition were Wavel
Ramkalawan, Alexia Amesbury, Peter Roselie, Ina Laporte, Ahmed Afif and Wavel
Woodcock.
Speaking to TODAY after
the meeting, Mr Ramkalawan
said that they discussed the issues raised in their letter dated
January 14 which was delivered to both Mr Onezime and
Mr Nanty following a protest
march and which condemned
the SBC’s lack of impartiality
in its reporting as well as its
bias towards the ruling party.
“We stressed that the SBC
should be able to give divergent views, as recommended
in the Reilly report of 2007,
which called for the SBC’s independence and impartiality”,
he said, adding that, contrarily
to the Public Order Act which
was also strongly criticized by
Judge Reilly in his report and
which was repealed last year,
“nothing has been done with
regards to SBC”.
He explained that the opposition representatives also
questioned the appointment of
the SBC board, a point which
was also raised in the Reilly report but not implemented. “We
do not think that the board
should be dominated by public officials and we are against
the way the members are
chosen”, he said. In fact, the
Reilly report recommended
new methods for selecting the
seven-member board to ensure
its independence. It proposed
that the President should not
appoint its members and that
the latter should not be from
public service, that they should
be selected by an independent
panel and appointed by the
National Assembly and that
the CEO should be recruited
by the board to which he would
answer.
However, the SBC Act 2011
states that the President shall
appoint the board’s chairperson and two members (out a
list of three people proposed
by the Constitutional Appointments Authority). The other
members are appointed as follows: one is nominated by the
Minister, one member by the
Attorney General and the two
final members, “who shall be
of good standing in the community”, are to be appointed
by the President. “The SBC’s
representatives
understood
our concerns and tried to see
things from our point of views
and we are all satisfied that
they responded positively to
our queries and complaints”,
said Mr Ramkalawan.
“We even proposed that each
time a Minister speaks on a
policy issue, we should also be
allowed to give our views and
we are willing to provide a list
of spokespersons who are ca-
pable of talking about pertinent issues, to feature in the
SBC’s news and programmes”,
he added.
For his part, the board’s
chairperson, Patrick Nanty,
also described the meeting as
”fruitful, although it is early
days”. In a phone interview
with TODAY, Mr Nanty said
that it was important for this
first dialogue to take place in
a “calm and understanding
atmosphere”. “It was not only
accusations on the opposition’s
part and denial on ours. They
raised issues they felt strongly
about, such as SBC’s lack of
balanced reporting, which we
have agreed should be given
due consideration so that
there could be the balance they
want” added Mr Nanty.
On the issue of the appointment of SBC board, Mr Nanty
said: “We are appointed to
serve our country and we are
happy doing it”, but he refused
to comment further on its appointment. “I think all the
points raised should be considered serious and important
and my board will be meeting
shortly to address the matters”,
he concluded. Meanwhile Mr
Ramkalawan said that “we
want the SBC to respect its
Constitutional mandate as
stipulated by Article 168 which
says that all broadcasting media ‘owned or controlled’ by
the state or which received
contributions from public
funds would be ‘so constituted
and managed that they may
operate independently of the
state’ and of political or other
influence of other bodies, persons or political parties.”
“We are not extremists and
we should not be seen as antagonizing the SBC. We are
good people who want to
see fairness from a national
broadcaster which represents
the whole of Seychelles”, concluded Mr Ramkalawan. The
next meeting between the two
parties is scheduled for next
Thursday.
The protest march, which
prompted Wednesday’s meeting, took place on January 14.
It proceeded from the Stad
Popiler car park to the SBC
headquarters at Hermitage
and saw the participation of
over 800 participants.
Who cares?
Some diplomacy!
T
he Department of Transport will today hold
a special meeting to discuss issues pertaining to the Beau Vallon promenade. This follows numerous complaints made to the authorities
by tenants and owners of properties located on the
beachfront with regards to certain drivers’ blatant
disregard for the No Entry and No Parking signs
situated at the entrance of the pedestrian promenade.
The latest incident occurred on Saturday and relates to a car bearing diplomatic number plates that
had parked right in front of a guesthouse located
next to the Gecko Bar. But cars are not the only issue
faced by tenants and owners. Some have also complained of loud music, public drinking and littering
particularly on Wednesday and Friday evenings.
There are also reports of people using the takamaka
tree located on the beach as a toilet, resulting in a
foul smell permeating the air on Beau Vallon beach.
p3
Thursday 28 January 2016
Special needs education
Teachers get training for the first time
The one-year certificate course is financed by SEYPEC and is being done in collaboration with the Mauritian Institute of Education.
By PA
4
0 special needs teachers and assistant teachers
from the School for the
Exceptional Child, the Praslin
Centre for the Exceptional Child
and Special Education Needs
Coordinators from mainstream
education will be taking part in
a one-year Foundation Course
which was launched on Monday
morning at the ministry of Education.
It is the first-ever formal training for teachers working with
the over 100 Special Needs and
disabled children in Seychelles.
The one-year certificate programme is financed by the Seychelles Petroleum Company
(SEYPEC), which adopted the
School of the Exceptional Child
last year. It is their latest contribution towards Special Needs
education in Seychelles after
numerous donations of learning
resources and specialist equipment such as brail machines to
the School of the Exceptional
Child.
The Foundation Course, which
was launched by the principal
secretary (PS) for Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary
Education, Merida Delcy, is being facilitated by the Mauritius
Institute of Education (MIE).
The course’s facilitator is Special Needs specialist, Mauritian
Somrajsingh Dhunnoo. Giving
an overview of the course to participants, Mr Dhunnoo said that
its principal objective is to devel-
Somrajsingh Dhunnoo, Mauritian Special needs specialist.
op competencies of special needs
educators so that they can identify various educational needs for
this specific group and respond
to these needs by developing an
Individualized Educational Plan
(IEP).
Speaking to the press, Mr
Dhunnoo said that “to be able to
teach disabled children, educators should first understand the
pathology of each child’s condition so they can develop programmes as per their needs”.
The course, which will be in
three modules, starts this week.
In the first module, teachers will
Guests at the launch of the Foundation Course on Monday.
be introduced to special education. It will be followed by the
second module in three months
time, where the educators will
learn how to plan and develop
individualized educational programme. The final module will
focus on how to manage children
with Special Needs. Participants
are also expected to produce case
studies at the end of the course
which will be used to assess them
at the end of the training.
The Head of Special Needs
Unit at the ministry of Education, Marie-May Leon said the
unit’s two main challenges are a
lack of trained professionals in
special needs education as well as
a well-structured programme to
train the educators. “The newlyformed Seychelles Institute for
Teacher Education (SITE) is just
now developing a programme for
Special Needs and in the meantime, this is the first formal training for local special needs educators”, she told TODAY.
Mrs Leon said that although
some of the educators have over
30 years of experience with special needs and disabled children,
they still need the specialized
training that will empower them
Corruption
Status quo for Seychelles
Country remains in 40th position in Transparency International’s 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index.
A
ccording to the global
index compiled by Transparency International, a
“politically non-partisan” organisation, the perception of corruption in Seychelles remained
unchanged between 2014 and
2015. Indeed, its latest Corruption Perceptions Index ranks the
country in 40th position globally
with 55 points out of a maximum
of 100, the same as in 2014. This
performance puts Seychelles
joint second in sub-Saharan Africa with Cape Verde. Botswana
is the cleanest country in Africa
with an impressive 63 points
while Rwanda and Mauritius
round off the top five with 54
and 53 points, respectively.
In the chapter reserved to subSaharan Africa, Transparency
International warns that, “If corruption and impunity are to ‘be a
thing of the past’ as boldly stated
by the African Union in Agenda
2063, ‘The Africa We Want’, governments need to take bold steps
to ensure rule of law is the reality
for everyone. Prosecuting corruption will restore faith among
people who no longer believe
in the institutions that are supposed to protect them. Transpar-
ency and accountability must go
hand in hand when tackling corruption – as these results show,
this is still far from the norm in
Africa”. Given that the average
score for the region is a lowly
33 points, this observation is as
timely as it is accurate.
The Corruption Perceptions
Index ranks 168 countries and
territories according to their perceived level of corruption. According to the index, Denmark
is the least corrupt country in
the world, followed by Finland,
Sweden, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Norway. On the
opposite side of the spectrum,
Somalia and North Korea are
judged to be the most corrupt
nations on earth, ahead of Afghanistan, Sudan, South Sudan
and Angola. And as Transparency International remarks, the
effect of corruption is far more
insidious than people think:
“Public sector corruption isn‘t
simply about taxpayer money
going missing. Broken institutions and corrupt officials fuel
inequality and exploitation keeping wealth in the hands of
an elite few and trapping many
more in poverty”.
Ramkalawan to pay siblings SCR772 000
Continued from page 1
The leader of the Seychelles
National Party (SNP), Wavel
Ramkalawan, will have to pay
SCR772 000 to his brother and
his sister, the Supreme Court
ruled on Monday. This decision
in effect means that Mr Ramkalawan will have to buy out
his siblings’ shares in a property
in St Louis that he had already
bought from his mother in 2008.
Contacted, Mr Ramkalawan
confirmed the ruling but explained that the payment did not
constitute damages. He told this
newspaper that he had bought
the property on Serret road from
his mother in 2008 for SCR50
000 and, following the sale, had
developed half of the property.
But under the Napoleonic Code
(the French Civil code established under Napoleon) which
is still in force in Seychelles, a
parent cannot dispose of his or
her property the way they might
want.
And this is what Mr Ramkalawan’s siblings had taken issue
with, asking the court to declare
the sale of the property as a “donation déguisée” and that the
property revert back to the inheritance. The court found that
Mr Ramkalawan’s mother could
only sell her share of the property, which constitutes a quarter
of the plot of land, and not the
shares that should have gone to
her other children.
“I have basically been ordered
to buy their shares. The land was
valued at SCR1.5 million and I
will need to buy the two quarters that the court says should
have gone to them. Hence, I’ll
need to pay them SCR386 000
each”, Wavel Ramkalawan told
TODAY. He added that “it’s high
time the civil code is revised to
allow parents to dispose of their
property as they see fit so that
children who neglect their parents aren’t entitled to any share
of the inheritance”.
Mr Ramkalawan claims that
his brother, who lives on La
Digue, had not spoken to their
mother for 23 years “and my sister had not spoken to my mother
for three years until her death in
2012”. Asked whether he is dis-
appointed with the judgment,
the politician says he had obviously hoped to win and said that
he “had to convince them to attend my mother’s funeral. My
mother did a triple bypass and
they weren’t interested to visit
and take care of her. I was the
one who cared for her. Yet they
found the time to fight her wish
in court”.
He nonetheless added that he
is “happy that my mother’s wish
for the land at Serret Road to be
mine, has been fulfilled”. He has
been given until June 2016 to
pay his siblings their shares.
Asked whether he will appeal
the court’s decision, Mr Ramkalawan said he is still discussing
the matter with his lawyer.
so that they in turn can better
guide the students.
“They are doing their best but
we have to go that little bit further, where they will learn how
to work with each child based on
their abilities”, she said adding
that “right now the disabled and
special needs students are restricted as to what they can venture into after attending school
and rehabilitation centre”.
She declared that “with the
proper training, they can either
apply for secondary education
or for a job when they leave our
school so that they also can have
the same opportunities as any
able-bodied person”.
As she officially launched the
course, PS Delcy said that Monday’s event was a significant step
in the development of Special
Education in Seychelles and that
it formed part of the key targets
in the Medium Term Strategic
plan 2013-2017.
She added that it was also part
of the Inclusive Education policy
which was launched in March
2015. ”In line with the Policy on
Inclusive Education, various initiatives are being implemented
to ensure that SEN intervention
programmes in both mainstream
and special schools are differentiated, focused on specific targets
and stronger emphasis on life
skills to address the diverse needs
of pupils with Special Education
Needs and Disabilities”, she said.
She also commended SEYPEC
for financing the project as part
of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
For his part, the Company’s
chief executive officer (CEO),
Conrad Benoiton, reaffirmed SEYPEC’s support towards elevating the standards of teaching and
learning in the areas of special
needs.
Letter to the Editor
Disclaimer: The views and comments expressed are those of the writer and not
necessarily those of this newspaper
Potholes at
International School
Dear Editor,
I would be grateful if you would consider publishing the following in
your newspaper.
The purpose of my writing this letter is to ask the landlord and the
head of the International School Seychelles, whether they have any intention of ameliorating the deplorable state of the driveway and parking area at the school? Found especially when exiting, the number of
potholes is alarming for a school of such high repute!
One just has to go there once to experience the incredible discomfort when driving a motor vehicle in and out of the premises. It certainly is not safe and definitely ruins the condition of the vehicles in
the long run. If a vehicle gets damaged by those enormous potholes,
who is responsible?
Parents, children and visitors to the school have to endure being
bounced about when exiting. I can’t imagine that this is good for anyone suffering from a heart condition or any other medical condition,
as it causes anxiety.
It really leaves one to wonder that with such high fees being collected by the school authorities, how is it that this is not something
that can be addressed? I don’t know if the onus in this case, is on the
landlord of the school but whoever is responsible, I sincerely hope
that they take action to remedy this situation. It would also be to the
advantage of the school if the whole area was cemented as it would
improve the traffic circulation and increase the size of the parking rea.
In fact, I have just learned that the school fees are going to be increased again in September 2016.
Yours faithfully,
A concerned visitor to the school
p4
Thursday 28 January 2016
Basketball
Terry Celeste elected head of coaches’ commission
Priority will be given to improve the level of
local coaches and overhaul the body.
By AH
E
lections for the basketball coaches’ commission
were held last Saturday
as part of its AGM. The meeting, which was heated at times,
was attended by most basketball coaches in the country. The
coaches’ commission’s main role
is to look into the issues relating
to basketball coaches, such as
the appointment of coaches for
the national teams and youth
teams and their development
and to review the performances
of the coaches to make sure that
they are delivering and doing
a proper job. It is also tasked
with looking at coaching issues
in the country and making sure
that local basketball coaches are
accredited before sitting on the
bench of their respective teams
during official matches.
Over the past years, and especially during the 2015 season, the commission under
the chairmanship of Alix Allissop was severely criticized for
a lack of mettle notably when
appointing coaches for the national teams for both the Indian
Ocean and All Africa Games.
The election saw the coach of
Grand Anse Wolves and Anse
Etoile Stars, Terry Celeste,
elected as the new chairman
to replace Mr. Allisop. Patricia
Saminadin who coaches the Mt
Fleuri ladies team as well as the
boys cadets team is the commission’s new secretary. Lina
Lestrange who is the coach of
the girls’ cadet team will represent the women’s coaches whilst
Jerry Andrew will represent the
coaches of the youth teams as
he also is the coach of the boys’
cadet team.
The other members of the
new look coaches’ commission are Michel Malbrook from
BAYA and B. Challenge teams,
Lennon Sherman who last year
was the coach of ladies Beau
Vallon Sonics, former national
team head coach Tony Juliette
who is now with PLS Hawks
and Dominic Pillay who is the
coach of the Junior team. “We
want the coaches’ commission
to be very pro-active this year
and that is why we now have
eight members instead of five
as was the case in the past.
The members really wanted
a change on the commission’s
panel so as to bring in new
ideas. We will have our first
meeting next Monday where
we will really set out what our
Grand Anse Wolves coach Terry Celeste (standing 1st from right) is the new head of the basketball coaches commission.
mandate will be but off the top
on my head one of my main priorities will be to work together
as a team and make sure that
our local coaches get to take
Canoe
part in training courses both
locally or abroad. We can use
our experienced local coaches
to conduct workshops for the
up and coming ones so that the
level of basketball coaching in
Seychelles can improve,” Mr.
Celeste told TODAY sport.
The new chairman also said
that it is important for coaches
to have the necessary certified
documents and accreditation
when sitting on the bench for
official matches. The new com-
mission also plans to review the
appointment of all the coaches
in the current national set
up such as the senior national
teams, the junior and cadet
teams and, if need be, appoint
new ones.
Tony Lespoir aiming to make it
to his third Olympics
The canoeing association has promised to support him all the way.
By AH
W
ith the Rio Olympic
Games fast approaching it seems that water sports could be Seychelles
biggest hope of achieving something at the biggest sporting
event on the planet. Two athletes, sailor Rodney Govinden
and windsurfer Jean-Marc Gardette, have already qualified for
the games and another sailor,
veteran Olympian Allen Julie,
will also be trying to qualify this
year.
But another water sports athlete, former Olympian canoeist,
Tony Lespoir, will also be trying
to make it to Rio this year. Lespoir is by far the best canoeist
Seychelles has ever produced.
He participated in the Athens
games in 2004 on invitation
and in 2008 he qualified for
the Beijing Olympics. If he does
qualify, this will be his third participation at the Olympics.
The former athlete of the year
is not on an Olympic scholarship program, meaning he will
have to depend entirely on the
canoe association in his quest
to qualify for the Games. The
chairman of the canoeing association, Phillip Albert, has
promised that they will try and
push him all the way to Rio in
August. “We will be sending him
and another two canoeists to
the African Championship from
March 29 to April 5 in South Africa. The competition will also
be an Olympic qualifying event,”
Mr. Albert told TODAY sport.
The other canoeists who will
take part in the championship
will be Jean-Paul Bacco and
junior canoeist Pascal Fred.
“Lespoir has a good chance of
qualifying for the Olympics at
the African Championship because when we analysed his
performance at last year’s World
Championship we found that
he is on par with most of the
other African athletes trying to
qualify for the same game. With
his experience at top level canoe
competitions we feel that he has
a good chance of making it,” he
explained.
Lespoir is training intensively
every day, but he knows that it
won’t be easy. “The level of canoeing in Africa has shot up
rapidly during the last few years
and there are African canoeists
winning medals on the world
stage nowadays but that does
not mean that I won’t make it,
I am training hard with the aim
of making it onto the podium in
South Africa so that it can boost
up my chances of qualifying for
the Games. Even if I am not on
any scholarship at the moment
I am sure that the local Olympic committee and the National
Sports Council will support me
in my attempt to try and qualify
for the Rio Olympics,” said an
optimistic Lespoir.
Having made it twice to the
Olympics already and with so
many years of experience in
high level canoe competitions,
he has as a good shot at making
it to Brazil in August.
Water World team did not get a marlin but they caught this big dog tooth tuna.
Sponsored by
https://www.facebook.com/groups/seychellesfishing/
email: [email protected], Tel: +248 2603626
p5
Thursday 28 January, 2016
World Athletics Championships
Doha’s bids for 2017 and 2019 world athletics
championships under investigation
D
oha’s bids for the 2017
and 2019 World Athletics
Championships are now
under investigation by the IAAF’s
ethics commission, the chairman
of UK Athletics (UKA) has revealed.
“I’ve had a number of discussions with the IAAF and they
have told me the 2017 and 2019
bids by Doha have now been referred to their ethics commission.
My next conversation will be with
the ethics commission to lay out
all I heard,” said Ed Warner, appearing before the culture, media
and sport select committee.
The Guardian revealed in December 2014 an email in which
Papa Massata Diack, the son of
the disgraced International Association of Athletics Federations president Lamine, had apparently asked for $5m (£3.5m)
from Qatar at a time when it was
bidding for the 2017 World Athletics Championships and the
Olympics. Diack, now wanted by
Interpol as part of a French criminal investigation into corruption
in athletics that has also arrested
his father, denied sending the
email.
Late last year, the IAAF’s independent ethics commission also
said Kenyan officials had been
given two cars at a time when
Newcastle United agree
£12m fee for Andros
Townsend
N
ewcastle United have reportedly agreed a fee of
£12m with Tottenham Hotspur for winger Andros Townsend.
The 24-year-old has made just two
starts for the London side since stepping up to the senior team in 2009
and has had loan spells with nine
different clubs. According to Sky
Sports News, the Magpies are now
close to finalising the deal after the
fee was settled at £12m. Spurs were
believed to be asking for £14m, while
Newcastle had previously refused to
go above the £10.5m mark. Southampton were also in the running for
Townsend’s signature.
Date agreed for Tyson
Fury, Wladimir Klitschko
rematch?
T
yson Fury has reportedly agreed
to defend his WBA and WBO
heavyweight titles against
Wladimir Klitschko on May 7 in Germany. In November, Fury caused one
of the biggest upsets in recent years
by out-pointing the long-reigning
champion in Dusseldorf to win the
two belts, as well as the IBF strap
which he was forced to vacate due to
a contract clause forcing the rematch
with Klitschko. According to the Daily
Star, Klitschko will have the opportunity to avenge his surprise defeat on
May 7, with Bayern Munich’s Allianz
Arena said to be the frontrunner to
stage the bout. Fury had hoped to face
Klitschko at Old Trafford or Wembley,
but while nothing has been confirmed
by either camp, it appears that the
unbeaten British fighter has agreed to
travel to Germany for a second time.
On Tuesday, the WBA revealed that
the winner of Fury and Klitschko will
be required to face either Luis Ortiz or
Alexander Ustinov as part of a tournament to crown one champion in the
governing body. However, it is widely
expected that the victor will look to
a unification clash with either WBC
champion Deontay Wilder or IBF title
holder Charles Martin later in 2016.
Chairman of UK Athletics says IAAF’s ethics commission looking into bids
Doha was bidding for the 2019
world championships. The Qatari capital lost out to London for
the 2017 championships but won
the right to host 2019.
This month, Warner said to
BBC’s Sportsweek programme he
had been told by a senior IAAF
official that “brown envelopes”
were being handed out in a hotel
suite on the eve of the 2017 decision. The Qatar Athletics Federation has consistently denied any
wrongdoing.
In a testy exchange with the
MP Damian Collins, Warner refused to say which senior IAAF
figure had told him the brown envelope rumour but that he would
lay everything he knew before the
ethics committee. He was asked
whether Sebastian Coe, then an
IAAF vice-president and part of
the London 2017 bid team, was
the one who had told him but he
refused to answer. Coe told the
BBC he had not heard the claims
before.
Collins said Warner could be
accused of being part of a “conspiracy of silence” because he
waited four years before mentioning the rumours. The UKA
chairman said it was not until
recently that he had reconsidered
the claims in the light of new allegations about Doha’s bid and
corruption at the IAAF.
“I worked on the basis that as
these were sufficiently senior people then they were being referred,
perhaps it will emerge that they
weren’t,” he told the committee.
“I would be hugely disappointed
if the rumours were not acted on.
Let’s see who knew what.”
Warner has suggested that if
it emerges the Doha bid was not
above board, it could lobby for a
return of the $7.2m that the London 2017 bid had to promise in
prize money in order to match
the amount Qatar had proposed.
Now IAAF president, Coe has
said that if any wrongdoing is
proved he will look into the award
of all major championships. The
French police investigation is understood to be looking into the
award of every athletics world
championships since 2009 in the
wake of the former World Anti-Doping Agency president Dick
Pound’s report into state-sponsored doping in Russia and an
UKA chairman Ed Warner said that the IAAF has launched an investigation into Doha’s bidding process for the 2017 and 2019 world
athletics championships.
Tennis
associated cover-up at the IAAF.
Coe is understood to have personally referred the 2017 case to
the ethics commission at the request of Dahlan al-Hamad, the
president of the Qatar Athletics
Federation and an IAAF council
member.
Warner also revealed that British athletes selected for the world
indoor championships will have
to sign a document that will ban
them from future competition
for life if they are found guilty of
doping. He confirmed the clause
would be written into the contracts for the British team selected for the championships in Portland in March and the London
2017 world championships.
“In the contract, British athletes will say they forfeit their
right to represent Britain again if
they are banned,” Warner told the
parliamentary select committee.
The British Olympic Association
previously had a rule that excluded athletes from future Games for
life if they were banned but it was
found to be legally unenforceable.
Despite immediate scepticism
among legal experts, Warner said
UKA was consulting with lawyers
about how best to draft the rule.
“The fight is worth having because the outcome is so important. The team members agree-
ment for the world indoors will
include that cause,” said Warner.
“I don’t see any of them disagreeing with that there and then. If
you want to be selected, one of
the things you have to do is sign
the team members agreement.”
The UKA chairman also said
that Russia should not be allowed
back into competition before the
Rio 2016 Games and called on
Coe to move quickly to appoint
a new chief executive and senior
executive team.
But he backed Coe, under huge
pressure on a range of fronts, to
overhaul the organisation. “We
assisted in getting our man into
that place and I believe he has
got the wit, the intelligence, the
ambition, the integrity to deliver
that change. We believe this man
can deliver and will deliver,” he
said.
UK Anti Doping’s chief executive, Nicole Sapstead, was
also asked whether Russia could
overhaul its anti-doping system
in time for the Rio 2016 Olympics. “I don’t think so. What we
have seen is so entrenched that
this isn’t an overnight solution.
I think it will take a number of
years before any credibility can
be attached to their programmes
and the potentially the credibility
of the performances.”
Manchester United
Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United
Tennis authorities to
review anti-corruption position to be reviewed match by match
unit after match-fixing
L
allegations
Van Gaal set to remain in charge for FA Cup tie at Derby County
Sport’s integrity unit accused of being ineffective in
fight against corruption
T
ennis
officials
have
launched an independent
review into their anti-corruption practices after allegations the sport’s watchdog, the
Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU), had
been ineffective in stamping out
corruption in the game.
The announcement at the Australian Open came in the wake of
media reports on the first day of
the tournament that 16 players,
who have been ranked in the top
50, had been repeatedly flagged
to the TIU over suspicions they
had thrown matches in the past
decade.
“The Independent Review
Panel will review and report on
the appropriateness and effectiveness of the Tennis Anti-Corruption programme and make
recommendations for change,”
said the joint statement from the
ATP and WTA tours, the grand
slam board and International
Tennis Federation.
The review would address
issues of transparency and resourcing at the TIU, structural
or governance issues, and how
to extend the scope of tennis’
anti-corruption education programmes.
“It is vital we repair the damage
and do so quickly which is why
we have decided to announce the
review,” Tennis Integrity Board
chairman Philip Brook said. “We
are determined to do anything
we need to remove corruption
from our sport.”
Prominent London barrister
Adam Lewis QC will head the inquiry and its report will be made
publicly available.
Allegations of match-fixing
surfaced at the Australian Open
when a top global bookmaker
suspended betting on a mixed
doubles match last Sunday after
unusually large amounts were
bet on it. The players have denied
any involvement.
“We are in a toxic environment
for sport at the moment,” ATP
chairman Chris Kermode told the
media conference. “Having lists
of suspicious betting patterns do
not mean corruption, they are a
red flag and that is not evidence.”
Authorities previously defended the TIU and denied allegations it was under-resourced
and did not have necessary enforcement powers. They said
they had put about $14 million
into their anti-corruption measures and successfully investigated and sanctioned 18 players,
six of whom received life bans.
The review board would be
fully funded by tennis authorities and they would be granted wide-ranging investigative
powers.
ouis van Gaal is set to remain in charge for Manchester United’s FA Cup
tie at Derby County on Friday, although the manager’s job is being
reviewed on a match-by-match
basis.
Van Gaal returned from a twoday break in the Netherlands on
Tuesday during which he considered his future, having offered to
step aside following the 1-0 defeat
by Southampton at Old Trafford.
The offer was rejected by United’s executive vice-chairman, Ed
Woodward, as it had been on two
occasions at Christmas when Van
Gaal oversaw the poorest December in the club’s 138-year history
and was minded to walk away.
Van Gaal took training on Tuesday and it is thought he discussed
his position with Woodward. It
appears he will be at the helm at
Derby but, given the uncertainty
surrounding the manager’s position, there would be no surprise
if the situation changed. If it
did, Ryan Giggs, Van Gaal’s No2,
would be expected to be asked to
oversee the fourth-round tie at
the iPro Stadium.
Van Gaal nearly lost his job
during Christmas week but the
goalless draw with Chelsea at
Old Trafford on 28 December offered renewed optimism as United played with a higher tempo
and posed more of an attacking
threat. The lack of both these elements had been the prevailing
criticism of the form under Van
Gaal.
The improved display was the
start of a five-match unbeaten
run, yet his position remained in
the balance. It does so again and
a defeat by Derby may be enough
for Van Gaal to offer his resignation again or Woodward to sack
him. If not, the same equation
would be in play for next Tuesday
evening’s visit of Stoke City in the
league.
The uncertainty regarding Van
Gaal’s future is understood to be
causing bemusement among his
players. Since he became manager in the summer of 2014 they
have attempted to take on board
his methods and individual management style but the sense is
that Van Gaal’s authority is receding with each dismal performance.
As the Glazers, who own United, make the Premier League the
priority over any other competition, Woodward will be particularly concerned by the squad’s
inability to improve results. The
loss to Southampton on Saturday left United five points behind
Tottenham Hotspur, who are in
the last Champions League place,
and was the sixth league defeat
of the season. United have won
only 11 of their past 29 top-flight
matches.
A prime factor in Van Gaal still
remaining as manager is Woodward’s preference to wait until
the summer to find a replacement. He is unsure who might fill
the role on a permanent basis at
the moment.
José Mourinho would seem a
prime candidate but the fact he
has been ignored so far underlines the reservations Woodward
has regarding the former Chelsea
manager. Mourinho’s coaching
abilities are not in doubt but his
divisive nature is an issue.
Although he may be appointed
should Van Gaal’s troubled tenure
end, Woodward may also consider Giggs on a permanent basis as
well as Gary Neville, the former
United captain, Atlético Madrid’s
Diego Simeone, Mauricio Pochettino, Marcelo Bielsa and Jorge
Sampaoli. Pep Guardiola appears
destined for Manchester City but
Woodward retains an interest.
Louis van Gaal’s latest offer to stand down as the manager of Manchester United was rejected again.
p6
Thursday 28 January, 2016
Crystal Palace sign
Emmanuel Adebayor on
free transfer
C
rystal Palace have completed the signing of Emmanuel
Adebayor on a free transfer.
The 31-year-old, who has been out
of work since he agreed to cancel
his contract at Tottenham Hotspur
in September, has signed a deal until the end of the season.
The Togolese forward, who has
played for Arsenal and Manchester City during his career, had been
linked with a switch to Selhurst
Park in the last few weeks. The Eagles, who have not found the back
of the net in their last six Premier
League games, have recruited
Adebayor with the hope of the experienced striker providing some
additional firepower. In four years
at Tottenham, the striker scored 41
goals in 106 appearances.
Kobe Bryant rules out
Olympics participation
K
obe Bryant has revealed
that he will not participate
in this summer’s Olympic
Games in Rio and will instead end
his playing career with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Lakers legend will retire at
the end of the current season after
a record-breaking 20 years with
the California side and, despite previously outlining his intention to
compete for a third Olympic gold
with the USA men’s team, has now
had a change of heart about his
swansong. “I think it’s the young
guys’ turn to play and perform,”
Bryant told reporters on Saturday.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to win
two gold medals so I’ve had my
moment. “I’ll watch from afar, I’ll
support from afar and if they want
me to come down and speak to
the guys, I will, but that’s about it.
“I think as beautiful as it would be
to play for our country, when I say
my last game is going to be my last
game, I’m going to retire, then that’s
it It’s not like I’m going to walk off
the stage and then [say], ‘But I’m
going to come right back for a minute. Hold on one second.’ You know
what I mean?
I think it’s pretty sweet to have
the final game be in a Laker uniform and support the players from
afar.” Bryant, who is the all-time
leading scorer in Lakers franchise
history, is expected to feature in
the side’s final regular-season game
against the Utah Jazz on April 13.
Chelsea, West Bromwich
Albion fined by the FA for
failing to control players
C
helsea and West Bromwich
Albion have been fined
£65,000 and £35,000 respectively by the Football Association for failing to control their
players during a Premier League
clash earlier this month. In the
2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge, six
players were booked before James
McClean sealed an 86th-minute
equaliser for the Baggies. A statement from the FA read: “Chelsea
and West Bromwich Albion have
been fined £65,000 and £35,000
respectively and warned as to their
future conduct after both clubs admitted breaching FA Rule E20(a)
in relation to their game on 13 January 2016.
“It was alleged that in or around
the 58th minute of the fixture, they
failed to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly
fashion.
“The cases, which were considered ‘non-standard’ due to both
clubs having committed similar
breaches of FA Rule E20(a) within the preceding 12 months, were
heard by an Independent Regulatory Commission on Monday [January 25, 2016].” Chelsea and West
Brom are both on 28 points in the
Premier League table.
Australian Open
Konta & Murray reach Australian Open semi-finals
B
Angelique Kerber dumps Victoria Azarenka out the Australian Open with stunning second set comeback to reach semi-finals
ritain have two Grand Slam
singles semi-finalists for the
first time since 1977 after victories for Johanna Konta and Andy
Murray at the Australian Open.
Konta continued her remarkable
run with a 6-4 6-1 win over China’s
Zhang Shuai in the quarter-finals
and next faces German seventh seed
Angelique Kerber.
Fellow Briton Murray saw off
Spain’s David Ferrer 6-3 6-7 (5-7)
6-2 6-3 to reach his sixth Melbourne
semi-final.
The Scot, seeded second, will play
Gael Monfils or Milos Raonic on Friday.
Konta and Murray have matched
the achievement of semi-finalist Sue
Barker and runner-up John Lloyd,
who both reached the last four at the
Australian Open 39 years ago.
Murray, 28, won a gruelling quarter-final against eighth seed Ferrer
that lasted three hours and 49 min-
utes.
Konta, ranked 47th, is the first
British woman to reach a Grand
Slam semi-final since Jo Durie made
the US Open last four in 1983.
“I didn’t put anything on this
match,” said Konta. “I just wanted to
come out and play the best level that
I could, and give the best entertainment I could.”
Konta powers into semis
“I’m just so happy that I’m enjoying what I’m doing,” said Konta after her straight-set win over Zhang.
“That is me living my dream.”
Her achievements so far have
guaranteed her prize money of at
least £370,000 and are likely to secure her a place in the world’s top 30.
“When I was a little girl, I dreamt
of winning grand slams and being
number one in the world,” she added.
“That dream stays the same, I think,
as long as you’re doing the career
Kerber won five games straight in the second set to stun Azarenka in
the quarter-final in Melbourne.
that you’re on.”
Konta said she “just wanted to
come out and play the best level” she
could against Zhang, who was also in
uncharted waters.
The British number one saw off
the Chinese qualifier, ranked 133rd
in the world, in one hour and 22
minutes.
Konta began confidently, breaking
twice and serving superbly as she
moved 5-2 clear before overcoming
some nerves and a resurgent opponent to clinch the set.
After saving a break point that
would have made it 5-5 and then
converting her sixth set point, the
confidence returned and Konta
again earned a double-break lead in
the second set.
With a semi-final place there for
the taking, Konta saw two match
points slip by but converted the third
thanks to a net cord.
“To be honest, I was taking it a
match at a time,” said Konta. “She
definitely didn’t make it easy for me.
“Every time I was ahead, she was
constantly there. I’m not proud of the
net cord, but I’m happy I was able to
fight every point.”
A Grand Slam final appearance is
now a real possibility, arguably more
so after Kerber’s surprise win over
the in-form Victoria Azarenka.
Kerber and Konta will meet for
the first time in Thursday’s second
semi-final at around 04:30 GMT.
Murray overcomes gritty Ferrer
Murray is through to his 18th
Grand Slam semi-final, bringing
him level with Boris Becker, having
dropped just two sets in five matches.
NBA
The former Wimbledon and US
Open champion was made to work
hard by Ferrer, but Murray proved
the stronger in the third and fourth
sets. A three-set win looked possible
after he took the opener and fought
back from 4-1 down in the second to
earn two break points at 4-4.
Ferrer, 33, showed his famous
battling qualities by digging in and
forcing a tie-break, which he would
win to draw level, prompting Murray
to berate himself and talk to those
in his player box. The Scot was understandably irritated but gathered
himself sufficiently to break for a 3-1
lead in the third, at which point the
roof was brought across with thunderstorms forecast. Murray saved a
break point on the resumption, but
broke once again to take a grip on
the contest and moved 2-0 up in the
fourth.
Ferrer, 33, refused to yield and hit
straight back but Murray made the
decisive move in game six after the
Spaniard netted a smash and made
it to the finish line with two hardfought service games.
Kerber upsets Azarenka
Azarenka might have been seeded
seven places lower than Kerber at
14th, but the German still pulled off
something of a shock by knocking
out the Belarusian.
The 28-year-old raced into an early 4-0 lead and then staged a superb
second-set fightback to beat twotime champion Azarenka 6-3 7-5.
The German had lost all six previous matches against Azarenka and
saved five set points from 2-5 in the
second set. “I can’t actually describe
it in words,” said Kerber. “I’m so happy I beat her for the first time.”
Azarenka, 26, said her footwork
and shots weren’t good enough and
also blamed “too many unforced errors in the key moments”.
Andy Murray is still searching for his first Australian Open title having
experienced defeat in four finals.
Capital One Cup
Blake Griffin breaks hands Mignolet save sends Reds to Wembley
Joe Allen fires Liverpool to Wembley in shootout win over Stoke City
in fight as Clippers say: no
place for this conduct
S
L
Clippers star will miss several weeks with injury
A Clippers star Blake Griffin
is likely to miss several weeks
with a suspected broken hand
after hitting the team’s assistant
equipment manager, Matias Testi,
during an argument at a restaurant
in Toronto.
According to ESPN, Griffin and
Testi got into an argument in the
restaurant during the team’s trip to
play the Raptors. Griffin hit the Testi, who then left the restaurant and
went outside. Griffin followed him
outside and hit him again. Sources
told ESPN that Griffin is friends with
Testi, and the two had been on holiday together in the past.
Testi’s face was injured and he was
treated at a local hospital, sources
said. Both men were sent home after
the incident.
“This conduct has no place in
our organization and this incident
does not represent who we are as a
team,” Clippers owner Steve Ballmer
and coach Doc Rivers said in a joint
statement that did not detail what
happened. “We are conducting a full
investigation with assistance from
the NBA. At the conclusion of the
investigation, appropriate action will
be taken.”
Sources said the injury is expected to keep Griffin out for “a matter
of weeks, as opposed to days”. The
suspected fracture is unrelated to
the torn quadriceps muscle that has
sidelined Griffin since 26 December.
The Clippers said Griffin had
X-rays on the hand Monday in Los
Angeles and underwent a procedure to repair “a spiral fracture of
the fourth metacarpal” Tuesday. The
procedure was performed by Dr Steve Shin. Griffin, who was selected
first overall by the Clippers in the
2009 draft, has gone to the All-Star
Game every season he has played,
and helped the Clippers become a
playoff contender, but, strangely, the
team has experienced a hot streak
without him, going 11-3 since Griffin was hurt. Having said that, only
two of those wins have come against
teams with records of .500 or better.
LA plays at Indiana on Tuesday
and at Atlanta on Wednesday before returning home to square off
with the Lakers on Friday at Staples
Center.
Blake Griffin has been nursing a torn quadriceps and hasn’t played
since 26 December.
imon Mignolet produced a decisive spot-kick save from Marc
Muniesa as Liverpool edged
Stoke City 6-5 on penalties at Anfield
on Tuesday to reach the League Cup
final.
After Marko Arnautovic had cancelled out Liverpool’s 1-0 aggregate
lead with a goal that seemed to have
been scored from an offside position,
the game went to extra time and then
penalties, and with Mignolet thwarting Muniesa, it was left to Joe Allen to
net the decisive spot-kick.
Following some slapdash recent
displays, it was a much-needed
breakthrough for Liverpool manager
Jurgen Klopp, appointed in October,
whose side will face either Manchester City or Merseyside rivals Everton
in the final on February 28.
“Their goal was double offside, but
in the end, we had luck in the penalty
shootout,” Klopp told Sky Sports.
“Over the whole 120 minutes, the
players, crowd and Liverpool deserved it. Wembley is a cool place to
play football, but we go there to win.
It’s not much fun to lose.”
It will be Liverpool’s first major
final since 2012, when they won the
last of their eight League Cups and
lost to Chelsea in the FA Cup final.
Mark Hughes’s Stoke had eliminated holders Chelsea in round four,
but despite recording a first win
inside 90 minutes at Anfield since
March 1959, they fell short in their
bid to reach their first League Cup
final since they won the tournament
in 1972. “I’m really proud of what the
players produced,” said Hughes. “I
can’t fault any of them. I thought we
were the dominant team, but we’re
not the ones going to Wembley, unfortunately.”
It took until the first minute of
extra time for Liverpool to register a
shot on target from open play, Stoke
goalkeeper Jack Butland saving a toepoke from Roberto Firmino.
But Stoke substitute Marco van
Ginkel twice went closer, and each
time from Peter Crouch flick-ons,
first scuffing a shot against the righthand post and then testing Mignolet
with a volley.
Sakho block
With Liverpool substitute Jordon
Ibe skewing a shot over late on, the
game went to penalties and after
each side had squandered a spot-kick
- Mignolet saving from Crouch, Emre
Can hitting the post - it went to sudden death. Van Ginkel and Lucas Leiva scored, but Belgium international
Mignolet - maligned for some shaky
recent performances - plunged to his
left to parry Muniesa’s spot-kick and
Allen stepped up to settle the semi-final by planting the ball into the topright corner.
Liverpool’s fragility beneath the
high ball was demonstrated anew
in Saturday’s madcap 5-4 win at
Norwich City and Hughes sought
to target their aerial vulnerability
by awarding one-time Anfield native Crouch only his fifth start of the
season. The gangly former England
striker got his head to plenty of balls,
but it was from an approach more in
keeping with Stoke’s football this sea-
son that the hosts procured their best
first-half chances.
Two opportunities fell to Jon Walters. From Arnautovic’s through-ball
in the 14th minute the Irishman saw
a shot deflected over and when Erik
Pieters’s pass was allowed to bounce
through to him eight minutes later,
he shot wide under pressure from the
sliding Mamadou Sakho.
A tame first half was trundling
towards its conclusion when Stoke
struck in stoppage time, Bojan Krkic
crossing from the right and Arnautovic stealing in behind Kolo Toure to
side-foot home. Liverpool’s defenders
appealed in vain to the linesman, but
television replays confirmed that the
Austrian had been offside.
The home fans’ boos became roars
early in the second half as Liverpool
looked to reassert their advantage,
with Butland diverting a drilled shot
by Firmino onto the post.
The hosts’ defensive weaknesses
remained apparent, however, and
it took a last-ditch block from Sakho to thwart Walters after Liverpool
had failed to clear a free-kick from
Pieters. With a late Liverpool penalty
appeal for handball against Pieters
dismissed by referee Jon Moss, the
game went to extra time.
Joe Allen of Liverpool sends Stoke’s goalkeeper Jack Butland the
wrong way for his side’s winning penalty.
Thursday 28 January, 2016
p7
Interview with Gulab Rai, GM of Berjaya Resort and Casino
“Our rates are attractive compared to other brand hotels”
Gulab Rai has been the area general manager (AGM) for Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay Resort & Casino since 2013. In this interview, he speaks about updating the establishment, but
also turning it into THE activity hotel in Seychelles. The grandiose plans do not stop there though, as the next target is to whet the appetite of the Indian wedding market, who
might have tired of the Maldives and Mauritius markets and are now looking for another exotic destination to hold their lavish weddings.
By: CM
The Berjaya hotel has changed
considerably over the years. What
was the reasoning behind the
changes?
To stay competitive first and foremost but also, being an old hotel, we
have repeat clients who have been
coming here for the last 16 years and
we want them to see something new
when they come back. The refurbishment was also due and was required
by the travel agencies. For us to market to international clients, we have
to maintain standards.
What are the main changes?
I’ve been here since September
2013 and one of the main projects I
undertook was the full renovation of
the kitchen. This did not create any
major issues because the kitchen was
still running but we wanted to restructure the entire main production
kitchen to make it more user friendly,
efficient and practical. We decided
to restructure it like an island shape
where the cooking is done in the centre, the washing is on another side
and we also have segregated areas for
meat, seafood based on the current
regulations.
We have also updated the superior
rooms and then we also did the outdoor bar shack outside as well as the
Japanese bar. The shack was built by
our own staff.
It’s not just the rooms and the
kitchen area that have been given a
face-lift but the lobby as well. We’ve
also added a Teppayanki Restaurant
(Japanese), Sandsation Bar (Beach
Bar) and the meeting rooms Hibiscus and Jasmine.
What is your long-term plan and
in what direction do you want to
take the hotel?
We’re enlarging the meeting rooms
Hibiscus and Jasmine. Before, one
room could take a maximum of 60
people but it now takes 140 people.
We are also working on a project for
52 chalets that is awaiting approval
and budgeting from our corporate
office, so quite soon, we will see the
changes. The lobby area and even the
lobby toilets are due for some chang-
Gulab Rai, the area general manager of Berjaya.
200 employees so we can sell you
“Pirate Night”, “Flintstone Night”
or “Cowboy Night. We’ve been doing foreign weddings and now we’re
even hosting local weddings.
We want to transform this hotel
into an activity-based hotel namely
for entertainment and parties for
over 500 persons and I don’t see any
other hotels that can do this and we
want to make the hotel more accessible to the local community. Recently
on 21 November, we had the Sandsation beach party and we had about
450 people here and for the New
Year we had over 500 guests – visitors and locals. This time, we had 117
local guests who came for the party,
which we have never had before. All
of this shows that guests can see that
this long-serving hotel is upgrading
itself.
We want this hotel to be a leading
hotel and we want a bigger share of
the market in arrivals and I think it
is a reasonable objective because our
rates are attractive as compared to
many other brand hotels. The facilities are there, but we want to give the
service an uplift. We want to be the
leading three-star hotel in Seychelles.
To be frank, we are a four-star hotel
as you will see on our website but it
is just that we have not completed
certain renovations and that’s why
The Hibiscus room can now accommodate 140 people.
es, once the occupancy subsides.
There are also planned trainings
and we intend to make our products
more interesting. For example, all
the while we have been selling endof-year parties where guests come for
dinner, drinks and some musical entertainment for dancing etc and then
they go off. We have actually come
up with some packages for theme
nights. ABC company, for example,
wants an end-of-year party for its
we’re saying we’re a three-star for the
moment but we will get to the fourstar stage. We are also now getting
many reviews online and I am now
proud to say that while we used to
get around 200 reviews, within the
last three months we have had over
900 reviews and the “excellent” and
“good” ratings have gone up and we
hardly get any “poor” ratings. You
tend to get a few complaints but it
is nothing major. On Trip Advisor,
out of the seven hotels in the Beau
Vallon, region we are now in the top
five. Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay Resort
and Casino is a full-fledged resort
with all facilities ranging from five
speciality restaurants, a night bar,
pool bar, casino, gymnasium, meeting rooms, dive centre, water sport
activities, tennis court and children’s
playground.
When are you most busy?
Starting 2 February until 15 February, we will have a full house due
to the Chinese New Year but occupancy doesn’t really subside. After the Chinese New Year, we will
have about 75 percent occupancy
because we have a mixed clientele
from India and also from Germany
as we house the Condor crew and
we do well in this market. Last year
the Chinese who came for the New
Year were here from 2 February until 7 February but this year we are
seeing bookings until 15 February.
What are some of the visitor
trends that you are noticing?
The traditional market is still
here. You’ve still got the Germans,
French and Italians but the major
shift that we see is the Chinese and
Indian market that is coming in very
strong. There are now direct flights
from Mumbai and chartered flights
from China and soon there will be
the direct flights from Hong Kong.
That said, the Asians do not stay for
very long. Tourists that come from
our traditional market, can stay for
up to 21 days whereas the Asians
spend less time on holidays. It is in
their culture to take short holidays.
The budget is a major concern when
they are planning for their holidays
and they are also reserved when
it comes to their food and so flight
turnovers are less than a week.
Also, the Chinese market are doing tours, they go to South Africa
and then they come to Seychelles.
As for the Indians, thanks to the direct flights, Seychelles is a new destination for them. I think they have
exhausted Maldives and Mauritius
and the shorter flights are also a plus.
For example, we have an Indian
crew that’s staying with us as they’re
shooting a film. As said before, the
food is an issue so for the Chinese
we have a Chinese restaurant and
to cater for the Indians, we have
an Indian restaurant as well and
all these are important when they
are planning their holidays. For
the Indians, last year we did about
3000 room nights. Never before
have we had this. Recently, we had
a group of high rollers from India as well who were on a casino
tour and we had about 50 guests
in total – they flew in their own
dealers and chefs and we actually
rented out our casino’s VIP room
to them and they played amongst
themselves. They stayed for three
nights.
want to try.
What about the Indian weddings? They’re said to be very
lucrative.
We have started getting inquiries from locals about weddings
and in the last few months we
have had about seven weddings
and slowly it is becoming popular. In fact, a trade fair in India
that will be held on 16 February
and which I’m attending, will be
focused on that. Weddings are
big affairs in India and when
they go to Maldives or Mauritius, they will hire the entire hotel. I see that now that we have
handled over 3000 room nights
that this is something that we
Seychellois typically don’t
stay in hotels in their own
country. Why do you think this
is changing?
The standard of living is expanding - for instance, you can
tell by the number of cars on
the streets. One thing that this
says is that the earning power is
growing, businesses are flourishing and they have more customers. On Wednesday evening,
for example, if you go to the “Bazar
Labrin” you will see a lot of smiling
faces behind the counters because
their businesses are flourishing. In
return, they also want to have this
hotel experience.
Are the locals showing much
interest in staying at the hotel?
We have a special local package which is SCR1 600 and you
either stay here or on Praslin.
Even for the staff parties and
year-end parties, people are not
only buying the dinners, etc but
they also take the rooms as well.
About Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay
Resort & Casino
It was in 1974 that the Berjaya
Beau Vallon Bay Resort & Casino
opened its doors and it wasn’t until as
recently as 2013 that the hotel management brought in a new team with
Gulab Rai at the head as the area
general manager (AGM), to work
alongside the existing team. Team
tolerance and flexibility is the main
strength that keeps them going to
achieve their goals. Since then, the
hotel has been going through what
the AGM calls a “face lifting” for the
rooms and kitchens. After several
upgrades, the hotel now has 26 superior rooms with Jacuzzis. The hotel is
well on the way to being accredited as
a four-star hotel due to its amenities
and restaurants, but Mr. Rai says that
they want to be the best three-star
hotel in the country.
Despite being 42 years old, the hotel is anything but decrepit and the
AGM says that the people should
give it a chance. “To some, they may
still have the perception of Berjaya as
an old hotel and the rooms are probably run down”. This is certainly not
the case.
Thursday 28 January, 2016
p8
Thursday 28 January, 2016
p9
Benefits
Getting their due
Some ex-servicemen are complaining that the amount being disbursed is too little while others say that they should be grateful for at least getting something.
D
uring the budget speech
he presented before the
National Assembly on
22 December 2015, the Finance
Minister, Jean-Paul Adam, said
that ex-servicemen would be compensated financially thanks to
the work of their association, the
Seychelles Military Retired Servicemen Association (SMRSA),
which was officially registered 6
May 2015 under the patronage of
James Michel. Though no dates
were set, a gratuity and compensation were both to be disbursed.
According to the speech that
the Minister made, there are 808
SPDF ex-servicemen and exservicewomen who left the Seychelles People’s Defence Forces
(SPDF) before the 2007, as well
as an additional 150 who are
still currently in the force. They
would, he explained receive “a
gratuity payment of SCR8 000”.
The Minister also said that “a total of SCR7.66 million” was to be
paid out for that gratuity in December 2015.
The issue gets a bit confusing though. The ex-servicemen
were supposed to receive their
gratuity in December. But an exserviceman told TODAY that no
gratuity was issued and that their
compensation was supposed to be
disbursed in January instead. He
stands by his word that no gratuity has been issued yet despite
How much are the ex-servicemen supposed to get?
what the Minister’s speech in December said on the matter. In lieu
of that, a compensation of SCR8
000 is being disbursed. He said
that the ex-servicemen are getting
a compensation of around SCR8
000, which is the same amount
that they were supposed to get for
the gratuity.
In his speech last year, Minis-
ter Adam said that the “negotiation with their (ex-servicemen)
representatives is ongoing” and
that no amount had yet been decided upon. He explained that he
expected that “the total compensation will be around SR 16.75
million” and that this quantum
was “based on the current information which have been pro-
vided by SPDF”. According to an
ex-serviceman, “those who left
before 2007 didn’t get a compensation”, while those who departed
the force after that year are eligible for the compensation, which
is why the government is now
making it available to them as a
one-off payment. However, this is
dependent on the ex-servicemen
having completed six years of service. The only way an ex-serviceman would be denied compensation was if he or she committed a
serious offence or had their contract terminated.
Some servicemen are complaining that the amount being paid
out to them is “too low”. However, another ex-serviceman has
said that “government is being
fair with us. At least they are getting something instead of nothing”. He went on to say that there
are a lot of people needing to be
paid and that those complaining
should also consider that “this is
a high fee for government” to pay
out. Interestingly enough, none
of the ex-servicemen wanted TODAY to publish their names because, as one put it, “I do not want
to politicise the issue because last
year when our association was
proposing this to the SPDF, the
government thought that it was
about politics, but it was not”.
Minister Adam was invited to
comment but said that the ministry is still working on the payments and that there will be more
information next week.
Ex-Royal Fleet Auxiliary
members to also benefit exgratia
Also included in this year’s budget are the former members of the
Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), for
whom the government is “ providing SCR 4.04 million which will
be paid for all registered ex-Royal
Fleet Auxiliary members” who
worked at one time for the British government. This was offered
to them by government after the
discussions between the ex-RFA
and the British government came
to a standstill. As such, Minister Adam said, that the payment
would be ex-gratia – meaning
that it was done from a sense of
moral obligation rather than because of any legal requirement –
but that this would “not prevent
them from pursuing their rights
for compensation with the British government”. .
The ex Royal Fleet Auxiliary
(RFA) association is comprised
of a group of retired Seychellois seamen who dedicated years
of service to a British civilianmanned fleet and have subsequently spent more than 14
years fighting for military pensions. Throughout the 1950s
and 1970s, scores of Seychellois
seamen were employed aboard
the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA). Many of them, now
in their eighties, have been petitioning the British ministry of
Defence for annuities. The latter
has rejected their claims based
on the terms and conditions on
which they were employed so
many years ago.
Thursday 28 January, 2016
p10
p11
Thursday 28 January, 2016
67th Republic Day of India
Kathak dancer electrifies audience
A reception followed by a Kathak dance performance by renowned Indian Kathak artist Emelee Ghosh took place at the International Conference Centre of Seychelles (ICCS)
on Tuesday evening on the occasion of the 67th Republic Day of India. The event was hosted by the Indian Association of Seychelles (IAS) and the Indian Council for Cultural
Relations (ICCR).
By Sasha-Lee
The artists from India were each gifted a traditional Indian cloth and were honoured by the dignitaries.
T
he International Conference Center of Seychelles
(ICCS) was filled with an
array of bright colours and glitter as members of the Indian
community in Seychelles and
other dignitaries, Ministers, diplomats and CEOs arrived at the
evening’s festivities on Tuesday
evening.
Women wore brightly coloured
saris, while men wore the kurta
– both traditional Indian garments. Guests were also handed
small Indian flags upon arrival
at the reception, in the spirit of
the event. After the guests had
mingled at the informal cocktail
reception, the real event began
– an Indian themed programme
topped off by a Kathak classical
dance performance by Emelee
Ghosh and a troupe of musicians
inside the ICCS’ auditorium.
The programme began with the
lighting of the traditional lamp,
which was done by the Indian
High Commissioner’s wife, Mrs.
Panda, together with other dignitaries. This was followed by a
beautiful display of the 29 Indian
state costumes worn by a group
of children from the Indian community in Seychelles. The display
was accompanied by patriotic Indian music, which got the crowd
clapping to the beats as the children waved their flags.
As for Indian Kathak dancer
Emelee Ghosh, her performance
left the audience speechless.
Her electrifying performance
was accompanied by a group of
musicians who played the tabla
and sitar, two traditional Indian
instruments, as she performed
the intricate beats of the Kathak
dance with her feet. She twisted her arms around swiftly yet
gracefully, and presented a range
of facial expressions to tell the
different stories of Krishna, other Indian gods, as well as cultural
stories.
Emelee Ghosh’s performance
was the cherry on top of a beautifully organised event, and it had
the audience clapping after each
dance set – which takes skill and
speed to achieve. One of the musicians also played an incredible
solo with the audience hanging
onto his every beat.
During the speeches, Indian
which they plan to celebrate here
in Seychelles with a formal event.
More details will be revealed in
due time.
In addition, Mr. Panda says he
hopes that this relationship between Seychelles and India can
“evolve, diversify, and spread
across a wider spectrum than it
is right now”, he said.
These sentiments were shared
by Designated Minister Vincent
Meriton, who pointed out that
“the Indian Republic plays a role
in building Seychelles into how it
is today through their numerous
donations.”
He specifically referred to the
most recent donation of the fast
interceptor boat Hermes, which
he says “has been donated at a
critical time as we fight drug and
human trafficking, as well as illegal fishing which may take place
in our waters.”
He stated that the government
of Seychelles hopes relations
with India will include more than
maritime security and renewable
energy in the near future.
Each artist that came from
India especially for this event
was honoured by IAS committee members and office bearers.
They were each gifted a traditional Indian cloth. Ramu Pillay,
Chairperson of the IAS thanked
the artists as well as all present,
and shared his hopes that next
year’s event will get the same
kind of support and attendance.
The events served to honour
the Constitution of India, which
came into being in 1950, and to
celebrate the close ties between
Seychelles and India. Both anthems played that night, as the
audience stood out of respect for
each nation.
Lighting of the traditional lamp.
ers called kathakas who recited
or sang stories from epics and
mythology with some elements
of dance. The traditions of the
kathakas were hereditary, and
dances passed from generation
to generation.
Its form today contains traces
of temple and ritual dances,
and the influence of the bhakti
movement. The structure of a
conventional kathak performance tends to follow a progression in tempo from slow
to fast, ending with a dramatic
climax.
All compositions are performed so that the final step
and beat of the composi-
tion lands on the “sam” (pronounced as the English word
‘sum’ and meaning even or
equal, archaically meaning
nil) or first beat of the timecycle. Most compositions
also have “bols” (rhythmic
words) which serve both as
mnemonics to the composition and whose recitation
also forms an integral part
of the performance.
Traditional, and perhaps
more specifically Hindu costume sometimes consists of
a sari, whether worn in an
everyday style, or tied up
to allow greater freedom of
movement during the dance.
Each child wore one of India’s 29 state costumes.
Attendees came dressed in traditional Indian clothing for the reception
and dance performance.
High Commissioner Sanjay Panda spoke of the unique bond between Seychelles and India, and
of the importance of commemorating such a friendship by hosting these kinds of events.
“In the one and a half years I’ve
been here, I’m amazed at how
many events we can conjure in
Seychelles!” he observed.
This, he said, promotes a spirit
of unity. He also highlighted the
100th birth anniversary of the
founding father of the Indian
Constitution, B.R Ambedkar,
which will take place in April and
About Kathak
Kathak is one of the eight
forms of Indian classical dance.
This dance form traces its origins to the nomadic bards of
ancient northern India, known
as Kathakars or storytellers. The
name kathak is derived from the
Sanskrit word katha meaning
“story”, and katthaka in Sanskrit
means “he who tells a story”, or
“to do with stories”.
The story of Kathak begins in
ancient times with the performances of professional story-tell-
Emelee Ghosh performing a Kathak dance.
p12
Thursday 28 January, 2016
Lifeline
Celebrity Profile:
Kal Penn (1977–)
Godfather actor Abe
Vigoda dies aged 94
Kal Penn is best known for his performance in the Harold and Kumar comedy films. He has also performed on several television shows, including
House and 24.
Source: Biography.com
The actor Abe Vigoda, who
played a doomed Mafia soldier
in The Godfather, has died aged
94.
His family said he died peacefully in his sleep.
Vigoda played Sal Tessio, an
old friend of Marlon Brando’s
Don Corleone, who plots to take
over the family after the Don’s
death by killing his son.
The role made him recognisable to millions and led to many
more roles, including as detective Phil Fish in the 1970s TV
series Barney Miller. His most
memorable line in The Godfather comes just before his character Tessio is taken to his death,
when he tells family adviser Tom
Hagen: “Tell Mike it was only
business. I always liked him.”
Beatrix Potter story Kittyin-Boots discovered after
100 years
A new story written by Beatrix
Potter more than 100 years ago,
featuring Peter Rabbit, is to be
published for the first time.
The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots was
rediscovered by publisher Jo
Hanks after she found a reference to it in an out-of-print Potter biography.
Quentin Blake, best known for
his work with Roald Dahl, has
illustrated the story, to be published in September.
Potter had only completed a
single drawing to go with the
manuscript. She sent the story
to her publisher in 1914, saying
it was about “a well-behaved
prime black Kitty cat, who leads
rather a double life”.
Children’s novel The Lie
Tree wins Costa Book of
the Year
A children’s novel has been
named Costa Book of the Year
for only the second time in the
prize’s history.
The judges said Frances
Hardinge’s Victorian murder
mystery The Lie Tree would
“grip readers of all ages”.
Hardinge beat bookmakers’
favourite, debut author Andrew
Michael Hurley’s gothic horror
The Loney, to win the £30,000
prize.
The previous children’s novel
to win was Philip Pullman’s
The Amber Spyglass in 2002.
Receiving the award, a clearly
surprised Hardinge said: “It is
a fantastic time to be writing
children’s fiction and YA (young
adult) fiction.
Synopsis
Kal Penn was born Kalpen
Suresh Modi in Montclair, New
Jersey, on April 23, 1977. He
grew up in a traditional Indian
family and aspired to be an actor. After attending UCLA, he
got small parts in films and
television. In the 2000s, he
acted in the films American
Desi, National Lampoon’s Van
Wilder and Harold and Kumar, as well as on the television
shows House and 24. In 2009,
Penn entered public service as
President Barack Obama’s associate director of the White
House Office of Public Engagement.
Early life
Indian-American actor Kal
Penn, born Kalpen Suresh
Modi’s father, Suresh, was an
engineer, and his mother, Asmita, was a chemist for a perfume company. Both parents
were Gujarati immigrants from
India and dreamed of their
son becoming a doctor or lawyer. However, young Kalpen
yearned to be a performer. Sensitive to Indian stereotypes, he
rejected his friends’ pressure to
join the soccer team, and instead joined the school’s drama
class. His first school performance showed his family and
firends that he had made the
right decision.
Acting career
Following his passion, Kalpen Modi attended Howell
High School, for its Fine and
Performing Arts Specialized
Learning Center. He completed his senior year at Freehold
Township High School. He
then attended the University
of California, Los Angeles, majoring in sociology and performance. While performing in
several school productions in
the 1990s, he simultaneously
landed television parts in such
programs as Buffy the Vampire
Slayer, Spin City and Sabrina,
the Teenage Witch.
However, work was sporadic
and often limited to comedic
ethnic roles. Though reluctant
at first, Kalpen took the advice
of friends and family and anglicized his name, changing it to
Kal Penn. As a result, his job
offers escalated by 50 percent.
In 2001, Kal Penn had a supporting role in the film American Desi, a romantic comedy
that explored race and identity
of young ethnic Americans.
Then came National Lampoon’s Van Wilder in 2002.
Through the critics dubbed it
“unfunny” and it proved dis-
TODAY in History
January 28th is the 28th day of the year
1986: Challenger
explodes
1997: Afrikaner
police admit to killing
Stephen Biko
the sixth season of 24, Kal
Penn eventually accepted the
role and went on to appear
in four episodes. That same
year, Penn joined the cast of
medical drama House, playing a member of Dr. House’s
medical diagnostic team. He
appeared for the next two seasons, until he was called for a
very different role.
mal at the box office, the film
provided Penn with good exposure.
This was followed up with
Harold and Kumar go to
White Castle, a surprise
sleeper hit that spawned two
sequels, Harold and Kumar
Escape from Guantanamo
Bay and A Very Merry Harold
and Kumar 3-D Christmas.
In 2006, Penn had a brief but
important supporting role as
Stanford, the henchman of
Lex Luthor, in Superman Returns.
In January 2007, Penn appeared in a role he initially
turned down because he
thought it supported racial
profiling. Cast as Ahmed
Amar, a teenage terrorist, in
Politics
During
Barack
Obama’s
presidential campaign, Penn
was a strong supporter and a
member of Obama’s National
Arts Policy Committee. In early 2009, he was offered and
accepted the position of associate director of the White
House Office of Public Engagement. During this time,
Penn went back to his original
name of Kalpen Modi, and
served as a liaison with the
Asian-American and Pacific
Islander communities.
In June 2010, he briefly left
his post in the Obama Administration to fulfill a previous commitment as Kal Penn,
completing the film A Very
Merry Harold and Kumar 3D
Christmas. He returned to his
office as associate director of
public engagement in November 2010.
Literature
JK Rowling to receive human
rights award
JK Rowling is to receive a prestigious award from literary and human rights group Pen
America.
Source: BBC.com
On this day in 1986, at 11:38
a.m. EST, the space shuttle Challenger lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and Christa McAuliffe was on her way to becoming
the first ordinary U.S. civilian to
travel into space.
McAuliffe, a 37-year-old high
school social studies teacher
from New Hampshire, won a
competition that earned her a
place among the seven-member
crew of the Challenger. Seventythree seconds later, hundreds on
the ground, including Christa’s
family, stared in disbelief as the
shuttle exploded in a forking
plume of smoke and fire.
Millions more watched the
wrenching tragedy unfold on live
television. There were no survivors. The Challenger disaster was
the first major shuttle accident.
In the aftermath of the explosion, President Ronald Reagan appointed a special commission to determine what went
wrong with Challenger and to develop future corrective measures.
The investigation determined
that the explosion was caused by
the failure of an “O-ring” seal in
one of the two solid-fuel rockets.
The elastic O-ring did not respond as expected because of the
cold temperature at launch time,
which began a chain of events
that resulted in the massive explosion. T
he Harry Potter author
will be presented with the
Pen/Allen Foundation Literary Service Award on 16 May at
the group’s annual spring gala in
New York.
Pen (Poets, Essayists and Novelists) said it was honouring
the author in recognition of her
support for free expression and
charitable causes.
Previous winners have included
Sir Salman Rushdie and Sir Tom
Stoppard.
Pen America states it aims “to
ensure that people everywhere
have the freedom to create literature, to convey information and
ideas, to express their views, and
to make it possible for everyone
to access the views, ideas, and literatures of others”.
Its Literary Service Award is
given annually to authors whose
work fights repression and censorship around the globe.
Rowling is the founder of the
charitable trust Volant, which
supports multiple sclerosis research.
She is also the founder of the
non-profit-making organisation
Lumos, which works to reconnect children who have been in
institutional care with life within
a family.
On this day in 1997, in South
Africa, four apartheid-era police officers appeared before the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission and admitted to the 1977
killing of Stephen Biko, a leader
of the South African “Black consciousness” movement.
In 1969, Biko, a medical student, founded an organization
for South Africa’s black students
to combat the minority government’s racist apartheid policies
and to promote black identity.
In 1972, he helped organize the
Black People’s Convention and in
the next year was banned from
politics by the Afrikaner government. Four years later, in September 1977, he was arrested for
subversion.
While in police custody in
Port Elizabeth, Biko was brutally beaten and then driven 700
miles to Pretoria where he was
thrown into a cell. On 12 September 1977, he died naked and
shackled on the filthy floor of a
police hospital.
News of the political killing,
“Honoured and humbled”
denied by the country’s white
A statement from the organisaminority government, led to international protests and a U.N.- tion said: “Since her rise from
single mother to literary suimposed arms embargo.
JK Rowling is the founder of a
multiple sclerosis research charity
and another that helps children
move from life in care to one
within a family.
perstar, JK Rowling has used
her talents and stature as a
writer to fight inequality on
both a local and global level.
“Her charitable trust, Volant, supports causes in the
United Kingdom and abroad
that alleviate social exclusion,
with particular emphasis on
women and children.”
Rowling expressed her pride
at having been chosen to receive the award.
“I’m deeply honoured to receive this award and humbled
that my work has been recognised as having moral value
by an organisation I so admire,” she said.
“I’ve long been a supporter
of Pen, which does invaluable
work on behalf of imprisoned
writers and in defence of freedom of speech.”
Prize-winning author Andrew Solomon, president
of Pen America added that
Rowling’s writing provided a
wealth of “imagination, empathy, humour, and a love of
reading, along the way revealing moral choices that help us
understand ourselves”.
He added: “Through their
experiences with Rowling
both on and off the page,
countless
children
have
learned not only the power
of speaking their own minds,
but the critical importance of
hearing others.”
At the May ceremony, Pen
will also honour Hachette
Books chief executive Michael Pietsch for his anticensorship work. In 2015, he
encouraged American publishers to resist censorship in
China.
And in the coming weeks,
Pen will announce its selection for its Freedom to Write
Award and the Pen/James
and Toni C Goodale Freedom
of Expression and Courage
Award.
p13
Thursday 28 January, 2016
The question
Is your open office making you sick?
For as long as we’ve had open space offices, we’ve had musings on the downsides of these
workplaces. Open offices, it’s told, are making us less productive, less active, and more
miserable. But could they also be making us sick?
Source: motherboard.com
A
review of studies on
the subject and a chat
with an expert on how
common viruses spread reveals
that yes, open offices put us at
a greater risk of getting sick.
It also reveals that humans
are disgusting, walking germfactories, that every office is
a person-sized petri dish of
infection, and that we should
probably all just work from
home.
Despite all the public discussion on the topic, there hasn’t
been a huge wealth of scientific
study on the effects of the open
concept office on employee
health. However, the handful
of published studies all shows
a similar trend: Open office
plans are associated with employees getting sick more often.
One study of more than 1,800
Swedish workers found that
people in open plan offices
were nearly twice as likely to
take short term sick leave (of
one week or less) than those
who worked in private offices. A survey from Denmark
showed employees in open
plan offices were 62 percent
more likely to take a sick day
than those with their own
separate office. Another survey from Canada had similar
results, with open office workers taking an average of 3.1 sick
days in a year, compared to 1.8
sick days for employees who
worked from home. Open offices have also been associated
with higher rates of Sick Building Syndrome—a condition
where workers get headaches
and respiratory problems—and
with higher stress levels, which
have been linked to weakened
immune systems.
All of the evidence we’ve got
points to employees in open
concept offices getting sick
more frequently than those in
private offices or those who
work from home. But why?
First, let’s do a little virus 101.
The “common cold” is the term
we use for a bunch of viruses,
which all cause similar symptoms when you’re infected.
Seasonal flu is caused by a
handful of strains of influenza
virus. For these two ailments,
According to one study, people in open plan offices were nearly twice as
likely to take short term sick leave (of one week or less) than those who
worked in private offices.
the virus is spread in three
main ways:
• An infected person touches
their nose or mouth, picking
up the virus, and then touches a surface. A healthy person then touches that surface,
picks up the virus, and then
touches their face, infecting
themselves.
• An infected person coughs
or sneezes and a nearby healthy
person inadvertently inhales or
swallows some of the infected
spit.
• An infected person coughs
or sneezes, leaving behind a
cloud of viral particles, which
a healthy person walks through
and inhales.
Once you understand how
winter sickness spreads, it’s
easy to see why an open concept set-up with few or no
physical barriers between employees eases transmission.
“It is really a common sense
thing,” said John Noti, a microbiologist who researches
infectious disease transmission for the Centers for Disease Control. “People are slobs
and will cough and breathe on
you and touch your space. So if
you’re physically separated by
something, where people don’t
have access to your workspace,
it’s logical that you will be less
likely to get infected.”
Even something as simple as
a cubicle could decrease the
risk of infection, because it
puts a barrier between you and
your colleagues, and prevents
them from touching your stuff
or coughing in your face. But in
an open environment, even the
colleagues sitting three seats
away could be a health risk.
“If you’re in a workspace
where all of your desks are together then you cough, those
small lung droplets which contain
flu could conceivably travel to the
person sitting next to you, maybe
even five or six feet away from you,”
Noti said.
But he pointed out that even if
you have a separate workspace or
even a private office, it’s still possible
for a virus to make the rounds. Just
think of all the shared space where
you touch the same surfaces as other
people and interact with coworkers
(the bathroom, the kitchen, the copy
machine). And because office spaces
often have forced air systems, those
“clouds” of viral particles could get
pushed around and into your space.
At this point in the conversation,
I audibly gagged, but not to despair. The common sense tips we’re
taught for avoiding colds can help
cut at least some of the transmission routes: washing your hands,
not touching your face, getting a flu
shot, and staying home if you’re sick.
But short of quarantining yourself
in the broom closet, if you’re in an
open concept office—and you probably are, because about 70 percent
of offices are now—you might
just have to resign yourself to
the fact that you’re going to get
sick this winter. Probably more
than once.
Thursday 28 January, 2016
Isra’s maintenance is looking for 4
Masons.
Interested candidates please call 2613285
or 2796400 to schedule an interview.
Closing date 30th January 2016
Guest house at Sans Soucis looking for
Chambermaid and Breakfast Cook. Also
a therapist in massage ready to learn
new protocol. Reference requested. Call:
4225372 / 2761498
Villa De Mer, Praslin, is looking for:
1 cook - minimum 3 years of experience
1 waiter/waitress - minimum 1 year of
experience 1 receptionist – minimum 2
years experience Accommodation will
be provided for applicants from Mahe /
La Digue. Contact 2511959 or 4233972
for an interview. CV and references
from previous employers are required.
Britannia Hotel, Praslin,is looking for
a cook with at least 3 years of experience. Accommodation will be provided
for applicants from Mahe / La Digue.
Contact 2511959 for an interview. CV
and references from previous employers
are required.
House and Land for sale
House for sale on a beautiful flat piece
of land (1449sqm) at Souyave Estate
Praslin. Ideal for Staff Accommodation
or private dwelling house in a quiet
neighborhood. Next to the main road
and within walking distance to Cote
D’Or beach.
For more information call
4373532/4373443 or
email [email protected]
For Sale at Cote D’ Or Praslin Souyave
Estate.
Cosy two bedroom house with garage situated on 1514sqm flat land suitable for hotel
management staff accommodation or
private dwelling house on a private estate.
For further information please contact
Ivy Orr (Mrs.) on 251 24 25.
Have you got a reclamation of land to do
for the year of 2016? Contact RMH SERVICES for supplying of filling materials.
Call: 2710191
Diving Equipment. Divetek Mk 30
regulator. Divemaster Bc. D2 Octo and
Cylinder. Rs 11000.00
Ryobi Electric Chain Saw Rs 3200.00
Flymo Electric Lawn Mower Rs 4500.00
Contact: Mike 2562491
For Sale
Jet Ski Wave runner 2013 - $10,000
(price on disputed)
Fly board - $4000 | Transparent Canoe
- $2500. For more information contact
Vesta on 2524049
Clearance Sale Outdoor Living
Check out our sale at Outdoor Living,
Eden Island on all products including
outdoor furniture, umbrellas, gazebos,
hammocks, barbecues and garden
accessories. All at unbeatable prices.
50 Litre compost bags from Denmark
at only Rs90!
Composters at a bargain price of
Rs1600!
Tel: 4346124 or 2516093
Kia Picanto Model 2012. 3 years old.
Lemon Grass Colour. Low milleague.
One Lady driver. Manual transmission.
Full option. Regularly serviced. Road
license Oct 2016. Tel: 2718329/ 2517449
A Daihatsu Terios, Year 2003, Lady
driver only, Price negotiable, In very good
condition, Licensed valid until January
2017. Tel: 2876602
NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION
BALABOM Ltd. (IBC No. 077814)
Notice is hereby given that BALABOM Ltd.
is being dissolved and the dissolution commenced on the 25th day of January 2016.
Who has any claims against the company
must lodge their claims with the liquidator
within 1 month hereof.
GRAND PLUS LTD. has been appointed as
a liquidator of the company.
Dated 26th day of January 2016
GRAND PLUS LTD., Liquidator
Contact:
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.qpsusa.net
21 Jan – 19 Feb
If there is an important
decision you need to make,
then make it now, otherwise the matter will be
taken out of your hands
and given to someone who
may not be sympathetic to
your needs. Make a choice,
believe in it and stick to it.
23 July – 22 Aug
The things that happened
in the past have nothing to
do with what is happening
today, so stop harking back
to “the good old days” and
find ways to make this day
special and rewarding.
Above all, accept people for
who and what they are.
20 Feb – 20 March
For quite some time you
have been fearing the
worst but over the next
two or three days you will
realize that the worst is
unlikely to happen – and
even if it does it won’t be
as bad as your imagination
led you to believe.
23 Aug – 23 Sept
Routine matters may bore
you but they can be important, so stick at the task to
which you have been assigned and make a good job
of it. Someone in authority
is watching and if they like
what they see you could
soon be on the way up.
21 March – 20 April
Try not to get involved in
people’s problems today –
or they may become your
problems too. You may
want to help a friend in
need but on this occasion
it’s better if they learn how
to take care of certain issues
for themselves.
24 Sept – 23 Oct
You will get a lot done in
a relatively short space
of time today. Social and
romantic activities loom
large in your chart over the
next few days, so get on
top of your workload now
and devote the remainder
of the week to having fun.
21 April – 21 May
You have worked long and
hard to get where you are
now – don’t throw it all
away by being impulsive.
The planets warn if you let
your emotions get the better of you it could damage
your credibility with people
in positions of power.
24 Oct – 22 Nov
Partners and loved ones
have been rather demanding of late and you are getting tired of having to be
there for them 24/7. Never
mind. It won’t be long before
the cosmic picture changes
and you can start making a
few demands of your own!
22 May – 21 June
The sun in Aquarius endows you with limitless
self-confidence, but other
aspects warn you must not
take too much for granted. It
would be easy to fall into the
trap of believing that nothing
can possibly go wrong – and
that’s just when it will.
23 Nov – 21 Dec
You may be somewhat
annoyed that friends and
loved ones are depending
on you to get them out of
a fix, but you will do it anyway because that’s the kind
of person you are. Be sure
to reward yourself with
something good afterward.
22 June – 22 July
You know you are capable of
doing more and the planets
indicate that the right opportunity will come along at just
the right moment. Take it easy
and take your time – and be
ready to take your big chance
when it finally arrives.
22 Dec – 20 Jan
You never like to admit you
got something wrong but
if you speak up now there
will be no hard feelings and
no financial repercussions.
However, if you leave it for
even 24 hours your apologies may not be accepted by
those who have lost out.
Down
1. A curved structure spanning an
opening
2. Boys and men
3. Not new
4. Pasta
5. Admiration
6. Mistake
7. Long coarse nap
8. Mesh
9. Not western
10. Aids
11. Run away to marry
12. City in Colorado
13. Tall woody perennial grasses
21. Snake sound
23. A Siouan people
25. Acquire knowledge
26. Used to make rope
27. Genus of the dogfish
28. Wedding or engagement
29. It travels on rails
32. Carried with difficulty
33. Make laws
34. Modern day Persia
35. River in Egypt
36. Emasculate
38. An expression of contempt
42. Improved or altered
43. Seize
47. Talisman
48. Distributes
49. A valley in France
50. Vista
51. Crippled
52. Desert animal
54. Flunk
55. Occupational Safety and Health
Administration
56. Utilizes
57. Achy
60. Before
Yesterday’s solution
Across
1. Make someone laugh
6. Anglo-Saxon slave
10. Listen
14. Coarse files
15. Mother of Zeus (Greek mythology)
16. Otherwise
17. Stud on a shoe
18. Rodents
19. Trot
20. Porcupine
22. Crowned
24. Inheritor
25. Ebbs
26. A place for concubines
29. A three-tone Chadic language
30. Send forth
31. Choking
37. Pepper_____ or spear_____
39. Paddle
40. Strange or spooky
41. Foliating
44. Impudence
45. Biblical garden
46. Precipitated
48. Lie
52. Rotating mechanisms
53. A protective embankment
54. Wonderful
58. Swarm
59. A cooperative unit
61. Lariat
62. Sea eagle
63. A famous American canal
64. An anesthetic
65. Sow
66. A computer maker
67. Playfully harass
1. Jay Z and Beyonce launched a music streaming service in 2015 called: Bridal; Tidal;
Widal; or Piddle?
2. At auction in 2015, $1.2m was paid for Don McLean’s original handrwitten lyrics for
which 1971 big hit song?
3. In 2015 what global contest ruled against the use of swimsuits for its 114 competitors,
for the first time since 1951 inception? Miss
4. The ‘Save the Children’ charity admitted in 2015 it mistakenly awarded which controversial politician a Global Legacy award?
5. An official investigation as to proof of the US moon landings was demanded in 2015
by: Russia; China; NASA; or Donald Trump?
6. Ford claimed to launch the first ‘e-(What?)’ at the 2015 Mobile World Congress
Show: Pram; Bike; Dishwasher; or Trousers?
7. Christian is the lead character in the film 2015 adaptation of what extraordinarily
successful book?
8. Which car company launched the Avensis model in 2015?
9. In 2015 evidence of water was found on: Pluto; Mars; The Moon; or The Sun?
10. Who, age 21, won the 2015 US Masters Golf Championship with a record 18-below
par, and also the US Open?
Quick Quiz Answers: 1. Tidal 2. American Pie 3. Miss World 4. Tony Blair 5. Russia 6.
Bike 7. Fifty Shades of Grey 8. Toyota 9. Mars 10. Jordan Speith
Land for Sale
Land Parcel V2080 is 1379 Sqm2 situated at the lower Copolia – La Louise, with
an excellent view of the ocean, Victoria
Harbour and Eden Island. Serious purchaser to please call 2529413/2558677.
PRODUCTS FROM AMERICA
We are a US based company and we
can supply quality products direct from
America to your destination in a timely
manner. Ranging from Oil Refinery Parts,
Power Tools, Electronics, Consumer Items
and more.
Published by TODAY Publishers (Seychelles)
Limited, P.O. Box 999, Victoria, Mahé, Seychelles
Printed by “The Print House (Pty) Ltd.”, Providence
Industrial Estate,
Mahé, Seychelles.
Tel: +248 4290 999/950/951
Fax: +248 4325999
[email protected]
Grand Anse, Praslin
Tel: +248 4237 441
Fax: +248 4237 442
Editor - Deepa Bhookhun
[email protected]
How To Play
The objective is to fill the blank squares with the correct numbers
•Every row of 9 must include all digits 1 to 9 in any order
•Every column of 9 must include all digits 1 to 9 in any order
•Every 3 x 3 sub-grid must include all digits 1 to 9 in any order
Fill the other empty cells with numbers between 1 and 9
A number should appear only once on each row, column and 3 x 3 region
Business Development Manager - Veronica Maria
[email protected]
ISSN: 1659-7265
Thursday 28 January, 2016
p15