Employees fear redundancy

Transcription

www.today.sc
Thursday 19 May 2016
Newsline
n News
n Sports
n Business
n Life
SR 15/-
Telecommunications
n Road Safety: Keeping
kids safe
(page 2)
n Athletics: Lissa Labiche quest for Olympic
qualifications continues
(page 4)
Cable and Wireless Seychelles has not made any formal comment yet on how the acquisition will affect operations.
n Neighbourhood Cooperation: Hotel extends
partnership hand to school
(page 7)
n Coral restoration:
What would you do if your
home garden was de(page 11)
stroyed?
As of Monday 16 May,
Liberty Global announced that it has
completed its acquisition of Cable and Wireless Communications,
which includes Cable
& Wireless Seychelles
(CWS). It is still unclear how this will affect
local operations.
T
he acquisition, which was first announced in November 2015, has officially
entered the final stage – merging Cable and Wireless Communications,
which includes the Seychelles branch, with the LiLAC Group, Liberty’s
Latin American and Caribbean group.
The entire transaction is valued at approximately US$7.4 billion on an enterprise value basis.
Continued on page 2
13.05
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15.35
14.70
15.35
18.70
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18.70
19.65
p2
Thursday 19 May, 2016
Road Safety
Elections
Keeping kids safe
No time to lose
One of the local non-governmental organisations that dispatched observers during the Presidential elections in December, ARID says the
Electoral Commission is taking its sweet time
to remind voters to register for the forthcoming
National Assembly elections.
A
statement by the non-government observer group
ARID released on Wednesday says the group believes that
time is running out and the Electoral Commission (EC) is taking
too long to address the issue of new
voters, particularly those residing
at Ile Perseverance.
“Voters in Perseverance are not
being informed of the need to
register and or verify their names
on the “special voters’ roll” for the
district which was used in the last
election,” the ARID statement noted. It particularly called on youths
there who have already turned 18
to ensure that they are registered
as voters. “Do not stress yourselves
about where your polling station
will be. This is the duty of the EC,”
it added.
ARID says the EC has given assurances that all eligible voters
including first time voters from
Perseverance can register at the EC
headquarters.
During December’s Presidential
elections, a number of youths who
had just turned 18 were unable to
vote as their names did not appear on the voters’ register. One of
the reasons given was that names
of new voters do not automatically appear on the voters’ register.
ARID says that for this reason, it
was important for youths to go to
their respective districts to ensure
that their names are included on
the list. Similarly, a number of other people were unable to vote for
various reasons and the NGO has
reminded them to register their
names urgently.
As for people who prefer to
check online whether their names
are included on the voters’ list,
ARID noted that the disadvantage is that the voter will not have
a receipt or other necessary documents to prove that they had indeed registered should problems
arise at the last minute.
Voters can verify their names on
the electoral rolls in six registration
centres from 9 am to 3 pm everyday except on Saturdays and public holidays. These are Beau Vallon
for the northern region; Anse Aux
Pins for the central region; Anse
Boileau for the west and Anse
Royale for south Mahé. There are
also registration centres at Baie Ste
Anne Praslin and La Digue.
The EC’s office in Victoria is also
open for people from all districts.
Former traffic police and Land Transport officer, Antoine Denousse, yesterday presented leaflets
sponsored by Print House on road safety at La Rosiere Primary School.
D. Laurence
T
he leaflet on road safety
targets school children,
particularly how they
should behave on public roads
and thus minimising the risks
of involvement of unnecessary
accidents.
It has been produced by a former traffic police officer who
also spent years working for the
Land Transport Division, Antoine Denousse. His knowledge
in road safety is vast having
played a key role in setting up
the Highway Patrol Unit.
Mr Denousse said he feels
bad when he hears of road accidents involving children.
“At times I see school children
along with teachers or parents
not using public roads as they
should. Therefore by encouraging children to walk around
with this safety leaflet in their
pockets – it will serve as a reminder to them and minimise
the risks of unnecessary road
accidents”.
The leaflet is in Creole for the
moment. But Antoine Denousse
says the English version will be
available soon and it will contain more detailed information.
“This is a first trial. Five thou-
Mrs. Pascale D'Offay, the GM of Print House donates a copy of the leaflet to a
representative of La Rosiere School.
sand copies have been produced
to be distributed to all state
schools,” he said adding that the
next leaflet will also be distributed to private schools.
However, Mr Denousse needs
more sponsors. This first edition has been sponsored by the
Providence based printing company, Print House. “I am very
grateful for the help and assistance I have received from Print
House and Mr. Woodcock in
particular. That’s a good gesture
on their part and the quality of
the materials they produce is
excellent,” he said.
Continued on page 3
Alliance Française
“Good students are good readers”
Magazine sales and subscriptions from the French press
Bayard&Milan, Faton, and Uni-Presse are finally available at Alliance
Française thanks to the publications’ ambassadors Gilles Charleux
and his wife Annie Charleux.
S. Marivel
T
The Charleux couple, who are both commercial representatives, brought French magazines to
Alliance Francaise.
hose who are interested in French press targeting both the young and adult readers can get
subscriptions through the Alliance Française
Seychelles, which is now working in close collaboration with the Charleux couple - both commercial representatives for the various French publications.
Not only will it save you a few bucks to go
through them, it will also help you navigate the
world of French press and decide on which subscription plan can suit you best. Deliveries will be
based on individual interest and demand, and will
not depend on volume.
“If someone wants magazines on psychology,
they can order that and we will send it,” Mrs. Charleux told TODAY. “As long as you have a postal address we can send it to you, or you can arrange with
Alliance Française.”
“We’ve been with Bayard&Milan for about eight
years now and we can tell you these publications can
follow someone from their young age all the way up
to their teen years”, she continued, explaining that
the magazines which come from those publishing
houses target youths throughout their education.
In order to make orders readily available to locals, they have also arranged to have magazines
delivered to various public schools. In addition,
parents interested in making more orders will be
able to do so through the International School of
Seychelles and the Independent School.
“There is a strong need for French publications
it seems, especially in the public schools,” Mrs.
Charleux continued. “When we went for a tour,
the teachers always told us that students lack the
confidence to speak French, even if they know the
words. These publications, some of which come
with audio CDs, can help a lot”, she said.
“Good students are good readers”, Mr. Charleux added. “Many people who struggle in school,
whether it’s in maths or languages, do so because
they cannot read well and comprehend what’s at
hand. Those who practice their reading tend to do
better”, he noted.
He also added that while Western publications
have now shifted online, both for the young and
old. French press still sees some value in retaining
its print copies, which offers “a real, tangible experience especially for children.”
For enquiries visit Alliance Française Seychelles,
and place your orders and other queries at [email protected]
Continued from page 1
In a press statement from
Liberty Global which was communicated to TODAY by Cable
& Wireless Seychelles, it states,
“By combining our operations,
we are creating a unique and
well-diversified Latin America
and Caribbean investment vehicle, which we believe will enhance long-term equity value for
our shareholders.”
However, the press statement
also speaks of “certain risks and
uncertainties” for parties involved.
The press statement goes on to
say that “these forward-looking
statements involve certain risks
and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ
materially from those expressed
or implied by these statements.
These risks and uncertainties
include our ability to continue
financial and operational growth
at historic levels, continued use
by subscribers and potential
subscribers of our services, our
ability to achieve expected operational efficiencies, synergies
and economies of scale.”
It is still unclear how this acquisition will affect local operations. However there are reports,
which include Facebook posts
and report from a CWS ex-manager who wishes to remain anonymous, that some CWS employees might be losing their jobs as
a consequence of the acquisition.
TODAY has sought out CWS
for a comment; however they
have not confirmed or denied
these reports as this issue went
to press.
In an exclusive interview with
TODAY back in February, CWS
Chief Executive Officer Charles
Hammond explained, “We don’t
know at this point how it will affect Seychelles’ operations. We
are looking to see what it brings.”
He had further noted, “They
have large businesses everywhere.
Most of the existing Cable and
Wireless groups are in the Caribbean where Liberty Global had no
assets anywhere beforehand. So
we’re now talking about the type
of integration we did when we
bought the Columbus group, with
the flow in the Caribbean, where
in many of these countries they
had a flow and Cable and Wireless had to get one management
team and everything was being
squeezed out immediately after
the acquisition. That itself did not
affect us as well because we did not
have any Columbus influences so
we carried on. Liberty Global remains quite a large and influential
organisation. Once we know more
about it, and as it will be more of
public interest, we will be communicating information to reassure
and inform people on whether
there will be any changes.”
Liberty Global is the world’s
largest international TV and
broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries
across Europe.
p3
Business
Street Hawkers
Organise yourselves
into a group and get
the proper licenses,
says the ministry of
Entrepreneurship, Development and Business Innovation.
I
R. Vidot
E
We will help them to organise themselves into a group - Minister Michael Benstrong
group of hawkers earlier this
month to “listen to their grievances and provide advice on the
way forward.”
The authorities say those
hawkers need to organise themselves as a group once they obtain
the necessary retailers licenses.
It is believed that most of them
have licenses for importation to
be sold in bulk to retailers.
Proposals are being made to
find a common area – a sort of
hawkers centre - where they
can carry on their businesses in
an organised manner. The suggestion is that they will have to
make financial contributions to
use the place.
One of the places being considered is the area at the former
children’s playground opposite
the National Library where
SEnPa used to hold its fairs as a
temporary solution. Other places that have been proposed are
the Market Street car park and
the car park area next to the taxi
stand. However, it was pointed
out in the National Assembly on
Tuesday that those areas are not
feasible as parking space in Victoria is limited. This, it was argued, would only serve to worsen the already terrible parking
situation in Victoria.
Regional
Speaker calls for repeal of bad laws
Repeal laws that criminalise public health issues such as drug addiction, abortion and HIV/AIDS.
B
ad laws affect public
health in the southern
African region and the
Indian Ocean. This was the
gist of the message the speaker
of the national assembly, Dr
Patrick Herminie conveyed at
a recent symposium on criminalization and stigmatization
in Johannesburg. The meeting
was organised by the Southern
African Development Comminity (SADC).
The main focus of the gathering was to pinpoint and look for
ways to resolve all the bad decisions and laws that stunt the realisation of fundamental human
rights and public health.
Addressing the five or so parliamentarians in Johannesburg,
Speaker Herminie argued that
criminalisation in public health
is counterproductive and only
Troubled
paradise
The Comoros has just elected a not-so-new
President and he has a hard task ahead.
R. Vidot
t is becoming almost impossible for hawkers to ply
their trade in Victoria and
other places around town such
as the Providence industrial
estate ever since the Seychelles
Licensing Authority began a
crackdown on such practices.
The authorities say this practice is not ideal for a town as
small as Victoria. “If nothing
is done to resolve the issue and
particularly regularise the status of those businessmen right
away, Victoria will be overrun
by hawkers and there will be
acute congestion all over the
place,” noted the Minister for
Entrepreneurship
Development and Business Innovation,
Michael Benstrong on Tuesday
in the National Assembly.
Mr Benstrong said his ministry has initiated moves to sort
out the problem in the short
term whilst efforts continue to
find a long term solution.
The ministry met with a
Regional
contribute to drive those affected underground.
“As we work towards ending
AIDS as a public health threat
and achieving universal access
to sexual reproductive health,
my plea is that we say no to
criminalization and discrimination, shun anecdotal evidence
and begin to advocate and legislate on the basis of sound evidence,” he said.
It was on this note that the
Speaker appealed to all SADC
parliamentarians to take a regional approach towards advocacy for sexual reproductive
health rights in the region.
He further reminded the parliamentarians that they have
it within their power to repeal
laws that criminalise public
health issues such as drug use,
abortion and HIV/AIDS. “These
laws”, he said, “are limiting people’s rights including sexual and
reproductive rights and are having a negative impact on public
health”.
The Speaker maintained that
the time has come for policy
makers to make a clear distinction between drug trafficking
and drug addiction. The former
is a law and order problem and
the latter a public health issue that should not be tackled
through legislation.
Noting that HIV/AIDS is
alarmingly increasing among
drug users, the Speaker implored
for the introduction of the needle exchange programme as a
matter of urgency in the Southern Africa Region to mitigate the
transmission of HIV and Hepatitis among drug users.
He deplored the fact that ho-
mosexuality remains a crime in
many countries thus discouraging those with such practices
from seeking health care. He
deplored the fact that LGBTI
persons still face a plethora of
hurdles in their quest for their
full enjoyment of fundamental
rights including their rights to
health as enshrined in the Constitution. The Speaker argued
that LGBTI people are born as
such and therefore “it is a human right issue”.
Reiterating that criminalisation is a recipe for public health
disaster, the Speaker urged parliamentarians to help contain
the epidemic of bad laws that
ravages Africa. He concluded by
saying that public health measures must be based on sound
evidence and not on myths, assumptions and false hoods.
arlier
t h i s
week,
State House
sent a message
of congratulations to the
newly elected
President of
the Comoros,
Azali Assoumani, a politician who is
closely linked
to the country’s troubled
past. In 1999,
Azali Assoumani carried
Newly elected President of the Comoros,
out a coup
Azali Assoumani.
d’etat
that
overthrew the interim President of the Comoros at the time, Tadjidine Ben Said Massounde. He went on to win the Presidential election three years later and stepped down at the end of his mandate
in 2006. He is back as head of state having won the country’s presidential election with a cloud of suspicion hovering over him and the
country’s electoral system.
Allegations of voting irregularities emerged after the first round
of elections in February this year. The candidate of the then ruling
party, Ali Soilihi came out first. However, there were allegations of
widespread cheating, including ballot stuffing, broken ballot boxes
and violence at polling stations in some parts of the main island of
the Union, Grand Comores. The country’s Supreme Court intervened
and ordered new elections in those areas.
In the second round of voting on 10 April, only around two percent
of the population were required to vote. That was enough to reverse
the results of the first round and thus giving Azali Assoumani “a clear
victory.”
The former President’s economic record can be described as “unimpressive.” GDP growth has slumped, unemployment remains
high and there are frequent shortages of food, water, fuel and power.
However, the outgoing President’s success has been the remarkable
political stability that had long been in short supply in that country.
The Comoros archipelago consists of three islands: Grande Comores, Anjouan and Moheli. There is however a fourth island that
makes up the archipelago but at independence, Mayotte retained
links with France and became a full French department in 2011. The
divide between French ruled Mayotte and the rest of the Comoros
is wide with the country ranking 153rd out of 185 countries on the
UNDP’s Human Development Index. One consequence of this divide has been an effort by Anjouan and Moheli to try to get out of the
Union and “re-attach” themselves to France. The issue has been temporarily resolved following the drafting of a new constitution that
provides for a rotating federal presidency amongst the three islands
every five years.
The Union of the Comoros is the only country to belong simultaneously to the African Union, the Arab League, the Indian Ocean Commission, and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.
Keeping kids safe
Continued from page 2
The Speaker delivering the
official opening remarks.
Delegates of the Symposium.
This local philanthropist
noted, however, that in the
process of producing the leaflet
he saw reluctance on the part
of many people to give a helping hand to the project. He said
the leaflet should have been
made available quite a while
back but there was a lack of
support even from government
ministries. “I sent my documents and I never received any
feedback. “This is why I have
decided to take it upon myself
to seek private sponsors.”
Pascale D'Offay, the general
manager (GM) of Print House
said that the company was happy
to help Mr. Desnousse and the
community at large that would
reap the benefits of his campaign.
Their help nevertheless did not
remain at printing the documents
but they also "provided advice
relating to the graphics, which
would make the leaflet much
more attractive to the school children," added Mrs. D'Offay.
As part of future projects, Mr.
Denousse said he hopes to get
the collaboration of Print House
once again to organise a drawing
competition for school children
based on road safety. The drawings will be used in future editions of road safety leaflets. “We
will find sponsors for gifts such
as educational prizes for the
competition,” he ended.
p4
Athletics
Quest for Olympic
qualifications continues
Lissa Labiche is currently at a training camp
in France and is also on an European tour.
A. Henriette
S
Lissa Labiche is training and competing in Europe with the hope of qualifying for the
Rio Olympics.
eychelles 2015 athlete of
the year Lissa Labiche has
been training in France
since the start of this month as
she tries to get top notch training and enough competitions so
that she can qualify for the Rio
Olympic Games in August this
year.
The jump specialist, who is
trying to qualify for the high
jump event, is currently attached to the Nancy athletics
club in France and is competing mostly every weekend either in France or in Germany.
She is accompanied by Cuban
Coach Carlos Sanchez who also
won the title of best coach for
2015 during the sports awards
ceremony in January.
In her first competition in
Germany Labiche cleared the
bar at 1.87m and she won the
gold medal in the event. Then
she took part in another competition in France where she
jumped a height of 1.80m.
She then jumped the same
height in another competition
in Germany. In her most recent event in France, Labiche
jumped 1.84m to finish third.
Next she will be taking part
in the Inter Club Championship in France. Labiche needs
to jump 1.93m for her to qualify for the Olympic Games.
Her best results so far have
been 1.92m which she did last
year during the South African
Open Championship which is
also the Seychelles national
record.
She is expected back in the
country towards the end of
this month.
A goatfish spotted by Elizabeth Fideria.
Football
Goals galore in second division
A. Henriette
19 goals were scored in the last two games in the second division.
C
ompetitions in the second division league is as
exciting as in the first division and the teams in action
this week have been in free scoring mood as some 19 goals have
been scored in two games alone
on Monday and Tuesday at Stad
Linite.
On Tuesday, Au Cap beat St
Roch United 5-4 to move into
fourth place on the table above
Perseverence on nine points. The
team have the same number of
points as Victoria City which occupy third place.
In a rather free scoring match
it was Au Cap who drew first
blood when they opened the
score half way in the first half
through Dean Ballet on penalty. But then they let St Roch
which is rooted to the bottom
of the table take control and
the team deservedly equalised
through Shain Elizabeth. His
goals came after Roy Julie’s free
kick had hit the cross bar and
Elizabeth scored with a header
from the rebound. However, Au
Cap restored their lead before
half time when Denis Ballet
easily beat St Roch goalkeeper
to keep them ahead going into
the break.
The second half produced six
more goals. Au Cap made the
score 3-1 when Romain scored
his second and it looked like
it was going to be an easy vic-
Au Cap players (in red) celebrate scoring a goal in their 5-4 win over St Roch.
tory but St Roch crept back into
the game when veteran striker,
Roy Julie used his experience
to reduce the score. St Roch
just could not maintain their
rhythm and their defence once
again failed them and allowed
Au Cap to again take a two goal
lead, this time from the penalty
spot. It was Ballet who scored
his brace and the score was 4-2.
But St Roch, being pushed by
their vocal coach, did not give up
and they scored twice to equalise the score to 4-4. First it was
Roy Julie who scored his brace
this time from the penalty spot
after a silly mistake from Au
Cap’s goalkeeper. Then Aaron
Tirant equalised for St Roch
and it looked like the match
was going to end on a deadlock.
However, on the last second Au
Cap scored form the last attack
of the match and it was Shawn
Romain who gave his team the
victory to the delight of his team
but to the anger of St Roch. The
score ended 5-4. Right after the
final whistle, St Roch’s players
and management surrounded
the match officials especially the
assistant referee complaining of
offside on the last goal and they
argued all the way to the officials
changing room complaining of
being robbed their first point in
the league so far.
On Monday in another free
scoring match, Perseverence
beat St Francis 6-4. Perseverence
is now in the fifth position in the
league on seven points whilst St
Francis is in sixth place on six
points after five matches.
Sponsored by
https://www.facebook.com/groups/seychellesfishing/
email: [email protected], Tel: +248 2603626
p5
NBA Playoffs
Cavaliers crush Raptors in opener of Eastern Conference final
A
s 3-pointers fell at historic rates through the first
two rounds of the postseason, LeBron James’ message never
changed: The Cleveland Cavaliers
are not just a team of jump-shooters.
In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, James and the Cavaliers proved it. On a night when
the Toronto Raptors did their best
to take away the 3-point arc, the
Cavs instead attacked the paint and
stormed their way to a 115-84 victory Tuesday and a 1-0 series lead.
It was the most lopsided postseason win in Cavs history and marked
their ninth victory in as many playoff games this year.
The Cavs are rolling, and James
and Kyrie Irving are a big reason
why.
James scored 24 points and Irving had 27 as the Cavs made just
seven 3-pointers but shot 55.4 percent and scored 56 points in the
paint.
“Tonight they wanted us to be in
the paint,” James said. “We tried to
take advantage of that. I keep telling
you we’re not a jump-shooting team.
We’re a balanced team. We’re able to
do whatever the game dictates, and
we’re able to adjust to that.”
Kevin Love had 14 points and four
rebounds, his first game in this postseason without a double-double.
The Cavs rolled anyway, becoming
the first team to win their first nine
postseason games since the 2012
San Antonio Spurs, who won their
first 10 before losing four straight to
the Oklahoma City Thunder.
DeMar DeRozan scored 18 points
The Cleveland Cavaliers are rolling, and James and Kyrie Irving are a big reason why.
for the Raptors, but only six after
the first quarter. Fellow All-Star
Kyle Lowry scored eight points on
a tough 4-of-14 shooting night after scoring a career-high 43 against
the Cavs in a February victory at Air
Canada Centre. Neither Lowry nor
Wilshere and Townsend selected but no place for
Theo Walcott
E
After sweeping through the first
two rounds of the playoffs by setting
records with their 3-point shooting,
the Cavs instead attacked the heart
of the Raptors’ defense.
Each of James’ first nine baskets came near the restricted area.
Cleveland went inside after averaging nearly 17 3-pointers per game
through the first two playoff rounds.
The Raptors scored the game’s
first seven points, although the Cavs
had the lead within about seven
minutes.
The Raptors didn’t have much to smile about at any point of Tuesday night’s Eastern Conference final opener against the Cavs.
Rashford, Townsend in
26-man England squad
ahead of Euro 2016
ngland manager Roy Hodgson has named Manchester
United’s 18-year-old striker
Marcus Rashford in an initial 26man squad for Euro 2016.
Newcastle United winger Andros
Townsend and Arsenal midfielder
Jack Wilshere are also called up for
the tournament.
But Theo Walcott, Phil Jagielka,
Jermain Defoe and Mark Noble
miss out.
All 24 teams have until 31 May
to submit their 23-man squads for
Euro 2016, which is being held in
France from 10 June to 10 July.
Rashford only broke into the
United first team in the second half
of the season but quickly became a
firm fixture.
He scored four times in his first
two appearances and has seven
goals from 16 games since making
his senior debut on 25 February.
Asked about Rashford’s chances of featuring in his final 23-man
squad, Hodgson, 68, said: “The
DeRozan attempted a free throw
Tuesday.
“We’ve got to come out of the gate
with that mindset, being aggressive
like we usually do,” Lowry said. “I
think we didn’t try to do that until
later on in the game.”
competition is quite strong, he’ll
understand that.
“There’s no reason why he can’t
knock someone off their perch, but
it will be harder than some people
might expect.”
England’s 26-man provisional
squad for Euro 2016
Goalkeepers: Tom
Fraser Forster, Joe Hart
Heaton,
Defenders: Ryan Bertrand,
Gary Cahill, Nathaniel Clyne,
Danny Rose, Chris Smalling, John
Stones, Kyle Walker
Midfielders: Dele Alli, Ross Barkley, Fabian Delph, Eric Dier, Danny Drinkwater, Jordan Henderson,
Adam Lallana, James Milner, Raheem Sterling, Andros Townsend,
Jack Wilshere
Forwards: Harry Kane, Daniel Sturridge, Jamie Vardy, Wayne
Rooney, Marcus Rashford
Rashford has come from nowhere this season to impress for United and
earn an international call.
Cleveland extended it to double
figures within the first two minutes
of the second quarter and rolled the
rest of the night. The Cavs led by as
many as 35 in the fourth quarter.
Raptors coach Dwane Casey
thought the defensive rotations
broke down once the Raptors denied the Cavs 3-point looks.
“We’ve got to continue to keep
those (3-pointers) down, work to
keep those down, and also at the
same time make sure we understand and be disciplined as far as
how we take away their roll guy,”
Casey said. “Because I thought that
hurt us, especially in the second
quarter.”
The sweeps in each of the first
two rounds meant the Cavs played
just eight games in the last 33 days,
while the Raptors were stretched
to seven games in each of their first
two series. All the time off has done
little to disrupt Cleveland’s rhythm.
The Cavs beat the Atlanta Hawks
by double figures in each of the first
three games following an eightday layoff, and nine days between
games certainly didn’t bother them
Tuesday.
The Raptors have been in this
position before. They have now lost
the first game in each of their three
series, although they fought back to
win the first two. This will be their
toughest test yet.
“I thought they were quicker than
us tonight, and the reasons are not
important. It’s not an excuse,” Casey
said. “It’s one game. But they were
the quicker team tonight, and we’ve
got to make adjustments of how we
want to combat that quickness.”
Euro 2016
Spain without Diego
Bastian Schweinsteiger
Costa, Fernando Torres on included in Germany’s
early Euro 2016 list
provisional Euro 2016 squad
World Cup winners Santi Cazorla, Juan Mata and Javi
Martinez were also high-profile names left out by Del Bosque.
C
helsea striker Diego Costa
was left out of Spain coach
Vicente del Bosque’s provisional 25-man squad for Euro 2016
on Tuesday. The Brazilian-born
missed Chelsea’s last two games
of the season due to a persistent
hamstring injury and has struggled
at international level with just one
goal in 10 games since declaring to
play for Spain in 2013. World Cup
winners Fernando Torres , Juan
Mata and Javi Martinez were also
high-profile names left out by Del
Bosque.
Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla was also
excluded having just returned from
a long-term knee injury.
The uncapped Saul Niguez and
Lucas Vazquez of Atletico Madrid
and Real Madrid respectively have
made the 25.
Meanwhile, Villarreal captain
Bruno Soriano was surprisingly included amongst 10 midfielders.
Del Bosque also named 11
promising younger players to bulk
up his squad for the friendlies
against Bosnia and Herzegovina
and South Korea on May 29 and
June 1 respectively with Real and
Atletico players set to take part in
the Champions League final on
May 28.
Squad in full
Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas, David De Gea, Sergio Rico
Defenders: Jordi Alba, Gerard
Pique, Marc Bartra, Sergio Ramos,
Dani Carvajal, Cesar Azpilicueta,
Juanfran
Midfielders: Sergio Busquets,
Andres Iniesta, David Silva, Mikel
San Jose, Koke, Saul Niguez, Cesc
Fabregas, Thiago Alcantara, Isco,
Bruno Soriano
Forwards: Pedro Rodriguez, Alvaro Morata, Aritz Aduriz, Nolito,
Lucas Vazquez
Costa scored only one goal for Spain in qualifying for Euro 2016 and has
been left out of their provisional squad due to concerns over his fitness.
Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger has been
included as he recovers from a torn medial knee ligament.
B
astian Schweinsteiger has
been included in Germany’s
provisional 27-man squad for
Euro 2016 despite having not played
for Manchester United since March
with a knee injury.
The Germany captain suffered a
partial tear of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee in the
buildup to the world champions’
3-2 friendly defeat by England but
has been selected in Joachim Löw’s
squad. Liverpool’s Emre Can is also
included, as is Arsenal’s Mesut Özil
and the former Gunners forward
Lukas Podolski along with the uncapped trio Joshua Kimmich, Julian
Brandt and Julian Weigl.
Mario Gomez, who has just won
the Turkish Super Lig with Besiktas,
is one of few centre-forwards named
by Löw but Germany boast a wealth
of attacking talent in Real Madrid’s
Toni Kroos, the Bayern Munich duo
Thomas Müller and Mario Götze,
Leroy Sané of Schalke and Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus, who
missed the 2014 World Cup with an
ankle injury.
If Podolski, 30, is picked he would
be appearing at his seventh successive tournament, having already
amassed 127 caps for Germany.
Germany’s 27-man provisional
squad for Euro 2016
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer,
Marc-André ter Stegen, Bernd Leno.
Defenders: Jérôme Boateng, Jonas Hector, Mats Hummels, Benedikt Höwedes, Shkodran Mustafi,
Emre Can, Sebastian Rudy, Antonio
Rüdiger.
Midfielders/forwards:
Sami
Khedira, Toni Kroos, Mesut Özil,
Marco Reus, Julian Draxler, Lukas
Podolski, Thomas Müller, Karim
Bellarabi, Bastian Schweinsteiger,
Julian Brandt, Julian Weigl, Mario
Gomez, Mario Götze, Leroy Sané,
André Schürrle, Joshua Kimmich
Bastian Schweinsteiger is one of three Premier League players
named in Joachim Löw’s provisional squad for Euro 2016.
p6
Olympics
31 caught in retests of 2008 Beijing Olympic samples
R
Total of 31 new positives come from 12 countries and six different sports
ussian athletes are expected
to be among 31 individuals
who could be banned from
the Rio Olympics after their samples
from the 2008 Beijing Games tested
positive for prohibited substances,
putting the country’s participation
in Brazil under further scrutiny.
The International Olympic Committee has announced that 31 Olympians from 12 countries, spanning
six sports, are set to be banned from
competing at Rio after retrospective target testing on urine samples
from 2008. Russia, found last year
by the World Anti-Doping Agency
to have been running a state-sponsored doping programme, is already
at serious risk of having no track and
field representation at the Olympics this summer, while the findings
from 250 further retrospective tests
from London 2012 will be released
later this month.
An International Association of
Athletics Federations taskforce will
decide on 17 June whether Russia’s
athletes will be allowed to compete
at the Rio Games. They are currently
banned from international competition and any revelations of further
positive tests would raise more questions about Russia’s position.
The IOC retested 454 samples
from Beijing, using new anti-doping techniques that were not available at the time of the 2008 Games.
They targeted athletes who are due
to compete in Rio and around 7% of
those tests came back positive.
The IOC will not identify the athletes in question until they have had
the opportunity to request analysis
of their “B” samples, although that
Bencic, Wozniacki pull
out of French Open
F
ormer world number one Caroline Wozniacki and rising
Swiss talent Belinda Bencic
have withdrawn from the French
Open due to injuries, the WTA said.
Wozniacki had withdrawn due
to a right ankle injury while world
number eight Bencic was out with a
lower back injury, the WTA said on
its Twitter feed.
Wozniacki’s injury continues a difficult season for the Dane, who was
dumped from the opening round of
the Australian Open and has now
slumped to 34th in the rankings.
She suffered another ankle injury
last month, forcing her to pull out of
the Istanbul Cup tournament and a
Fed Cup tie.
Bencic has also had a tough run,
losing opening round matches at
four of her last five events since the
19-year-old made the final at St Petersburg in February.
France deploying
anti-drone technology
to protect Euro 2016
T
he security chief for the European Championship tells
The Associated Press that
France will deploy anti-drone technology that will interfere with and
take control of any flying machines
that violate no-fly zones over stadiums.
Ziad Khoury says no-fly zones
will be declared over all 10 stadiums as well as training grounds for
the 24 teams at next month’s tournament.
He says the technology will be
deployed at most of the 51 matches and will “interfere with drones
and take control of them if they are
spotted.”
French authorities have reportedly trained for the possibility
of drones being used to disperse
chemical or biological weapons
over crowds.
Khoury described the technology
as a “dissuasive measure that didn’t
exist at previous sports events.”
process will be completed before the
Olympics. It is understood a number
of the 31 positives are from power
and endurance events.
All 12 national Olympic committees whose athletes fell foul of the
recent retrospective testing programme were due to be informed on
Tuesday or Wednesday. The British
Olympic Association said on Tuesday that it had not been contacted
by the IOC and was not aware of any
British athletes implicated.
The IOC will also undertake wider retrospective testing of medallists
from Beijing and London, while
samples from those athletes who
could be promoted to medal status
because of the disqualification of
others will also be retested.
Thomas Bach, the IOC president,
said: “The retests from Beijing and
London and the measures we are
taking following the worrying allegations against the laboratory in Sochi are another major step to protect
the clean athletes irrespective of any
sport or any nation.
“We keep samples for 10 years so
that the cheats know that they can
never rest. By stopping so many
doped athletes from participating in
Rio we are showing once more our
determination to protect the integrity of the Olympic competitions,
including the Rio anti-doping laboratory.”
Pressure on governing bodies
from other sports to bar Russia from
the Olympics has already grown after UK Anti-Doping revealed its testing mission in the country had been
hampered by a number of obstacles.
The agency has been given responsibility for testing in the country after
Russia’s own anti-doping body was
suspended. Of 247 tests overseen by
Ukad in Russia from November last
year to early this month, 99 were unable to be carried out because of an
inability to locate an athlete and one
test was refused.
Last week Dr Grigory Rodchenkov, a former head of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, claimed that Russian urine samples during the 2014
Winter Olympics were switched
from the main Sochi laboratory to
a neighbouring shadow laboratory, allowing positive samples to go
untested. Russia finished top of the
medal table at its home Games with
33 in total and 13 golds.
The IOC has requested Wada
The Olympic opening ceremony in Beijing. The IOC retested 454 samples from Beijing, using new anti-doping techniques that were not
available at the 2008 Games.
Formula One 2016
conduct an investigation into the
Sochi laboratory. A statement read:
“The executive board of the IOC has
requested Wada to initiate a fully
fledged investigation into allegations that testing at the Sochi laboratory was subverted. The IOC for
its part will instruct the Lausanne
Anti-Doping Laboratory, where
the Sochi samples are stored for
10 years, to proceed in cooperation
with Wada with their analysis in the
most sophisticated and efficient way
possible.
“The IOC has already requested
the Russian Olympic Committee to
undertake all efforts to ensure the
full cooperation of the Russian side
in the Wada investigation. The IOC
has put its medical and scientific
director at the disposal of the Wada
investigation. Based on the result of
this investigation the IOC will take
swift action.”
The Russian sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, said this week that the
country was ashamed of cheating
athletes but that anti-doping reforms were being established and
banning Russia from the Olympics
would be unfair.
Meanwhile it was reported
that the US Justice Department
has opened an investigation into
state-sponsored doping by dozens of
Russian athletes.
The US Attorney’s Office for the
Eastern District of New York is scrutinising Russian government officials, athletes, coaches, anti-doping
authorities and anyone who might
have benefited unfairly from a doping regime, the New York Times
said.
English Premier League
F1 set to announce huge Manchester United’s Europa League
new sponsorship deal
group place now secure
United needed a 19-goal victory to go past Man City and seal Champions League
with Heineken
qualifying berth.
Deal with Dutch brewing giant believed to be worth
£100m over five years
F
ormula One is coming up tulips, with the news that Max
Verstappen’s stunning victory
in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix will
soon be followed by the announcement of a new £100m sponsorship
deal with Heineken.
Verstappen was the first Dutch
winner in F1 and now the Amsterdam brewing giant is ready to boost
a sport that has been haemorrhaging
sponsorship in recent years as a result of declining TV audience figures.
There has been no official announcement but there are rumours
circulating in the Netherlands, and
Bernie Ecclestone told the Guardian
on Tuesday: “Apparently it leaked on
a website in Holland. Heineken told
me they were very, very sorry and
that they were pissed off.”
The three-times F1 world champion Sir Jackie Stewart hinted at
the deal recently, saying: “Very soon,
a large internationally-renowned
company will come into F1 as a global sponsor.” The Dutch newspaper
De Telegraaf claims that company is
Heineken and that the sponsorship
will be in place for next month’s Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. The
deal is said to be worth $150m over
five years. A Heineken spokesman,
David Pugh, said: “As a leading premium brand, we are constantly evaluating potential sponsorship and
partnership opportunities.
“This includes F1 as well as many
other sports properties. We currently
have an outstanding complementary
global portfolio of sponsorships and
partnerships including Uefa Champions League, Rugby World Cup and
the James Bond franchise. We will
not speculate on what we might do
in the future as this is commercially
sensitive.” Ecclestone, meanwhile, is
delighted with Verstappen’s victory
at the Circuit de Catalunya, a result
which has breathed fresh life into the
sport. “It was great by Max, wasn’t
it?” he said. “It was a good demonstration of what I’ve been saying for
the past two or three years. You don’t
need a team as dominant as them
[Mercedes] who come first and second in qualifying and then first and
second in the race.”
Max Verstappen celebrates his Spanish Grand Prix victory on Sunday,
and F1 is set for another boost this week.
T
eenage striker Marcus Rashford celebrated his England
call-up with a goal as Manchester United ended their Premier League campaign by beating
Bournemouth 3-1 in Tuesday’s
re-arranged Old Trafford fixture.
In a game carried over from
Sunday following a postponement
caused by the discovery of a fake
bomb accidentally left behind during a terror training exercise, United needed a 19-goal victory in order
to steal past Manchester City into
the fourth and final Champions
League qualifying berth.
Goals from Wayne Rooney,
18-year-old Rashford, named in
England’s provisional Euro 2016
squad a day earlier, and substitute
Ashley Young secured the three
points, but it was only enough to lift
Louis van Gaal’s side above Southampton into fifth place.
It means that a Europa League
group place is now secure, while
Saturday’s FA Cup final against
Crystal Palace may yet yield a piece
of silverware, but it was a tame end
to the season, at a two-thirds full
stadium, which laid bare United’s
stagnation under Van Gaal.
His Bournemouth counterpart,
Eddie Howe, has enjoyed a much
more encouraging season.
The south-coast club, who replied courtesy of a stoppage-time
Chris Smalling own goal, finished
their first ever top-flight campaign
in 16th place.
Fans arriving at Old Trafford
spoke of their anger and frustration
over Sunday’s cancellation, which
left visiting supporters facing two
500-mile (800-kilometre) round
trips in three days.
The atmosphere inside and out-
side the stadium was subdued and
there were visible signs of dissent
against the unpopular Van Gaal.
One banner read held up by fans
read: “TIME TO GO LOUIS! NOT
GOOD ENOUGH!”
HULL CITY SURVIVED
Meanwhile, Hull City survived to
reach the Championship play-off
final on Tuesday despite losing 2-0
at home to Derby County in their
semi-final second leg.
Hull’s 3-0 win in the first leg at
the weekend left Derby with too
much to do in the return at the KC
Stadium as Steve Bruce’s side set
up a final against Yorkshire rivals
Sheffield Wednesday at Wembley
later this month.
Derby were attempting to turn
the tie around against all the odds
and the evening started well as they
went in front in the seventh minute.
Cyrus Christie did brilliant-
ly down the right and his cross
eventually came to former Dundee United striker Johnny Russell,
who stabbed home at the second
attempt after his initial effort was
blocked.
The nerves were jangling among
the home fans as Derby went further in front nine minutes before
the interval, Andy Robertson poking the ball into his own net after
Curtis Davies had deflected a Marcus Olsson cross.
However, Craig Bryson squandered a great chance to square the
tie on aggregate at the start of the
second half when he failed to turn
in an Andreas Weimann cross and
Hull held on.
The Tigers, looking to make an
immediate return to the Premier
League after their relegation last
season, will face Wednesday in the
final after the Owls beat Brighton
and Hove Albion 3-1 on aggregate
in the first semi-final.
Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney celebrates after scoring
the opener with his 100th Premier League goal at Old Trafford.
p7
Conservation
Coco-de-mer not exactly a
hassle free trade
Seychelles is home to about 75 endemic plant species, with a further 25 or so species found in the Aldabra group. Particularly well known amongst these is the coco-de-mer, a species of palm that grows only on the islands of Praslin and
neighbouring Curieuse, nicknamed the ‘love nut’ because of its suggestive shape.
G. Jean
B
eing endemic to Seychelles
on top of being the biggest
nut in the world means
the coco-de-mer attracts attention wherever it goes.
Not that it is made easy to just
transfer the nut from one destination to another, for being a
protected species means special
arrangements have to be made to
trade or transport the nut elsewhere.
Moreover, environmental laws
in most countries have clear
specifications relating to the
transfer of plants and seeds alike,
making it extra hard for floras to
be moved from border to border
without required permits.
But this does not mean that the
trading and transfer of the cocode-mer seed does not take place,
Rodney Fanchette from the Department of Conservation told
TODAY.
He said given the right set of
permits is acquired, the seed is
sold to visiting tourists all the
time, as well as regularly exchanged as tokens or mementos
for visiting dignitaries.
“If indeed trading and transfer
of the seed was prohibited, tourists would not be able to purchase it and take it back home
after holidaying here,” he advanced.
Fanchette was contacted vis-àvis an issue where a Seychellois
living abroad claimed she had
run into trouble transferring a
coco-de-mer from here to her
adoptive country, Australia.
She said upon returning there
after her holiday recently, she was
given a citation by the authorities
at the airport for basically “carrying a protected species”.
She explains that her paper-
work was in order, detailing that
she purchased the nut through
the right channel at the Botanical Gardens.
“I went to Plant Protection to
get it treated since the Australian
Migration and Border Control
is very strict on everything that
comes across its border.”
“When I got there they told me
I don’t have enough time to get
it (the nut) treated since their
treatment needs 72 hours. So
they put me in contact with one
George Gill and he was ready
to do it since his treatment only
took 24 hours.”
The lady recounted that before
leaving she had to go to the office
at Plant Protection to collect the
necessary paperwork authorising her to carry the coco-de-mer.
“Everyone was fascinated by
the seed when I got to Australia”,
she recalled, quite content.
But while Border Control had
no issues with her entering the
country with the nut, the Environment department seemed
concerned and cited her with a
notice, she said.
While they acknowledged all
the necessary papers were present, she was nevertheless presented with a Caution Notice,
“because the Seychelles Government has the coco-de-mer as a
protected plant and nut”, she
was told.
She explained she had bought
the nut from the Seychelles
government itself, but it was explained that as long as coco- demer is cited as a protected item,
the authorities in Australia had
no choice but to take action.
She was more than happy to
get cited with the notice she exclaimed, as she was still allowed
to take the coco-de-mer home in
the end.
But the experience left her
dumfounded on the issue of laws
regulating all trades pertaining
to the world’s largest nut, leading
her to ask what could be done to
address the anomaly in the law,
to avoid a similar situation the
future.
Fanchette told TODAY that as
things stands in the Seychelles
right now, the trade in nuts is
controlled by the coco-de-mer
(Management) Decree of 1995
which basically imposes a range
of restrictions to prevent illegal
trading of the coco-de-mer.
The law requires that proper
permits are in hand before any
person is allowed to transfer the
nut outside of the jurisdiction, he
exposed, emphasizing that the
coco-de-mer should be tagged, a
process undertaken by the Department of Conservation, and
that a permit should be issued
as well to validate a sale.
“In some countries like Australia for example, it is additionally required that the nut is fumigated to satisfy conservation
measures set up to protect its
border”, he added.
“Australia is an extremely difficult country when it comes to
these things, which is very understandable”, agreed Fanchette.
However, he noted that the
authorities there were wrong to
obstruct the lady in the case in
question, “because the law here
protects live nuts, and not dead
ones”, he clarified.
“Live nuts are coco-de-mer
with kernels, while for the dead
ones the kernels have been removed”, he pointed out.
“It is illegal to trade in live
nuts, similarly as is the case with
the tree itself, as these can be
grown if planted, he continued.
“Dead nuts, such as the one
carried by the lady, will just decompose if attempts is made to
grow it”, he revealed, citing that
it is okay to trade in these.
Neighbourhood Cooperation
Hotel extends hand to school
The Constance Lémuria Praslin hotel has initiated what could prove to be a fruitful and rewarding partnership with the Grand Anse Praslin Secondary School in the long run, by
inviting teachers from the school to receive first hands experience of different jobs performed at hotel establishments.
G. Jean
T
he scheme is designed to avail the
teachers of much
needed experience and
understanding of what
the jobs entail, so that
they are better positioned
to groom students to become interested in hotel
jobs.
A group of four teachers from the Grand Anse
School partook in the
first exchange between
the
two
organisations
h e l d r e c e n t l y, s p e n d i n g a
total of eight days at the
hotels learning different
jobs they are meant to
teach students about af-
Constance Lemuria Praslin hotel
terwards.
Pa r t o f t h e c u r r i c u l u m
at Secondary school level
requires that students to
complete a module relating to vocational work,
during which the teachers
will be made to work their
magic.
The teachers are pictured here performing
jobs at the hotels before
they returned to school at
the start of this term.
A statement issued by
the Constance Lémuria
Seychelles explaining the
move, said the hotel is
supporting the school by
adopting the programme.
Grand Anse Praslin Secondary School
p8
Entertainment
Thrills at a spin
Mark your calendar for the new 20 million dollar gambling attraction opening in July in Baie Lazare. Not only does Club Liberté Casino promise exhilarating thrills at the tables,
but so will the environs.
D. Laurence
T
ucked away in a secluded
area and clad in luxuriant
vegetation, Club Liberté Casino, pioneered by Managing Director Jake Waller, is located at the
front entrance to the Four Seasons
Resort and is the largest stand alone
casino in the South West of Mahé. It
is felt by many that once this hidden
gem comes to life, patrons will be
flocking to enjoy its offerings.
There are several casinos and slot
arcades in Victoria and surrounding areas attached to small luxury
resorts but, according to Mr. Waller,
these are only satisfying the local
players. It was soon realised that
there was potential to open a new
casino in the Seychelles which appeals to the international market as
well.
“We are aiming at creating something different; something that will
facilitate sophisticated casino players visiting Seychelles. Players who
would choose not to just limit their
stay in the luxuries of a well-crafted
resort, but venture beyond these
resorts’ boundaries for exciting and
sophisticated entertainment” reveals Mr. Waller. “Sometimes simplicity is all that is needed to display
that elusive ideal which is elegance.
Hence, this casino will not be a huge
establishment, but it will raise the
Club Liberte is reminiscent of a grand colonial plantation house.
benchmark of the industry in Seychelles and break new ground to
satisfy the demand of future casino
players” he added.
The entrance to the building is
an attraction in itself where a magnificent water feature shall welcome
guests up the plush staircase and in
through the wide double doors.
Club Liberté Casino’s 900 square
metres of floor space includes a
Main Gaming floor, VIP Gaming,
bar and an entertainment area;
holding 250 guests comfortably.
The casino itself shall boast 12 of the
most popular casino table games,
thirty of the latest slot machines and
will provide casino players with awe
inspiring gambling entertainment.
The main casino gaming floor will
offer roulette, blackjack, variations
of poker and punto banco/baccarat.
A loyalty card system will complement the gaming tables and machines, providing efficient and high
security measures for patrons.
As visitors to Seychelles marvel
and appreciate the uniqueness and
distinctive culture, so will the Club
Liberté Casino espouse this culture.
As Mr Waller explains “the building
possesses a traditional architectural
design characterized by a décor
reminiscent of a colonial plantation
house. The floor to ceiling textures
of the interior and the entry double
doors are inspired by the traditional
aspect of Seychelles with its rich
contemporary and tropical influence, providing the kind of welcoming environment that only Club Liberté Casino can.”
The panoramic cocktail bar, with
its impressive beverage list, shall
include a live sushi station and be
amongst many reasons why Club
Liberté Casino can generate international interest. “There the empha-
sis is on great hospitality and we are
going to offer a refined and superior
service.” indicated Mr. Waller.
Far beyond the main casino floor
and bar, a unique and exclusive VIP
gaming room occupies the top floor.
This VIP room shall provide the
highest comfort and exclusive facilities that will satisfy the most discerning of guests. An open, airy balcony amongst lush vegetation offers
a cooling breeze whilst observing
the magnificent mountain views.
Mr. Waller also advised “the quality of the facility and services will
eventually help Club Liberté Casino
attract the international market
including European and African
countries as well as the Middle East
where flight connectivity is very accessible to Seychelles.”
Infrastructure and planning are
very essential elements to be considered when building a casino from
scratch. “It is important to stay relevant in a changing marketplace.
Therefore, the premises, facilities
and services shall be constantly
monitored and, if needed, upgraded
in order to maximize the potential of
the business” Mr. Waller says.
“The casino is fully owned by a
Seychellois company, employing
over 50 Seychellois workers. We are
developing our own internationally
recognized training program that
meets the needs of both the company and its employees. This training
will be directly related to the skills,
knowledge and strategies necessary
to deal with specific clients” explained Mr. Waller.
Mr. Waller also commented
“The government is now pushing the gaming industry to the
forefront of the Seychelles economy. They have recently realized that international standard
casinos have the ability to boost
tourist numbers and can contribute greatly to the country’s
economy through the construction and future tourism that
flows.”
He also added “the government
sees the casino as a viable ongoing source of revenue through
taxation and have brought in a
special consultant from the UK
to revise the Seychelles gaming
legislation aligning it to International standards.” Although
the changing of legislation is one
of the main causes many casinos
have recently closed their doors
permanently, Mr. Waller states
that his company is here to stay
and is fully committed to changing the standard, reputation and
success of casinos in Seychelles.
p9
Energy
How much power do your electronics use when they are ‘off ’?
Once upon a time, there was a difference between on and off. Now, it’s more complicated: Roughly ten devices and appliances in the typical Seychellois household are always drawing power, even when they appear to be off.
S. Marivel
I
t adds up. About a quarter
of all residential energy consumption is used on devices
in idle power mode, according to
a study of Northern California by
the Natural Resources Defense
Council. That means that devices
that are “off ” or in standby or
sleep mode can use up to the
equivalent of 50 large power
plants’ worth of electricity and
cost more than US19 billion in
electricity bills every year. And
there’s an environmental cost:
Overall electricity production
represents about 37 percent of
all carbon dioxide emissions
in the United States alone,
one of the main contributors
to climate change.
Many Appliances Use Just
as Much Power When Off
A cable box can draw 28 watts
when it is on and recording a
show, and 26W when it is off
and not recording anything.
Even if you never watched TV,
it would still consume about
227 kilowatt-hours annually.
To put it in context, that’s
more than the average person
uses in an entire year in some
developing countries, including Kenya and Cambodia, according to World Bank estimates.
appliances – things your grandmother owns – are also moving
online, just like your grandmother.
Light bulbs, ovens, refrigerators,
coffee makers – even mattresses —
can now connect to the Internet, so
they also draw power all the time.
Workhorse appliances like dishwashers or laundry machines have
become much more efficient over
time, but many models now have
digital displays, which mean they
always draw a little bit of power,
too.
Perhaps the best way to save on energy is to unplug devices that do not
need to be on 24/7.
Always leaving a laptop computer plugged in, even when it’s
fully charged, can use a similar
quantity — 4.5 kilowatt-hours
of electricity in a week, or about
235 kilowatt-hours a year. (Your
mileage may vary, depending on
model and battery. Some people
say their MacBooks use far less
power.)
Many Appliances Are Always
On
A large percentage of Seychellois households have an Internet
connection, which usually entails
at least one modem and router.
While neither one draws a lot
of power in most homes, they’re
never switched off. The same is
true of many TVs.
To turn a TV on with a remote,
it has to be on to receive that
signal. If it’s a “smart” TV, it has
to be on to stay online. And if
your TV is in quick-start mode
– to avoid the pain of waiting 15
seconds for it to boot up – it’s
drawing even more power.
Lots of traditional household
Aviation
Ethiopian Aviation Academy rewarded
for excellence
The Ethiopian Aviation Academy, the largest and most modern aviation academy in Africa, has been recognised by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
as a Regional Training Center of Excellence.
T
(L-R) Kassie Yimam, Head training solutions at Ethiopean Airlines, being accredited.
he Academy attained the recognition following a rigorous
assessment of the training
organisation, training and procedures manuals, facilities, training
processes, qualification of staff and
quality system.
This took place last week at the
ICAO’s Global Aviation Training and
TRAINAIR PLUS symposium held
at Conrad hotel in Seoul, South Korea.
The recognition allows Ethiopian
Airlines to develop and host ICAO
Training Packages (ITPs) in addition
to ICAO recognised Standardised
Training Packages (STPs) of its own.
Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde
GebreMariam said, “We believe education is the greatest equaliser in the
21st century and our Aviation Academy has strategically positioned itself
to train the African youths in the
latest Aviation technology and latest
aviation skills to own, manage and
operate their own indigenous home
grown African Airlines to lead safe,
economical and reliable aviation industry with global standards.”
This recognition, he added, is the
result of the continuous heavy investment made on human resource
development, a critical pillar of their
Vision 2025 strategy.
“We have invested more than 100
million dollars to expand both the
scope of the training and the in-take
capacity of the Academy”, he explained. “Today, our Academy admits
over 1,500 students per year to train
pilots, aircraft technicians, cabin
crew, marketing and finance personnel, customer service agents as well
as aviation leaders. Going forward,
we plan to increase this in-take capacity to 4,000 by 2025, so as to cater for the growing training needs in
the continent.”
Ethiopian Aviation Academy
(EAA) has recently been awarded
“Airline Service Provider of the
Year” award by the African Airlines
Association (AFRAA) for its excellence in service delivery, innovation
and competitiveness in best service
providers to the African aviation industry
The academy is also a full member
of ICAO TRAINAIR PLUS since
May 20, 2015.
There Are Lots of Small Energy
Hogs
Even as appliances get more efficient, we have more of them: the
landfills in Providence are filled
with appliances that are not necessarily old, but Seychelles which
is now a high income country, also
has a high purchasing power. Peo-
ple buy what is not necessarily the
best quality, and discard it for new
appliances quite often.
Some of this increase comes
from electronics: Almost twothirds of the population has a
laptop or a tablet or an e-reader; a larger percentage still has
smartphones, or even all three.
But some traditional kitchen
appliances, around long before
the Internet, draw a lot of power
when they’re on, even if they’re
not on that often. Some coffee
makers, mid-percolation, draw
more than 900W, although it’s
only on for a few minutes at a
time. If a coffee maker takes 10
minutes to brew a pot, and it
brews one every day, it comes
out to about 50 kilowatt-hours
every year, or a little more than
what someone in Niger uses every year.
The Simplest Way to Reduce
the Hidden Power Drain
Perhaps the simplest way to curtail energy use is to use a power
strip to group appliances — TV,
gaming console, powered speakers, DVD player, streaming devices
— so you can turn them all off at
the same time. However, experts
warned that since some of these
products have clocks or Internet
connections, that connection, the
time, or other information could
be lost if you turn off the power
strip.
And if you use your gaming console to stream movies, well, don’t.
They can use 45 times more power
than streaming consoles, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, mostly because they aren’t good at using
only as much power as the
task at hand requires.
The landfills in Providence are filled with appliances that are not necessarily old, but people buy what is not
necessarily the best quality, and discard it for new appliances quite often.
p10
Miss Seychelles
Contestants undergo assessment of their ‘Beauty with
a Purpose’ project
The contestants taking part in this year’s Miss Seychelles ... Another World 2016 beauty pageant have recently undergone an intensive and vigorous assessment of their Beauty with
a Purpose projects based on health, environmental and social welfare issues affecting society.
Contributed
T
he three-day assessment took place at
STB’s head office at
Espace Building before a
panel of jury made of professionals from various
walks of life such as child
development
and
care,
good governance, project
economist and consultants
and international relations.
Among the judges were
the current and outgoing Miss Seychelles 2015,
Linne Freminot, whose
project won her the title
of Best Beauty with A Purpose Project last year.
Her project focused on
rehabilitating and bringing
incarcerated parents closer
to their children through
recreational activities carried out in a children’s
playground that Linne set
up at the Montagne Posée
correctional centre with
the support of Vijay Construction.
This year’s contestants
One of the contestants undergoing an assessment of their “Beauty with a Purpose” project.
produced a high standard
of community-based projects ranging from themes
such as child neglect,
bringing joy and happiness
to disabled children, taking
care of children and adults
after road accidents, teenage pregnancy and heroin
addiction, to overcoming
low self esteem in teenagers, a better future for children after having lived in
orphanages, psychological
support for grieving children, handling children in
the autism spectrum, overcoming cancer and promoting effective coastal
management for the future
of Seychelles.
The panel of jury searched
on the definition of the
projects, looked at the
sense of originality which
demonstrates proof of having relevance in today’s society, and how the projects
reflect today’s life situation
and are relevant in today’s
world.
The judges also looked
at good presentation skills
with fluidity based on pertinence,
comprehensiveness, clarity, fluidity in languages spoken and whether
the contestants could answer questions on their respective project themes.
Their preparatory work
and the clarity of their
projects within the element
of Beauty With A Purpose
was also taken into consideration by the jury panel.
The winner of the Beauty With A Purpose project will be announced on
the night of the Miss Seychelles… Another World
2016 beauty pageant which
will be held on Saturday
May 28, 2016 at the ICCS
starting at 6.30pm.
Tickets for the pageant
are on sale at R700 each
at the STB head office at
Espace Building and at the
STB Tourist Information
Office at Independence
House.
p11
Coral restoration
What would you do if your home garden was destroyed?
I want you to imagine having a vegetable garden in your home, and you get your daily portion of veggies from this garden. But one day, a storm or a pest comes and kills most of your
stock. Consequently you are now faced with protecting what is left, restocking or a mix of both. Which option would you choose so you may continue harvesting from your garden?
Nature Seychelles
Dr. Phanor Montoya-Maya
posed this introductory question to participants in an online
webinar focusing on Nature
Seychelles’ coral reef restoration
work in the last five years. Phanor
was the Technical and Scientific
Officer in Nature Seychelles’ Reef
Rescuers Program and remains
an Associate to the organization.
He is currently back in his home
country Columbia promoting
coral reef restoration work.
The webinar, titled ‘Coral Gardening as an MPA (Marine Protected Area) Management Tool’,
was hosted by Kristen Maize,
Strategic Communications Manager for The Nature Conservancy,
Hawai’i Program. She also runs
webinars for the Reef Resilience
Network. After the two met last
year, Ms Maize invited Phanor to
share his experience with the Reef
Rescuers Project in a webinar.
“Nature Seychelles pioneered
science-based, low-tech largescale reef restoration in the Western Indian Ocean,” Phanor says.
“The project has enhanced the
natural recovery of a degraded
reef. While other reefs around
Nature Seychelles used to restore
coral reefs at various sites around
Cousin Island Special Reserve
and Praslin Island, highlighting
successes, lessons learnt and recommendations.
“Our Reef Rescuers Project
and results are evidence that scientifically sound, well planned,
properly structured, long-term
and large-scale active reef restoration efforts together with
enforced area protection can significantly assist in the recovery of
degraded reefs,” Phanor pointed
out. “More importantly, they are
evidence that the two strategies
are complementary if we are to
restore coral reef goods and services. Reef managers and decision makers now have a baseline
to initiate similar projects around
the world.” The Reef Rescuers Project used
Monitoring at one of the transplantation sites
the world are struggling with the
third massive bleaching event,
our transplanted site, our “engineered” site, is fighting back.
There is less coral mortality on
our site. We can claim that we did
bring a dead reef back to life. We
are ready to replicate it anywhere
in the world.”
The Reef Rescuers Project was
realised with funding from US-
AID and other donors. During
the webinar, Phanor outlined
the genesis of the project, citing
the massive 1998 coral bleaching event in Seychelles and other
parts of the world, caused by
El Nino. During this bleaching
event, 98% of corals in the Seychelles died. Later in 2004 and in
2010 there was further coral mortality. He detailed the methods
Taking measurements and collecting data at the underwater coral nurseries
coral gardening, by creating underwater nurseries from coral
fragments that had survived and
were thought to be more resilient
to bleaching. These underwater
gardens are what Phanor alludes
to in the webinar when he poses
the question of how to respond
to the destruction of a home vegetable garden, and therefore to
the loss of one’s food source. Indeed, coral reefs are vital marine
ecosystems and their health and
survival is therefore integral to
the livelihoods of coastal communities, not to mention the fisheries industry.
“What we lose through the complete degradation of coral reefs
greatly underscores the need for
coral reef protection and restoration,” Phanor stresses. “The cost
of coral reef restoration, which
seems high today, is minimal
compared to the losses of ecosystem goods and services from
degraded reefs. It will be more expensive just to sit and wait. We need to
act now!”
The webinar is still available online via
the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHdq9yf7ymg
A Concise Tale of Henry de Monfried and his Passage in the Seychelles
and La Réunion
The famous Henry de Monfried got his ‘invented’ noble surname from his paternal grandmother Marguerite Barrière. The latter fabricated her assumed name and surname of
“Caroline de Monfried.”
By Julien Durup a student of history
H
enry was born in Leucate
on the Mediterranean
coast of France on 14 November 1879, the son of George de
Monfried and Amélie Bertrand.
He died on 13 December 1974 at
the age of 95 years old. In 1882,
when he was six years old he made
his first seafaring adventure with
his father George in the Mediterranean Sea on the Follet. George later
acquired a bigger boat and named
it the Amélie, in honour of his wife.
In 1885, they sailed again together
on the Amélie to Alger. It was on
the Amélie in the Mediterranean
that Henry assimilated his love for
the sea and navigation.
Freemasonry Affiliation
Henry arrived at Djibouti in
1911. This was his dream since he
was 20 years old. Even though, for
some historians, he was following the footsteps of Jean Nicolas
Arthur (alias Abdallah) Rimbaud,
the famous French adventurer and
author who influenced modern literature! There, he started trading
in ivory and coffee in Ethiopia and
later in arms, pearls, sea cucumbers, and also in hashish and morphine including opium. For that,
he became a legend in the Horn of
Africa.
One day, he nearly lost his life and
his boat in very stormy weather.
He thereafter became a Muslim
and took the name of Abd-el-Haï
(Slave of The Living One), and was
circumcised as part of the religious
ritual.
Soon after he arrived, he joined
the Freemasonry, a true hypothesis
that was later strongly denied by
his grandson, Guillaume de Monfried. He became a Mason on 24
May 1912, at the Lodge No 433 in
Djibouti and was given the role of
Archiviste Maître des Banquets.
As Mason, he worked for Fernand
Deltel, the Governor of Djibouti,
he was sent to prison for his dubious armed transactions and false
custom declarations. He was later
set free after the intervention of
his brothers in metropole, where
he obtained liberty from ‘Brother’
(Gaston Doumergue), who was
minister of the colony and later became the 13th President of France.
However Henry lost his case, Deltel
died in his post and was replaced by
Henri Curreau, the interim governor. The latter did not do anything
to save Henry. However, help came
from Paul Simoni, the new governor, as soon as he took his post in
February 1915. This was not the
end of Henry. In that same year,
the Freemasonry wanted to excommunicate him for his suspicious
arms and drugs trades which they
considered against their codes.
The “Masonic Tribunal” met on
25 March 1915, to decide on expelling Henry and six “Maitres” signed
the banishing order. This was a
breach of the general rules which
stated that the judgement had to
be signed by seven “Maitres”. The
case which was not legal, lingered
on until 25 November 1915, when
he was legally sacked and the Archiviste Maitre de Banquets left
definitely.
regular commercial ship to collect
his huge cargo (six tons) of drugs.
He declared his cargo as charras
or hashish even though there was
also a large consignment of opium. For that, he had the indirect
support of the French Consul who
served as intercessor between the
British Custom authorities in Bombay. The custom officer must have
been surprised in seeing him paid
without any reluctance 10 000 rupees as duty and also 1 500 for the
transhipment of his drugs to Aden.
After receiving his original customs document, Henry envisaged
to ship his precious cargo to Aden
on the Ferrozzi, an Italian steamer,
and from there to be transferred in
the Altair bound for Djibouti. In
Aden, the British authority kept a
strict watch on his activities since
he was banned by the Major-General, J. M. Stewart the British Political Resident during the WW1.
However, Henry managed to trade
with his illicit cargoes in the Port of
Aden. His boat, when leaving Djibouti for Aden, had always a lot of
women passengers and the British
custom officers were afraid to make
a general search amongst their luggage. It seemed also that Henry
managed to bribe high British officials in Aden
The Bombay Transactions and
the Seychelles
Henry acquired his first boat, the
Fath-el-Rahman in 1914; three
years later he built the Ibn-el Ba-
har. The latter was wrecked in 1919.
He then built a more sturdy one
that he named the Al nasr altair
(eagle in flight). She was known
as the Altair. He left the Altair in
Aden and sailed to Bombay on a
While in Bombay, Henry met Ternel, a dubious Mauritian businessman and Henry wanted to arrive in
Aden a few days before his cargo
arrive so that he would be able to
make all the necessary customs formalities. He agreed that Ternel was
going to take charge of the drug
transhipment on the next ship to
Aden. Henry left on a ship that was
going to arrive in Aden a few days
before, after leaving he regretted
doing so. He became more anxious after learning that Ternel had
recently acquired an old Chinese
coast-guard boat, the Kaïpan, and
that Ternel never told him.
Henry’s cargo never arrived in
Aden because Ternel took it on
the Kaïpan and sailed away to an
unknown destination. The copies
of the import original documents
were clear and legal; it showed that
Henry was the importer and sole
buyer. He soon complained to the
police and sent telegrams to all the
ports in the Red Sea and the Indian
Ocean.
When Henry received the news
that the Kaipan might have gone
to the Seychelles, he immediately
set sail on his well-armed Altair for
the Seychelles. On arrival at Mahé,
in early 1923, he was happy to find
the Kaipan in the inner harbour
and that the authority had taken
notice of his telegram and put on
hold the Kaipan . He soon started
legal proceedings to retake his stolen drug cargo disguised as charras
(hashish now known as cannabis)
on board the Kaipan from Mr Ternel. A huge amount of opium was
secretly packed in the consignment
as hashish.
His case went to court. He took
Gustave Loiseau as his lawyer and
Justin Devaux was the Magistrate/
(Continued On Page 12)
p12
Lifeline
Banksy art to go on display
in Rome
Celebrity Profile
Matthew McConaughey
An American actor known for roles in films like Dazed and Confused and Dallas Buyers
Club, for which he won the Academy Award for best actor
Artworks by street artist Banksy
from international private collections are to go on display in Rome.
The exhibition, titled War, Capitalism & Liberty, will feature many
paintings, prints and sculptures
which have never been seen in public.
The exhibits include Banksy’s
black and white stencilled sandwich board-wearing monkeys declaring: “Laugh now but one day
we’ll be in charge.”
There is also a print of supermodel Kate Moss in the style of
Andy Warhol.
The show, which is not authorised by Banksy, runs at the Palazzo Cipolla museum in the Italian
capital from 24 May to 4 September. Co-curator Acoris Andipa said:
“This is the largest collection of
work by the artist known as Banksy,
a corpus of over 120 works including sculptures, stencils, and other
artistic expressions, all strictly from
private collectors and, therefore,
absolutely not removed from the
street.” Stefano Antonelli, who also
curated the exhibition said: “Since
the 1990s, the artist known as
Banksy has used public space to express and exhibit his work, freeing
the potential of graffiti and laying
down a new blueprint for street art.
Source: Biography.com
Early Life and Career
Matthew David McConaughey
was born on November 4, 1969, in
Uvalde, Texas. He was an athlete at
a young age, playing golf and tennis
at Longview High School, and voted as “Most Handsome Student.”
McConaughey stayed in Texas for
college, graduating from the University of Texas at Austin in 1993.
While he had previously appeared
in commercials and in small film
roles, McConaughey got his first
big break in 1993’s Dazed and Confused. His endlessly quotable David
Wooderson character would help
define the actor going forward, and
the role represents a touchstone comedic performance in his oeuvre.
Known for his good looks and
easy-going personality, McConaughey soon achieved leadingman status with A Time to Kill
(1996), which also starred Sandra
Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson and
Kevin Spacey. The press often
speculated about the nature of McConaughey’s relationship with Bullock, but sources close to the pair
insisted that they were only friends.
Star Status
Making the cover of Vanity Fair
in 1996, McConaughey was seen as
a rising star in Hollywood, and he
had several dramatic projects that
helped further establish his talents
as an actor. In 1997, he appeared
in Contact with Jodie Foster, a science-fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis. That same year, he
starred in Steven Spielberg’s Amistad, playing a lawyer involved in the
trial of African slaves who staged a
revolt on board the slave ship Amistad.
Returning to his comedic roots,
McConaughey starred in 1999’s
EdTV as a lowly clerk who becomes
the star of his own reality show. The
film was both a critical and commercial disappointment. Later that
year, McConaughey began developing some notoriety for his offbeat
off-screen behavior. The police visited his Austin, Texas, home after
receiving a noise complaint in 1998.
There, they discovered a naked McConaughey playing the bongos and
found a small amount of marijuana.
McConaughey was booked on drug
charges and for resisting arrest. The
drug charges were later dropped,
but the actor paid a fine for violating a local noise ordinance.
Recent Roles
Bouncing back, McConaughey
emerged as a king of romantic comedies. He starred in The Wedding
Planner (2001) with Jennifer Lopez
and then in How to Lose a Guy in
10 Days (2003) with Kate Hudson.
He then tried his hand at action
with 2005’s Sahara and became
romantically involved with co-star
Penelope Cruz.
Working with Al Pacino, McConaughey played a con man in the
dramatic thriller Two for the Money
(2005). While neither Sahara or
Two for the Money scored at the
box office, McConaughey remained
popular. He cemented his status as
a heartthrob later that year when
he was named People magazine’s
“Sexiest Man Alive.”
In 2006, McConaughey returned
to familiar territory with the romantic comedy Failure to Launch,
co-starring Sarah Jessica Parker.
He also re-teamed with Kate Hud-
son for 2008’s Fool’s Gold. Shortly
before the film was released, McConaughey announced on his
website that he was going to become a father. He and girlfriend
Camila Alves welcomed a baby
boy, Levi Alves McConaughey, on
July 7, 2008.
both critical and commercial acclaim. Also in 2012, McConaughey
gained some commercial acclaim
for his performance in the comedic
film Magic Mike; he played Dallas, a male stripper who mentors a
younger performer known as Magic
Mike (Channing Tatum).
More recently, McConaughey
appeared in the 2008 comedy
Tropic Thunder—taking over the
part for Owen Wilson—alongside
Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert
Downey Jr. He went on to star in
2009’s The Ghosts of Girlfriends
Past with Jennifer Garner and
Michael Douglas. After taking
a break in 2010, McConaughey
starred in The Lincoln Lawyer (as
Mick Haller) and Killer Joe (as
Killer Joe Cooper)—both released
in 2011—followed by the drama
Mud (2012). The film garnered
‘Dallas Buyers Club’ and ‘True
Detective’
McConaughey went on to earn
a buzzworthy role as Ron Woodruff, the real-life activist who, after
being diagnosed with AIDS and
given only six months to live in the
mid-1980s, began advocating for
and taking a regime of drugs that
mitigated the disease’s effects, in the
biopic Dallas Buyers Club (2013).
The film came to fruition after years
in limbo, with McConaughey losing 47 pounds for the role. For his
performance as Woodruff, the actor took home best actor honors at
both the 2014 Academy Awards and
Golden Globes.
Hot on the heels of that Oscar-winning performance came True Detective, a 2014 HBO series that McConaughey both starred in and executive
produced. The complex role of Rust
Cohle was dark and philosophical, and
it gave the actor a whole new arena in
which to stretch his legs. For his efforts, McConaughey was nominated
for an Emmy and was also named to
Time magazine’s list of 100 Most Influential People in the World.
Later that year, McConaughey
starred in Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi
epic Interstellar, playing a restless astronaut who leaves Earth to seek a
new home for its inhabitants and
his family. The film was critically
acclaimed and was a huge hit at
the box office.
(Continued)
Crown Prosecutor. Soon, he realised that Lanier, the French Consul, the richest man at Mahé and
other businessmen supported Ternel. His court case became the talk
of the town and also the first of its
kind in the Seychelles. May be one
day we will be able to see the whole
file of that court case. Seychelles is
a strange place where the constitution preserves the right for information but there is not a law that
says that government, including
the Supreme Court should preserve
their documents for the future generations.
At the start of the proceedings,
the Court in a bizarre decision in
support for Ternel, demanded a
sum of 30 000 rupees to continue
the case. This was a large sum
of money. This was on Saturday
and Seychelles had no commercial banks and Henry had no rich
friends on the island and it was
impossible for him to do so. The
case was adjourned to Monday.
Henry left the court in desperation
and proceeded hurriedly to Cable
and Wireless. There he sent many
telegrams to his friends in Djibouti
and Aden requesting for an official
guarantor. He did so without telling Gustave Loiseau, his lawyer,
who was a close friend with Lanier.
When the Court resumed on
Monday, Henry described the
start of the hearing as “un coup
de théâtre”, when a note from the
Governor was read informing the
court that a high official in Aden
has agreed to be the official guarantor for Henry. The court later adhered to the request of Henry and
his lawyer by seizing the cargo of
Kiapan and ordered its deposition
under seal to the Customs Department.
Soon after Suliman arrived from
Bombay to reclaim his boat, the
Kiapan. It was the same Suliman
that Henry met in Bombay. Whilst
there, he told Henry about the dubious Ternel. As soon as he arrived
Suliman stayed on board the Kaipan. Soon after the news spread in
town that Ternel was not the owner
of the Kaipan. As Ternel started
to lose the sympathies of the authorities and the Creole community,
Henry requested Loiseau to take him
to see Lanier, the French Consul. For
Loiseau any meeting with Lanier
would be inconsequential, but for
Henry it was mainly out of curiosity
and courtesy to the representative
of his country. The rendezvous was
fixed for the next day. Arriving at
the Consulate, Henry was surprised
to see Ternel and he ostentatiously
shook his hand and immediately
accused him of being a thief. Ternel
responded in shame with only painful smiles. According to Henry, “he
smiles stupidly, waddles and balances his head like a tamed bear”.
To the surprise of Henry, Ternel
verbally confessed in the presence
of Lanier that all the cargo that arrived on the Kaipan was legally for
Henry and that he was going to give
it back to him. Ternel then signed an
official paper of intent and Henry
immediately took his copy to Loiseau
who was very pleased and surprised
with the rapid volte-face of Ternel.
Soon after that, Henry went to see
Deveaux who, after seeing the document, became very sympathetic.
Later Henry described Deveaux as
a spiritual, refined and graceful person. He however did not know that
Deveaux was in fact Lanier’s best
friend. He saved Lanier from going to prison for a case of attentat à
la pudeur (indecent assault) with a
Creole girl four months short of her
13th birthday. The rape happened on
a Sunday morning. Deveaux in collaboration with the Governor called
the staff of the Government Printer
and the law was amended on the
same day.
Henry and Loiseau went to the
Customs Office to retrieve his cargo
and while there Ternel, who was accompanied by Lanier, refused to
hand over up all the keys to the Customs Officer. The latter needed to
inspect the cargo before he handed
it over to Henry. As all the cargo was
locked in strong boxes in fer-blanc,
it was then impossible for him to do
so. During the argument between
Loiseau, Ternel, Lanier and the Custom Officer, Henry secretly left the
scene and went to the Altair (which
was close by alongside the quay) and
he took a steel bar from the engine
room. When he arrived back the arguments were still going on and Ternel still refused to give up the keys.
Henry immediately broke up all
the padlocks with the steel bar and
Ternel started shouting in despair:
Straightaway Henry said to Ternel:
started loading his cargo labelled as
charras in the Altair, after he had sent
her to anchor in the outer harbour.
Before leaving, he told his crew to
slowly start the appariellage and be
ready for any eventual contingency.
Henry, who did not trust Loiseau,
and the authorities knew that the Altair was in fact the fastest boat in Seychelles, decided to set sail at night.
While in Mahé, Henry visited the
Government House at the invitation the Irish Governor. The latter
was only interested in making a film
on his adventure. The Governor and
Devaux later visited him on the Altair
at the end of the quay.
Henry said, “Mahé is a small town
where you will find many noble
names and grandiose persons, but
gold is not picked up by a shovel.
Coconut trees sustained the inhabit-
The Rodali at Ponite des Galets
“Factum est (it is done), you can now
open; there are only your locks. I had
the right to open since you have said
that you have recognised that the
goods are mine. You denied it to me
by not giving me the key and I have
found a simple way to open it”.
Henry hurriedly hired all the journalier he could find at the quay and
ants with their copra, but it is a very
poor commodity, in which the largest
landowners quickly made their fortune. It was to expect that a prince of
Arabian Nights, (Mille et Une Nuits)
arriving from India, would entice the
lusts of all these needy noblemen”.
He also said that the Seychelles was
an island of love and “here nothing is
produced except children.”
Soon after he left the Seychelles,
Henry contacted his father. In a letter dated 28 March 1923, Henry said
that he had managed finally to get
hold of his precious cargo of drugs in
the Seychelles. He said that the trip
was long and that the Altair behaved
valiantly and that he sold the cargo
for £4,000 which was approximately
equal to two million eight thousand
French Francs. He also explained
to his father that the drug case was
completed in January after three
years of preparation.
During the WW2, Henry served
with the Italian forces in Ethiopia
and was captured by the British. He
escaped the scaffold due to dysentery
and was transferred as a POW (Prisoner of War) near Mount Kenya.
There he kept himself busy by fishing
and hunting.
His last Seafaring Adventure in
La Réunion
In 1958, at the age of 79 years, de
Monfried visited his son Daniel in La
Réunion. There, he befriended Paul
Guézé and the latter invited him for
a journey to Mauritius on his small
boat the Rodali, formerly the Arthur
Violette, a lifeboat built in 1909 at
Noirmoutier, a French Island in the
Vendée.
Before they left, de Monfried insisted and managed to convince Gueze
to erect a mast on the Rodali, the assemblage of the mast and its fittings
was supervised by de Monfried.
They set sail from Pointe des Galets on the 3 August 1958, with Paul
Gueze, Henry de Monfried, Daniel
de Monfried and a sailor named
Stephane Mussard, alias Fanfan. As
soon as they left Pointe des Galets the
engine broke down and with clam
weather the Rodali started drifting. On 11 August, near the port of
Tamatave they sighted the Verdon,
a ship of the Messageries Maritimes
and they sent a red distress flare. The
Verdon then made a turn-back and
came alongside the Rodali. To the
surprise of the Captain of the Verdon the crew of the Rodali refused
to abandon their old tub. They were
then towed to the Port of Tamatave
by a pilot boat.
During World War II, Henry was
not trusted by the British and even
his motherland because of his German wife (Armgart Freudenfeld)
the daughter of the German Governor of Alsace-Lorraine. After the
war, he retired in the small village of
“La France profonde” in the department of Indre. There, he became
a painter like his wife, a pianist, a
writer. He also grew opium poppies
in his garden because of his addiction to this strong drug. To combat
his habit, he would consume a large
amount of honey.
In his retirement, he managed to
write nearly 70 books, two of which
“Hashish: A Smuggler’s Tale” and
“Secret of the Red Sea”, were translated into English by Helen Buchanan Bell. His daughter Gisèle
wrote, “Mes secrets de la Mer
Rouge” in 1982.
A few days before he died in 1974
at the age of 95, Henry is reputed
to have said the following: “I have
lived a rich, restless, magnificent
life.”
Ref:
1. Aperçus sur la franc-maçonnerie française à Djibouti de 1911
à 1940.
2. Ex info Gustave Loiseau.
3. Francis Bergeron : Biographie
of Henry de Monfried
4. Henry de Monfried from Wikipedia.
5. Henry DE MONFRIED: Biographie de Henry DE MONFRIEDJeSuisMort.com.
6. Julien Lush : Salute to an adventurer : Musée Henry de Monfried.
7. La vie d’Henry de Monfried
p13
Politics
The cost of a fake democracy
An observer’s perspective of the Ugandan presidential elections.
Helen Epstein for the New York Review
I
Police chasing a supporter of Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye in Kampala, Uganda.
t’s become fashionable lately
to disparage democracy.
From the failure of “nation
building” attempts in Iraq and
Afghanistan to Islamist violence
in Egypt, Libya, and other Arab
Spring countries, to the rise of
Donald Trump, some now see
government of the people as a liability in a violent and polarized
world. In a recent New York magazine essay on the subject, Andrew Sullivan endorses Plato’s
claim that tyranny all too often
results from the anarchic nature
of democracy itself, rather than
from its perversion by anti-democratic forces.
Readers who find such arguments appealing might want
to consider moving to impoverished,
corruption-ridden
Uganda, ruled by President
Yoweri Museveni for thirty years
through a combination of bribery, blackmail, and brute force.
Last week, Museveni was sworn
in for yet another five-year term,
having supposedly won a national election on February 18. But
even Museveni’s closest Western
allies acknowledge the vote was
neither free nor fair. His main
challenger, Kizza Besigye, is now
in prison, charged with treason,
which is punishable by death in
Uganda.
Museveni’s swearing-in ceremony was attended by a rogue’s
gallery of fellow dictators, including Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
of Equatorial Guinea, and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. In his
speech, Museveni ridiculed his
critics as “those stupid ones,” and
called the International Criminal
Court, which has charged some
of his guests with crimes against
humanity, “a bunch of useless
people.” The American ambassador, who attended the ceremony
in the capital Kampala, walked
out when she heard these words,
as did diplomats from other
Western countries that together
pour about $1 billion in foreign
aid into Uganda each year. In the past Western governments have rubber-stamped
Museveni’s dubious election
victories, in part because he’s a
crucial military ally, with troops
in Somalia and other theatres
of the “war on terror.” Earlier
this month, Museveni suggested
he might pull his troops out of
Somalia, putting the Westernbacked but very weak government there in a tight spot in its
battle with al-Shabaab militants.
But even with this implied threat,
the diplomats couldn’t stomach
the insult to the ICC, especially
with Sudan’s Bashir, indicted for
crimes in Darfur, in the audience. It’s unclear, though, whether Western donors will follow
this symbolic protest with aid
cuts and other sanctions.
I was in Uganda on February
20, when the country’s Electoral
Commission announced Museveni’s victory. A few journalists
with cameras turned up to record the proceedings, but otherwise the venue, festooned with
bunting and the red, yellow, and
black of the national flag had a
sombre atmosphere. Wearing a
black academic-style gown, the
seventy-one-year-old chairman
of the commission, Badru Kiggundu, slowly read out a section of Uganda’s Electoral law
and then, in alphabetical order, mumbled the names of the
candidates and their respective
share of the vote. President Museveni had won with roughly 60
percent, he said. His main challenger, Col. Dr. Kizza Besigye,
leader of the main opposition
FDC party, received 35 percent,
and six other candidates received much smaller fractions.
A few people clapped, and then
the only sound on the broadcast,
which I watched on Ugandan
television in my hotel, was the
awkward rustling of Eng. Kiggundu’s papers as he shuffled
them into a neat pile.
Just hours before Kiggundu’s
announcement, Eduard Kukan,
the head of the EU’s Election
Observation Mission to Uganda,
held a press conference in which
he criticized the government for
the repeated arrest of Besigye
and jailing and teargassing of
his supporters, the long delayed
arrival of ballot papers in opposition areas on election day, the
open endorsement of Museveni by the Electoral Commission chairman, and the planting
of tanks and armed soldiers all
around the country to intimidate
potential demonstrators. (Kukan
did not mention that the chairwoman of the ruling party, Justine Lumumba, publicly warned
Ugandan parents a month before the election that “the state
will kill your children” should
they come out onto the streets
to protest the results—and that,
according to the opposition, dozens of its supporters were in fact
killed by police.)
Kukan further noted that numerous boxes of ballot papers
pre-ticked for Museveni had
been reported around the country. On election day, an independent election-monitoring NGO
set up a call center at a Kampala
hotel where reports of election
malpractices could be phoned
in. In just one of many egregious
examples, a worker there showed
me a report from the polling
station in the president’s home
area in which numerous voters
claimed they were given ballot
papers pre-ticked for him and
ordered to put them in the box.
Those who refused were told,
“We know your family.” At that
polling station, the president
received 760 votes and Besigye
received 2, according to Kiggundu’s Electoral Commission, even
though only 437 voters were registered there. Shortly after the polls closed
on February 18, Besigye led a
group of reporters to a large
house in an upscale Kampala
neighborhood near the national
police headquarters. Informants
had been observing the house
for weeks and had seen boxes of
ballots and computer equipment
as well as large amounts of food
being delivered there. Suspecting
it was a base for a governmentrun vote-rigging operation, Besigye banged his fists on the gate
and demanded to be admitted. A
young man who was about to
enter the building panicked and
ran. Besigye’s supporters chased
him down. In the scuffle, a pistol and handcuffs fell out of the
young man’s pocket. Three pickup trucks with police bearing
machine guns arrived minutes
later, sprayed the rapidly gathering crowd with tear gas, arrested
several Besigye supporters, and
escorted the candidate home.
Besigye claims that government
agents inside the “rigging house”
were transmitting doctored election results to the main Electoral Commission tally centre a
couple of miles away. Uganda’s
police spokesman Fred Enanga
dismissed Besigye’s claims. The
building in question housed one
of numerous command centres,
Enanga said, and was off-limits
to the public. He did not explain
why the police did not prove this
by allowing Besigye and the reporters with him to tour the facility.
By law, opposition groups are
allowed to post observers at all
30,000 or so polling stations
around the country to witness
the voting and counting and
sign final tally records known as
Declaration of Results forms. The
FDC party, which draws support
from many parts of the country,
was able to post such witnesses
at most polling stations—and in
contrast to the results announced
by the Electoral Commission, it
claims Besigye won with 52 percent of the vote, despite delays,
intimidation, ballot stuffing, and
other obstructions. The FDC’s tally could not be independently verified, however, because when Besigye called a press conference the
day after the election to present its
noticed something odd. “The record will show,” he wrote in Uganda’s Observer newspaper, “that
initially, presidential candidate
Yoweri Museveni was leading with
some 56 percent of provisional results so far declared,” but as more
results came in, “Museveni was
going down to 50 percent and
Besigye was climbing up to the
same number. Suddenly, an invisible hand stopped the process and
blackened the TV screen. Within a
minute or two, the screen brightened up and showed Museveni
with over 60 percent and Kizza
Besigye with 32 percent.”
Besigye claims the FDC is still
in possession of 70 percent of the
Declaration of Results forms but
because so many of its officers were
in detention, the party was unable
to prepare a petition to challenge
the results before the Uganda Supreme Court within ten days of
the election, as required by law.
Because opposition groups had alleged rigging in previous elections,
a Western donor-funded NGO offered to co-finance a tallying system that would allow independent
verification of results. It pulled out
of the deal in December when the
regime hastily procured a system
that did not allow such verification. Besigye’s party is now calling
for an internationally supervised
audit of the election. There may be
no other way to resolve the crisis.
On May 11, the eve of Museveni’s
swearing-in, Besigye managed to
escape from house arrest and appeared on the streets of downtown
Kampala, just as a video of himself being “sworn in” as president
in a mock ceremony was released
on the Internet. People gathered
where he was charged with treason and transferred to a prison.
Karamoja was once considered a
Museveni stronghold, but on Friday, local people poured out onto
the streets singing FDC songs and
bearing gifts of tomatoes, chicken,
turkeys, and money for the opposition leader. The army was
called in to control the crowds and
counter-terrorism police threatened to shoot any journalist who
tried to photograph the politician. A fight then broke out inside
the prison between supporters of
Besigye and those of the president,
in which one of the latter’s supporters was killed. On Monday,
Besigye was flown back to Kampala in handcuffs, where he is now
being held in custody until his next
court appearance later this month.
It’s not clear what will happen
next. The Ugandan press is heavily monitored by the government,
and numerous journalists have received threats of arrest, and scores
have been detained, pulled off the
air, or even arrested and beaten in
mid-broadcast—though information about the crackdown is still
getting out. Many Ugandans are
angry about the election, but also
terrified of the tanks and machinegun-toting soldiers and police,
who are still deployed on hills and
school playing fields throughout
the country. Even members of the
police and army themselves are reportedly furious.
According to Besigye’s election tally, he led by wide margins
in polling stations near barracks
where soldiers and police typically vote, which could be why
the government abruptly evicted thousands of officers and their
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni at his swearing-in ceremony on 12 May in Kampala.
findings, his office was stormed by
police who confiscated papers and
computers and jailed numerous
staff members, including data entry clerks and Besigye himself.
The evening after the raid of the
FDC office, George Kanyeihamba,
a retired Uganda Supreme Court
judge, was watching the early
election returns on TV when he
around his vehicle to greet and
cheer for him, but the police chased
them away with bullets, batons,
and tear gas. The government shut
down Facebook and other social
media immediately and the police
whisked Besigye away to Jinja, a
nearby town. He was then taken
by helicopter to a police station
in the remote Karamoja region,
families from their barracks two
weeks after the election. There
are rumors that other armed
groups are mobilizing. If violence
does break out, it will demonstrate the failure not of democracy, but of the sham version of
it under which Ugandans—and
so many others in the world—are
forced to live.
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doing your filling, VAT return and
payrolling. Please call on 2533707
A 3 bedroom furnished house at Mare
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Silhouette and North Island. Contact
2515115 for more details
21 Jan – 19 Feb
The more you try to resolve
a difficult situation, the
tougher and more complicated it seems to get. You
may not be the sort who
gives up easily but, on this
occasion, it may be the case
that it’s just not worth the
effort.
23 July – 22 Aug
Stand up for what you believe in and let the world
know that you won’t be
intimidated. Just because
you are out of step with the
prevailing wisdom does not
mean you are wrong. You
may need to rescue others
from their ignorance.
20 Feb – 20 March
Travel and social activities are
well starred at the moment
and if you are on the move
today or tomorrow you could
meet someone who changes
your life for the better. It’s
quite possible that you could
change their life too. You’re
good for each other.
23 Aug – 23 Sept
Follow your instincts today
and ignore those who shake
their heads sadly because
they think you are losing
your mind. On the contrary,
you have never had a clearer
idea of what it is you should
be doing. Now you just
need to apply yourself.
21 March – 20 April
You will get a chance to
boost your earnings over
the next few days, most
likely in a way you could not
have imagined or predicted.
That’s good, because you
are going to need every cent
you can get your hands on.
There are bills to pay.
24 Sept – 23 Oct
You may be tempted to
make sweeping changes
over the next few days, and
that is exactly what you
should do. The sun’s imminent change of signs will
give you the courage to step
outside the rigid limits you
have imposed on yourself.
21 April – 21 May
You will exude an air of utter confidence today, and
the people you deal with,
both in your personal life
and at work, will be hugely
impressed by your positive
attitude. Most of them will
do whatever you ask of
them – so ask away!
24 Oct – 22 Nov
Think carefully before you
make a decision but, having
made it, stick with it come
what may. You need to
know where you stand and
others need to know where
they stand as well. There
have been enough misunderstandings already.
22 May – 21 June
Yes, of course, you would
like to turn the clock back
and undo the mistakes of
the past, but that isn’t possible, so don’t waste your
time dreaming of what
might have been. If you
learn from your mistakes
you will grow stronger.
23 Nov – 21 Dec
If you have been thinking
of starting some kind of
health or fitness kick, don’t
think about it any longer
– do it! Also, cut back on
your commitments, both
at home and at work. You
are doing too many things
for too many people.
2. What nations national flag has the biggest animal emblem, a lion?
22June–22July
If you are smart you will think
twice before saying something
that is likely to make enemies
of friends. Stand back a bit and
try to see what is going on from
a higher perspective. Once you
understand the situation you
won’t feel the need to be critical.
22 Dec – 20 Jan
Don’t listen to those who say
that what you dream about
isn’t possible – it may be out
of reach for them but it certainly is not out of reach for
someone of your exceptional talents. If you can imagine
it you can make it a reality.
8. In which country did Marilyn Monroe die?
Down
1. A large brass instrument
2. Burden
3. Paddles
4. Pull
5. A breed of hound dog
6. A handwoven wall hanging
7. Placed
8. East southeast
9. Determined
10. Evaluate
11. Dilapidated
12. Shut
13. Heroic tales
18. The smallest amount
23. A quick run
24. Model
25. A metalwork furnace
26. Relating to the ear
27. Classy
28. Word that is the same backto-front
29. Plain or pasture
31. Tightwad
33. Holes
34. An assemblage of parts
36. Set free
37. Car
39. Possessing the necessary skills
40. Fixes
42. Confused
43. Sorrowful (archaic)
44. Metalworker
45. Sound
46. A type of tooth
48. Speck
49. A low dam
50. Prefix indicating “Within”
51. A distinct part
54. French for “Ten”
55. Type of hat
Yesterday’s solution
Across
1. Honk
5. A machine that bundles
10. Circle fragments
14. Tree sloth
15. Remove
16. Hall
17. Thefts
19. Dirty air
20. Donkey
21. A mild expletive
22. City in south central Ukraine
24. Friends
25. Bursts of brightness
26. Be against
29. A viverrine animal of Madagascar
30. Browned slices of bread
31. Merriment
32. Central Processing Unit
35. Small island
36. Vassal
37. Similar
38. 22nd letter in the Greek
alphabet
39. Corridor
40. Prefix meaning more than one
41. Caught
43. Hate
44. A repairer of equipment for
horses
46. Not stereo
47. Assassination
48. Cast or form
49. A 3rd century Chinese dynasty
52. Object of worship
53. Teenager
56. An indefinite period
57. A moon of Saturn
58. Assistant
59. Tilled
60. Exercise
61. School dance
1. Victoria falls is the biggest tourist attraction in what country?
Published by TODAY Publishers (Seychelles)
Limited, P.O. Box 999, Victoria, Mahé, Seychelles
Printed by “The Print House (Pty) Ltd.”, Providence
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3. How is the Olympic torch lit in Greece?
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5. A squid found in New Zealand had the biggest what ever seen?
6. In what country are you most likely to die from a scorpion sting?
Grand Anse, Praslin
Tel: +248 4237 441
Fax: +248 4237 442
7. What does the C stand for in LCD?
Editor - Russel Vidot
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9. Which actress married for the seventh time on Michael Jackson’s ranch in 1991?
10. On a computer keyboard what letter is between Q and E?
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
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Quick Quiz 1. Zambia 2. Sri Lanka 3. By the sun 4. Lambada 5. An Eye 15.75 inches in
diameter 6. Mexico 7. Crystal 8. United States 9. Elizabeth Taylor 10. W
p15

Employees fear redundancy

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