Africa-Press – Seychelles. The Minister for Local Government and Community Affairs, Rose Marie Hoareau, was in the National Assembly Tuesday morning to answer some questions about her ministry.
The first question came from the elected member of the United Seychelles (US) for La Digue and Island Pros, Honorable Rocky Uranie, who wanted to know if renovation work is being done at the day care center on the island to prevent the situation from worsening and also how much does it cost to rent this rental.
In his response, the minister explained that his ministry has 15 day care centers in 15 locations across the country.
He said that some of these centers date back to 1992 and it is obvious that their infrastructure has been neglected for several years.
He added that even though it is regrettable to find them in such a state, his ministry has done its best since 2021 to renovate as many ‘day care’ as possible.
Minister Hoareau said that the increase in the rental price was taken during a meeting with the operators in January 2022 where there was a consensus on the lease and the new rates to be paid.
He pointed out that the new tariff will take effect in March 2022. He noted that some renovation work has already been done at the La Digue day care center and the rest of the work will continue in 2023.
Three other ‘day care’ that renovation work will be done in the near future are Mont Fleuri, Baie Lazare and Anse Royale and this will be followed by renovation work on other ‘day care’ in other districts.
Honorable Uranie’s other question was about the renovation work at the La Digue community center, where he asked that 2 million rupees be budgeted for such work at the centers in the districts, how many contractors had ‘bid’ for this project, he asked, which one received, how long it will take to do the work and when the work is expected to be completed.
The minister said that the work on the La Digue community center, located on the first floor of the district administration office, was completed in June 2022 at a cost of 2.2 million rupees.
He pointed out that the entire building requires renovation as a result of past neglect, but his ministry needed to prioritize work due to budget constraints. The contract was tendered for the renovation project at the community center.
Regarding the ministry’s plan to relaunch the animation program in the districts and the activities that will fall under this program, requested by the LDS elected member for Glacis district, Honorable Regina Alcindor, Minister Hoareau said that since the health restrictions have been removed, several programs has already started under the animator scheme in the districts across the country.
He explained that this scheme is for people of all ages, which is carried out through well-organized activities by one or more volunteers on a voluntary basis.
The Ministry continues to encourage the planning and implementation of programs aimed at cultural, sports, leisure, educational, arts and crafts, among others, in the districts, through a budget of 3 million rupees.
Minister Hoareau also launched a call to people who have knowledge in the areas that have been mentioned to come forward to help with the animation program.
Honorable Sylvanne Lemiel, US elected member for Anse Royale district, asked the minister to confirm if it is true that there is a budget of 500,000 rupees for cutting trees in the district.
The minister explained that in 2020, when the new administration came in, there was a budget of 9 million rupees for disaster relief in the ministry, of which 500,000 was dedicated to cutting trees, including those on private land.
He added that in 2021 with budgetary constraints, the disaster budget was reduced to 3 million rupees and for the good of this money the ministry decided to withdraw the 500 thousand fund that was dedicated to cutting trees and let the 3 million open to the unfolding of a disaster at a place of emergency as long as it happens.
He says that the 3 million covers the cutting of trees, removal of fallen rocks, flooding and grain terraces, among others. He noted that the ministry used 30,096 rupees for cutting trees in urgent cases in 2021.
The last question for Minister Hoareau came from the US elected member for the Port Glaud district, Honorable Egbert Aglae, where he asked if there were new rates for renting community centers following the lifting of health restrictions and also if there were new rates for renting certain services such as sixteen or table.
Minister Hoareau said that there is no increase in the price of renting the hall for groups that hold rallies and this is still 250 rupees per hour up to 3 hours. For other entertainment functions such as parties, balls, weddings, etc., the price varies from 3 thousand rupees to 4500 rupees depending on the capacity and state of the center.
In the place of renting chairs and tables, the minister said that a decision has been taken to stop this type of service because many times the facilities are broken during these activities and when you calculate that a chair was being rented for 5 rupees and a table for 10 rupees, it was not profitable.
He added that the ministry is lending this business to rent seats and tables to small businesses in the community.
He pointed out that according to the rationale of certain types of functions, the ministry assists with the room for anything with certain organizations and groups, such as the third-age group, volunteer groups and disabled groups among others.
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