The prison system has been the subject of concern for the past couple of weeks now, with news that a new management was in place and the government’s plan to fix the prison system.

The news has come much as a shock to the population with speculations flying left, right and centre. In view of the changes, the President has told The People that his administration will not allow the prison system to go into disarray.

“We will fix it. Full stop! We need a plan that has been tried and tested and of which we are sure will work. We need a management that understands where we’re going with the plan, we need a society which supports the plan.

We need to work in synergy, we need to work with each other, we need to make it work”, said President Michel when asked about his reaction to the prison incidents.

“A prison system should have two main purposes, first it should be a correctional centre where people understand that they are paying back to society for crimes committed, but more importantly it should serve as a rehabilitation centre where people learn through their mistakes and come out as better individuals.

This balance is very important and it is indeed my intention to make our prison system one such place”, President Michel told The People.

My government has put in place a comprehensive plan and with the help of our foreign partners and local expertise we are working towards fixing our system.

“Our society should not only feel protected but understand that we are committed to save our youths from the snares of this world. We will do that by doing three things: First, intensify our anti-drugs campaign as drugs remain our number one issue with juveniles, second ensure that first time offenders get a second chance at life through an intensive rehabilitation programme, and third intensify our severity in dealing with drug dealers.

Our prison system has to back us up, our judiciary and the police have to work in synergy. Our society has to play its role”, President Michel stressed.

President Michel acknowledged that Prison is not an easy place to administer and it is for that reason that such systems need a strong management. “I have instructed Minister Morgan to ensure that the system being put in place transpires into effective and efficient prison work, and confidence amongst the population. We will fix it”, President Michel concluded

Hypocritical and

spiteful SNP!
SNP leadership proves once again that they are selfish and heartless when they accuse Minister Faure for helping another fellow Seychellois.

Regar has to apologize to the Minister of Finance Danny Faure after it published articles which give the impressions that the minister has given way to corruption.

They are implicating the minister because he agreed to reduce the fine of a merchant, Serge Lablache, one of many price control cases that have received favorable consideration. The minister has in the past acted in kindness towards SNP MNAs, and other prominent members, but they seem to have forgotten.

SNP forgets that its members similarly received good treatment when the Finance Minister used his discretionary powers to waive social security penalty surcharge they had to pay in 2007 and in the same year, more of MNAs got reduced significant import duty on importing cars.

SNP is trying to tarnish the image of the minister. They have tried their best to ‘damage’ the reform the minister through his portfolio is engineering with success. SNP’s miserable failure has led them to write these flawed articles in their publication dated January 29, 2010.

Proceeding through the legal adviser of the ministry, Collin Jean-Louis, Regar has to redress what has been described as erroneous articles. So far, Mr. Jean-Louis says SNP has not reacted.

“If they don’t apologise, probably we would take legal action”, Mr. Jean-Louis comments.

The articles which appeared on the front page of SNP’s mouthpiece, and inside, are malicious. To accuse Minister Faure for being politically corrupt, SNP is being hypocrite and phony.

Their members who were caught in mischievous activities were waived SR271, 000 as social security surcharge in 2007, and Minister Faure in 2007 to end of 2008 gave SNP MNAs, Nicholas Prea, Jean-Francois Ferrari, David Pierre, Hardy Lucas and Norbert Loizeau, reduced import duty on importing cars, from 200% to 50%, in consideration of the role they played in the country. There are presently two applications pending, Sandy Arrisol and Anthony Derjacques.

Although they may argue that the same incentives were given to MNAs of both sides, they are the ones being selfish. If they consider the action to help Mr. Lablache as corruption, then why did they accept the incentives they received from the Minister? When government sold the SNP leadership state lands at prices that are below the value of the land, like when Wavel paid only Rs35, 000 for state land at Anse Royale, are these also corruption?

SNP would never be a responsible party and one that works in the interest of the Seychellois people. Minister Faure was not interfering with the Judiciary in the case of Mr. Lablache, the court had not yet given a decision on the case, since it was customary in such cases to encourage parties to seek a settlement out of court