President James Michel opened the “Paradis des enfants” family fun park this afternoon at the ‘La Promenade,’ in the company of his daughter Laeticia Michel and Shiniqua Eastwood, a pupil of P6 of Cascade primary school, who won the national competition to name the fun park.

The park cost 3.7 million US dollars to build, which was financed by a 2.4 million US dollar donation from the Government of Abu Dhabi of the UAE, and the rest was financed by the Government of Seychelles, partly through collection of the Corporate Social Responsibility Tax .

The opening ceremony took place in the presence of Vice-President Danny Faure, Former President James Mancham and many other dignitaries, including a representative of the UAE government, His Excellency Dr Mubarak Saad Mohammad Al Hababi, together with children from schools and children’s homes.

Following the ceremony, President Michel and his daughter toured the ‘Paradis des enfants’, which was built with the aim of replacing the old children’s playground in Victoria, which has been closed for some time.

“ On behalf of the people, and in particular the children of Seychelles, I would like to thank the President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the people of the UAE for the donation  of this beautiful family fun park. It will be an important centre for family life and the development of good, healthy recreational habits, which will benefit our society and be a source of much enjoyment for all Seychellois children,” said President Michel.

The project started towards August 2013, in the area behind the Peace Park in Victoria along ‘La Promenade’, up to the area behind the English River secondary school.

Families have free access to the Fun Park, where some areas, such as the ice rinks and electronic games centre have a fee. The general public will also enjoy other services at the park which includes an environment kiosk, organised by Wildlife clubs of Seychelles, an SBC “Road show” station, a flight simulator by the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority among others.