The President of the Republic, Mr Danny Faure, announced some core measures to tackle some of the pertinent social ills affecting the country and the people such as drugs and alcohol, among others. President Faure was addressing the Seychellois people through the annual State of the Nation Address held earlier this evening at the National Assembly.
Measures include a temporary prohibition of new alcohol licenses, tightening control on the promotion of alcohol, revisiting the employment law in light of workers increasingly turning up for work under the influence of alcohol, and applying a more stringent taxation model where higher tax will apply to drinks containing higher levels of alcohol.
On the issue of drugs, President Faure said that progress is being made through the ongoing methadone programme, where there is now no backlog of people wanting to access the treatment, where the retention rate of those following the programme is more than 80%, and where some have been placed in employment through initiatives like the Unemployment Relief Scheme.
To enhance efforts to rehabilitate drug users into society, President Faure announced the construction of a new rehabilitation centre at Cap Ternay this year financed entirely by the United Arab Emirates. Furthermore, through the support of the French Government and the EU, there will be a comprehensive programme to help participants in their re-integration.
President Faure also touched upon the issue of poverty where he said there is currently greater coordination between relevant agencies. He mentioned that due to a joint survey conducted recently by the National Bureau of Statistics and The Office for Poverty Alleviation, there is now better information on the number of families identified as poor. Their studies also showed that poverty does not only result from a lack of money but other situations that make people vulnerable.
The survey also highlighted that some families who are in need of assistance are unaware of the help available to them. To this, President Faure emphasised that Government is proactively working to identify these people as well as those at risk to help alleviate some of the pressures they face. Two initiatives being introduced are that PUC will introduce a pre-paid meter in July this year to better facilitate the financial help provided towards energy consumption. Another assistance will come through STC cards from next month. For families whose houses have been classed as being in dire condition, President Faure mentioned government’s commitment of SCR 20 million in the 2019 budget which will go towards house repair.
On the issue of child abuse, President Faure asked all partners and parties involved in the fight against child abuse to work even closer with families to identify cases earlier so that they can be dealt with. President Faure warned that a child being abused, lives with a mental scar, with their psychological and physical health being heavily affected, thereby negatively impacting their adult, professional and family lives.
The full State of the Nation will be available online from Monday 4 March 2019.