Vice President Ahmed Afif, chaired a scheduled meeting of the Cabinet yesterday, Wednesday 3rd May in which a number of policy and legal memoranda were approved.
As part of a phased approach to improve the service delivery of the courier services, Cabinet approved the digitalization of the Customs procedures at the Airport. This first phase will make it mandatory to submit e-manifest information into the Customs system in an assigned digital format.
Cabinet approved a number of proposals with regards to the taxi operation in the country. Firstly, Cabinet approved a maximum taxi rate to be charged as fare to passengers. Secondly, Cabinet approved that the current moratorium on the issuance of new taxi Licenses be extended until 31st December 2023. Cabinet also approved to legalise the existing taxi bays that are not presently in regulation.
Cabinet approved an increase in the postage fee for postcards from R12 to R18.
In the context of Statutory Law revision, Cabinet approved amendments to 13 pieces of legislation. These include the Seychelles Human Rights Commission Act, 2018; Legal Practitioners Act, Cap 111; Malaria Act, Cap. 120; Medical Appeals Board Act, Cap. 125; Public Health Authority Act, 2013; Quarantine Act, Cap. 197; Mental Health Care Act, 2020, Pesticides Control Act, Cap. 164; Census Act, Cap. 25, Civil Status Act, Cap. 34; Seychelles Security Guards Service Pension Act, Cap. 222; Marriage of the British Subjects (Facilities) Act, Order in Council, 1916 Cap. 123; National Identity Cards Act, Cap. 294; Data Protection Act, Cap. 57; Parastatal Corporations Act, Cap. 154; and Law Commission Act, 2022.
Cabinet was briefed on the status of preparation for the implementation of the budget announcement to introduce an environment levy for visitors. Cabinet was informed of the results of consultations with the tourism industry on this policy. Cabinet advised that the implementation be done in the 2nd half of 2023.
Cabinet was also briefed on the results of the Public Investment Management Assessment (PIMA) and Climate PIMA (C-PIMA), undertaken from January 18 to January 31, 2023 by a team from the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD) and the World Bank. The assessment identified several issues in the current public investment management system that hinder the capacity to coordinate investment priorities across sectors. As a result, the World Bank and FAD have recommended a series of actions that need to be taken to improve public investment management framework.