Month: August 2023

Seychelles authorities have approved a class two environment impact assessment (EIA) that will allow for the extraction of sand that is managed by the state-owned Islands Development Company (IDC) to replenish its depleted stockpile of 500 cubic metres.

The announcement was made by the chief executive of IDC, Glenny Savy, in a recent press conference.

“Now that all the administrative work has been carried out, we expect the dredger to be in the country in January to February next year,” said Savy, who added that the venture will cost IDC around $4 – $4.5 million to complete, but that it will recoup its expenses through the sale of sand.

Seychelles’ sand stockpile is situated at Ile du Port, a man-made island, and dredging was undertaken by Jan De Nul’s Cristobal Colon dredger, which last visited the island nation in 2011.

Since the site identified after the last dredging has been given to companies for the fishing port development, the new site will be located at Ile Aurore, a man-made island in the north of Mahe, the main island.

The Ministry of Environment identified two sites for the extraction work, one in the west of Mahe and the other close to Silhouette, the third largest island.

“There was no need for a class one EIA this time around, but we have carried out a class two, which takes into account facts established in the first study,” explained Savy.

Local contractor, Ecosol carried out the independent class two environmental impact assessment.

The authorities later settled on the works to mainly take place near Silhouette, which Savy said that is because “the quality of sand we will be extracting from there is of good quality.”

He explained that the sand due to be extracted is not like what is found on the beaches, as it contains quartz and gravel as it was found in the past that there were rivers in those areas in the past.

Once the dredging work is completed, IDC will replenish the stock to around 500 – 600 cubic metres, which expects to be enough to cater to consumers’ needs for the coming 10 years.

Savy revealed that the authorities should begin to look for a more permanent location to keep the stockpile in the future.

Meanwhile, since IDC has been managing the stockpile over the last decade, Savy said he believed his company has been doing a good job, as “there have not been any complaints, I think people were satisfied with what we were giving them.”

Source: Seychelles News Agency

The United States separately deployed B-1B bombers for joint drills with South Korea and Japan on Wednesday, as the three allies have stepped up responses to threats from North Korea. A U.S. B-1B flew alongside South Korean FA-50 jets and U.S. Air Force F-16 fighters as part of ongoing Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, South Korea’s defence ministry said. It marked the 10th such flight by an American bomber this year. North Korea routinely denounces the annual military drills as a rehearsal for war. The allies have stressed that the exercises are defensive. Separately, two U.S. Air Force B-1Bs joined joint drills with 12 Japanese fighters, including four F-15 jets, according to Japan’s defence ministry. The U.S.-led bomber drills came days after North Korea attempted a satellite launch that ended in failure. The U.S. and South Korea began Ulchi Freedom Shield last week – a joint large-scale military exercise designed to enhance their response to Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile threats, with the second part kicking off on Monday. Wednesday’s exercise was a demonstration of what the allies have called “extended deterrence” in the face of North Korea’s recent space launch vehicle flights and a show of “strong united defence posture”, South Korea’s defence ministry said in a statement. Tokyo’s defence ministry said the U.S.-Japan joint air drills over the Sea of Japan on Wednesday confirmed the two militaries’ “readiness to respond to any situation” amid North Korea’s ballistic missile launches.

Source: EN – Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

The coverage rate of imports by exports fell to 81.5% in July from 92.3% in June, the National Institute of Statistics (French: INS) said on Wednesday in a note on foreign trade at constant prices (July 2023). The volume of exports shrank 5.2% compared to June, while the volume of imports regained pace with a 7.3% rise following a 14.5% drop in June. “A lower volume of exports is the consequence of plummeting exports of the sectors of mining, phosphates, and derivatives (-58.3%), textile, clothing and leather (-10.4%) and mechanical and electrical engineering industries (-3.1%). Meanwhile, sectors such as agriculture and agro-food industries edged up 14.8%. This, coupled with a 12.4% uptick in the energy sector. The prices of exports inched up 0.8% up from June’s quasi-stability of 0.1%. Similarly, import prices grew 4% in July, marking a departure from a 0.5% dip in June. Imports of capital goods fall 18.6% ——————————————————————————– Higher imports are driven by increased national energy and raw material purchases (109% and 13.4% respectively). A decline in the volume of imports of other products was, meanwhile, reported, mainly foodstuff (-17%) and capital goods (-18.6%) which have a direct impact on the country’s economic and industrial activity. Excluding energy, the volume of exports plunged 6.2%, while imports dipped 0.8 % month over month. Export prices (excluding energy) rose 1.9%, while those of imports surged 2.5% between June and July 2023. These fluctuations brought about a 0.6 point drop in June, driving the rate to 97.8%.

Source: EN – Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

A Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (French: UTICA) delegation took part on August 28-29 in the 5th Meetings of French Entrepreneurs (REF 2023) in Paris. The event was held under the theme of Commitment, reads a UTICA press release. On the sidelines of the event, UTICA President Samir Majoul, who led the delegation, had a series of meetings with Patrick Martin, the newly elected president of the French employers’ association (MEDEF). Economic cooperation, ways to increase French investments in Tunisia and foster the relations between both organisations were discussed. The Tunisian delegation had also meetings with representatives of employer organisations of Algeria, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire and Madagascar. Scaled-up cooperation took centre stage. It also attended a meeting which brought together member organisations of the Alliance des patronats francophones; its work programme for the forthcoming period was discussed.

Source: EN – Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

“The fires that broke out this summer in Melloula-Tabarka (Jendouba governorate) and Djebel Mergueb in El Krib (Siliana governorate) are among the largest fires recorded in Tunisia this year,” said head of the General Directorate of Forests at the Ministry of Agriculture, Mohamed Naoufel Ben Haha. During his visit to Siliana, Ben Haha told TAP that the two fires have devastated almost 1,200 hectares of forest in each region, adding that the total area of forest destroyed has not yet been determined as a new fire broke out in Siliana on Tuesday, devastating around 25 hectares of forest. Commenting on the national firefighting strategy, Ben Haha said that it essentially consists in responding quickly to the risks of fire spread and ensuring the deployment of forest agents on the ground.

Source: EN – Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

A memorandum of understanding to boost cooperation and consolidate partnership between the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) and the African Center for the Development of Journalists and Communicators (CAPJC) was signed on Wednesday. The document was inked by ISIE President Farouk Bouasker and CAPJC Director Saïd Ben Kraiem, reads a statement of ISIE. Both parties welcomed the initiatives provided for in the document, including the organisation of training sessions for journalists and communicators. This includes raising awareness of the regulatory framework of the electoral process, new concepts in the electoral field, as well as strengthening their skills and knowledge in this area, particularly with regard to media coverage of the electoral process.

Source: EN – Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

The annual reshuffle of magistrates of the judicial order was published on Wednesday in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Tunisia (JORT), under Presidential Decree No. 574 dated August 29. 2023. The issuance of this decree comes one day after the publication in JORT of the presidential decree No. 571 relating to the reshuffle of judges of the financial order and that No. 572 which concerns the reshuffle of military judges. In a statement released last Friday, the executive bureau of the Association of Tunisian Judges (AMT) called on the President of the Republic and the Provisional Superme Judicial Council to speed up the publication of judges’ reshuffle.

Source: EN – Agence Tunis Afrique Presse