Minister of Employment, Immigration and Civil Status visits Stone Mill Bakery, PMC Group and Jean Mellie Farm

 The Minister of Employment, Immigration and Civil Status, Mrs Myriam Telemaque, visited 3 Seychellois owned businesses on Friday 11^th September as she continues with her programme to consolidate public private partnership, especially during this time as businesses face serious challenges in the wake of COVID-19.  These businesses still have their doors open despite experiencing significant decline in revenue as a result of the pandemic.  The Minister was accompanied by senior officers from her Ministry.

 On her first stop, the Minister visited the Stone Mills Bakery situated at Providence Industrial Estate.  The Bakery, which employs both locals and non-Seychellois, some of them with long years of service has kept on all its workers despite experiencing a downturn in business since having lost their main source of income from the Tourism industry.   For now, the only change made was in relations to the workers’ shift in view that their operations have slowed down.  They expressed their appreciation for the support being given to them by the government in terms of their local workers’ salary.   Their plan is to keep going for as long as it takes so that they can realise their goal of expanding as they had planned to do before the COVID-19 struck.

 The next business to be visited, also situated at Providence, was the PMC Group comprising of Autocare, Sun Motors PMC Auto and Spares.  Having a good number of local workers in their employment, the visit allowed for better understanding of the Group’s operation and also to learn firsthand of the adverse effects COVID-19 is having on them.  Currently the Group is experiencing some serious setbacks with PMC Auto, being their main business, completely at a standstill with the ban on imports in place since April as a result of the pandemic. 

 Despite their challenges, the Group has kept all its workers with the assistance of salary payment from the Government for the past few months.  The Group employs a majority of locals some of them with long years of service.  The only exception is Autocare with a high number of non-Seychellois which is the case because of their highly specialized function.  It was encouraging to note that the Group employs a good number of graduates from SIT.  One observation from a Seychellois heading one of the company within the Group was the need for meaningful investment to be made in SIT where modern technology is concerned to allow students to be trained according to the needs of the industry.

The Group plans to keep on board all of their workers as long as the situation does not deteriorate.  The Minister took the opportunity of the visit to inform the Directors of the Group of the different schemes in place to keep our citizens productive during this time where job placements are scarce, to which the Group has shown their willingness to participate.

The final stop for the day was at Farm Jean Mellie’s at Au Cap.  The farm has been in operation for a good number of years now.  Same as with other businesses in that industry, the farm is facing some serious challenges in attracting local workers to join on a permanent basis.  The workers that he does manage to get prefers to work on casual basis, an arrangement that he says does not always work for them.  Given the nature of work and the fact that a farm requires constant attention, the industry is heavily reliant on Non-Seychellois workers.

                                               PMC GROUP                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Jean Mellie Farm        

Good work practices should be shared and used as examples for others.

Minister Myriam Telemaque visits, Payanke CIP Lounge by Avani at Pointe Larue International Airport, East Indies and Maurilait at Providence Industrial Estate.

To start off the year 2020 the Minister for Employment, Immigration & Civil Status, Mrs Myriam Telemaque, accompanied by senior officers of the Ministry visited three establishments in the month of February, which comprised of Payanke CIP Lounge by Avani at the International Airport on 14^th February and on 21^st February she visited East Indies and Maurillait at Providence Industrial Estate as part of her ongoing strategy to maintain an open dialogue with the private sector.

More young people to be groomed for world of work.

Thirty young men and women have embarked on a three-month ‘Prepare for Work’ programme aimed at providing personal and professional skills to young people, aged between 15 and 30 years of age, so as to prepare them for the world of work.

Initiated by the Ministry of Employment, Immigration and Civil Status in collaboration with The Guy Morel Institute (TGMI) last year, the ‘Prepare For Work’ programme promises the youths with a transformative process and a second chance to be the best of themselves.

The Seychelles Petroleum Company Limited (Seypec) has unveiled its first ‘Wall of Honour’ to pay tribute to employees who have achieved 30 years or more continuous service with the company.

It is a way of recognising their valuable contribution to the growth of the company as well as thanking them for their hard work, dedication and commitment.

The first line of twelve current and past workers who have achieved 30 years or more continuous service have their pictures and details hanged on the wall in the reception lobby of the Seypec head office, New Port.

To mark the birthday of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, which falls on February 23, the Japanese community in Seychelles hosted a cocktail reception at the Eden Bleu hotel on Saturday.

The event was attended by many dignitaries including the Designated Minister and Minister for Home Affairs, Local Government, Youth, Sports, Culture, and Risk & Disaster Management, Macsuzy Mondon; the Japanese ambassador to Seychelles, Tominaga Makoto; the Minister for Employment, Immigration & Civil Status, Myriam Telemaque; Minister for Habitat, Lands, Infrastructure and Land Transport, Pamela Charlette; Chief Justice Mathilda Twomey, among others.

“In the past year we have done quite well in the sense that we have improved the relationship between Seychelles and Japan,” said the ambassador.

He continued by adding that Japan has been put once again in the spotlight of the world by hosting the G20 summit for the first time.

The Ministry of Employment is currently holding a series of meetings with all students who completed S5 in 2019 but who have not been selected to pursue their studies in a professional centre.

A meeting was held yesterday at the ICCS and many students were accompanied by their parents.

Sabrina Assary, senior officer dealing with the pre-vocational section and her team of five other officers, were on hand to explain to the students and the parents about the Skills Development Programme.

Two groups of employees of the Constance Ephelia Resort who have successfully followed and completed two development training courses, received their certificates and awards during a graduation ceremony held at the resort at Port Launay on Friday last week.

Several distinguished guests graced the ceremony and brought added support and encouragement to the new graduates. They included the Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine Didier Dogley, the Minister for Employment, Immigration and Civil Status Myriam Télémaque, the elected National Assembly member for the Port Glaud district Egbert Aglae, several high officials from the tourism and hospitality industry among other guests.

One group of employees followed the ‘Bridging the Gap Through Holistic Training’ – that is the BRIGHT Level 1 which is a supervisory training programme. The programme is coordinated and managed by Constance Hospitality Training Centre; however it is the responsibility of each respective training managers of the resorts to run the programme throughout.

The other group of mainly heads of departments followed the ‘Constance Quest for Leadership Excellence Programme’ – that is the CONQUEST. The programme drove the four key areas of:

business intelligence, managing business realities, leadership readiness and performance effectiveness. The group had to complete Harvard Manage Mentor modules online, attend co-lab sessions where the theory is discussed and debated in order to contextualise it to the Constance way and resort realities.

Both programmes lasted between 8 to 10 months in which the learners were exposed to different leadership programmes and were given opportunities to practice what they have learnt in classroom or online during their day to day work activities.

At the end of their learning programmes, the learners presented a project where they need to not only show that they were innovative but also show that they effectively executed their project to success, resulting in positive company outputs.

Rashmita Barik, a maintenance administrator, clinched the awards for the ‘Most Inventive Idea’ for BRIGHT Level 1, Best Project for Bright Level 1 at Resort Level and for CONQUEST the award for Best Project at Resort Level went to a team comprising Hiru Daryanani, Medline Larue, Okeke Nneka, Rene Payet and Benjamin Painset.

Congratulating the graduates for what he described as ‘their amazing achievement’, the general manager of Constance Ephelia, Stephane Duchenne, said: “We are very proud of you all for successfully completing the BRIGHT and CONQUEST certification. You are now equipped with a wonderful tool. You have all the reasons to be proud and we look forward to seeing these great leadership skills as you continue to lead and guide the members of your team to drive performance in your respective areas,” he highlighted.

In their vote of thanks graduates Christelle Labiche, Apurva Chavadia and Aubrey Marie thanked the resort’s management for recognising their potentials and providing them the opportunity to develop.

“This training has been and will be a memorable journey in our professional life time,” they said.

Marie-Anne Lepathy

Photo source: Constance Ephelia

A total of 168 employees were on Saturday recognised and awarded for their dedication and loyalty towards tuna-processing factory Indian Ocean Tuna (IOT), part of the Thai Union Group, during the organisation’s annual long-service award ceremony.

As is customary, employees who have served the organisation for 30, 25, 20 and 10 years were rewarded for their continuous contributions to the development of the IOT business, in the presence of Minister for Employment, Immigration and Civil Status Myriam Telemaque, among other invited guests.

General manager of IOT, Nichol Elizabeth, in his address thanked the employees for dedicating the best years of their lives to IOT, urging them to keep contributing towards the company who “puts its people first”.

“On behalf of Thai Union, we all appreciate and value you, the biggest assets for the company. IOT is made up of local people and expatriates from many countries all over the world and we must continue in the spirit of cohabiting together. This is your time to celebrate your sacrifices and that of your families, who support you in your journey,” Mr Elizabeth noted.

Mr Elizabeth continued on to talk about the major capital investments undertaken by IOT over the past year, noting €15 million in capital projects inclusive of the recently constructed expatriate employee accommodation on Ile du Port which totalled in at €5 million (R70 million).

“It is the basis of our company to make you, our expats, have better living conditions. We want to be the leader in Seychelles, in terms of migrant labour. We have come far, we have to keep our people happy in this company, in order to make this country competitive and productive. We are serving the European market, the biggest market in tuna consumption, we produce for big brands and supermarket chains and we cannot leave our people behind,” Mr Elizabeth further added attributing the firm’s successes to the efforts and productivity of its employees.

Minister Telemaque also addressed the awardees and employees commending IOT for being an exemplary organisation.

“All the employees who are today being recognised for their long service, I want you to know that I am really proud of you. We salute you for your efforts and thank you for your contribution, perseverance so that today you can reap the benefits,” she said.

“As an employer, IOT does and has done a lot to ensure its employees remain motivated. Other companies should follow their lead and their good practices so they too can have the same successes by a workforce that is engaged,” she said.

Employees were then presented with their certificates and prizes by Mr Elizabeth, Minister Telemaque and officials from the department of Employment.

Ten employees received certificates, a monetary compensation and a trophy for having served the organisation for 30 years while five others were recognised for 25 years of service.

Sixty employees were recognised for being with the company for 20 years and a further 93 for 10 years of service.

Awardees also had the chance to win some exciting prizes in a raffle draw. Prizes included several return air tickets to destinations including Dubai, Mauritius, Bombay, Johannesburg, or Antananarivo, sponsored by different airline operators. Other prizes included vouchers from travel operators.

Laura Pillay

The employees who have clocked 25 years of service in a souvenir photograph with guests (Photo: Jude Morel)

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The graduates in a souvenir photograph with President Faure, Minister Télémaque and other guests (Photo: Joena Meme)

The Ministry of Employment, Immigration and Civil Status on Monday hosted over 100 successful graduates of the ‘My First Job’ scheme and the ‘Skills Development’ programme to a celebratory cocktail at the Eden Bleu hotel.

They were joined by President Danny Faure who made a surprise appearance and joined them in celebrating the successes of these two programmes.

Together, the two initiatives have assisted over 3000 youths in securing employment within various organisations or provided them with on-the-job training in various fields.

Addressing the young people present at the reception, the President congratulated them for their dedication and commitment to the programme.

He urged them to keep working hard and extend a helping hand to those struggling or inspire those who are yet to join the world of work.

President Faure also extended his commendations to the employers who are always willing to take in youths on the ‘Skills Development’ and ‘My First Job’ initiatives.

“I am glad that some private companies have taken it upon themselves to fully finance the salaries of the youths who come to them, which shows that these programmes are based on

partnerships. The two programmes are young but clearly demonstrates the possibilities that lie before us,” President Faure stated.

The Minister for Employment, Immigration and Civil Status, Myriam Télémaque, also praised the attendees for their devotion towards their career development.

She explained that the cocktail was an opportunity for the youths and ministry officials to meet and discuss on the strengths and weaknesses of the programmes so as to ensure that they continue to be a success.

“It has not been easy for most, some have fallen along the way but I want those who have gone through these programmes to help those who are struggling,” Minister Télémaque said.

These two programmes are facilitated and funded by the Ministry of Employment, Immigration and Civil Status.

The employment department officially launched the ‘Skills Development’ programme in 2014, quickly followed by the ‘My First Job’ scheme in 2016.

Both aims to tackle youth unemployment and provide youths and school leavers with on-the-job experience which some employers seek before hiring.

The youths participating in the programmes are paid partly by the government and partly by the organisations in which they are based.

The organisations also have the option to fully employ the youths once they complete the programmes as was the case for Stacy L’Eveillé.

Twenty-three year old Stacy embarked on the ‘My First Job’ scheme when she was at the Seychelles Tourism Academy (STA).

“They followed me throughout my journey even after I completed STA. I started working at Zil Air in 2016 where I have now been promoted as an operations and dispatch officer. The programme has shown me that one is never too young to be in charge.”

Mechanical engineering student at the Seychelles Institute of Technology (SIT), Hitcham Hoareau, said that his recent placement at Shreeji Construction during his time on the ‘Skills Development’ programme has benefitted him enormously.

“More than anything else, the programme provides youth with the opportunity to flourish and gain employment. We do not have the required experience when we are fresh out of school and the skills development allows us to test our capabilities and shows us how the real world of work is,” he said.

Hitcham is hoping that the experience gained in the programme will allow him to easily obtain a job of his choice when he graduates from SIT.

Elsie Pointe

President Faure interacting with some of the graduates (Photo: Joena Meme)

Complements of Seychelles NATION

The Civil Status division in the Immigration Department, in collaboration with the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT), has now introduced a new system which will expedite the services it is offering.

The National Population Data Information System (NPDIS) is expected to ease such processes as issuing birth, marriage and death certificates, change of NIN, adoption certificate or change of name certificate.

The Civil Status division has become a one-stop shop for the public. With this new system all the records are available in one place and anyone can immediately access their important documents, after showing their ID.

Noella Flore, principal civil status officer at the Civil Status section and Krisl Gopal, the principal analyst/programmer at DICT met the press yesterday to give more clarifications on the new system.

“It has been two weeks since the staff of Civil Status started entering the names of the population and they are now very familiar with the system. They say that it makes their work easier,” noted Mrs Flore.

Mrs Flore and Mr Gopal speaking to the press yesterday (Photos: Anel Robert)

An important change in the functioning at the Civil Status office, as from January 2020, is the registration days for newly borns. “In order to make the process go smoothly, newly borns will be registered only on Mondays and Wednesdays. This will prevent the long waiting hours for small babies,” noted Mrs Flore.

Talking about the new system, Mr Gopal said that “the system used before was the AS 400 developed by IBM. The system was getting obsolete and we had to replace it. DICT also started to work on this new system when we realised that they had different systems to store the data as well as the national identity card info was separated from them. Now once information is being added in the system, it will appear everywhere. The database of the system is being stored up at the DICT.”

With the NPDIS system all data will be entered once by the civil status officer and issuing of a national identity card will be more efficient. All people requiring a new certificate is required to bring a form of identification.

Vidya Gappy

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