The Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine Alain St.Ange was apprised of the new developments on the seaport projects on Praslin while visiting the cargo terminal on Ile Eve and the existing ferry terminal of Baie Ste Anne.
Minister St.Ange was on Praslin last Friday, a few days after visiting the Seychelles Ports Authority (SPA) headquarters on Mahe. He was accompanied by the principal secretary for tourism Anne Lafortune, the chief executive of SPA Colonel Andre Ciseau and the director for project and infrastructure Franky Laporte.
The cargo terminal on Praslin became operational in 2012 but was officially opened last year when construction of the new warehouse located there was completed. Former President James Michel was the guest of honour at the official ceremony and was the one who unveiled the commemorative plaque marking the occasion.
The warehouse facility is made up of eight units and is operational. Cargo boat operators can now unload and store their cargo directly inside the warehouse until their clients collect them.
Facilities at the terminal also include 180m long cargo jetty whereby five vessels can dock, a 40m ramp which can cater for two landing craft vessels unloading cargo.
The ramp also caters for roll-on roll-off ships which are vessels designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, trucks and trailers among others.
Three phases of this project have already been completed – the dredging of a channel leading to the jetty, the cargo jetty itself and the warehouse. The other phases to be undertaken will include another warehouse, concrete surfacing at the cargo terminal, lights and the drainage system.
Minister St.Ange also visited the area where the new passenger terminal building and jetty will be built. The jetty will be 150m long and will cater for four ferries at the same time. Construction of this new passenger terminal is expected to start in the second quarter of next year.
The new terminal will cater for about 600 passengers and will be providing services such as ticket offices, craft shops, ATM machine, restaurant among others. Before heading to the new port facilities the island’s Minister and his delegation saw the arrival and departure of ferries from Mahe and La Digue at peak period. He also looked met with the port authorities at the Baie Ste Anne jetty. William Rose, the long time ferry operator of Praslin was also present at this Praslin meeting.
‘Seeing what we have today and what has been planned is so important for us at the Ministry . We saw the existing ferry terminal at peak period and saw how busy our facility is today. We shall continue to meet those using our Baie Ste Anne jetty to ensure that the new development is owned by all on Praslin,” he said.
We were able to say thank you for the professional management of ferry and cargo operations we have today in Seychelles said Minister Alain St.Ange who now holds the portfolio for the ports and marine development in Seychelles.