Seychelles Port Authority appointed to manage reclaimed land leased by IPHS

The original arrangement was to have it in the fishing port offering services to fishing vessels. (Seychelles News Agency)

The Seychelles Port Authority (SPA) is now responsible for managing the plots of reclaimed land  that the Ile Du Port Handling Services (IPHS) operates on.

This comes after the Cabinet of Ministers approved finalising the lease agreement that exists between the company and the government, in its last meeting - including the sub-leases for four specific plots of land.

IPHS came about in 2014 as a public-private partnership entity with the Seychelles' government, the foreign investor Jaccar Holdings and Seychellois investors as shareholders. The company started its operations two years later.

The original arrangement was to have it in the fishing port offering services to fishing vessels such as utilities, stevedoring services and net repairs among others. However, despite operations taking off, the lease for the land IPHS was located on was yet to be signed.

Vice President Ahmed Afif said in a press briefing on Thursday that IPHS had gone on to reclaim two additional plots of land.

Presently the area is around 15,000 square metres and this includes the land that the government has reclaimed together with that of IPHS.

"We agreed to finalise an issue that has been dragging on for the last seven years, what we have seen is that the investors have reclaimed land while there is no lease between the IPHS, the Seychelles Port Authority and the government," explained Afif.

He added that this was due to the parties concerned not agreeing on a tariff.

The Vice President said the Cabinet's decision to take the measures is "crucial for resolving ongoing legal and operational challenges, allowing IPHS to expand its infrastructure, improve staff welfare, and potentially reduce costs for the Seychelles' fishing sector".

"We felt it important to establish a sense of order in the situation, which is why we have decided that all the land is SPA's responsibility," he added.

The new agreement ensures that the authority is responsible for the technical aspects that were causing confusion to all those involved in the deal, such as who was responsible for security in the area and utilities supply.

"Today we find ourselves in a situation where there are certain expenses IPHS should pay for that it has withheld payment for," expanded Afif.

As a result of formalising the agreement, IPHS will only pay a nominal charge for the first 15 years of its lease - of which it has already paid seven. After that, all parties concerned will negotiate a commercial rate for IPHS to pay for the remaining 15 years of its lease. Its activities in the port will remain the same, which is mainly unloading fishing vessels, repairs and net repairs.

"However the company has said it wants to modernise its services and use the land it is leasing to the maximum," added Afif.

The formalisation of the lease also makes it easier for IPHS to look for financing for its projects at a favourable rate.