Astove Island, situated some 1045 km southwest of
Seychelles`s main Island, Mahe, is often described as having the most peculiar
form. The raised coral island is a single stretch of land that almost entirely
encloses a shallow lagoon with only a winding passage in the southwest.
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| Astove |
The only settlement, on the western coast, has been
abandoned since the 1980s, but now a group of some 20 Indian construction
workers are currently working on a new development project on the Island. It is
believed the men are employees of Green Island construction company Ltd; a
construction company belonging to Island Development Corporation Ltd (IDC).
A source who visited the island a month back to transport
construction materials including bricks, macadam and crusher dust were shocked
that they were not allowed to disembark on the island. None of the 17 mariners
onboard the IDC landing craft, Enterprise 2 were allowed.
“We were anchored for 2 days near the island whilst the
construction materials were being offloaded; after spending 14 days at sea
before reaching Astove. I can`t believe we were denied permission to go ashore”
one of the mariners stated. He said the island`s manager who goes by the name
of Dubois informed them that unless they have the expressed permission of the IDC
Chief Executive Officer, Glenn Savy, they cannot set foot on the island. “As a
matter of fact he said Mr Savy has ordered him not to allow any of us to go
beyond the beaches”, he said.
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| The Chief |
These incidents are very frequent these days and quite
clearly contravenes article 25 of the Constitution which states” Every person
lawfully present in Seychelles has a right of freedom of movement and for the
purpose of this article this right includes the right to move freely within
Seychelles, the right to reside in any part of Seychelles, the right to leave
Seychelles and the right not to be expelled from Seychelles.”
He is of the opinion that IDC want to keep under wraps
whatever construction is going on there. From his personal observation he
thinks it’s a new tourism development citing what he called the near completion
of 2 chalets. Astove which is part of the Aldabra group already has an
airstrip.
Source:LSH
