On the 2nd June 2011, two days after a cabinet reshuffle
whereby Jacquelin Dugasse was made to retire from public service as Land
Minister, Dugasse was given a 99 years lease on over 3000 sq meters of prime land at Roche
Caiman next to where Intelvision is situated. The former minister was accorded
the property without going through the tender process as is required by law.
This has been the hallmark of this government when it comes to top officials of
Parti Lepep acquiring government land.
Dugasse, now the new CEO of the James Michel foundation, acquired
the lease on V17664 through JaMar Properties Limited. The conditions of his
lease on the land are spelt out clearly in the transfer document. There is no
annual or monthly fee stipulated in the agreement, so a monthly fee of SR2020
can be derived from the stated lump sum over the 99 years. The property is
still undeveloped in 2017. There is no evidence that the agreement has been
fully complied with; there is a strong possibility that Dugasse is waiting to cash
in on his investment by selling his lease to some rich foreigner. This will be
another unfortunate episode in the sad state of affairs concerning State land
in Seychelles.
