The extent to which Dolor Ernesta was prepared to go to grab
government land for himself, his friends and his family is mind boggling. On
19th November, 1996 the Director of Surveys was instructed by letter to
amalgamate two plots of land, namely V8759 and V8918. The job was duly done
without delay and the two pieces became one and was registered as V9204 at the
Land Registry. On 16th January, 1997, only two months after the
amalgamation the new parcel number V9204 was registered in the name of one
Dolor Camille Ernesta, who was the minister for land, at the time. In total
V9204 represented 8962 square metres of land. This is a big property in
Seychelles by any standard.
THE WELL PUBLISHED LAND ALLOCATION POLICY OF THIS GOVERNMENT
IS ONE PIECE OF LAND PER PERSON OR IF YOU HAVE (PRIVATE) LAND ALREADY YOU
CANNOT GET GOVERNMENT LAND.
Our investigation has also revealed that Dolor used a complex
method to identify and then take land for himself. It is clear that he looked
for adjoining plots and then initiated a process of amalgamating these plots together.
After changing the plot number a few times Dolor will then move to acquire the
land for himself. It can be revealed that Dolor played around by changing
parcel numbers to create several layers of documentations, subdividing and
amalgamation of many other plots of land apart from those that we have already published
in past articles. These plots includes: V10767, V10769, V9570, V9571, V11911,
V11913, V11914, V11915, V8763, V8884 and many others. Only an extensive
investigation into the matter can reveal what really took place and why.
This is a serious matter that must be dealt with by the
highest office in the land. This is concrete evidence in the form of official
documentations to back our allegations of embezzlement and corruption. For the
time being the government has remained silent on the matter, not even an
explanation has been forthcoming from the office of the President or from the
Minister for Land and Housing; Mr. Christian Lionnet who has also been involved
in giving government land to Dolor for free.
There must be a very good reason for the total silence from
government. It must also be mentioned that Dolor Ernesta is an active executive
committee (CC) member of Parti Lepep. He writes a weekly column in their
political mouthpiece ‘The People’, newspaper. And unfortunately for the
business community he is the Vice Chair of the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce
and industry. All the indications are that Dolor Ernesta is enjoying the
protection of the highest office in the land. David Pierre, the sole opposition
member in the National Assembly, has also chosen to remain silent. The other
representatives of the people from Parti Lepep in the National Assembly have
all buried their heads under the sand as far as this scandal involving land stolen
from government by a former minister is concerned. Every single citizen in the
country knows about this issue, but the politicians in government have all gone
deaf. This is hard to believe from a government that prides itself on being
accountable, transparent and practising good governance.
Source: Seyweekly.com
