The Minister for Habitat, Infrastructure and Land Transport Charles Bastienne has categorically refuted recent corruption allegations against him, allegations which have been reported in the local press.
He has rather threatened the perpetrators with “looking into the possibility of dealing with them”, meaning taking legal action.
It was on December 1 that the Seychelles Weekly newspaper reported that in October this year, Mr Bastienne, then Minister for Internal Affairs, had received the sum of R122,500 from the chairperson of a Nepalese recruitment agency named United Manpower Agency in return for the recruitment of Nepalese personnel for the Seychelles Police and Prison Services. According to the Seychelles Weekly, the money was paid through a representative of a local recruiting agency called Ligi’s Agency and a security firm - Marpol Security Services - in which the newspaper claimed Mr Bastienne owns interests.
The minister has reacted to the accusations by saying that they are personal attacks against him and attempts to discredit President Faure’s government. In a meeting with the local press yesterday, he denied having interest in the security company and ever meeting the Nepalese businessman who has made the accusations.
“There is neither fire nor smoke in this situation. My hands are clean and for the two years I have been in government, I have worked for the betterment of every Seychellois,” he said.
According to his explanation, the saga has arisen just because the Nepalese national at its source was not given business by the Seychelles’ government. The minister however admitted R122,000 was paid “to an individual” as recruitment fee for 12 Nepalese, while rejecting accusations that the money reached his office. This in spite of claims of a video showing a young lady counting a significant amount of money which she says was destined to the minister’s office.
Announcing that President Faure has asked him to shed light on the matter through the press, he also confirmed that he has already sent a relevant report to the Head of State. His account is that he was approached by the two Seychellois proprietors of the security firm who in return of a recruiting fee of R500, offered security officers for a salary of $600, instead of $1200 dollars which was being paid to Nepalese already working for the prison and Police.
“If I was corrupt I would not seek to pay $700 instead of 1200 which would permit the country to make savings of R16 million per year,” he commented.
However Minister Bastienne said, after a first group of officers had been recruited, some of them refused to work for a salary of $600, only agreeing to do so if they were refunded $8000 which they had paid for their employment.
He added that only then did he come to know that Nepalese recruits had to pay $5000 to 8000 for the opportunity to work in Seychelles, sum which they usually raised through a loan and against mortgage of their
property.
So, he said, he resolved to put an end to what he termed as an “injustice”, at the same time eliminating a “cartel” involved in the recruitment of Nepalese workers.
Although the former Interior Minister has agreed that recruitment procedures for Nepalese has never been clear even to him, underlining thus the need to improve the process and make it more transparent, he is adamant he followed the normal practice in place since Nepalese officers are being hired to work here. This, even if journalists remarked that he has relied on obscure and untrustworthy recruitment agencies for men who sometimes do not even speak English and who will eventually handle fire arms.
He explained that checks on the officers’ background are made both internally and externally through an established network and that they get further training locally before being dispatched to any police unit. For him, the recruiters could be trusted as they had already brought in 12 officers with the Interior ministry having to spend less, even if he agreed that he should have been more intelligent in the process.
In relation to the case, Minister Bastienne has also claimed to have no knowledge of foreign lawyers being over the last weekend taken from hotel rooms and deported.
