The Seychelles Police has commissioned its new fleet of 36 vehicles, one of which is destined for the Seychelles Fire and Rescue Services Agency.
The fleet is a grant from the government of India at the request of former Home Affairs Minister Charles Bastienne.
Besides vehicles, the package also comprises spare parts, materials for uniforms and police accessories.
Present at the commissioning was Mitcy Larue, the current Minister for Home Affairs; acting high commissioner of India Anindya Banerjee, Commissioner of Police Reginald Elizabeth, among other officials and staff of the Seychelles Police.
The vehicles, consisting of jeeps, cars and dog pens, will be distributed to different units and stations of the force.
It was Mr Banerjee who handed over the keys of the vehicles to Compol Elizabeth who later on handed them over to each station commanders and officers in charge of units.
The units that have benefitted from the vehicles include the dog unit; Public Order and Tactical Responses Services; Criminal Investigation Department (CID); Traffic Police and police headquarters.
Under a total grant of US $25 million announced by the government of India to Seychelles in 2012, a substantial amount was earmarked for the police department, with US $100,000 for police uniforms and US $600,000 for police vehicles. US $30,000 for drug rehabilitation and detoxification programmes in Seychelles were also included under the grant.
Conveying his and the police’s gratitude to the high commissioner and government of India, as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who has helped them in making this donation possible, Compol Elizabeth said during the past years, Seychelles Police has worked diligently to reduce crimes in order to make Seychelles a safer place.
“We have succeeded drastically in reducing crime but would have done much better if we had adequate resources and equipment such as suitable vehicles,” Compol Elizabeth said.
“This donation will boost our crime fighting capacity. And as far as crime is concerned, we will continue to do our best in 2017 to reduce it further. We will be able to respond quicker to crime scenes and cover larger areas with patrol vehicles and increase police visibility,” he said.
And at the end of the day, he said, the people of Seychelles will benefit from the deployment of the new vehicles, adding that those vehicles, uniforms and accessories will improve the image of the police and boost morale of staff.
He urged police officers to be an example to other road users and to maintain those new vehicles in good condition and always respect the rules of law.
Mr Banerjee hailed the friendship between Seychelles and India, noting the diplomatic relations between the two countries is now 40 years old, has grown from strength to strength, culminating in a mutually beneficial partnership.
“In any country the police department plays a vital role. Police force maintains law and order, peace, prevention and detection of crimes and the apprehension of offenders. In addition the police force has other functions which include protection of life and property, traffic control, firefighting and others,” said Mr Banerjee, adding the Seychelles Police has very good relations with the police authorities in India and several Seychellois police officers have been trained there.
