No undeclared firearms have entered the country recently, the Minister for Home Affairs Mitcy Larue told Assembly members yesterday morning, but she stated that an internal investigation is being conducted to determine what really happened and once this is completed the Assembly will be informed of the findings.

This was in answer to a private notice question asked by the leader of the opposition Wavel Ramkalawan who also wanted to know the owner of the said arms, the procedures to follow when foreigners enter the country with firearms as well as under which conditions foreigners are given permission to enter the country with firearms.

Minister Larue stated that the arms in question belonged to the personnel security of His Highness the Emir of Qatar. With regard to arrangements and procedures in place for foreigners to bring firearms in the country, Minister Larue said authorisation and permission in writing should be sought from the Commissioner of Police and there are procedures in place to follow.

“In this particular case a request was received from the Department of Foreign Affairs and was forwarded to the Commissioner of Police who circulated copies to the head of response tactical support services and the head of the airport police who then informed its security and customs,” Minister Larue informed members, noting that all the above mentioned parties work together to verify and inspect the arms before a related form with all the necessary information is countersigned by all.

Minister Larue stressed that these procedures apply both on entry and when the arms leave our country.

Forty four students at the Seychelles Police Academy (SPA) have enrolled on a basic Chinese language course as part of their training.

The course, which is being facilitated by the SPA, the Confucius Institute in collaboration with the University of Seychelles (UniSey), started yesterday morning at the SPA at Pointe Larue.

The new course aims at introducing Chinese culture in Seychelles since China’s economy and exchanges with the world and even with Seychelles have seen rapid growth over the years.

There has also been a sharp increase in the world’s demand for Chinese learning.

All sessions will last two hours and are to be conducted once a week.

The course will also allow the students at the SPA to better interact with Chinese tourists.