Anse Royale Creche Nearly Ready After Years of Delays and Cost Overruns
VICTORIA, Seychelles — After several years of delays and spending more than planned, the new creche at Anse Royale is finally close to being finished. Principal Secretary for Educational Services Merna Eulentin revealed to the Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) of the National Assembly yesterday that the building will be handed over to the Ministry of Education in the next two weeks. The construction started in August 2018 with a cost of R18 million. It was supposed to be completed by March 2021, but because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the contractor asked for more time and money. In light of rising inflation and rates, the total cost of the project increased to R19.4 million.
Even with the extra money, the project was not finished at the time of audit in 2026. The Seychelles Infrastructure Agency (SIA) found that the contractor had been overpaid by R7.7 million. Ms Eulentin explained that part of the amount has been recovered and balanced out through work done by the contractor, such as installing aluminium doors. Only R1.6 million remains to be paid to the contractor. Of that sum, R900,000 is being paid now, and the remaining R700,000 will be paid once the work is completed.
There was also an issue with missing documents. The ministry said the original payment file cannot be located, but the SIA has copies of the contracts, payments, and discussions related to the project. SIA assumed responsibility for the project in 2024. The FPAC directed the ministry to locate the payment file, and prove through documentation how the overpayment was offset by the contractors. The committee also looked into a printing services contract. A contract signed in 2024 expired in March 2025, but no new one was signed right away. Even so, payments continued, including extra allowances for staff that were not listed in the contract. The ministry has since signed a new contract that will last until December 2028.
