Ramkalawan Outlines District Administrator Reform and Service Delivery Plan
VICTORIA, Seychelles — The re-introduction of the long service allowance and a revision of the role of district administrators (DAs) to make them focal points of their respective districts, liaising directly with the Office of the President, were among the key issues addressed by presidential candidate Wavel Ramkalawan of Linyon Demokratik Seselwa in his ongoing campaign for the second round of the election.
Speaking during a one-hour interview organised by the party and streamed live on Monday evening, the incumbent addressed key points raised by his contender, Dr Patrick Herminie of United Seychelles, including the Assomption Island lease, the revision of the pension age from 65 to 63, and the automatic 13th month salary. Mr Ramkalawan began by asking for forgiveness to the people of Seychelles for not meeting desired expectations during his first mandate, and renewed his promise that these will be achieved in a second mandate.
‘We have taken lessons out of it. I have listened to you and heard what you were saying, and a new mandate means we need to change all that,’ he stated. He stressed the ‘do it now’ campaign calling on public service employees to deliver efficiently and timely, and announced that DAs will be the main contact at community level, answering directly to the Head of State through a digitisation system being set up.
On the pension age, Mr Ramkalawan maintained that the increase to 65 years was the only financially sustainable way to ensure long-term care for retirees, adding that any other route would have placed the pension system at risk.
