A message to members of the SCCI

Mr. Chairman, Members of the Executive Committee, Councillors, Members, Friends, I would like to take the opportunity to address certain issues, in advance of the 2010 Annual General Meeting of the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry, to be held tomorrow. My father, the late Dr. George R. Davison arrived in these island in the mid 1970’s, before the Independence of Seychelles, and found a beautiful, peaceful land with friendly people.  He came to work on a hotel project at Intendance, which was doomed to failure, because the then owners did not have the necessary resources and acumen to mount such an endeavour.  It was only thereafter, by sheer accident, that he founded the Plantation Club, after a long struggle which, at one point, nearly broke him financially.  He ended up falling in love with Seychelles and it was his wish to end his days here in the islands, which he did in 2005.  During his time in Seychelles, I believe that he embodied all of the spirit of enterprise which our chamber represents. Since my fist arrival at the beginning of 1988, I have, likewise, grown to love the Seychelles, her islands and her people.  It has, for many years, been my great pleasure to devote my energies to contributing to the life of the community which has welcomed me and included me so warmly.  I have enjoyed being part of the very diverse and engaging business culture here.  It has certainly been an interesting challenge! When one considers the dynamic and varied business activity in this tiny country, which yet manages to flourish and to innovate very impressively, despite all of the disadvantages and hurdles set in its way, I remain convinced, as I have said to many people in the past, that Seychellois business men and women, were they on the level playing field offered by most other countries, could outshine and outperform anyone. There is no point in crying over spilt milk, in complaining about the unfairness of certain aspects of life in the Seychelles.  That unfairness, however, does not make it right that we who have committed ourselves to the economic growth of this country, should suffer, or tolerate, the corruption and iniquities of the system that we have to combat with all of our might and resources, before we can even begin the difficult challenge of trying to build a profitable and competitive business. No one person alone can change the environment for business in Seychelles.  It is therefore up to the Chamber of Commerce to fight for this, and we are lucky that we have a chamber to take up the gauntlet.  By this I do not mean that it should be left to the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry to make it all happen for us.  I mean, very specifically, that it is up to the entrepreneurs who have joined forces under the structure of the Chamber to work together to make it happen.  This means that each and every one of us must make a sustained commitment, through continued and daily and repeated efforts, to push for a change in the circumstances in which we find ourselves. It means sticking our necks out.  It means risking the lot for our principles and our futures.  It means not taking injustices lying down.  I know that some of you are champions for the cause of justice and equity and have fought for this for many years.  However, an association does not mean the courage of the few, it means the courage of all.  We must all become warriors.  Why must we do this?  My opinion is that it is for the children of tomorrow’s Seychelles.  If we do not have children of our own, then it is for future of our friends’ children.  They are the ones who will make Seychelles what it will be and they are our responsibility.  If we do not champion the cause of justice and fair opportunity, then what chance do they have to sustain and build this tiny nation? The Plantation Club is perhaps the most glaring example, in recent times, of what I am trying to illustrate. Before talking about the Plantation Club in detail, however, I would like to state that I make no apologies for any sentimental expressions which punctuate my speech.  It sounds corny, particularly in this clinical, profit-oriented day and age, but we feel that our company was about as close to being, genuinely, a “happy family” and a community-oriented business as one can get and I care about it very much.  One only has to consider that around 120 of our staff came from all over the country, last October, from Silhouette, Praslin and even from as far as Desroches, at short notice, to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the opening of the hotel, despite the fact that the they had been forced out of their jobs by James Michel’s government almost two years previously and that the hotel had belonged to the Saudis for more than a year.  To me this is the result of what I consider corporate responsibility, or, in more simple terms, the whole point of doing business.  We must care for the personal worries of each employee, to enable them to contribute the maximum they can to our business.  They care for the mother, the mother must care for the children. While the Plantation Club case has, to some degree, faded from everyday conversation and while many who suffered from the loss of the jobs they had had for years in a company that they loved, we, the management and shareholders, supported by many loyal members of the Plantation Club family are still fighting to force the Government to reverse the unlawful seizure and to get the Arabs out of the hotel, and subsequently, out of the country.  And yet, the injustice done now more than two years ago is still as unjust as it was then.  If we never succeed in reversing what has been done, the injustice will remain as grave forever.  While it might seem to have become a personal vendetta against these particular Saudis, I have nonetheless not lost sight of my long-held belief, which I know is shared by most Seychellois, that many of those Arabs who are in Seychelles represent an insidious body of people for the country, who distort the due process of government by bribing, and who, to many, also represent the worst aspect of a system which has deprived Seychellois of opportunities rightfully theirs, by transferring much of what they can aspire to into the hands of outsiders with, in the most part, very little interest in the country and her people. In 2004, when I took the helm of Ailee Development Corporation Limited, just about one in every hundred working Seychellois worked for our company, according to the government’s figures of Seychellois in employment.  Some 96% of the staff were Seychellois, including almost the entire Executive Management.  We have estimated that some eight hundred people derived their livelihood directly from someone employed at the Plantation Club.  The economic “trickle-down” effect was vastly greater.  All of this benefit has been lost to the country.  The following approximate figures give an idea of the economic loss, over the past 27 months, caused by the expropriation of the Hotel: Foreign exchange inflows into Seychelles                        24 million USD Wages                                                                                    27 million Rupees Trades Tax                                                                            9.45 million Rupees Social Security Contributions                                            6.75 million Rupees Pension Fund Contributions                                            1.62 million Rupees This leaves aside the fact that almost all of the revenue of our hotel operation went into the local economy by way of payments to suppliers, revenue for DMCs, etc.  All of this has been lost in favour of what the Government said was necessary in the interests of the tourism industry of the Seychelles, upon which the economy relies heavily.  And yet the new Saudi owners have done nothing but build a pleasure palace for themselves, contributing virtually nothing to the economy. This demonstrates why it is important to fight nepotism and corrupt or unethical practices, wherever they are encountered and why democratic principles must be kept pure and not prostituted for the interest of one man or one small group of powerful people.  It was this very nepotism and corruption which cost all those connected with the Plantation Club everything for which they had worked for more than twenty years. Last year an unscrupulous scheme was perpetrated to ensure that control of one of the Seychelles’ most important civil society institutions, by which I mean this very Chamber, was put into the hands of one man, for his benefit.  This may have been done by democratic process, but not according to democratic principles.  I have since made efforts to enlist as many new members as I could, to have as large as possible a cross-section of the business community present at the forthcoming meeting, each with one equal vote.  This is not to oust the present chairman for personal reasons, but to break the self-interested, preponderant majority purposely created by him, thus ensuring that an even-handed chance exists for all of the Chamber’s membership to vote, according to pure democratic principles, for the person they feel can best steer their interests in these dangerous waters.  This should ensure that no-one can crown himself king.  The Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry is an association, not a feudal, private facility, and it is there to serve all of its members equally.  If the majority of Chamber members vote to re-appoint the present chairman, then I will embrace my duty to serve him as a member or our association.  If someone else is voted in as chairman, my duty to the Chamber will, likewise, be to serve him, or her, in any way that I can. I do not expect to win points with the powers-that-be for these statements.  In fact, I am sure there will be negative repercussions as a result of this.  That, unfortunately, seems to be Seychelles today.  After all, who am I?  Just some damned foreigner with his notions of the universal rights of all people to fair opportunity.  However, I am also an equal member of this chamber and part of the business community of Seychelles, foreign or otherwise, and I have a right to express my views to my fellow Chamber Members.  Unfortunately, my absence from the Seychelles renders me unable to present this before the Chamber, in person at the meeting, but the important thing is that, before all of you, I am practising precisely what I am preaching.  I am commenting openly, despite the risk of negative consequences.  If we want to make a difference, we must stand together and face each dragon, not run from its flames and hope that it will just go away. As regards the Plantation Club, I would like to ask all of you for your support in our continued fight.  It is a fight not just for our own interests, but for the interests of the country and our chamber.  You all know and, I believe, fear that if they can do this to us today, they can it to you tomorrow.  This doesn’t mean that you have to wield a sword on my battlefield.  It merely means that even your moral support and the pressure you can bring to bear on those in power will help us in our struggle and help all of you in yours.  As I am committed to support all of my fellow members, when they call upon me to do so, this member now asks you for your support.  We hope, one day, to see our company back in business, employing Seychellois and helping to build a strong Seychelles economy. I would also like to say that I regret the damage that the Plantation Club affair has already done to the reputation of Seychelles, particularly in terms of its reputation as a destination for Foreign Direct Investment, and realise that my continued actions in fighting for justice in our case will continue to cause the spotlight of international scrutiny to shine on the dirtier aspects of the country, even if the situation was not caused by us.  I nevertheless believe that the pain of treatment is necessary for the long-term healing of a sick patient. Building a nation is not achieved by complacency or by observation from the sidelines.  It requires personal involvement, dedication, courage, sacrifice and tenacity.  It requires courage to continue when there is no more energy left to fight.  It is a mutual effort of blood, sweat and tears, with only the hope that someone, someday, will live the life of which we are dreaming. In closing I would like to say: I ler pou tou biznesmenn (ek fanm) Seselwa debout, pou mazinen zot lepase e zot lavenir, pou vremann “koste” e ensiste lo enn vre “Sesel pou tou biznesman Seselwa” God Bless Seychelles and all who sail in her. Thank you Mark E.Davison Ailee Development Corporation Limited (The Plantation Club), “former” Managing Director Hotel Development Corporation Limited, Director Westend Development Company Limited, Managing Director St. Antoine Company Limited, Director April 2010