Laptops’ scheme controversy.

In his weekly column in the Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly newspaper, Christopher Gill has highlighted a number of controversies surrounding the government’s promise to start selling laptops at a discounted price to state school employees.

The politician turned columnist first point of contention is the vendor’s contract. He argued that the decision as to which company would import the laptops has been made without any public bidding procedures for tender of contract.

“This is not the first time Space95 is involved in supplying government without bidding or tender procedures being followed,” Gill wrote.

He also questioned a “very high” Government official’s implication in the affair. Gill claimed that the official in question represents a company called Charms Pty., which holds 890 shares of Space95.

“The fact that the arrangements were made behind closed doors, only shows who comes first in the deal; the teachers or the business interests?” he argued.

Finally with the backlog on foreign exchange and pipeline exceeding $75 million, Gill wrote “it would be interesting to know where Space95 would get the foreign exchange for the purchase.”

Under the scheme announced recently by President James Michel, the government will subsidised the prices of the Dell Inspiron 1501 and Inspiron 6400 laptop computers, with teachers paying only 25% of the items’ cost on the local market.

The opposition parties branded the initiative as a “desperate election ploy” to lure young voters saying the government should instead be doing what is really necessary, connecting the islands to the underwater fiber optic cable.

Editor’s note: Christopher Gill was the first directly elected opposition member of the legislature after the return of multiparty democracy in 1993. Following some internal tensions he was dismissed from the Democratic Party in 1995. He has since reconciled with his uncle, Seychelles first president, Sir James Mancham and is now back into the DP camp.