Pillay’s land deals under scrutiny once more
After several articles had been written about Patrick Pillay’s questionable land deals with the Government while he was an SPPF minister for 16 years, he, apparently under pressure from supporters, tried to explain them. But, Pillay has landed himself in a bigger mess trying to justify his corrupted actions.
He only succeeded in justifying the swap of land at Pointe Au Sel for Fairview. And even that was not very convincing. He also said he recently purchased a property at Morne Blanc for his son. That is correct. He paid over R1 million from an ex-British guy, Loveth Annacoura.
Pillay writes that he exchanged, in 1997, two plots at Pointe Au Sel, totaling 5.5 acres for land of more or less similar size at Port Launay. It was Parcel J1364, one of Seychelles most pristine locations- comprising of a massive plot of 4-5 acres of the Morne Seychellois National Park. He also had sole access to a very secluded beach.
On this particular plot he built a villa, almost on the beach, now hidden by a high wall running the entire length of the property on the seaside bordering at Port Launay.
In 1998 he added two more – plots J1702 and J 3391 - which he now says was for his son. He only paid R231, 000, that is peanuts, considering that land on prime beachfront such as Port Launay, Beau Vallon, Cote D’or, etc. sells for a premium; over several million rupees or dollars for that matter.
In 2004, Pillay sought to commercially develop the Port Launay property for tourism purposes on J1702. This would have multiplied the value of the property by tenfold. It was rumoured that the site had attracted the attention of an Arab investor.The application was rejected on the basis that it was a reserve for the “Zwazo Linet”.
It also emerged that Pillay had defaulted on paying his lease charges and that he was considerably in arrears. He had breached his investment agreement with SIB, his lease agreement with Government. Above all, he was displaying blatant greed by trying to commercially exploit a sensitively important habitat in the area for personal enrichment.To date; Pillay has opted to say nothing about the details of the swap for the Fairview property. That was for a house at Pointe Au Sel; for which he obtained over R700, 000. In return he purchased a house at Fairview, which is prime real estate for just over R300, 000 and went on to sell this property for 1.8 million.
And after the opposition weekly newspaper, “Regar”, wrote about “a good deal for Minister Pillay”, he sued the paper for R600, 000. He obtained R500, 000. In the process, Regar was obliged to close down for a few months.
In 1995, Pillay requested more land from Government. Only this time, it was agricultural land at Montagne Posee- plots C3849 and C3850 - on a long lease.
After obtaining the lease, Pillay sought permission to build a 3-bedroom house on the site overlooking the sea, which also has good mountain views.
Soon after building the house, he developed a farm called “Farm Breeze”. As if that was not enough, Pillay just wanted more government land and later annexed two more plots - C4758 and C 3851 - at the expense of the previous lessee.
In 2004, it was plot C5690- over 18,000 sq. metres of land - that was taken. It was obvious that he was just not developing, but amassing as much land as he could for speculative purposes.
In 2010, while serving as High Commissioner in London, Pillay tried to sell the entire farm to a Belgian national, having obtained a 60-year lease on the original two plots. It is alleged that the sale price was under-declared and the purchaser built him a house as part payment in such a way as to minimize the stamp duty (sales tax). In other words, Pillay had been use to having his own way in everything.
During the LDS public rally at Anse Boileau on Sunday Patrick Pillay tried but failed to justify his actions as far as the land deals were concerned. He said that he never bought land from government, but leased for commercial purposes. This is Ton Pat lying and playing with words to try fool his own supporters. However, he sold on the lease of the same properties to foreigners and made millions. Ton Pat is a liar as much as he is corrupt. He left PL only because he lost his privileges and for nothing else. This man doesn’t care for the people of Seychelles; otherwise, he would have spoken out ages ago against the abuses of this government. Why did he stay silent for all these years? This is the question for Ton Pat to answer.
We know that Pat Pillay has not taken the Government’s refusal not to use part of the Port Launay property for tourism purposes and for re-sale to an Arab buyer, lightly. He is out to destroy James Michel because of that- a man he had pledged his loyalty to on many occasions.That was in 2004, when Michel took over the Presidency from President Rene; in 2009 when he stepped down as Minister and publicly acknowledged that he told Michel he was “available for any service he might be needed”, and again in 2011, when he launched Michel’s autobiography “Distant Horizons, MyReflections”.
Pillay is now so full of hatred that he has turned out worse than Ramkalawan- if that is at all possible.
Prior to his decision to break away from Michel, Pillay had driven to town and attempted to park at the back of the police headquarters and also behind Victoria House. When he found all the parking taken up, he rang State House, requesting permission to park there. This was refused by the official he spoke to. He swore that he would take revenge for that. Pat Pillay is bitter like Albert Rene, which forced Rene to overthrow Mancham; Pat Pillay is hell bent on destroying James Michel and the country along with Michel if that what it takes. The electorates must be mindful of that situation!!
Independent
He only succeeded in justifying the swap of land at Pointe Au Sel for Fairview. And even that was not very convincing. He also said he recently purchased a property at Morne Blanc for his son. That is correct. He paid over R1 million from an ex-British guy, Loveth Annacoura.
Pillay writes that he exchanged, in 1997, two plots at Pointe Au Sel, totaling 5.5 acres for land of more or less similar size at Port Launay. It was Parcel J1364, one of Seychelles most pristine locations- comprising of a massive plot of 4-5 acres of the Morne Seychellois National Park. He also had sole access to a very secluded beach.
On this particular plot he built a villa, almost on the beach, now hidden by a high wall running the entire length of the property on the seaside bordering at Port Launay.
In 1998 he added two more – plots J1702 and J 3391 - which he now says was for his son. He only paid R231, 000, that is peanuts, considering that land on prime beachfront such as Port Launay, Beau Vallon, Cote D’or, etc. sells for a premium; over several million rupees or dollars for that matter.
In 2004, Pillay sought to commercially develop the Port Launay property for tourism purposes on J1702. This would have multiplied the value of the property by tenfold. It was rumoured that the site had attracted the attention of an Arab investor.The application was rejected on the basis that it was a reserve for the “Zwazo Linet”.
It also emerged that Pillay had defaulted on paying his lease charges and that he was considerably in arrears. He had breached his investment agreement with SIB, his lease agreement with Government. Above all, he was displaying blatant greed by trying to commercially exploit a sensitively important habitat in the area for personal enrichment.To date; Pillay has opted to say nothing about the details of the swap for the Fairview property. That was for a house at Pointe Au Sel; for which he obtained over R700, 000. In return he purchased a house at Fairview, which is prime real estate for just over R300, 000 and went on to sell this property for 1.8 million.
And after the opposition weekly newspaper, “Regar”, wrote about “a good deal for Minister Pillay”, he sued the paper for R600, 000. He obtained R500, 000. In the process, Regar was obliged to close down for a few months.
In 1995, Pillay requested more land from Government. Only this time, it was agricultural land at Montagne Posee- plots C3849 and C3850 - on a long lease.
After obtaining the lease, Pillay sought permission to build a 3-bedroom house on the site overlooking the sea, which also has good mountain views.
Soon after building the house, he developed a farm called “Farm Breeze”. As if that was not enough, Pillay just wanted more government land and later annexed two more plots - C4758 and C 3851 - at the expense of the previous lessee.
In 2004, it was plot C5690- over 18,000 sq. metres of land - that was taken. It was obvious that he was just not developing, but amassing as much land as he could for speculative purposes.
In 2010, while serving as High Commissioner in London, Pillay tried to sell the entire farm to a Belgian national, having obtained a 60-year lease on the original two plots. It is alleged that the sale price was under-declared and the purchaser built him a house as part payment in such a way as to minimize the stamp duty (sales tax). In other words, Pillay had been use to having his own way in everything.
During the LDS public rally at Anse Boileau on Sunday Patrick Pillay tried but failed to justify his actions as far as the land deals were concerned. He said that he never bought land from government, but leased for commercial purposes. This is Ton Pat lying and playing with words to try fool his own supporters. However, he sold on the lease of the same properties to foreigners and made millions. Ton Pat is a liar as much as he is corrupt. He left PL only because he lost his privileges and for nothing else. This man doesn’t care for the people of Seychelles; otherwise, he would have spoken out ages ago against the abuses of this government. Why did he stay silent for all these years? This is the question for Ton Pat to answer.
We know that Pat Pillay has not taken the Government’s refusal not to use part of the Port Launay property for tourism purposes and for re-sale to an Arab buyer, lightly. He is out to destroy James Michel because of that- a man he had pledged his loyalty to on many occasions.That was in 2004, when Michel took over the Presidency from President Rene; in 2009 when he stepped down as Minister and publicly acknowledged that he told Michel he was “available for any service he might be needed”, and again in 2011, when he launched Michel’s autobiography “Distant Horizons, MyReflections”.
Pillay is now so full of hatred that he has turned out worse than Ramkalawan- if that is at all possible.
Prior to his decision to break away from Michel, Pillay had driven to town and attempted to park at the back of the police headquarters and also behind Victoria House. When he found all the parking taken up, he rang State House, requesting permission to park there. This was refused by the official he spoke to. He swore that he would take revenge for that. Pat Pillay is bitter like Albert Rene, which forced Rene to overthrow Mancham; Pat Pillay is hell bent on destroying James Michel and the country along with Michel if that what it takes. The electorates must be mindful of that situation!!
Independent
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