Day: May 17, 2023

A two dimensional (2D) and three dimensional (3D) mapping project being undertaken on four coastal sites on Seychelles’ main island, Mahe, seeks to provide up-to-date data that will help in the integration of ecological processes into the development and planning of coastal areas.

The high-resolution 2D/3D coastal mapping and monitoring of the island is being carried out by Geomer Consulting in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, with part of the funding provided through Seychelles’ Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust (SeyCCAT) Blue Grants Fund.

The project lead, and the director of Geomer, Jonathan Pinchart, told SNA recently that the last 2D images – similar to what can be seen on the website of Seychelles WebGIS – of coastal areas were captured by the government in 2011.

“We saw that there was a gap there as the government no longer carries out coastal erosion studies and hence we came forth with the project. We decided to use more developed and innovative technologies to do that. Monitoring, whether if you are doing compiling or a full mapping, takes quite a while and some very sophisticated pieces of equipment and a lot of manpower,” said Pinchart.

He identified four coastal areas – Beau Vallon, North-East Point, Anse la Mouche, and Baie Lazare – as areas of focus that in 2019, the World Bank recommended that coastal erosion studies be carried out.

Through the project, which started in 2021 and will end in 2023, Geomer is undertaking 2D and 3D coastal mapping and monitoring using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and structure-from-motion photogrammetry techniques.

“Throughout the two years, we carried out 2D mappings every four months and for each year we have four snapshots of the sites so that we can identify linear changes, the movement of the shoreline. These sites are prone to seasonal changes and the sands are being moved from one end of the beach to the other,” said Pinchart.

He added that 3D mapping is a little more complicated but through it “we can calculate the total volume of the beach and through the seasons we can assess how this evolves. We can then identify where the sand is moving and how much sand is being moved, in cubic metres.”

Pinchart said that in the long term, this will allow relevant authorities to understand if it is the seasonal movement of sand or if it is going out of the area that is being mapped, and this requires a longer period of time.

He shared that hopefully through climate change funding given to the government, monitoring of the sites can continue.

All the photos compiled in the project are being provided to the coastal unit and GIS unit within the ministry and the data is also expected to be placed in the public domain for anyone to access.

Source: Seychelles News Agency

The Cable & Wireless Seychelles (CWS) telecommunication company launched a month-long exhibition on Wednesday as part of activities to mark its 130th anniversary in the island nation.

A group gathered at Kenwyn House in the capital Victoria for an exhibition to view artefacts that document the company’s presence in Seychelles and the evolution of telecommunication technology.

Cable & Wireless was set up in 1893 linking Seychelles to Zanzibar when for the first time the island nation joined the world telecommunication network.

In his virtual address, the chief executive of CWS, Georges D’Offay, said that the venue was chosen because this is where the company’s history in Seychelles started.

“Our founder Eastern and South African Telegraph Company bought this property in 1880. An interesting fact is that this historical establishment, which has been declared a national monument in Seychelles, was used by our engineering directors. This is when the first cable to connect Seychelles to Zanzibar was being installed, a remarkable event in our history,” he said.

The first cable to connect Seychelles to Zanzibar was installed in 1893. (Seychelles Nation) Photo License: CC-BY

Other activities being organised to mark the company’s anniversary include a grand lottery with a BMW lX3 as a star prize, a mega concert, and a family fun day.

Another activity to celebrate the 130th is the special session for CWS employees’ children, who will be given a tour of the exhibition as part of a family fun day.

For the younger generation this exhibition is a chance to see a dial phone, the company’s phone cards that were used on its payphones located all over the country a few years ago.

CWS is also displaying its quad-play services – where it is combining the triple-play service of broadband Internet access, television and telephone with wireless service provisions – through short videos at the exhibition.

Marc Denousse, who worked on the exhibition, explained that while his team has been able to gather “as many artefacts as possible, we were unable to get all of them since the company found some to be obsolete and did not need to keep them.”

The secretary general of the Seychelles Institute of Culture, Heritage and the Arts (SICHA), David Andre, who is a former CWS employee, officially opened the exhibition.

“I remember applying for a position in the company when I completed my studies in 1976, receiving an answer the next day informing me that I could start work immediately. It is during my short time with the company that I also learned Morse code,” said Andre.

He congratulated the company for the work it has done in Seychelles and the services it has provided to the country in its 130 years here.

Since November 2019, the company has been entirely owned by a group of Seychellois entrepreneurs who purchased Cable and Wireless Seychelles under the group CWS Investment for a price of $130 million from Liberty Global, one of the world’s largest television and broadband companies.

On September 26, Cable and Wireless Seychelles was listed on the MERJ Exchange based in the country, where 120,000 shares were made available for sale to increase its shareholder base and raise approximately $4.3 million.

Source: Seychelles News Agency