Moment of reckoning for Police Commissioner Kishnan Labonte POLICE OFFICERS TO LOSE BONUSES AND ALLOWANCES

He has to make a choice between the welfare of his Seychellois officers and that of his overpaid “Fantastic 8” South African darlings.It should be an easy choice in order to keep the morale of the force, but his track record so far with regards to his endearment to the South Africans could make it very difficult for him.Labonte’s office has informed his local police officers that they will have to forego their monthly allowances and bonuses which usually boost their basic salary.Yet between them the “Fantastic 8” earn somewhere over 1 MILLION RUPEES a month!We appeal to the Executive and the Nat. AssemblyWe are appealing to the Executive and the National Assembly to intervene by applying pressure to prevent the curtailment of the allowances and bonuses of our women and men in uniform. For its part, The Independentis appealing to the Commissioner of Police to rethink this decision and to send all eight South Africans back home! Many officers have reported to this newspaper that this is an unacceptable situation for the simple reason that they will struggle badly to be able to feed their families on their basic salary. If the new proposition is enforced it will create a situation where the officers may be tempted to look for bribes to make up for the differences in their salaries.This is a crime against the dedicated Seselwa members of the police force, who have sacrificed a lot and given their all to keep the country safe –so that the population can sleep well at night. T
It goes without saying that the police force along with other agencies like the health service and the firefighters are essential services and their wellbeing is paramount to their performances at work –a cut in their monthly wages could have devastating consequences on their ability to perform at the required level.