(Seychelles News Agency) - It may not snow in the Seychelles islands, a few degrees below the Equator in the Indian Ocean, but ice skating on one of the tropical sunny island will become a reality as a long awaited Fun Park open its doors this afternoon.

The new family fun park is located in the Seychelles capital of Victoria on Mahe island and bears the name “Paradis des Enfants” or “Children’s Paradise.”

While equipped with swings, slides, electronic games and brightly coloured carousel of horses it is also designed to bring Seychellois children as well as adults a totally new experience in the world of entertainment and fun with its bumper cars and the first ice rink in the archipelago which will surely give one the feeling of being in Europe.

The venue will also be one where parents can leave their children in a colourful playroom, to be taken care of and entertained for hours, in a safe and secure environment.

The fun park entry is free but it charges $0.8 (10 rupees) to $2 (25 rupees) for personal electronic cards to be able to enjoy the different electronic games and carousel. To enjoy the ice rink the fee starts at $ 2 (25 rupees).

It will be open 7 days a week from 10 am to 8pm local time Sundays to Thursdays and from 10am to 11pm Fridays to Saturdays. The fun park also features food and drink outlets where parents can sit quietly enjoying some refreshments while their kids are having fun.

“Paradis des Enfants” is an initiative of the government to replace the old Victoria playground situated only a few metres away.

Construction work started in July 2013 and the opening was scheduled for Christmas day the same year, but due to several delays from bad weather, shipment of materials and equipment, as well as difficulties encountered at the commissioning stage of some of the games, the opening was delayed.

“The actual opening of the park for operation also had to await the necessary mechanism and expression of interest from various operators to be in place,” the Principal Secretary for Project Planning and Implementation at the Seychelles Ministry for Land Use and Housing, Yves Choppy told SNA adding that the execution of the project was relatively smooth despite the few delays.

Though the planned scope of work is completed, there are a few minor additions that the management company “Paradis des Enfants entertainment Ltd” has requested such as an information kiosk, some extra work on the food court amongst others… that will be added over the next few days.

The $ 3.7 million family fun park has been financed through the financial support of $ 2.4 million from the government of Abu Dhabi and the remaining amount by the government of Seychelles, partly through money collected from businesses in the country as part of the Corporate Social Responsibility Tax, (CSR).

The state owned company managing the fun park, “Paradis des enfants entertainment Ltd”, is renting out the various outlets to different private operators to offer the different facilities needed.

To date, four different business owners have been granted approval to administer the food outlets and snack shops, two other companies have taken over the running of the playroom and private party room while a local company is also successfully running the electronic games, carousels and the ice rink.

“Participation in the tender process has been very good. All the major components have already secured operators.  Only two units are yet to be rented out, these are the toy shop and the drinks and coffee outlet,” says Choppy.

The day to day running of the Seychelles first family fun park is in the hands of the Chief Executive of “Paradis des Enfants entertainment company ltd”, Audrey Nanon who told SNA that she has big dreams for the place.

“… I want “Paradis des enfants” to become the favourite spot for the family in Seychelles. One which is safe, secured, smoke-free, alcohol-free and last but not least one of the most enjoyable and exciting place for the children of Seychelles…”

Amongst her ideas in store for the “Paradis des enfants” family fun park in the near future includes having clowns and children attendants around as well as to have live entertainment every now and then.