Corruption, Corruption, Corruption
Written by Administrator Sunday, 04 September 2011 20:50
The whole world is the grip of corruption if we are to pay credit to all the allegations being made right, left and centre
Everywhere you come across the same phenomenon. In England, to this day there are MPs serving time for falsifying their expenses claims. In the Newscorp scandal senior police officers are said to have received illegal payments. Once Lord Scarman allegedly told the court in the case of ex MP Hamilton v/s Al Fayed “they are all on the take”.
In France, at the very moment former President Chirac is being brought to justice to answer charges of corruption during his tenure of office. Allegations of improper practice have even been levelled against President Nicolas Sarkosy in connection with election campaign funding.
In India, one man, Anna Hazare, standing against widespread corruption among politicians wanted, in August, to starve himself to death in the style of the Mahatma. We are repeatedly told in that country nothing moves unless ‘brown envelopes’ change hands. Even in that innocent television documentary ‘India on Four Wheels’ we are reminded of this fact by Indians interviewed for the programme.
How can we imagine that it would be different in the tiny island of Mauritius! In our last issue we informed readers of the political upheaval taking place in the country as a result of the resignation of Health Minister Maya Hanoomanjee who is under investigation by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). Her resignation brought about a rift in the Alliance Government to which her party, the MSM, was part and parcel.
Five other MSM ministers, including the party’s leader Pravind Jugnauth, holding the deputy PM and Finance portfolios followed Mrs Hanoomanjee’s example and tendered their resignation in protest against the way she was being treated by ICAC. Corruption for corruption Mr Jugnauth has promised to make more revelations of corruption he witnessed in government.
Peter Chellen
SCANDALS WORSE THAN MEDPOINT TO BE REVEALED
Scandals, involving the government, worse than MedPoint will allegedly be revealed soon by Pravind Jugnauth, Ex-Finance Minister and Leader of the MSM, who recently with five of his ministers resigned collectively from the Government of Ramgoolam. Mr Jugnauth has told the press that in due course he would reveal the scandals that will shock the nation.
The scandals alleged by Pravind Jugnauth are about certain projects approved by the government to foreigners. He is reported to have quoted the NeoTown (Les Salines) project, in which the government has given 60 acres of land for peanuts to an Indian company; the Jen Fei Development at Riche Terre where about 400 acres of land are given to a private Chinese company to develop as a business park. Other alleged scandals concern lands at Rose-Belle. (MN note: To understand the extent of the lands involved it may be borne in mind that the whole of the Champ de Mars race course area in Port Louis is of 40 acres).
THE BOIS DE ROSE SCANDAL
‘Bois de Rose’ is a type of wood endemic to Madagascar and is forbidden by international consensus for use to manufacture furniture. It has been classified as world heritage, protected under Forestry and Conservations regulations.
Bois de Rose is considered as a disappearing species and is extremely expensive. It has been alleged that a former Mauritian government minister is involved in a transaction in which two containers of this wood arrived in Mauritius, but were sent back to Madagascar. A Malagasy politician also involved in this transaction has allegedly been convicted and jailed in his country.
The name of the ex-Mauritian minister has been mentioned but public opinion is prudent about this allegation, which is reported to be in the pipeline of ICAC.
Ahmad Macky
