Government bets on private land to build 1,000 middle-income homes
Around 1,000 homes for middle-income families will rise on state land in a pilot run with private developers, the budget housing plan sets out. Rs 150 million covers 100 serviced plots, and the registration-duty exemption for first-time buyers of bare land rises to the first Rs 3 million of value, up from Rs 2.5 million.
A separate Rs 2 billion goes to off-site infrastructure for the opening phase of an 8,000-home social housing project, with Rs 25 million for drainage at Highlands and Riche-Terre. Whether private partners turn plots into keys is what pilot must prove.
A phone, not a paper trail, led investigators to two ex-ministers
For months the inquiry into a Rs 32.6 billion fuel-supply contract moved through paperwork and board minutes. What cracked it open, people close to the case say, was the forensic exam of a phone: the device of Kareena Neisius, the local face of MMG, the firm that won the deal.
Messages and call logs helped rebuild who spoke to whom before the award. The trail reached ex-ministers Renganaden Padayachy and Soodesh Callichurn, arrested on Tuesday. OQ Trading had been the lowest of seven bidders.
A 74-year-old robbed at knifepoint in his own bedroom
Krissoondath R., 74, a widowed taxi driver living alone at Grand-Gaube, woke at 1am on 10 May to a masked man beside his bed. The intruder seized the knife the old man kept for reassurance, pressed it to his back, and took Rs 15,000. An arrest came a month later. Fear of being robbed at home is spreading, activists say.
Cassis marches for Sneha Jootun as a mother demands justice
Mourners filled the streets of Cassis on Saturday in memory of Sneha Jootun, 23, stabbed to death, allegedly by her former partner Pravesh Changiah. Her mother, Renuka, walked at the front and asked only for justice. The Domestic Violence Bill reaches Parliament on Tuesday; for this family it comes too late.
Shorts
Strong swells, stay off the water – A high-swell warning holds until 10pm Monday, with gusts to 60 km/h and sea outings strongly discouraged.
Theft now the lead in a Petit-Raffray killing – Police say robbery drove the murder of Soobhawtee Juggessur, with a hood and bag found at the scene.
A prevention village before drug-awareness day – Agencies and families gather at a national village ahead of the 26 June day against drug abuse.
Mauritius ages, its blood donors too – The donor association warns its loyal core is greying and the next generation isn't replacing it.
Make prisons far harsher, says a victim's ally – Activist Vivesh Rajah wants sentences toughened, asking who speak for the victims.
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