PM Ramgoolam meets the fuss over his Rs 30 million car with an ox cart line
Should the Prime Minister greet foreign visitors in an ox cart? That is what PM Ramgoolam threw back at critics needling him over his roughly Rs 30 million armoured car. It is a familiar reflex on Labour benches whenever the cost of the official fleet comes up.
History rhymes. In the late 1970s Sir Harold Walter, foreign minister under Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, defended his Mercedes on national television with the same line: you do not meet a visiting dignitary in a bullock cart. Fifty years on the engine is armoured and the price heavier, yet the cart still gets wheeled out of the shed.
Port unions turn on the CHCL boss: the guy must go
The unions that speak for Port Louis dockworkers want Gassen Dorsamy out as director-general of the Cargo Handling Corporation, the state firm that runs the island's container terminal. Their Joint Negotiating Panel put it bluntly: the guy must go.
The panel groups the main harbour and dock workers' associations, and it is now pressing the government to act. The unions have not spelled out a public reason, but the demand lands while pay talks at the port grind on.
A Mauritian start-up wants to turn flood water into a farming asset
Too much water is usually a farmer's problem, Terra Core Ltd wants to make it an asset. Its Food for Thought project, led by Dhellan Kistamah and backed by the Mauritius Research and Innovation Council, builds an artificial wetland that stores the excess and feeds it back to crops when the dry weeks arrive.
Six bidders circle the SIC casinos as staff ask who guards their jobs
The state is selling its casinos, and six potential buyers have already put up their hands. Workers want the fine print first. Staff at the State Investment Corporation venues are asking for written guarantees on jobs and pay before any deal closes, wary a new owner could trim the payroll to make the numbers work.
Shorts
Teen of 16 stabs his father at Coteau-Raffin – A 38-year-old man was knifed by his own son on Saturday night; his father witnessed it.
A blind teen's first Metro trip turns cruel – A young visually impaired man says fellow riders mocked him on his first ride.
Civic education drive returns to the classroom – The government has relaunched its NICE civic programme for a first 200 secondary students.
Boats chase Mauritius's sperm whales unchecked – An illegal trade in chasing sperm whales for close encounters keeps running with little enforcement.
Nursing opens a new door into the service – Health authorities are recruiting nurses through a fresh entry route into public service.
|
Share