Lalo jumps 233% as winter squeezes the vegetable baskets
Wholesale vegetable prices have climbed about 75% on average in a single month, and a handful of staples have gone vertical. The lalo and the cotomili have both jumped 233%, voeme and bringelle 200%, margoz 140% and the small piment 125%.
Growers blame thin winter yields, pests and dearer inputs, with consultant Amarjeet Beegoo noting the cold season starved lalo and bringelle plants of fruit. A longer than usual winter did the rest. What reaches the market stall is smaller, and the price tag has already made the trip.
Winter always nudges prices; 233% is not a nudge.
Minister vows to toughen drug-driving law after officer is hurt
A 21-year-old motorcyclist, unlicensed, tested positive for drugs after ploughing into a policewoman at a Sunday checkpoint near the North Station in Port Louis. She was hurt; he was not licensed to be on the road at all.
The case reopened anger that the maximum penalty for a drug-driving death tops out at five years. Road Transport Minister Osman Mahomed, after urging magistrates to use the full weight of the law, now says he will revisit the legislation itself.
Five years for a life is the number the review has to answer.
Rs 40 million set aside to fly in specialist doctors
Public hospitals will get Rs 40 million in 2026-2027 to bring in foreign specialists through the Visiting Doctors Scheme, which parachutes overseas consultants in for complex cases local teams cannot cover alone. The money buys expertise by the visit rather than the post.
FCC auction turns seized cars into Rs 10.7 million
Day one of the Financial Crimes Commission auction at Reduit raised Rs 10.7 million as some thirty seized vehicles found buyers. Tuesday brings the boats, including one linked to Mike Gregory Pattee and a four-wheel-drive taken from Yanesh Dan Chimajee in a 2025 drug probe. Everything sells as it stands, cash down.
Shorts
Two colleges race to Singapore finals – Saint-Esprit and Sookdeo Bissoondoyal will represent Mauritius at the Aramco STEM world finals.
Rodrigues heads for a dissolution – The regional assembly looks set to be dissolved, reopening the island's political map.
Prescription pads stolen at Victoria – Forty-two stamped forms vanished from the emergency ward; two suspects are held.
Elderly wards for five hospitals – Every regional hospital will get a dedicated unit for older patients.
Lawyers wary of the new crime agency – Members of the Bar warn the planned agency piles too much power in few hands.
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