"We are selling everything in this country: from our bodies to our land and now our sea and lagoons. Is there anything left for us?" asked Jack Bizlall, spokesperson for a non-governmental network of organisations called Kalipso.
"I do not know how to tell my kids that they are selling the sea and the lagoon to private investors and that I am doing nothing to oppose them," insisted environmentalist Vassen Kauppaymuthoo
The government's idea is to provide a legal framework to regulate the exercise of business activities in and around the sea. Portions of sea and lagoon areas will be leased and therefore shall cease to be part of the public domain while a lease is in operation. Every lease will be effective for a maximum of 30 years.
Leases to private businesses for the exclusive occupation of portions of the sea, the lagoon and land near coastal waters will be granted for the setting up of marinas, aquaculture and the extraction of sea water.
Any person entering such an area shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to a fine not exceeding 100,000 rupees (3,125 dollars).
The government is seeking private businesses with expertise, enough capital to pay the lease and licences and with up to 80 percent foreign ownership. "If this bill is passed, the sea, the lagoon and the ocean around the island that belong to the public will be snatched away and given to investors for exclusive use," says Kauppaymuthoo, insisting that the government cannot sell or lease the sea as the country's constitution determines that it does not belong to the government.
According to him, aquaculture has negative consequences on the environment as the fish are fed with animal flour, toxic chemical products and other substances which will pollute the sea and the lagoon and cause diseases among people. Aquaculture pollutes the environment and also attracts sharks.
"The tourism industry that is earning lots of foreign exchange for the island will also suffer," he emphasised. Mauritius is fast developing its tourism industry, targeting about two million tourists annually in the short term. Defending the bill, Agro-Industry and Fisheries Minister Arvin Boolell said the development of the seafood industry and aquaculture forms part of the government's strategy to spearhead economic growth. The idea is to double the annual per capita income of the island from its present 5,400 dollars in the next seven years. "How do we do this if not by creating wealth and jobs for people?" asks Industry and Commerce Minister Rajesh Jeetah.
Cader Sayed Hossen, chairperson of the government-appointed Commission on the Democratisation of the Economy, adds that refined sugar is being sold at 500 euros a ton in Europe while one ton of Red Drum fish is sold at 3,500 euros. "This is big revenue for the island," he said.
Boolell also stressed the rise of per capita fish consumption, reaching 21 kg in Mauritius, and the depletion of fish stock in the lagoon. Fishermen Investment Trust director Jacques Desbleds, who is supporting the bill, asked: "How do we feed the population and the tourists that visit us without fish?"
Twenty potentials sites for aquaculture have been identified and ten investors, both local and foreign, have expressed interests in industrial fish farming in Mauritius, IPS learnt from the Board of Investment (BOI). Boolell indicates that investment worth about 25 million dollars that would create about 5,000 jobs and bring revenue worth 25 to 30 million euros or more to the island are waiting in the pipeline. Fish farming, according to a study by a French firm, has the potential of annual production of 29,000 tons.
If all the projects are implemented, they will take up less than one percent of the lagoon area of 280 sq km," according to Boolell. But Kauppaymuthoo replies: "When a door has been opened, it is open. Today, it is one percent, tomorrow it can become 2 percent, then more. Where do we stop?"
Small political and social organisations are the only ones to comment and oppose the bill. Some argue that fishermen and people would be deprived access to beaches and lagoons.
Source: allAfrica.com
"I do not know how to tell my kids that they are selling the sea and the lagoon to private investors and that I am doing nothing to oppose them," insisted environmentalist Vassen Kauppaymuthoo
The government's idea is to provide a legal framework to regulate the exercise of business activities in and around the sea. Portions of sea and lagoon areas will be leased and therefore shall cease to be part of the public domain while a lease is in operation. Every lease will be effective for a maximum of 30 years.
Leases to private businesses for the exclusive occupation of portions of the sea, the lagoon and land near coastal waters will be granted for the setting up of marinas, aquaculture and the extraction of sea water.
Any person entering such an area shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to a fine not exceeding 100,000 rupees (3,125 dollars).
The government is seeking private businesses with expertise, enough capital to pay the lease and licences and with up to 80 percent foreign ownership. "If this bill is passed, the sea, the lagoon and the ocean around the island that belong to the public will be snatched away and given to investors for exclusive use," says Kauppaymuthoo, insisting that the government cannot sell or lease the sea as the country's constitution determines that it does not belong to the government.
According to him, aquaculture has negative consequences on the environment as the fish are fed with animal flour, toxic chemical products and other substances which will pollute the sea and the lagoon and cause diseases among people. Aquaculture pollutes the environment and also attracts sharks.
"The tourism industry that is earning lots of foreign exchange for the island will also suffer," he emphasised. Mauritius is fast developing its tourism industry, targeting about two million tourists annually in the short term. Defending the bill, Agro-Industry and Fisheries Minister Arvin Boolell said the development of the seafood industry and aquaculture forms part of the government's strategy to spearhead economic growth. The idea is to double the annual per capita income of the island from its present 5,400 dollars in the next seven years. "How do we do this if not by creating wealth and jobs for people?" asks Industry and Commerce Minister Rajesh Jeetah.
Cader Sayed Hossen, chairperson of the government-appointed Commission on the Democratisation of the Economy, adds that refined sugar is being sold at 500 euros a ton in Europe while one ton of Red Drum fish is sold at 3,500 euros. "This is big revenue for the island," he said.
Boolell also stressed the rise of per capita fish consumption, reaching 21 kg in Mauritius, and the depletion of fish stock in the lagoon. Fishermen Investment Trust director Jacques Desbleds, who is supporting the bill, asked: "How do we feed the population and the tourists that visit us without fish?"
Twenty potentials sites for aquaculture have been identified and ten investors, both local and foreign, have expressed interests in industrial fish farming in Mauritius, IPS learnt from the Board of Investment (BOI). Boolell indicates that investment worth about 25 million dollars that would create about 5,000 jobs and bring revenue worth 25 to 30 million euros or more to the island are waiting in the pipeline. Fish farming, according to a study by a French firm, has the potential of annual production of 29,000 tons.
If all the projects are implemented, they will take up less than one percent of the lagoon area of 280 sq km," according to Boolell. But Kauppaymuthoo replies: "When a door has been opened, it is open. Today, it is one percent, tomorrow it can become 2 percent, then more. Where do we stop?"
Small political and social organisations are the only ones to comment and oppose the bill. Some argue that fishermen and people would be deprived access to beaches and lagoons.
Source: allAfrica.com