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Le Morne : any suggestions ?

16 avril 2007, 00:00

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lexpress.mu | Toute l'actualité de l'île Maurice en temps réel.

The enduring grey majestic monolith, lovingly surrounded by turquoise, a lion?s head in granite that never grows old : for visitors who capture a glimpse of this sentinel as they descend into Mauritius, Le Morne offers the most eye-catching natural sight of the island. Yet this proud rock is not just another marvel of the earth.

For Mauritians, Le Morne represents an impassioned and ongoing debate on identity, memory and nation-building. For the inhabitants of Le Morne village and of the other neighbouring localities (Coteau-Raffin, La Gaulette), the old mother mountain is full of hidden stories, like caves full of maroons? remains and traces of those who sought refuge by crossing through the ?V gap? : a daunting crevice covered with the blood of those who risked their lives but leading to an out-of-reach place, with the precarious help of a tree trunk bridge. And a precarious step towards freedom.

Today, there are two issues: the first, the economic future of the region, where private projects have been proposed. The most visible is the late Société du Morne Brabant Integrated Resorts Scheme Project, which has been taken over by a British consortium; not to mention a project of a cable car from Indian Resorts Hotel to the mountain top. The second issue surrounds the symbolic force of the mountain, resistance to slavery, which is the reason why the authorities, through Le Morne Heritage Trust Fund, are seeking to fulfil the conditions for the inscription of Le Morne as a Unesco World Heritage site.

A document, meeting all the formal requirements set by Unesco in March has already been submitted. Now is the turn of Le Morne Cultural Landscape Draft Management Plan to be completed, a ?living document that has to be updated every year? explains Stephanie Anquetil, chairperson of the Trust.

Opportunities

At the centre of Unesco?s requirements, are not only the respect of the past and the conservation of memory, but also the actual unlocking of cultural and sustainable economic opportunities for the inhabitants. People are therefore encouraged to express themselves and ?submit contributions or comments by the end of the month to the Trust Fund (by emailing anquetils@yahoo.com)?.

Local development and opportunities for the people, among whom slaves? descendants, are also targeted in Société du Morne Brabant?s Environmental Impact Assessment document (2,500 pages !) delivered to the authorities months ago.?We have carried a socioeconomic impact assessment. Since the beginning of the project, we clearly and, by written engagement, reserved an elaborated chapter under that item, including a museum, the development of a craft village, education facilities and job opportunities putting local people first?, argues Bertrand Giraud, the ex-manager of Société du Morne Brabant and whose ancestors bought private property in Le Morne region in 1877 and were responsible for the caretaking of some of the State Lands.

There have been undisputable displacements of people since then. Some inhabitants refer to two mythic villages, Trou-Chenille and Macaque, where elders testify they have lived until they were told to settle elsewhere. Whereas in Le Morne Village or La Gaulette, some live their condition as exclusion from development and precariousness.

Trou-Chenille inhabitants were moved to various places, including Le Morne Village. The survivors have good recollection of their former lives in the former localities. Marie Antonia Ramalingum, the eldest of the village (she is 90), recalls: ?People were moved to the Cité which was built in 1945.? ?We used to go to the church on the mountain village. People were not willing to leave their houses. They just followed what had been decided?, says Philomène Maurice, wife of André Maurice, a veteran mechanist (72) who worked for the Gambier and Giraud families.

During his service (he began working in 1952), André Maurice found a skull that he believes to be that of one of the slaves that are said to have jumped from the top of the cliffs as when the legendary Belaka, a chief who, the story says, having abducted a white girl, preferred suicide to surrendering his freedom.

Ignoring the ?V-Gap?

Today, resignation and pragmatism seem to be the mixed feelings of the core inhabitants of Le Morne Village, as testified by members of the Verlot family, among whom Tristan, the eldest (67), Jolicoeur, his nephew, and Jolicoeur?s family, whose two sons are unemployed.

Most live on a low income as if they had been forgotten by the train of all embracing progress. This feeling is shared by representatives like the Village Council?s president, Anil Lollbeharry and Karl Lamarque (native from La Gaulette), president of Plateforme patriotique pou sov le Morne and of Groupe pour action réparation crime l?esclavage. They belong to generations of Le Morne inhabitants that have collected testimony from the elders.?I am for the development of this place. More important is that the Unesco inscription will help people revalorise their history. I trust the impact of Unesco?s inscription on people?s life in terms of equal opportunities. Can we believe private individuals when they say they will help us when already five hotels have settled in the region, with hardly any benefit for us?? asks Karl Lamarque.

?Some hotels have kept their promises of employment for the locals. But the problem is communication. Whatever it is, the Unesco project, whom most of us are not really aware of, or hotel developments, we don?t always know what is really going on?, nuances Jolicoeur Verlot, who has had a difficult but patiently rewarding working life himself. ?Anyway, the actual mentality is for quick gain. So many young people are not ready to begin with small wages.? His uncle is more blunt : ?Difficult to have locals employed if they have no education or backing.?

A young woman working in a nearby hotel testifies : ?Most of the young adults I know in Le Morne ignore the issues of Le Morne becoming a World Heritage monument.? She admits not even knowing the existence and significance of the ?V Gap?. ?There is an earnest need for education facilities and training here?, points tellingly Joe Ramalingum, son of Marie Antonia, and a leading figure in Le Morne Village Council.

Then there are the environmental and technical aspects. An oceanographer like Vassen Kaupaymoothoo suggests that the protection zone of the site may be extended to passes in the sea that have historical significance.

But then everyone wants to have his voice heard. Fair enough, it?s democracy. Can we then give the final word to François Auguste, from Union Solidarite Le Morne? ?We don?t have to go to extremes. But care for the people and seek consensus, not in a hasted way, and fight for a just cause.?