And they are not unintelligent these economic specialists!! with all their statistics and speculations!!
to when the 'conseil des sages' and the mauritian 'thinktank' we the people are waiting for the straightening out ! Where is the plan! REVOLUTION?

That kind of situation is felt just only now in Mauritius but it has been in the spectrum in the west for years. I clearly believe the Mauritian government is engaging itself on the wrong path, clearly not understanding the basic tenants of a strong reliable economy which is empowering of the masses and not enriching the rich !
If this continues, I strongly believe that life will become too difficult in Mauritius. We cannot have a 2 speed economy. We're just a small island.
The government should have encouraged the creation of innovative industries and sectors of the economy like electronics and biotech instead of over relying on the real estate market.
Better set the records straight right now !

Well done. One of the best pieces of impact writing I've read in many many years in the Mauritian press. I like all your ideas.

Why do they persist in the wrong direction? Because it's juicy, dear Nicholas. Not for the country, no, for some private pockets. The western gurus of our decision-makers have been lying to their people and to the world for years and now they call the situation "crisis". In fact, it is the result of what they have stolen from their respective countries. Here in Mauritius, since the beginning of that "selling the land to foreigners" business started, I have been thinking of the individual who has nothing else to sell than his/her own body to get a living. I am not an economist but I dare to think that attracting foreign investment is to get production going, not to get profit from non productive assets. Like villas. But perhaps Mauritians should be happy and grateful to be drivers, gardeners, nannys or call center operators. Great future for the youth.

@ Loulou.. Just check the names of owners and companies behind the " Real Estates" and why money launderers are so keen in Mauritius. It's modern colonization only that invaders have to spend enormously to be " des barons". C'est le retour la bourgeoisie coloniale. Il n'y a plus de petits cabots et les pauvres devront travailler encore plus dur pour gagner leurs pains.

Trs juste, sauf que je qualifierais cette crasse (et certainement pas la crme...) de la socit non pas de bourgeois mais d'esclavagistes qui hypnotisent leurs victimes par les reflets du miroir du capitalisme. Et les esclaves ne sont pas les plus pauvres, ce sont aussi, et peut-tre mme surtout, ces dcideurs qui n'ont toujours pas compris qu'ils ne sont que des valets au service de la finance. Qu'on se le dise une fois pour toutes, le pouvoir politique n'existe pas, quoi qu'en disent les "chefs", seul le pouvoir de l'argent les fait ramper devant leurs matres, la langue pendante d'envie.

The towns, the villages, the whole nation must be politicized to creating the significant seismic waves among the people; the population is just under
1,3M. Valuable time mustn't be wasted in bashing politicians, but Peaceful Action is most urgent and necessary.
An honest definition of Genuine Democracy, the truthfulness of Democratic Rights must replace the Emotional Speeches, the eye-catching and seductive Slogans, and the vital Interests for CHANGE has to be manifested. All Mauritians must be inspired towards Nation Building, because they all have a stake in THE CHANGE.. They must have trust in themselves to making their goals in improving their Socio-Economic well-being a reality.
At this juncture, EITHER the nation chooses to preserve the status quo, to go on serving its masters, while The Leadership regards Democracy as irrational and disgraceful, and treating electioneering as useless exercise, thus majority opinion, elections participation of the masses as irrelevant. OR, the nation gets rid of its political numbness, and shows that Genuine Democracy is an everyday plebiscite to get people's involvement and participation, continually.
ALL MAURITIANS have to show that The Principles and Values of Genuine Democracy are Workable, indeed Peaceful, and conducive to An Attractive Form of Governance.
An Involved Media will be most helpful, undoubtedly.

you hit the nail on the head Nicholas. in the olden day we used to say, " we must break the shackes of slavery and gain our freedom" . And 44 years on from independance we seem to have taken a U turn. We have been taken as Lamb to slaughter. Undeniably our successive ministers have done nothing but to line their own pockets and for the benefit of their own families. If they were open enough, they should have declared their foreign bank accounnts for the scrutiny of the general public. But it will never be in a month of sunday. The poor will always work to the bone for the benefit of the rich. " Don't do as I do But Do as I say". Secularism and inequality will always prevail in our island. Without the poor working hard the rich will never make it. The word is REVOLUTION>>>>>

At least the IMF still lets us choose our own finance minister provided she doesnt rock the boat too much. Could have been worse, they couldve parachuted in their own personnel as treasurer. But hey, arent we glad they didnt! Now we get to trust Baby Doc Duval with the purse strings. Great isnt (...). Anyway if we're serious, land reform should have been a priority - years ago. Btw, good job Mr Rainer.

Nicholas, please tell us what do you propose to cure the ills of the land?...And what is your model of development?

With 800 000 cashed-up tourists with hard cash to splash visiting every year, this islands economy pretty much runs itself. There's more than enough to go around, problem is, too few are hogging too big a slice of the national cake leaving too many to go without. I mean, how hard can it be if Ronald Reagan can run the world's largest economy? Covering another 30% of what left of Mauritius with cement blocks to give the impression of growth is not really the answer. To change things one must first get a handle on institutionalised corruption. But how do you kill greed? Change the political system that makes it possible. But how? Fight apathy, self-interest, foreign nationals, and if your own government don't kill you, some of your own people will certainly give it a go. Most know what has to be done. Question is, who will actually take it on?

thank you all for your comments. @kamal, your question is legitimate so here goes. to begin with, you could do worse than read what some of your fellow posters have written: foster innovative industries, encourage smes rather than the increasingly monolithic entities that dominate our economic landscape, some form of land reform and, perhaps, more importantly, come up with a vision for our economy that reflects our strengths and aspirations. just ask around you: how many Mauritians feel part of the development process? even the prime minister admitted on saturday that economic development counts for naught if it doesn't benefit the population. implementing willy nilly the policies of the bretton woods cults is ill advised. these were made by the big boys for the big boys. they're part of the problem. did they become part of the solution overnight? not likely. and the rating agencies? unaccountable private corporations that have turned being wise after the event into an art from.
in concrete terms, we need a tax regime that makes the wealthy shoulder their fair share of the burden. they can afford to. having a flat tax rate to attract investors is illusory. so we get the investors over here but their financial contribution is negligible. surely it's better to have fewer investors that are prepared to contribute to the country rather than those looking for the short term yields. and that's the problem nowadays isn't it? we're chasing quantity rather than quality. also the crisis could've been the perfect opportunity to truly break new ground in terms of food and energy security. and yet small planters are abandoning their land in droves. we're spending hundreds of millions of rupees on infrastructure projects and yet we haven't been able to reduce our intrinsic vulnerability to imported food and petroleum products. and this despite the creation of the mid and food security funds. what's lacking? political will. if government and the private sector were able to work together on food and energy security and get the population on board we could move mountains. but instead of that we're banking on the fool's gold that is real estate development. i have it on good. i have it on good authority that the bubble's going to implode towards the end of this year. and then what?
there are other ways of valorizing our land than just slathering it in cement. working towards food and energy security could be amazing sources of good, decent jobs. and really this is just scraping the surface. the prerequisite though is that government must care enough to work for the people and especially tell the vested interests to piss off when they inevitably come crying that life isn't fair.
kewal, i could go on and on but i hope i've partially answered your question. nu bizin independan! as much as possible and in every sense of the term...

The Jin Fei Project is one of the biggest pranks that could have been played on Mauritian Government.And it is not the end.Only fools still believe that Mauritius has anything to gain from it.My question is: why did the government give away our precious land to foreigners??And by the way,on which conditions?Any government in their sound mind would know that they should give a date limit as to when development should have started and finished otherwise the conditions would not be liable.Not later than this morning,we hear that Jin Fei wants to sub rent the lands to Mauritian and foreign investors.Really??Didn't the government foresee that that's what the Chinese wanted to do?They never wanted to invest,they just wanted the rent of investors leaving the risks to others and benefits to themselves,as simple as that.Anybody who is well informed about how Chinese real estate brokers deal know that that was what they were after.There are thousands of cases in China where real estate brokers were welcomed with applause from the district government giving them land at low cost for them to develop the region.They(the DG) would gain with the costs of land around bubbling up.When the brokers got what they wanted they simply told the government that the investors had trouble financing the project,etc,any excuse would be ok as long as they could leave the lands there and sell them whenever they thought they had maximized their profits.District governments in China soon learnt that they had to put a time limit to their conditions.Now that the
initiators of the JinFei project have waited long
enough and are baiting investors,Mauritian Government will be in big trouble when these investors will blame Mauritius for " helping" in their luring.The Chinese guys would have long evaporated leaving Mauritius with a big mess to clean after them.I just hope that we do not have to tell our children one day that:nu ti proprietaires,astere nune vine locataires.Moris ine vane nu.We are the slaves of the 20th century.We need to stop being cattle and think collectively about the regime.

Thank you very much for your response. As you put it 'working towards food and energy security', seems promising and significant from two standpoints. 1. The costs will go up dramatically in the coming decades, supply/demand nexus; 2. This will exacerbate an already stressful budget deficit because of the prominence of the two commodities in our balance of payments. The effects of the above on the economy, among other things, will be higher prices, inflationary pressures, loss of purchasing power, crowding out of the capital market, and demand for compensatory wage adjustments. Labor unrest will price Mauritian products out of the highly competitive world markets. It is indeed a vicious circle. What are the elemental building blocks towards food and energy security? How to implement such a win-win proposition? Any idea?

Weeks after weeks, one reads of the sorrowful conditions of that faraway lovely island. Valid complaints are piling up in the Media, but it seems that the silence from the Political Parties are deafening. So, who has got the capacity, the will, indeed the vision to see "L'Ile Durable" a reality?
The long list of justifiable grievances suggest that Mauritius yearns for A Visionary Leader. One whose Modus Operandi projects Ethics, Accountability, Transparency, Integrity, Trust for the population's welfare. A Visionary Government with Innovative Mindset must be in place for an on-going Dramatic Change. Obstacles must be faced head-on to enhancing the people's socio-economic standard, besides to keeping an eye on the Global Stage.
A Research and Development (R&D) body conscious of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) should ponder not only on local boundaries, but also on Global Significance. The Secondary Schools, and beyond must be able to bring forward their contributions to helping in a deserved Dramatic Change.
With long term and well thought of advanced planning, and in-depth feasibility studies, the nature's benefits endowed on that picturesque island should be harnessed to introducing, to enhancing good agricultural products for local consumptions, and beyond. Every avenue must be explored to creating the nation's wealth, and to reducing poverty. A Visionary Government must have the political will and commitment in improving the Socio-Economic Welfare of All Mauritians. Any Corruption must be faced head-on and eradicated. A well planned Poverty Reduction Plan, indeed Poverty Eradication must be in place. Everyone has to adhere to the Principles, Values, and Rules of a Genuine Democracy.
Mauritius is bestowed with an excellent climate, an abundance of sunshine, which enhances excellent agricultural products. So, why is the island relying, continually, on imports? Consider the Seawater Desalination, and Electrical Conductivity. Agreed, those are tall and very costly projects, but the University of Mauritius must be in the forefront of the Dramatic Change in the fields of Science and Technology, indeed has to be on the wave length of a Visionary Government. that can set " a vision for our economy that reflects our strength and aspirations. "