<B>Foreign workers?complaints </B>

200 Indian workers protested against the decision of Indian team leader, Ramesh Gowrey to repatriate one of their colleagues. This decision is said to have followed a row between the worker and the team leader. Other workers are said to have thrown projectiles outside their factory, World Knits Ltd, in Saint-Pierre. After minister Showkutally Soodhun was informed of the situation, he went to the factory where he demanded that the repatriation be cancelled and the team leader transferred. More tension arose during the weekend. More than 100 workers from Sentosa Enterprises have been fired and 20 have lost their work permits as a result of ?gross misconduct?. This followed a sit-in in front of the ministry of employment on Sunday night where they refused to negotiate with the minister and the factory management.

<B>Little girl?s death claimed as medical negligence</B>

Soobashchand and Soonina Kissoonah are convinced that the death of their six-year old daughter on 14th February is due to medical negligence. They believe the child did not receive appropriate treatment. They have complained to the ministry of Health and the prime minister against Dr. Shanmuganathan Ponraj, the neurosurgeon and doctor of their daughter. This is not the first complaint against the doctor. A preliminary investigation has concluded that the child died of septicemia.

<B>Novel leaving by the end of the year</B>

Novel Garments will have left Mauritius by the end of the year. The Hong Kong textile group is moving to Asia. It is however looking for people to take over its assets so that the factories can keep running and the employees do not lose their jobs. But this departure will be difficult to manage. The group has more than 100,000 square feet of industrial buildings and some 6,000 employees. The good news is that the various factories are independent and can be purchased separately.

<B>Ramgoolam?s latest grumble</B>

The recent political barometer seems to be Navin Ramgoolam?s new hobbyhorse. He has criticised every possible aspect of the methodology used by Synthèses, even though the methods are based on scientific research and used worldwide. The leader of the opposition declared that people were ?frightened to give their opinion by telephone? and that the sample is not representative because ?it used only 600 people.? The director of Synthèses has explained that the sample is like a small-scale model of Mauritian society because it takes into consideration characteristics of the population such as age, ethnicity, geography and socio-professional category.