The advent of the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) is still plagued with a lot of confusion, uncertainty and conflicts. Government and trade unions are still fighting over some key sections of the new legislation. Union representatives are still adamant about having Section 28 of the MRA Bill scrapped because, they say, it puts jobs at stake. The basic objective of the legislation is to bring all State revenue departments under a single umbrella (the MRA) that will have the status of a parastatal body.

Section 28 of the new legislation, which is still pending in Parliament, relates to the recruitment and staffing of the forthcoming mega-revenue collecting agency. It says that all staff of the existing revenue departments (customs, VAT, Income Tax, Registrar General Office, Large tax payers…) will be laid off and will have to apply afresh on new employment terms if they want to be part of the new venture.

Unions complain that the acquired rights of civil servants are being attacked. They have been waging a tough fight with government on the issue and have threatened to take to the streets the big way if the latter does not budge from its initial position. Opposition parties, which have joined in the campaign, are fervidly supporting the employees’ cause in Parliament and in public rallies.

Opponents to the merger registered their first victory when the Bill was withdrawn from the National Assembly for further consultations. Pravind Jugnauth, the deputy prime minister (DPM) and minister of Finance, who is the initiator of the legislation, is under tremendous pressure to reconcile the various interests involved.

The State Employees’ Federation (SEF) and the Federation of the Civil Service Unions (FSCU) are at the forefront of the battle. They have submitted their counter-proposals to the ministry of Finance but it looks as if the dialogue has reached a stalemate. A meeting scheduled for yesterday has been postponed to Thursday much to the discontent of the unions. A spokesman for the ministry told l’express that the meeting could not be held because they are busy fine-tuning some aspects of the law so that more meaningful discussions can take place later on.

The idea behind the MRA is to help raise more cash for government through a more coordinated approach to revenue collection. At the same time, the authorities want to fight corruption in the customs department. Staff will be required to disclose their wealth and that of their family members as a precondition to joining the new organisation.

“We are not disputing the fact that government needs to improve its tax collection or that corruption must be fought. We oppose the way it is being done. If the idea is to fight fraud at customs, why should they target all revenue departments?” asks Tulsiraj Benydin, the chairman of the FSCU.

He accuses government of trying to manage public opinion in the way it is portraying the MRA to the public. The charge that corrupt customs officers must be taken to task finds buyers in plenty. Unions say the regime is cashing in on this popular belief to make the changes look politically correct.

Opposition parties have not only provided moral support to the employees. They are actively fighting the merger on the political battlefield also. The Labour Party and the PMXD have pointed to the dangers of having all revenue bodies – that together collect a sum as huge as Rs 30 billion – under a single agency that will be above all outside the scope of the Civil service.

Leftist party Lalit has accused government of trying to privatise revenue collection through the MRA. Both opposition politicians and trade unionists have been very critical about the role played by the Comptroller of Customs, Bert Cunningham, in the current situation The customs department has constantly experienced strained industrial relations since the Canadian boss took office a couple of years back.

<I>“The idea behind the Mauritius Revenue Authority is to help raise more cash for government through a more coordinated approach to revenue collection.”</I>