Jealousy leads to tragedy

Nundun and Meera Nuckchady had a brush with death following a fit of jealousy. The couple is still in hospital. Last Friday, Nundun Nuckchady and his wife had a violent fight while their children were at school. The husband suspected his wife of being unfaithful. During the fight, Nundun pushed his wife from the first floor of the house to the ground. But the tragedy didn’t stop there: a few minutes later, he threw himself from the first floor after swallowing a noxious product.

The acting PM and Finance minister, Pravind Jugnauth, has announced that the government is studying the possibility of turning Mauritius into a duty-free paradise. The decision could bring a new type of tourist and Mauritius would then become an alternative to destinations such as Dubayy or Singapore. The first steps in this revolution may be included in the present government’s last budget that will be introduced on 28th March. The project consists in removing customs duties on products such as cosmetics, watches, clothes and jewellery… However, such a reform would involve a loss of earnings of around Rs 4.3 billion – representing the customs revenue for 2004-2005 – and would be difficult to absorb in one go. This is why such a reform, if implemented, should be done in gradual steps.

A new strategy is being set up to try and protect the interests of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries on sugar. At a meeting between a delegation of ACP countries, led by Mauritian minister of Agriculture Nando Bodha and his French counterpart, the ACP group proposed that sugar be introduced to the World Trade Organisation as a “sensitive product”. This means that sugar could benefit from privileged treatment and would not be submitted to the strict WTO rules. Nando Bodha declared that he felt the French Agriculture minister would take this suggestion into consideration. This meeting lies within a lobbying campaign by ACP countries to try and reduce the impact of the EU sugar reform. The ACP, the Less Developed Countries and Spain have signed a common declaration to contest the reform. The fact that Spain sides with ACP countries could help them in their fight. “This is a major development”, said Nando Bodha.

A technical error slipped into last week’s “Column” The author was Nicholas Rainer, not Raj Jugernauth.