The Scheme to attract professionals in emerging sectors and the ease with which foreigners are obtaining work permits in Mauritius are yet other cases whereby foreign labour is competing with local talents. Our graduates are finding it more and more difficult to find jobs which are being lost to expatriates. Distinction should be made between highly qualified and experienced foreign professionals whom we really need for our emerging sectors and general graduates who possess no better qualifications and skills than local professionals. In the first case, where it is proved that these professionals are really needed, then there is no objection if they are encouraged to come here. However, what is unacceptable is that foreign companies setting up businesses here are bringing their own people to work in them, to the detriment of Mauritians. Exception is made for skilled labour like machinists, technicians. etc. in the textile industries where there is really a labour shortage. But the same cannot be said in most sectors, be it the cybercity, the financial sector,etc. For example, how many expatriates work in the cybercity? What is the Mauritian-foreign ratio? The answer will amaze you.

During the electoral campaign, Labour party strongly condemned the previous government for sacrificing local talent and encouraging foreign employment. It also promised to review, and scrap where necessary, these so-called schemes. Unfortunately, the prime minister has not yet announced his intention regarding these issues. The government should find out how many expatriates have been recruited during the past 5 years, in which sectors, what are their level of qualifications, and whether the country was really short of staff in those areas. An assessment should be made as to how much Mauritians and expatriates are earning in the same job with similar qualifications. This will become a critical issue once the announced Equal Opportunities Act becomes a reality.

The term ?skills shortage? no longer holds water, because since the year 2000, the University of Mauritius and the UTM have been churning out hundreds of graduates armed with the necessary skills to enter the high end job market. Add to that the hundreds of Mauritians graduating from abroad, India, Europe, Australia, etc. It is true that many of them choose to stay abroad, but can we blame them? If the government had worked out a scheme toattract these Mauritian talents back home, would they have deserted their homeland? Once out of uni, graduates dream of a good challenging job. Most of them have to earn enough to repay loans, assist parents or finance studies of their younger siblings. They also have to build their homes. Now, the government has got a social housing project for the poor, from low cost Firinga type houses to NHDC flats. Unfortunately, there are no suitable housing projects for the lower middle class, comprising young professionals. Forget about taking bank loans to buy land and construct houses, since repayments may take a lifetime. If government comes up with a housing scheme for fresh graduates starting their career, this would greatly interest them. Such schemes exist in other countries. This is but one incentive of how to prevent brain drain.

In 1976, driven by a long term vision, the Father of the nation granted free education to one and all up to tertiary level. The economic foundation of modern Mauritius was thus laid down. However, what do we find today? Those very young professionals produced by SSR?s vision today feel unwanted in their own homeland, and are forced to seek opportunities offshore.

In addition, if, right from 2000, the government had invested heavily on sending school leavers who could not afford university education, abroad annually for further training in skills that we face scarcity, today we would have had a large pool of talented and highly qualified labour. But it is never too late. If the present government invests heavily in our youth, in five years time the term ?skills shortage? will become obsolete.

Who can better serve a motherland than her own children? Rather than relying on foreigners, we should create opportunities for our youth, inspire them, give them confidence and carve out a future for them. IRS, SAPES, Work permit, PRS, etc.

A caring government should purely and simply scrap these schemes, and work permits should be approved only in genuine scarcity areas, and not in artificially created scarcities, that too after it has been proven that the employer cannot really find labour locally. Take the case of UK where an employer is legally bound to advertise its recruitment in at least two national dailies and one regional press before considering hiring expatriates. The work permit is approved after the authorities are satisfied that there is a real scarcity.

The government should review its policies in the interest of the nation. Otherwise the very ?putting people first? philosophy proned by New Labour will be jeopardized.

Faweez HOSSANEE