Curepipe is said to be extremely unclean, especially the market. Of course, the humid climate makes it difficult to give a clean and neat aspect to buildings but no effort seems to be made to improve hygiene in public areas.

“Rats are just running over vegetables and fruits in the market,” complains Yasmine. New infrastructures were built but “no activities are organised to improve the inhabitants’ lives,” explains a young man.

Many of the inhabitants of Vacoas-Phoenix complain about the lack of change and animation in their town but it seems they would not move to another one for anything in the world! People are attached to Vacoas-Phoenix. The“bad state of buildings” is among the harshest criticisms by these inhabitants.

Last but not least… the capital, Port-Louis. In fact, the more you get into the town, the more problems become obvious. At the entrance, the Caudan and Port-Louis Waterfronts with the Place d’Armes just behind are there to welcome visitors… And then you go into the “real Port-Louis”, which of course has a certain cachet that must be preserved but which should not be detrimental to cleanliness and hygiene.“Decisions should be made to control hawkers in the capital. Thier presence gives an impression of constant mess,” says Roshan.

And traffic jams are undoubtedly the biggest problem both inhabitants and visitors face in Port-Louis. “A complete review of planning for traffic issues would be most welcome,” adds George.

The newly elected team should realise that a lot has to be done to satisfy the citizens. Its challenge will be to motivate citizens to vote at the next local polls… it will have to persuade them that municipal councils can do something for them.