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Hawkers’ project turns into political tug-of-war
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Hawkers’ project turns into political tug-of-war
The hawkers palace issue has been invited into Parliament. The minister of Local government, James Burty David, has recommended the setting up of a fact-finding committee to shed light on the conditions which led to work beginning on the site. According to the minister, this construction involves a conflict of interests and he even spoke of “incestuous relationships”; this has brought the cabinet to decide to transform the initial project but they do not know what form it will take.
In fact, the hawkers palace is at the centre of a controversy between the former and the present regimes. While James Burty David is adamant that some procedures were not totally transparent, the former lord-mayor, Abdullah Hossen, insists that he followed all the correct procedures when he granted the contract.
However, during the parliamentary session last Tuesday, minister David stuck to his stand. The setting-up of this project had brought about the creation of a company, DBM Properties Ltd. The board of the Development Bank of Mauritius (DBM) – chaired by former lord mayor, Abdullah Hossen – and the municipality of Port-Louis were said to be the company’s shareholders but James Burty David asserted that the consultants Lam Po Tang & Siew also had some shares in this company. “The fact that consultants have become shareholders of the company is very worrying.”
But he finds it “even more disturbing that instead of upgrading the capital upfront, DMB Properties Ltd has allowed that the consultants’ investment be made through deduction of their claimable fees. I believe it is worth mentioning that this project involves Rs 550 million and that 10% of this sum will go to the consultants.”
Street vendors’ proposals sought</B>
The lord mayor, Reza Issack, has however made it clear that the hawkers palace will be built but he wants the issue to be “decentralised.” He has therefore asked the Street Vendors Association (SVA) to choose three possible sites within the capital that could accommodate the hawkers. Members of the SVA have also been requested to make proposals for a new approach to the project.
In fact, what seems to have become a political fight should not lead us to forget that the ones who should benefit from the palace are the hawkers themselves. They will give their opinion after their general assembly in December. The association’s representative, Hydar Ryman, said that their recommendations would probably be made next January.
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