The new heads of the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) are not pulling their punches. Since the appointment of the new chairman and director general of the public media, several employees have left – either of their own free will or given a push by the management. The latest dismissal concerns Atma Bumma, the production manager. The management has decided not to renew his contract, which was coming to an end. At the end of the week, the manager of the customer service department, Palmesh Cuttaree, had also been asked to leave his office as his contract had expired. But it seems the management has finally changed its mind as his contract has now been renewed.

<B>No specific reason</B>

When their dismissals were announced last week, the two executives felt quite bewildered. The more so as the new general director of the MBC, Bijaye Madhou, did not give much of an explanation as to why their contracts had not been renewed. He just declared. “There is no specific reason. The MBC has its own organisation chart.” But the reasons for their dismissal may well be that they were considered too close to the former regime, which might not be tolerated in a public institution like the MBC.

Atma Bumma had been working as production manager since 1994. Although the non-renewal of his contract had been talked of for a few days, his dismissal was quite unexpected. As he knew how the machinery worked and that he was considered as too close to the former government, Atma Bumma had offered to resign several times. “When a new management takes over, it is normal to have new people at the head of the institution but he (the general director) refused my resignation several times. I feel very angry about this attitude. Yesterday (last Tuesday), he told me again that the MBC needed me. I do not understand and I want to know what happened.”

As for Palmesh Cuttaree, he has been working at the MBC since 2002. He is the brother of one of the Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM) leaders, Jayen Cuttaree, but he applied for the post of customer care manager when it was advertised. After declaring that he was “shocked and disappointed” by such a decision from the board, he must now be relieved to hear that his contract has finally been renewed.

After Christian Comarmond and Karishma Sooben, two new departures would have cost the MBC a lot. The institution may have finally realised - at least in one of these cases - that it should keep its able professionals if the latter have proved that their skills go beyond their political affiliation.