In his article published in l’express on March 22, 2006, Mr Jean Mée Desveaux has once again made a thinly veiled attempt discredit our company and its proposal to develop a modern waste to energy project to provide safe municipal solid waste disposal and environmentally sound renewable energy for the people of Mauritius.

We cannot see the reasons that could motivate Mr Jean Mée Desveaux to revel in such character assassination and discredit of professional skills as seen in the article titled “Uncanny powers of persuasion”. To attribute the fine art of demagogy to Mr Jean Mee Desvaux would do little justice to the latter’s mastery thereof.

With no personal understanding of the technical and commercial considerations that one must have to make a credible assessment of the options for solid waste disposal, Mr Desveaux has resorted to reciting incomplete statements out of context from a single consultant report to advance his personal agenda. We are confident that the wise people of Mauritius will not be swayed by Mr Desveaux’s tactics, and would once again reiterate the following indisputable FACTS:

Modern and progressive nations around the world, including Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Germany, France, and the United States have elected to utilise modern waste to energy technology in over 600 individual projects to meet their solid waste disposal needs in an environmentally responsible fashion and enjoy the benefits of clean, renewable energy.

All consultants that have studied the Mauritius situation have identified modern waste to energy technology as a viable and environmentally sound means to address the looming waste disposal problem facing our country.

Past consultant recommendations that deployment of waste to energy technology in Mauritius be delayed until some point in the future have been founded on the consultant’s expectations that waste to energy technology would be expensive. However, since the time of these consultant studies, alternative fossil fuel costs for power generation have increased and waste to energy technology costs have decreased. Today we are confident that our project can deliver competitively priced electricity and slash waste disposal costs by at least 50% of the original consultant’s expectations. In short, “the future is now” as regard’s Mauritius being able to enjoy a modern solid waste disposal solution.

Our facility will be designed to meet European Union emissions standards, the strictest environmental standards in the world, and in doing so, the people of Mauritius can be assured that there will be no risk to health associated with our project.

As project sponsors, we have proposed to assist the government of Mauritius to accelerate their plans for composting of green yard waste. Successful implementation of this composting program will not only reduce the costs of disposal by reducing the volume of yard waste that would otherwise be collected in a landfill, it will ensure that the calorific value of the residual solid waste is sufficient to support combustion in a waste to energy recovery facility without the support of supplemental fuel.

Mr Desveaux is fully aware of the many issues associated with the current operations and extension of the Mare-Chicose landfill, especially the legitimate concerns of the residents in the near vicinity of the landfill. In their March report, Carl Bro International states “The existing landfill at Mare-Chicose is in close proximity to residential area, and consequently troubled by complaints from nearby residents. Odour and traffic are the main complaints, but the site has other disadvantages such as high precipitation,which need to be taken into account if the site is to continue in operation.” The generation of large quantities of highly toxic leachates at Mare-Chicose should be of great concern to the population at large due to contamination of our groundwater resources. This leachate is presently collected and sent “untreated” at the Sea outfall near St-Martin.The potential of the highly toxic chemical contained in the leachate returning through the food chain via seafood consumed must not be underestimated.

We believe Mauritius deserves better, and is ready for a modern and environmentally preferred means of waste disposal. Rather then responding to the acerbic and misleading comments of Mr Desveaux in the future, we prefer to henceforth allow the approval process of the authorities, including extensive environmental assessment, local and international expert review and public consultation, to be the forum for discussion and clarification of any issues associated with our project. In doing so the good citizens of Mauritius can rest assured that their interests will be served. In this regard we once again welcome the support of like-minded Mauritians as we embrace the development of our country and its future.

<B>Carl Ah Teck </B> <I>Chief Executive Officer , Gamma-Civic Ltd</I>