By Surendra BISSOONDOYAL

In today?s economic jargon, we talk about human resources. This is a very inadequate and dangerous way of looking at human beings. Now that sugar is not fulfilling the promise of yesteryears, we are paying greater attention to the by-products of sugarcane, one of them being bagasse, to diversify and consolidate our economy.

We cannot do the same with people. They cannot obviously be turned into bagasse and considered as a resource. It is of course essential for people to work and improve their productivity. We are living in a competitive world, and Mauritius cannot make the world abide by its will, like the USA or the EU or even like China or India for that matter. Mauritius has to compete for its survival.

It is true that capitalism has now conquered the world, and that even communist countries are paying only lip service to communism. But no power on earth can force us to wear blinkers and look upon our people only as machines to increase productivity, which is the mantra of employers all over the world today.

Human beings need a conducive environment in which to work and to give their best. If they are not in good health, if they do not have a proper work environment, if they do not have a sense of belonging to the enterprise for which they are working, this will reflect on the productivity and success of the enterprise itself.

Employers need to understand that the work environment plays a vital role in productivity, which is so essential for competitiveness and economic success. Investing in the welfare of employees is as important as investing in the latest technology. Infosys, although emerging from what we call the third world, has become a beacon of global success. But it does not berate its employees and has set up a state-of-the-art training centre in Mysore for its staff as well as for others who can benefit from such facilities. It has good living accommodation for 4 000 trainees at any one time.

At the same time, Mauritius accepts too readily that it does not have resources other than its people. We tend to forget that our physical resources are not limited to our land area, our beaches and our temperate climate. We have huge resources, which remain untapped in the deep ocean which forms part of the economic zone of the Republic of Mauritius. It is in this domain that we need to inject considerable funds and energy in order to exploit these extremely rich resources for the development of Mauritius.

But even our land resources are not being managed properly. Do we have to sell off all our prime land for the construction of IRS villas for wealthy foreigners? How much of the proceeds from tourism and from the sale of these luxury villas is siphoned off and kept in foreign currency rather than being used for the economic and social development of Mauritius? Others more clever than us have taken advantage of the value of Diego Garcia. Now they want to take advantage of Agalega and the best areas of Mauritius. Instead of the proposed National Residential Property Tax, there should be a tax payable in foreign currency on the proceeds of tourism and the sale of IRS villas to constitute a Fund for research on and exploitation of our marine resources.

Perhaps we need to take a break from our hectic way of life, which is blurring our vision, and use that sabbatical to resource ourselves. But when we talk about ?resourcing ourselves?, we do not have in mind becoming better machines or more productive beasts of burden. It means reflecting on the type of education that will encourage people to live together and develop a spirit of discovery and entrepreneurship, on the role of religious and sociocultural bodies in the upliftment of the whole society without creating a feeling of rejection among some of its members, and on the urgency for employers and employees to understand that it is through mutual respect and cooperation that the enterprise will succeed. It is only then that the term ?human resources? will have a new and more dignified meaning.