<B>By Deepa BHOOKHUN</B>

Standing on top of the Morne Mountain, I was speechless for once in my life. I couldn’t speak even if I had wanted to; the view was breathtaking.

The emotion, that indescribable thing that gives you a lump in your throat had to do with the beauty of the place. Has to do with this irrational pride that you suddenly take in the beauty of your motherland.

This place of infinite beauty is the subject of much controversy and passion, as you surely know. Prime minister Navin Ramgoolam has declared himself partial to the arguments of the pro-heritage preservation people and has decreed that no development will be allowed in the core zone of the site. Fair enough. After all, this decision could earn us another place on the world heritage list.

But what scared me on Saturday as I was listening to the arguments of the pro-preservation people was the sheer radicalism of the arguments. Sylvio Michel, a man described by Ramgoolam as being “one of the few politicians who has convictions and remains true to them”, said he hoped the promoters of potential projects around Le Morne “would have the decency to withdraw their projects”.

Decency? I thought we needed those people’s money? I thought government was encouraging investment? I must have been hallucinating all this time because when Mr Michel said those things, he was sitting next to Navin Ramgoolam and the latter did not frown, did not correct Michel; no Sir, the Prime minister just sat there like a Buddha.

Now don’t get me wrong; I’m all for symbolism and preservation of our heritage and all but not at the cost of our bread and butter. We will only be in a position to insult potential investors when our coffers are full and we don’t need their money. As far as I know, we are a long way short of this.

But you see, even though we all subscribe to the adage that beggars cannot be choosers, a lot of water is added to the wine when it becomes a matter of realpolitik. Because now that the Appravasi Ghat has been inscribed on the World Heritage list, we need to inscribe something that will make the Creoles happy, huh?

I’m sorry, what nonsense is this? How is it ever going to make any difference to any Mauritian of African descent that the Morne has been inscribed on the Heritage list? Will the list make food magically appear in the desperately empty cupboards in the village of Le Morne? Will it suddenly make cars and bigger houses materialise?

Yeah I thought so. The “indecent” investors just might, however.

So how about we stop indulging people’s idiosyncrasies and we explain to them that World Heritage is good but that it’s not be all, end all and be-all of a country’s future? It is indeed good but not when it costs us a lot of money and a lot of jobs?

The prime minister compared his stand on Le Morne with his stand on Ferney Valley, when he ordered work to be stopped. But those two are not comparable. When Ramgoolam saved Ferney, he helped save us and our children’s future on the planet. If Ramgoolam “saves” the rock called Le Morne - though I don’t know what there is to save, nobody’s taking it away - he is stopping investment from coming in, he is sending the wrong signals and he is playing the game he says he abhors.

You get no stars for guessing the name of the game.