When I militated against the IBL Hotel Project in Agalega, I never saw it as an action against a political protégé or anybody because of his skin colour, or even against capitalism. The fight was solely for the preservation of its extremely fragile ecosystem and against health-risks to the island-inhabitants inherent in such a grand-scale development. My stand would have been exactly the same had the instigator of the project been anybody other than IBL. Besides, I had with equal vigour and for the same reasons, militated against the large-scale onion plantations on the islands projected by a cooperative society.

When Navin Ramgoolam decided not to go ahead with the lease of part of Agalega to IBL, I was one of the first to congratulate him. Though I publicly expressed some doubts about his real motives - suspecting his decision to be more in line with demagogic pre-election promises and some cheap political or communal vendetta than with genuine concerns for the unique fauna and flora of Agalega and the health and welfare of Agaleans - I nonetheless congratulated him for his decision. I felt that, whatever be the reasons, the annulment of the IBL Hotel Project Lease Agreement had saved one of the Republic’s most beautiful natural jewels and aborted the dangers to the fragile ecology of Agalega and the health of its inhabitants.

Alas ! It seems now that my jubilation was very premature. Yesterday’s saviour has transformed into today’s bourreau. N. Ramgoolam, who was praised for barring the way of IBL, is now bringing in Arcon. With the same inherent dangers to environment and ecology of the Islands, and same heath-risks to the inhabitants. It would seem that the massive sell-off of our heritage was an odious anti-patriotic crime when done by Bérenger; but the same sell-off of the same heritage becomes a patriotic deed when committed by Ramgoolam ! When Bérenger was “selling” part of our Republic, it was to IBL, a local entity, Mauritians like us, after all ! And here is Ramgoolam “selling” the same part of our Republic to Arcon, of South Africa and total foreigners .

In his reply to Bhagwan’s PQ, the PM has said the intended lease is not the same as the previous one ; that Arcon is only “a group of architects” ; that it is not the role of the Government Fast Track Committee to allocate such leases but the prerogative of the BOI. But what the hell does it matter - 1) Whether it is Bérenger, Ramgoolam, Jugnauth or the BOI that gives the lease, it is still dilapidating of our patrimony, it is still putting Agalega to inevitable ecological perils and still playing dangerously with the health of Agaleans. 2) Whether it is IBL, Arcon, ABCD or XYZ; whether they are promoters of hotel projects or site builders for residential or resort schemes, the harm will be the same.

Does Navin Ramgoolam sincerely believe that anybody investing Rs 9,7 billions in “site buildings” will not see to it that he first builds the infrastructures that would be necessary to incite third-parties to buy these “sites”? What does he think these “infrastructures” would be ? Precisely (or maybe more than) what IBL intended to do :

a) Dynamite-blasting of the protective coral reefs surrounding the islands to facilitate easy ins and outs to the plush fishing boats of his equally plush clients, which would destroy millions of sea-life and millions of their natural sea-habitats ; and also would give free access to Agalega ravenous sea-waves to further eat-away unhindered the already dangerously eroded sand-islands.

b) Bulldozing hundreds of acres of sand land uprooting millions of indigenous plants and destroying millions of sand crabs and other sand animals and their natural habitats, including those of tree-animals like the very rare flat lizard and the unique Black Ibis.

c) Setting up an extensive sewerage system which, at best, in case the promoter would be prepared to invest in two waste-water treatment plants, would still polute air, soil and sea, and, at worst directly pollute, infect and contaminate the precious underwater reserves scarcely six feet below the extremely porous sand-soil throughout both islands, which water is extensively used for all domestic purposes, even as drinking water, by all the inhabitants.

The above are obvious infrastructural developments that must inevitably accompany such a scheme as presented by Arcon. What is the nature of other “developments” in the project could only be commented upon after it is made known to the public.

Like the PM and, I believe, all sensible Mauritians, I have never been against proper development of Agalega. It seems we don’t have the same appreciation of the word “proper” as related to developments in Agalega. To me it would be highly improper, even criminal, to think of big-scale developments of these islands, be they agricultural, hotel/tourist, IRS or industrial. The nature of the islands, their environment, their ecology could not sustain any such big developments. We can instead think of individual or cooperative integrated land-farming and sea-farming , all the while preserving the exotic natural ecological richness of the Agalega and the purity of its unpolluted air and seas. The potential in sea-farming is enormous - crabs, lobsters, octopus, sea-cucumber, excellent fish (there are some varieties of fish in our Mauritian seas that are toxic, like the Croissant la queue jaune, but perfectly safe for human consumption when fished from Agalean waters), aqua-culture of the agar-agar sea-plant – why not here the setting up of a small eco-friendly industry for the manufacture of the finished agar-agar ! Small individual back-yard gardens for sane cultivation of fertilizer-free and pesticide-free vegetables is very much possible, and would see that the inhabitants are self-sufficient in their alimentary needs for these items. Cattle, pig, goat and sheep rearing and other poultry units by small cooperative societies are again very much possible, with perhaps only minor odour-polution problems. Other small agro-industries related to dairy products like butter and cheese ; to sea-foods like salting and drying of sea-cucumber, fish, octopus, are also feasible with no great harm to environment and ecology .

Instead of thinking of big hotel resorts or hundreds of chic palaces under the IRS for jet-peoples, why not go for three or four Agalean “cases créoles” and encourage Mauritians ( and why not, foreign tourists!) to spend a heavenly week/fortnight in this natural, pure, pollution-free, exotic place, relishing exotic Agalean cuisine far from the noise and smoke-choked poisoned atmosphere of our city-life ? And this too, at a comparatively small price - compared to the price of even the most modest two-star hotel here, a price that is unaffordable for the vast majority of even those we call middle-class families. Granted, such a project would not attract our big-shot promoters and still less foreign investors, because it would not yield massive profits. But it could be a Government or a Government-sponsored project .

More important, these small projects, while very much qualifying under the heading “développement d’Agalega” as enunciated by N. Ramgoolam in the Parliament, have the incomparable merit of saving Agalega from ecological disaster present in all large-scale, multi-million rupee projects like Arcon’s.

<B>Jagdish Seebaruth

[email protected]</B>