Constructing a bus way from Curepipe to Port Louis does not look like a bad idea. It would reduce journey time, but to get it into top gear, a congestion charge would have to go along with it. If not, even though people might get into Port Louis faster, severe traffic congestion would continue to exist inside the capital city.

This fact that the bus way and the congestion charge would have to go hand in hand cannot be underemphasized. This forms part of the deal, because the bus way, just on its own, will never encourage car owners to take the bus, whatever the reduction in journey time.

However, this is where the snag lies. Introducing a congestion charge will not be a popular issue: there will be a roar of protest from the public and it is a safe bet that the government might well have to beat a retreat. Furthermore, Mauritius being Mauritius, there will be considerable pressure to extend the bus way up to the North of the island ? if we are not to vex northern residents.

Thus, a project estimated at first at 4 billion rupees (approx. 120 million US $) might well cost a few billion rupees more, and we might well ask: is it worthwhile to spend such a huge sum just to alleviate traffic congestion? This query is pertinent because, apart from making traffic more fluid - for just a few hours a day ? the bus way will serve for nothing else. Relieving traffic congestion will be its only raison d?être.

Other benefits

So, our next question is: what can we get for 120 million US $ (or less!) that will not only alleviate traffic congestion but also provide other benefits? Well, for one, we might get a new harbour in the South East at Mahebourg. Right now, a harbour is under construction at Vuosaari, Finland. It will be able to handle 12 million tonnes yearly and construction costs have been estimated at about 300 million US $. So, a smaller harbour at Mahebourg that will handle 3 million tonnes (roughly 50% of the island?s shipping tonnage) is bound to cost less (under 100 million US $).

According to a simulation that has been done by computer, it has been found that if a new harbour at Mahebourg were to handle about 40 % of the island?s shipping tonnage (while the remaining 60% is taken care of by Port Louis) we would get optimal traffic flow along the Port Louis-Mahebourg corridor. It is not hard to visualize what would happen: the new harbour ? together with the airport close by ? would entice many businesses to spring up in the area; this would attract a good part of the traffic bound for Port Louis, and traffic congestion would be greatly reduced from Curepipe to Port Louis.

And this is exactly what we want. By luring commuters away from Port Louis, we would have hit at the real problem (which is that too many people are trying to get into Port Louis) and not just at its symptom (which is that too much time is being taken to get into Port Louis). For, the bus way will only tackle the symptom (by getting people into Port Louis faster), and unless it is associated with an artifice ? like the congestion charge ? it will never resolve congestion, pollution and parking problems inside the capital city itself.

The new harbour on the other hand has no need of any artifice. Just on its own, it will not only get people into Port Louis faster but also greatly alleviate congestion, pollution, and parking problems inside the city. Furthermore, it will take the strain off Port Louis harbour, encourage new businesses to spring up in the Mahebourg area, balance the population along the Royal Road by enticing more people to live along the corridor from Curepipe to Mahebourg, and, of course, reduce the need to transport airplane fuel all the way from Port Louis. (This list of advantages is by no means exhaustive!)

And, by the way, what?s this obsession with Port Louis? Why should it be the only city that continues to expand ? up to the point of suffocation - with all those new buildings and new businesses? What?s the point of getting into it faster, only to pay a prohibitive rent, once you reach it, if you happen to have a business there? What would happen if it gets struck by a calamity? ? like a terrorist attack, or a big fire, or a huge tidal wave, as mentioned in that spine-chilling article ?Le tsunami qui viendra de La Fournaise?, published in l?express 30th September.

Why put all our eggs in one basket? Is it not time to have a second harbour that can stand us in good stead, if a mishap, God forbid, happens to Port-Louis? And then, mishap or not, why should ships leave a harbour, at the approach of a cyclone, to seek refuge on the high seas? Surely, a ?harbour? where this happens cannot be called a harbour. It is but a port!

Jean Lindsay DHOOKIT