<B>Free transport... not so free</B>

Free transport for students may last only for a while longer. Because of the rise in oil prices, the price of a bus ticket may soon increase. Hence, the government has realised it might not be able to continue subsidising transport for students. During the last meeting of the task force chaired by the minister of Public Utilities, all those present – from the ministries of Education, Finance, Social security, Public utilities and Transport – agreed that the present situation could not go on. Parents may have to contribute partially to cover the additional expenses due to oil increase – about 10 to 15% of transport costs. The ministry is also thinking of changing the “payment method”; instead of paying directly to bus companies, it could pay into an account opened by students’ parents for that purpose. This should prevent bus companies from not stopping at bus stops when they consider the number of passengers waiting is too low. However, the system should remain the same for pensioners. The new system could be operational as from next July.

<B>On the trail of an Indian drug network</B>

The Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit seems to be in the process of unveiling a drug trafficking network from India. They have been discretely investigating suspicious letters and parcels – which no one comes to collect – at the port and the airport and have seized some 208 grams of heroin so far representing Rs 2.8 million. The police suspect that former Indian prisoners have been in contact with inmates of Beau-Bassin prison to hatch their plans. What has made the police suspicious is that not only most of the addressees are either dead or unknown but they all have a direct or indirect link with the prisons. The police believe that the drugs could even have been “ordered” from there…