<B>By Deepa BHOOKHUN</B>

Quick ! Quick ! No, I?m not talking about the race of minister Motee Ramdass, who is doing a sprint around hypermarkets to order them to bring down their prices lest people should get angry; that would be pointless. At least we?re all laughing? So, we?ll move on.

I am rather talking of the tsunami warning system. Time is pressing and the quicker the system is ready the better. We would be in a better position to avoid the wrath of nature. And man, she is angry! Many are convincing themselves that tsunamis are not related to global warming and so we cannot help it. How convenient! When will we get rid of this terrible habit of always shifting the blame and never facing up to our responsibilities? The director of Unesco, Kolchiro Matsuura, is of the opinion that ?nature is trying to tell us something.? Will we ever take heed?

I?m glad to see that the Mauritian government seems keen on the matter of tsunami warning system and is resolved to limit the damage. But that?s our whole problem. Applying piecemeal solutions to every problem. We are worried about the consequences of global warming but we do nothing to help it. We agree that environment is the key issue but we insist on destroying a forest to build a highway. A highway without which we wouldn?t die, our lives won?t be made harder or any easier for that matter. A highway that would instead have been much needed and appreciated in downtown Port-Louis where no forest is standing in the way. But hey? Try and argue with the prime minister!

At the same time, while driving anywhere in this country, you need to keep your windows up if you don?t want to catch some disease by breathing in that disgustingly polluted smoke that most vehicles on those damn roads give out. And they are all testified fit to be on the roads. Fit to give you anything ranging from spots, skin diseases, lung problems and cancer that is. But who cares?

While forests are being killed and we are slowly dying a painful death, we are still challenging nature. How many times have you witnessed people pulling down their windows just to throw out some garbage? on the streets? Anything ranging from plastic bags to plastic bottles. Look anywhere around you and you?ll see rubbish thrown just about anywhere. It is the admirable people of the to-be-Duty-free-paradise who do this. In the face of our ministry of Environment and their very popular slogan ?you throw, you pay.? Well, nowadays, you may throw because no one cares. I mean, if a healthy environment means nothing to the authorities, why should it to the common mortal?

Such utter disregard for the environment stems from the illusion that we have become too important. Why let nature stand in the way of development? Until of course, Mother Nature gets fed up with being taken for granted again and retaliates. God knows which form the next retaliation will take. And then we?ll organise grand conferences again to devise a way to limit the damage.

Let?s us not be so presumptuous as to think she will always oblige and give warnings before she strikes. Next time, we may not know what will hit and when. But we sure are asking for it by challenging nature every single day that God gives. We better be careful, she might just decide to take up the challenge one day soon?