We refer to your article BP 247 entitled ?Enterprise Mauritius : Autocracy in the recruitment? that appeared in your daily paper dated 23rd February 2005. We would be grateful if you could publish the following ?Mise au point? to counteract the said article.

The authors of the above article who pretend to be ?the representatives of EPZDA Staff? should have contacted all employees of EPZDA to inform them of the content of that article before publishing. Only a few who form part of management staff at EPZDA are against the setting-up of Enterprise Mauritius (EM). All other staff have signified their intentions to join EM on conditions more favourable than the present one. Those who are not interested to join have opted for redeployment in other parastatal bodies.

The authors of this article have criticized the Chairman of Enterprise Mauritius and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Industry on issues that do not hold grounds. All stakeholders of the industrial sector know the contribution of Chairman of Enterprise Mauritius in the setting-up of EPZDA in 1992 and his help and collaboration extended to textile industry. Facts and figures are there to prove his capabilities.

Mr Lorne Dyke, a consultant appointed to advise the Government of Mauritius on the strengths and weaknesses that this economy is facing, has massively criticized the management of EPZDA for its bad management, inefficiency and bad leadership coupled with unsolicited projects which resulted in accumulation of deficit at EPZDA. He subsequently recommended to close down such an inefficient organisation as EPZDA and to set-up Enterprise Mauritius.

We ask the readers to put themselves in the place of a father who has given birth to a child, upbrings him to a level where he feels safe and suddenly bad companies torment that child and reduce him to nothing. Will the father remain silent or will he again come to rescue his child? The same scenario is happening in the rescue of EPZDA and the coming-up of EM. The so called ?Representative of EPZDA Staff? foresees that their actual salary and benefits are threatened with EM. Besides these people have the guts to thank the prime minister last Friday, i.e. on 18th February in a meeting for the setting-up of EM and for his reassurance given.

Our Union is in favour for the creation of EM and its members have already applied for post(s) in EM that would yield good salary, much better than that of Mauritius Post Ltd. We are awaiting a draft ?Transfer Bill? from the Government that would reflect all our suggestions submitted on draft Memorandum of understanding to further accelerate negociations.

With the publication of this article we dissociate completely with the so called ?Representatives of EPZDA Staff? and their article published in your daily paper ref. EPZDA dated 23rd February 2005.

<B>R. JANKEEPARSAD</B>

President, of EPZDA Staff Association