Please find herwith a few suggestions on the ?Borrower Protection Bill?. Unlike others, I am sure you?ll have an open mind. And that in the interest of the Sale by Levy victims and the country as a whole. They are in layman?s terms.

(1) Establishment of Office of the Commissioner

(i) The Commissioner should be appointed by the Prime Minister after consultation with the Opposition. His/her office should enjoy the same privileges and rights as that of the Commissioner of Police, the Director of Audit; the Electoral Commissioner, etc. In short, it should be constitutional post. He/she should be seen and viewed as somebody of absolute and irreprochable integrity, with the highest moral standards.

(ii) Assessors

The Commissioner should be shouldered by some five high calibre professionals of proven ability and integrity. There should be at least two ladies on the bench. The Commissioner and the Assessors should emerge from the banking, accounting, legal etc sectors. In the nomination process, past and present blunders of ECO and Icac should not be committed.

(2) Officers

It?s a wrong procedure to allow the seat of power/government House to pick and choose officers of the commission. Its independence will be jeopardized. The Commission should have its own procedure of self officers and the Commissioners should work on a full-time basis.

(3) Contract Valve Limitation

The is no logic to create two categories of borrowers by limiting credit agreement.

Remember many old cases at the Land Fraud and elsewhere surpass the Rs 2m bar by far. It?s readily illogical to have the Rs 2m limit to only Rs 2 millions. It will be illegal, anti-constitutional and will be contested in any Court of law. Let all the small debtors and the big and small investors enjoy the new privileges. This will be called drastic revolutionary measures. Economic independence will lead to a real take-off ! The banking institutions have had a field day since independence for the last 38 years.

(4) Reading of Contract/ Agreement to Borrowers/ Gurantors.

Procedures must be established to ensure that the Commissioner is made aware on defaults by notaries when they do not read the agreements properly to borrowers/guarantors. Penalties must be imposed and sanctions taken against the defaulters. History is witness to the fact that there are too many criminals among them.Despite the passive attitude of the Police, many have been arrested.

(5) Statement of Accounts

It is imperative that bank statements be sent to the borrower/guarantor on a monthly basis and not every 3 months/6 months as proposed in the Bill. The guarantor should be aware of the situation every month and not when it has deteriorated after 6 months !

(6) Penalties in case the guarantor has been cheated/misled

Experience has proved that in most of the cases, guarantors have been misled/cheated by the debtors, attorneys, notaries and others. Harsh penalties should be imposed. The contracts should be declared nill and void and all the offendors should be made accountable with moral and other damages.

(7) Details of loan account

In addition to the details, already mentioned in the Bill, it is recommended that the following additional particulars be sent both to the borrower and the guarantor :

? the amount of capital borrowed initially,

? the details of the guarantee and changes if any;

? details of low payments received from the borrower have been applied to capital and interest;

? details of calculation of interest;

? details of any penalty interest and how it was completed.

(8) Default of borrower

The bank/financial institutions should inform the borrower/guarantor immediately in default of the very first payment and not wait for default on 3 consecutive payments.

(9) Valuation of Property

It is high time for the Government to regulate the profession of valuers in Mauritius. As of today, valuation is carried out by too many cowboys and thungs who do not even have a qualification. Many have turned millionaires overnight at the expense of public coffers. Even ushers of Courts are delegated to put a valuation on properties!

(10) Advice Bureau

Government should set up an Advice Bureau which should be easily accessible to any person who needs advice before borrowing. This is very important because there are so many financial institutions in the country which are unknown to the public. WIth proper advice, a prospective borrower could be directed to the appropriate institution. Also, many could be warned of the danger of having recourse to moneylenders.

(11) Interest frozen as soon as the Commission takes over a case

The moment a case is referred to the Commission, all interest/ charges should be immediately frozen by the banking institutions.

Harish BOODHOO