Je ne sais quel sort fut subséquemment destiné à ce texte. J?avais pris la peine de souligner qu?il avait été rédigé à la suite de concertations avec des conseillers anglais avertis par leurs fonctions de la complexité de tels conflits, non seulement au Royaume Uni mais partout ailleurs dans le monde. Ces conseillers étaient aussi au courant d?un mystérieux rapport de Richard Ellis sur les campements adressé depuis la Turquie (!) aux autorités mauriciennes en 2006.

Rien ne se passa pendant près de six mois jusqu?à ce que l?idée de réunir les représentants des deux parties refît surface suite aux interventions d?Eric Guimbeau à l?Assemblée nationale et à la récente exhortation de la Cour suprême dans cette affaire.

Voici donc un extrait de ce qui fut proposé au gouvernement.

?Après avoir versé une fortune (plus de Rs 80 millions en Zone A) pour s?assurer une trompeuse tranquillité de 60 ans ils demeureront toujours à la merci des sautes d?humeur de futurs gouvernements.?

?So as to achieve Government?s goals, a fresh approach should be considered, the basis of which consists in offering to all the lessees the possibility of buying the ?freehold interest? of the land they are leasing. This would give security and certainty to Mauritian citizens as far as their homes are concerned. It would also create a transparent and flexible market for coastal land.

It would appear that there are no legal impediments to the conversion of campement site leases to freehold. For those campement sites which are situated on State Lands the present law needs not be changed as it stipulates that State Lands can be sold. As for those situated on Pas géométriques, only the Pas géométriques Act and the State Land Act would need to be amended accordingly.

Mauritius would not be the only country where long term leases are converted into freehold. This has been the case in England where, since the mid-eighties, an amendment to the Leasehold Reform Act has given the tenant of a long leasehold the right to purchase its ?freehold interest?. In several overseas French territories citizens have been given the right to purchase their freehold on Pas géométriques. In Guadeloupe, this has been the case since 1882, in Martinique since 1887 and in Réunion since 1922.

To implement this new approach, the following measures will be necessary :

1. All campement site lessees in Mauritius should be entitled by law to purchase their freehold and they should be allowed to do so at an affordable price which can be calculated in the form of a discount on the value of the land ? in relation to its geographical, environmental and other considerations. As a counterpart of the lessees being offered an affordable price, there will be restrictions if they sell the land during a period of ten years following the date of purchase.

There are several other reasons why Government should offer such a discount. The main one is that lessees, after government granted them the building permits, have built their residences on these lands. Should these people be evicted, they would become homeless, a situation in direct contradiction with the policy of Government of ?putting people first?.

The second reason why the land should be offered at an affordable price comes from the fact that Mauritian citizens cannot be brutally confronted with the values of the international property market. Many countries give protection to their own citizens. In Australia, for example, where there is no shortage of land, there are restrictions for foreigners who want to invest in real estate. They cannot buy existing properties and are only entitled to buy properties in new developments. Even in these new developments, only a small percentage of the properties can be sold to foreigners. The Australian Government deemed it necessary to protect its own citizens otherwise they would no longer have been able to afford buying properties in their own country.

Furthermore, if leaseholds are not sold at an affordable price, only a very small proportion of leaseholders would be able to purchase their freehold and there would be no solution to the problem of campement site leases.

The measures put forward by Government have to be workable for both parties and take into account the situation as it is:

? In the many cases where several houses have been built on the land rented under one lease, provisions should be made for the possibility that the land be divided into a number of freehold units corresponding to the number of houses.

? Should these freehold lands be sold less than 10 years after the date of purchase, Government would recoup from the proceeds of the sale the same percentage of discount that was granted for the purchase of the land in the first place.

? Another point to be considered is that the rights of the lessee in the unexpired portion of the lease should be taken into account when determining the price of acquisition of the freehold.

2. Even if the price offered to acquire freehold is affordable to a majority of leaseholders, some of the campement site lessees would still not be able to acquire their freehold. It is extremely important to prevent these people from losing their homes as they constitute the most vulnerable category of the campement site lessees. They (present lessee & spouse or present members of a société holding the lease) should be given a guarantee that their existing lease would not be terminated and that, at its expiry, they would have the right to extend it for further periods of ten years at affordable rentals. Such a system would allow the lessees to go on occupying their homes until their death.

During the whole of that period, should the financial situation of these lessees change for the better, they would have the right to purchase the land as freehold at market value and they would be granted the same discount as was granted to those lessees who purchased their freehold in the first place. Again, should the land be resold less than 10 years after the date of purchase, government would recoup from the proceeds of the sale the same percentage of discount as granted initially.

On the death of the lessee, should he or she still have leasehold because he or she has never been able to purchase the freehold, the land would revert to government, the lessees? heirs being fully compensated for the price of the house.

A workable mechanism would also entail a phasing out of the Campement Tax and the Campement Site Tax on all campement sites.

3. To substantially increase Government revenue, the possibility of purchasing their freehold rights should be offered to lessees of industrial and commercial leases. Such a measure would certainly be welcome by the private sector and would greatly enhance confidence and stability.

To conclude, the benefits from the above measures would be:

● Far higher financial returns for Government than what was envisaged in the 2006 Budget.

● The coastal regions would be developed in a much more flexible manner. A true and transparent market for coastal lands would be established.

● Confidence would be reinforced in the country.

● Land values would increase thus allowing Government to get higher revenues.

● Court cases would be avoided.

● Government would not have to face the local and international consequences of evicting people from their homes.?

Ceux qui ont les moyens de payer les options et locations exorbitantes et injustifiées et qui céderaient, par faiblesse ou lassitude, à la pression du ministère des Finances, le feront de toute façon à fonds perdus. Après avoir versé une fortune (plus de Rs 80 millions en Zone A) pour s?assurer une trompeuse tranquillité de 60 ans ils demeureront toujours à la merci des sautes d?humeur de futurs gouvernements à n?importe quel moment. Un ministre des Finances en panne d?imagination pour renflouer ses caisses trouvera toujours des arguments pour contourner les accords conclus ? au nom de l?intérêt supérieur de la nation ! Il le fera d?autant plus allégrement que la garantie qui aura été supposément accordée, ou le document administratif qui aura été signé, ce ne sera pas lui qui l?aura, dix ou vingt après, donnée ou écrit.

Seule la possession de la terre donnera aux propriétaires de campements une véritable ?certainty and security of tenure?.

<B>Armand MAUDAVE