The inhabitant of Roche-Bois was not the first one to be the victim of a ?wasteland? and she might not be the last one if nothing is done to stop this scourge. Inhabitants of Roche-Bois are furious because the abandoned building on the wasteland where the woman was raped should have been destroyed. ?There are often suspicious people going in and out this house. They are either drug addicts or other people who come there to have sex. This woman could have been killed after she was raped,? they deplored after the rapist was sent to the police.

Unfortunately all those who walked past a wasteland did not have the same ?chance? as this Roche-Bois inhabitant. They were called Nadine Dantier in Albion or Mrs Pablot in Quatre-Bornes and they all have something in common: wastelands were the cause of their loss. Those plots of land have been a major problem for years in Mauritius. But if they were only an eye sore a few years ago (see inset), they are now becoming a matter of security for all the people around. These lands have become the den of drug addicts, prostitutes, robbers or even criminals.

After Nadine Dantier?s body was found in one of those dangerous areas in Albion in 2003, there was a real effort from inhabitants ? and even the authorities ? to get rid of the problem. All those having a plot of land in Albion were called upon to clean it and the landscape was far more pleasant and the surroundings far less dangerous.

But can we afford to rely only on people?s good will to ensure the safety of the population? Although the cleaning of wastelands should be an obvious must for all owners, reality has shown that there is a lack in civic moves. Hence, it is up to the authorities to take necessary measures to eradicate the problem.

Forceful intervention in Parliament

Soon after the murder, Dany Perrier, MP in Belle-Rose/ Quatre-Bornes at the time, made a forceful intervention in Parliament because she considered it was ?high time to put an end to this environmental scourge?. She acknowledged, ?Some municipalities have tried to impose fines on wasteland owners. But these actions were obviously not sufficient. Local go-vernments lack human and financial resources. Moreover, the land register is not up to date, which makes it difficult to find the ow-ners. Some of them are abroad and others are waiting before building their houses. Very often, even the neighbours do not know who are the owners of these lands,? she revealed in an interview.

Full of branches and weeds

This is the case of a family living next to a wasteland in Rose-Hill. They have been fighting to get the name of the owner for 25 years but they have not managed to get it up to now. After years of battle, they were finally told that the person lived abroad and, obviously, the municipality couldn?t get hold of him. This owner might be among the people who invested in lands and intend to sell them as soon as they gain value.

So, the land is cleaned from time to time, as and when the neighbours are so fed up with drug addicts and prostitutes nearby that they take the issue to the authorities. For all other periods of the year, the wasteland remains full of branches and weeds?

Unfortunately, time has gone by since the death of Nadine Dantier and the situation is now like it was before this tragedy. In fact, the ow-ners are supposed to clean their own lands. But the difficulty of finding the owners often prevents municipalities from for-cing them to clean and enclose their wastelands. The municipality might have to review its priorities to allocate the right budget or take necessary measures to ensure the security of its citizens.

Aesthetic and health issues

Although the main problem raised by wastelands is undeniably the one of safety, they are also extremely unattractive. Tourists might not content themselves with beaches and traditional tourist sites. If they decided to move around to see the hinterland, they might be very surprised to see how irresponsible and indifferent Mauritians are to their environment! Moreover, these lands also constitute a threat to health. The many branches and weeds ? which have become even worse with the recent passage of cyclone Gamede ? attract mosquitoes, potential carriers of chikungunya, and unhygienic flies.