When trying to find the solution to a problem, it is essential to separate the problem from its symptoms. Otherwise, we end up finding solutions to the symptoms and not to the problem.

Concerning traffic, the long queues into/out of Port-Louis just constitute the symptom. The real problem is that too many vehicles are trying to get in/out of Port-Louis at the same time. Up to now, what has been proposed? Light railway? Special buslane? These are just tactics to reduce the long queues. While they might help to get into Port-Louis faster, they woefully fail to consider the issues of overcrowding, pollution, parking and traffic inside the city.

Take the much talked about light railway, for example. Putting aside the exorbitant costs, the compulsory acquisition of land along the railway line and the refunding of travelling expenses ? to be borne by the government itself! ? let us consider this simple fact: 14 stops between Curepipe and Port-Louis as opposed to the 35 now existing. What does this imply? Well, since passengers will have to walk a longer way from home (to catch the tram), this would induce still more people to rely on their own means of transport to go to work ? thus aggravating traffic flow and causing still more parking problems inside Port-Louis.

What is needed is a strategy that will not only improve traffic flow (along both Royal Road and the motorway) but also cater for traffic inside the city. The first thing that comes to mind is decentralizing the Port-Louis region (of course!) But to achieve it, laws have to be passed to compel companies/organizations to operate outside the capital. However, since compulsion is bound to make government unpopular, the only course of action resides in motivation. A second harbour town on the South East coast would definitely provide such a motivation. Its advantages are discussed below.

First and foremost, it will take the strain off Port-Louis harbour. Very often, ships have to wait for days to get unloaded - congestion is not confined to road activities but affects harbour activities as well. A new harbour, on the other hand, will not only bring about faster unloading of goods (since goods will inevitably be shared between the two harbours) but also an improvement in traffic fluidity because of fewer goods vehicles getting in/out of Port-Louis.

Secondly, the growth of commercial activities will follow ? after the setting up of a customs department and warehouses in the neighbourhood. These activities, in turn, will attract a sizeable part of the traffic bound for Port-Louis ? thus alleviating congestion along Royal Road and the motorway. This reduced traffic will bring about easier circulation and better parking opportunities inside the city during working hours.

Thirdly, more people will elect to live along the main road leading to this new harbour. Right now, there is only one major town (Rose Belle) along the Curepipe/Mahebourg corridor as opposed to five along the Curepipe/Port-Louis corridor (Vacoas, Phoenix, Quatre-Bornes, Rose-Hill, Beau Bassin). This influx of people will not only bring in its wake small businesses, factories and supermarkets but also schools and colleges ? thereby balancing population along the Port-Louis/ Mahebourg corridor.

Fourthly, motorists may become less bad-tempered. You must have noticed how motorists just flare up for trivialities when driving along the Curepipe/Port-Louis corridor. The reason is simple and best illustrated by Pavlov's experiment. When rats are crowded into impossibly crammed conditions, they become desperate, bad-tempered and shove, bite - and eventually start eating each other! Well, although motorists have not reached that point, many have become disgustingly ill mannered, selfish, and vulgar. They are already exhibiting Pavlovian rat-like stress due to the crammed conditions in our northern towns. Mauritians are not genetically bad-mannered. They are just reacting like other people would react under the same stressful conditions, and surely, if our towns become less congested (as a result of this new harbour) they should show a lesser tendency to behave like Pavlov rats.

Fifthly, there will be less pollution in the Port-Louis region. Pollution is caused by fumes emitted by vehicles. These fumes rise up to form a blanket above the capital and prevent the heat filtering in from going back into the atmosphere - thereby causing the greenhouse effect. Thus, less pollution will make it less hot in Port-Louis.

Sixthly, the decrease in journey time (due to less congestion) and shorter distance travelled will mean less consumption of fuel. This will be beneficial to the economy as there will be a decrease in fuel imports (some 500 million tons per annum).

<B>A natural cove</B>

Lastly, Port-Louis harbour has never been a real harbour. It is just a port, which cannot provide safe haven for ships during cyclones. Then, ships are urged to leave the harbour and seek safety on the high seas! The Mahebourg coast (or its vicinity) seems to present a more natural cove where ships are safe during all weather. It must have been the reason why the British used Vieux-Grand-Port as a naval base during World War II.

Having a harbour at Mahebourg cannot be 100% advantageous. After all, there is no perfect solution to a problem. For one, a harbour in the region may well disrupt marine ecology. And, up to now, the lagoon around Mahebourg has been teeming with marine life because so far, the belt along the South East coast has been spared from industrialisation. But if dirty cargoes like coal and oil products are limited to the Port-Louis region, any adverse effect on ecology can be played down ? thus insuring that fishing in the Blue-Bay and Vieux-Grand-Port regions will not be significantly affected.

We are in the midst of a traffic nightmare and it?s high time we wake up! For political or (to put it bluntly) selfish reasons - that we shall not delve into - many might not welcome a new harbour town on the South East coast. But it?s the only way out. To alleviate traffic problems in many parts of the world, new suburbs and towns have been built. (In Brazil, partly to alleviate traffic problems in Rio, jungles were cleared to build a new city: Brazilia). In Mauritius, we do not need a brand new town. The town is there and, in the 18th century, it even served as a port. The reason why it fell into disuse was because sailing ships driven in by the South-East trade winds could easily get in but had a lot of difficulty sailing out.

Of course, even if we could have this new harbour right away, its impact on traffic would not be immediate. But in the long run, it is bound to attract a sizeable part of the traffic going toward Port-Louis and thus make our capital city less congested. Besides, it would be a harbour, in the real sense of the word, and this cannot be detrimental ? not at all! ? to a tiger in the making!

<B>To our Readers</B>

We welcome papers from readers for publication in this page. They should be of a reasonable length (1,000 to 1,200 words) and should be mailed to the following address: [email protected]

Jean Lindsay Dhookit