28 OCT - 3 NOV 2011 l N° 800 l 40 PAGES l Rs 15 l WWW.DEFIMEFIA.INFO INTERVIEW WITH Hamza Goolbar Mauritius owes much to Gaddafi 4 2 NEWS 7 POLICE NEWS Consultations Stabbed to on Industrial death because Observatory of his dog GRA approves RS 35 M LOTO PAYMENT 3 13 DISCOVER MAURITIUS 38 SPORT CASCAVELLE THE FLAGSHIP RACE: The future Acuppa can meeting make it place of the West I NEWS 28 OCT - 3 NOV 2011 l N° 800 l PAGE 2 VIEWPOINT Outdated laws Our colleague and friend Dharmanand Dhooharika Consultations ends up in prison for "contempt of court." He has paid for the Hurnam/SikYuen conflict after having ventured on Industrial Observatory near the precipice where opinions or even facts can turn into contempt if proper attention is not being paid. It's a he Ministry of Industry, Trade and tight rope that few journalists dare to walk upon. Protection of Consumers is welcoming pro - Whether they are right or wrong is another story. posals from stakeholders for the imple - RamaValayden, former Attorney General, has found T mentation of an Industrial Observatory in the judgment to be respectable but the sentence harsh. Yvan Martial, one of the deans of local journalism, said Mauritius. It will constitute a website which will in the daily ‘Defi Quotidien’: ‘Though I run the risk of group the maximum information to help enterprises being labelled as a proponent of a two-tier justice sys - and investors as well as students to be aware of tem, I rather strongly support prison sentence to be opportunities available in business in the country reserved for offenders representing a threat to society, and the region. and that includes drug peddlers and traffickers, ... even Bernard SikYuen cannot convince me that our safety In this regard, a workshop was organised by the requires the imprisonment of such a ‘bon vivant’ as Ministry at The Link Hotel, Ebène, with the partici - Dharmanand Dhooharika. " pation of Cader Sayed-Hossen, Minister of Industry, Alas! Judges like to remind us that they are simply Trade and Protection of Consumers, Dev Chamroo, applying the laws produced by legislators, although they Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Enterprise are allowed some discretion as to the penalties to be Mauritius, representatives from the private sector imposed. And if those laws themselves were out of date? One doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist to know that namely Danielle Wong, Director of Mauritius Export Mauritians of the 21st century are judged according to Association (MEXA) and Renganaden Padayachy, foreign laws that were set before the island was fully economist at the Mauritian Chamber of Commerce populated. Like the French Civil Code and English and Industry (MCCI). conventions, dating back to the Middle Ages in Europe. Representatives from the private sector agreed Do we realise that the Code Noir, which governed sla - that having such a website was necessary to facili - very and justified all the tortures inflicted on the slaves, has been legally adopted and implemented without any tate business and allow local economic develop - hesitation by so-called courts of justice? ment. According to the Minister, the setting up of an The State, say the Marxists, adopt legislation that it Industrial Observatory is part of the Government’s which will allow us to remain on top of this compe - wants in order to protect the interests of its ruling programme. “Mauritius has to be open to keep on tition,” he said. classes, and among them the scribes. Even at the cost of progressing, open to trade and investment, open to The Industrial Observatory will be operational defying the logic of its own supporters of morality.Thus, in modern societies, despite the importance attached to talents and more than anything, open to changes by December 2011. the integrity of human beings, a theft is condemned by imprisonment but an assault is punishable by a mere fine. In the logic of true capitalism, material goods Rs 1.7 billion for infrastructural seem more important than human blood. Terminologies also hold all their symbolic power and do developments in No 8 not dare say the interests or values they defend: I could consider Gaddafi a "bloody dictator", but who is the journalist who dares, in the same breath, call Bush and avin Ramgoolam’s government is According to Anil Bachoo, the Road Decongestion Blair "war criminals" for the hundreds of thousands of allocating a fund of more than Rs 1.7 Programme initiated by the Government has reached deaths in Iraq where finally they concluded that it was a billion only for constituency No 8. its optimum pace. war without any reason? “N And this shows his interest and “The Prime Minister is very much interested in Napoleon is a hero to some, the perpetrator of genocide vision for improving the infrastructures,” said the Vice modernization. When we bring improvements in infra - to others.The code that bears his name is not necessa - rily the Bible. Similarly, some clauses of the Penal Code Prime Minister and Minister of Public Infrastructure, structure, it is part of his development vision. I hope were adopted at that time to lay down the foundations of Anil Bachoo. It was during a site visit of Constituency that things will speed up after the next budget,” he said. the power of those at the helm and to justify the privi - No 8 (Moka/Quartier Militaire) in the presence of He also announced the construction of an under - leges enjoyed by their followers. It is full of draconian Suren Dayal, Minister of Social Integration and elected way passage at l’Esperance and Quartier Militaire junc - clauses to silence critics and send to jail the most persis - member of the constituency, on Thursday. tion. tent critics among them.This code, which governs the freedom of expression, and consequently freedom of the press, is a monument of repression of human rights Direct flights Moscow-Mauritius as we understand it in this Internet age. Is this why criti - From October 30, the Russian Company Transaero will offer direct flights between Domodedovo Airport, cism of the judiciary and government institutions in Moscow and Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport. The flights by Boeing 777-200ER will general has become more common on Facebook rather take place twice a week, more precisely on Wednesdays and Sundays. than in the mainstream press? All this is exciting, but dangerous at the same time.The heads of the media in The departure will be at 23h50 for Moscow and will reach Mauritius the following day at 10h30. this country have an address, the police know where to Departure from Mauritius will be at noon on Mondays and Thursdays to land in Moscow at 22h40. go and look for them and the DPP knows what direc - tor/writer/journalist to call in the box.We are far from GOLD TRADING - INDUSTRIAL GOLD the nebula of the Net where any fellow can show any - Bar 3.215 ounce Rs 1735.55 per gm thing with an infinitesimal risk of being traced. GOLD COINS Bar 16.074 ounce Rs 1735.67 per gm Must we encourage journalists to be more responsible 1000 Rs 66570 Bar 32.148 ounce Rs 1735.46 per gm or to migrate towards the web and become anonymous? 500 Rs 33480 Grains 0.5 ounce Rs 1736.26 per gm An economist will tell you that measures taken dictate 250 Rs 16835 Grains 1.00 ounce Rs 1736.26 per gm 100 Rs 6925 the behavior of people. High taxation does not necessa - 27.9 USD1 29.4 rily bring more revenue to theTreasury. On the WEATHER FORECAST FOR SATURDAY OCTOBER 29 contrary! It is hoped that government, in its attempt to 44.6 GBP1 47.1 AND SUNDAY OCTOBER 30 2011 revise the laws on the freedom of expression, follows the 27.6 CAD1 29.6 GENERAL SITUATION. principles of the Commission on Human Rights of the A weak anti-cyclone on the South East of the Mascarene United Nations and of Europe rather than drawing ins - 29.0 AUD 1 31.0 FORECAST FIOslaRndSsAwTilUl cRauDseAaYlig2h2t a2ir0cu1rr1enAt tNo DflowSUonNoDuAr rYeg2io3n. 2011: piration from repressive codes of a bygone era. The weather will be Similarly, the MediaTrust, paralysed by the whims and 38.7 EUR 1 41.1 partly cloudy in the morning and at night with light showers on the high grounds. The weather will be sunny during the day. fancies of the regime, should be revived in order to ND INR 1 ND contribute to the training of responsible journalists. The wind will blow from the South at 10-20 KM/H. Let’s hope that the right of access to information, a pro - 35.8 JPY100 38.9 TEMPERATURTEh: e sea will be rough beyond the reefs with swells from the South. mise long overdue, is finally granted. One cannot, on The minimum temperature will be 16’C on the central plateau and 18-21’C on the coastline. one hand, expect journalists to be rigorous and, on the 22.1 NZ1 23.8 The maximal temperature will be 24’C on the central plateau and 25-29’C on the coastline. other, maintain the barriers that prevent them from TIDES. 21.9 SGD1 23.4 High tides at 02h21 and 13h58 on Saturday and at 03h06 and 14h26 on Sunday. practising their profession. Low tides at 08h10 and 20h53 on Saturday and at 08h50 and 21h41 on Sunday. 3.44 ZAR1 3.78 SUNRISE AND SUNSET: Sunrise will be at 05h30 on Saturday and at 05h29 on Sunday.