1 No. 43 of 2015 SIXTH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) FIRST SESSION THURSDAY 03 DECEMBER 2015 2 CONTENTS QUESTION (Oral) MOTION BILL (Public) ADJOURNMENT 3 Members Members THE CABINET (Formed by the Rt. Hon. Sir Anerood Jugnauth, GCSK, KCMG, QC) Hon. Sir Anerood Jugnauth, GCSK, Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, Home Affairs, KCMG, QC Minister for Rodrigues and National Development Unit Hon. Charles Gaëtan Xavier-Luc Duval, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Tourism and External GCSK Communications Hon. Showkutally Soodhun, GCSK Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Housing and Lands Hon. Ivan Leslie Collendavelloo, GCSK Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Energy and Public Utilities Hon. Seetanah Lutchmeenaraidoo, GCSK Minister of Finance and Economic Development Hon. Yogida Sawmynaden Minister of Youth and Sports Hon. Nandcoomar Bodha Minister of Public Infrastructure and Land Transport Hon. Mrs Leela Devi Dookun-Luchoomun Minister of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research Hon. Anil Kumarsingh Gayan Minister of Health and Quality of Life Dr. the Hon. Mohammad Anwar Husnoo Minister of Local Government Hon. Prithvirajsing Roopun Minister of Social Integration and Economic Empowerment Hon. Marie Joseph Noël Etienne Ghislain Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and Sinatambou International Trade Hon. Ravi Yerrigadoo Attorney General Hon. Mahen Kumar Seeruttun Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security Hon. Santaram Baboo Minister of Arts and Culture Hon. Ashit Kumar Gungah Minister of Industry, Commerce and Consumer Protection Hon. Mrs Marie-Aurore Marie-Joyce Minister of Gender Equality, Child Development and Perraud Family Welfare Hon. Sudarshan Bhadain Minister of Financial Services, Good Governance, Institutional Reforms, Minister of Technology, Communication and Innovation Hon. Soomilduth Bholah Minister of Business, Enterprise and Cooperatives 4 Hon. Mrs Fazila Jeewa-Daureeawoo Minister of Social Security, National Solidarity and Reform Institutions Hon. Premdut Koonjoo Minister of Ocean Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries, Shipping and Outer Islands Hon. Jayeshwur Raj Dayal, CSK, PDSM, Minister of Environment, Sustainable Development and QPM Disaster and Beach Management Hon. Marie Roland Alain Wong Yen Minister of Civil Service and Administrative Reforms Cheong, MSK Hon. Soodesh Satkam Callichurn Minister of Labour, Industrial Relations, Employment and Training 5 PRINCIPAL OFFICERS AND OFFICIALS Madam Speaker Hanoomanjee, Hon. Mrs Santi Bai, GCSK Deputy Speaker Duval, Hon. Adrien Charles Deputy Chairperson of Committees Hurreeram, Hon. Mahendranuth Sharma Clerk of the National Assembly Lotun, Mrs Bibi Safeena Deputy Clerk Ramchurn, Ms Urmeelah Devi Clerk Assistant Gopall, Mr Navin (Temporary Transfer to RRA) Hansard Editor Jankee, Mrs Chitra Serjeant-at-Arms Pannoo, Mr Vinod 6 MAURITIUS Sixth National Assembly --------------- FIRST SESSION ------------ Debate No. 43 of 2015 Sitting of 03 December 2015 The Assembly met in the Assembly House, Port Louis at 11.30 a.m. The National Anthem was played (Madam Speaker in the Chair) 7 ORAL ANSWER TO QUESTION CEB - TANK FARM PROJECT, GAS TURBINES & TARIFFS The Leader of the Opposition (Mr P. Bérenger) (by Private Notice) asked the Vice- Prime Minister, Minister of Energy and Public Utilities whether, in regard to electricity, he will, for the benefit of the House, obtain from the Central Electricity Board, information as to – (a) if the St. Louis 60 MW contract has been awarded; (b) if it is going ahead with the – (i) Tank Farm Project at Bain des Dames, indicating - A. whether a new location and EIA are being sought therefor, and B. where matters stand concerning the National Ramsar Committee; (ii) purchase of two Gas Turbines, indicating the – A. estimated cost thereof; B. price of electricity using diesel oil, and C. impact on the environment of diesel oil as compared to coal, and (c) when the tariffs thereof will be lowered. Mr Collendavelloo: Madam Speaker, with regard to part (a) of the question, I informed the House in my reply to the PNQ of 01 April 2015 that in February 2014 the Central Electricity Board had initiated a procurement process for four diesel engines each of 15 MW capacity. Five prequalified bidders had been invited to submit proposals. Only one was received and the Central Procurement Board found that the bid was substantially non- responsive and that it was not in a position to approve any award of the contract. Based on that decision, the Central Electricity Board cancelled the procurement process after consulting the African Development Bank which was the funding agency. There was a challenge at the Independent Review Panel and subsequently in the Supreme Court. On 13 November 2015, the bidder withdrew his case. 8 In July 2015, the Central Electricity Board, on the advice of the African Development Bank, initiated a second procurement exercise with revised specifications for a total 60 MW with 10% plus or minus. The new bid specifications were approved by the African Development Bank. At the closing date on 01 October 2015, five bids had been received at the Central Procurement Board. On 11 November 2015, the Central Procurement Board informed the Central Electricity Board that it had approved the award of the contract to Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor A/S (BWSC) for the total evaluated contract price of EUR85,185,404+Rs823,922,094, excluding VAT. The Central Procurement Board requested the Central Electricity Board to proceed with the notification of the award in accordance with the Public Procurement Act after having sought the concurrence of the Funding Agency, the African Development Bank, and to revert to the Central Procurement Board after the notification period or earlier. On 12 November 2015, the Central Electricity Board informed the African Development Bank of the Central Procurement Board’s decision and has sent the Evaluation Report to the Bank. The reply from the Bank is expected by mid-December 2015. It is expected that the award of the contract will be made early next year and the project would be completed by June/July 2017. As regards part (b), following the clearance from the National Ramsar Committee, the Central Electricity Board has repositioned the Tank Farm on the same site at Les Grandes Salines. The Contractor has been advised that he may proceed in the meantime with the design part of the Tank construction. Physical works will start as soon as possible. In November, the Central Electricity Board informed the Ministry of Environment of the repositioning of the tanks on the same site. The Central Electricity Board has also appointed Hydro Geological Experts to address the requirement of the National Ramsar Committee and the experts are expected to carry out their assignment in the course of this month. As regards part (b) (ii) - 9 (i) A consultant will be appointed in January 2016 to proceed with the implementation of two 30 MW gas turbines as a first phase for the final Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) configuration. (ii) The estimated cost of the two gas turbines is Rs1.6 billion. (iii) The current price of electricity generation using diesel fuel at Central Electricity Board Thermal Station ranges from Rs3.35/kWh to Rs3.98/kWh (These are the figures for June 2015). (iv) The impact on environment is measured in tonnes CO2/MWh (tonnes per Megawatt hour). With coal it ranges from 1.29 to 1.63 t/MWh. With diesel oil in Central Electricity Board stations it is currently 0.58 tonnes/MWh. I now come to part (c) of the question. I informed the House in my reply to the PNQ on 22 September 2015 that an overall tariff decrease is not envisaged. I wish to reiterate that contrary to other organisations, the Central Electricity Board took the judicious decision not to resort to hedging at the time that heavy fuel oil and coal prices were increasing on the world market. This enabled the Central Electricity Board to benefit from the current drop in the prices of these commodities. The CEB has to invest heavily in new generation capacity in the coming years as advised by the World Bank and the African Development Bank. I also drew the attention of the House that the electricity tariff is not indexed to inflation and foreign currencies for payment of loans. This may erode the surplus. I had stated that I would look into a lower tariff for lower income groups. I am pleased to announce that on 27 November 2015, Government has endorsed the decision of the CEB to introduce a new Social Tariff 110A as from 01 January 2016. When the Social Tariff 110A was introduced in 2012, there were 30,629 customers whose electricity consumption did not exceed 75 kWh. By September 2015, this number had reduced to 7,875. I asked the Central Electricity Board to review the scheme and it has come up with a new one which would benefit about 70,000 households. With the new scheme, households with an average monthly consumption of up to 85kWh will benefit from a lower tariff, that is - 10 (i) Rs2.18/kWh for the first 25 kWh instead of Rs3.16; (ii) Rs3.04/kWh for the next 25 kWh instead of Rs4.38, and (iii) Rs3.28/kWh instead of Rs4.74/kWh for the next 35 kWh. The CEB is working in close consultation with the Ministry of Social Security, National Solidarity and Reform Institutions and the National Empowerment Foundation for the implementation of the scheme. The households benefitting from the scheme will include - (i) households receiving social allowance from the Ministry of Social Security, National Solidarity and Reform Institutions, Social Register of Mauritius for Child allowance, irrespective of the criteria defined by CEB; (ii) households identified by the National Empowerment Foundation (NEF) as registered by the Ministry of Social Security, National Solidarity and Reform Institutions, irrespective of the criteria set by CEB, and (iii) domestic consumers, of course, excluding those on the Social Register, who satisfy the criteria set by CEB.