That was in a very refreshing interview where he warned that our present model is simply not sustainable. I totally agree and have been using my megaphones to get this point across. Karim also found a big disconnect between the lofty speeches and what's get done about our environment. I don't disagree one bit.
As he says, "Quand on parle de 24/7, d'augmenter le PIB, de doubler le nombre d'arrivées touristiques, de transformer Maurice en duty free island ou en une réplique de Singapour, c'est, excusez le terme, de la connerie. Il faut le dire clairement : transformer Maurice en Singapour, c'est tuer notre pays! Imiter le modèle singapourien, c'est mortel pour Maurice et la plupart de ses habitants (…) Singapour est totalement urbanisé, totalement dépendant de l'extérieur pour tout et importe même son eau de la Malaisie. Si on fait ça à Maurice dans un contexte d'énergie chère, on est cuit."
ReplyDeleteAt last someone is saying clearly what we should stop doing: think about and do what suits US for the LONG TERM. And it's not that difficult, if we consider that our fathers are still alive, and that their skills are not yet dead with them.
This last statement puts the nail in the coffin: "ce système dont la principale caractéristique était le confort matériel que l'on avait fini par confondre avec le bonheur." Let's hope it's properly understood by the guy who despises sarétt-béf...
Wai, bizin reget nu land use rapidos. Ek fer bann politik ki fer dimunn happy. Nwavoy PM Bhutan?
ReplyDeleteI have been desperately waiting for the critical mass to realize this but unfortunately many people are real hypocrites. They'll shout only if they r directly affected. The country can go to hell if the policy can serve their interests- and I'm not even talking of politicians, common citizens are like this too
ReplyDeleteExcept for non-mainstream blogs and "citizens" how many people question the 24/7, urbanisation of most fertile lands etc?
Just have a look at our motherland from above (merci Google earth...) and think about what exists beyond the buildings on both sides of the road leading from QMilitaire to Flacq, or Curepipe to Rose Belle / Mahebourg... Sugar, ad infinitum, producing less than 1% of our GDP. Do we REALLY lack land? What ELSE could we be doing with so much of land, and 4 times less population than our wet-dream generator Singapore...?
ReplyDeleteWhat about nationalisation of all lands: you may own a building on a pre-determined plot, but not the land: it remains the property of the state which can use it whenever it needs. Plots are auctioned to the best offers, offers limited to a fixed number per person, proxy allowed only on behalf of non-owners, etc, etc... It's the only way to ensure that we laugh in the face of tsunamis (no building allowed within 1km from the high-water mark), or other man-made catastrophes (no filling stations / traffic centres within 1km from rivulets/streams, no houses within 500m from wetlands or rivers, etc...), and whatever you want can be properly planned.
If only we could...