Metro Express Not Needed, For Now

We should do it now otherwise it will cost more later I hear you say. The correct yardstick is its share of GDP otherwise we're blindsided by money illusion. Besides there are better choices. The first one is obviously to beef up the number and quality of buses -- fitting a number of them with catalytic converters will also improve air quality -- on our roads. And improving their schedules. Plus letting congestion pricing do a little bit of its magic. After making cars more expensive. Especially the larger ones. While making the smaller hybrid ones even cheaper. This should improve flow. And GDP. But not as much as restoring progressive taxation. Which should be the topmost priority.

Not sure whether a metro should run between Port-Louis and Curepipe. When it will be the right time to do it we might find it obvious to exclude these two cities. 

Should the State Buy the Tamarin Salt Pans?

Because Mauritians have a strong emotional connection with them? Maybe. We have to decide how much we want these 40 or so acres to keep on eliciting those special feelings in us. Each time we see them. Maybe 10 acres are enough to keep our souls happy. Maybe not. Just like we have to reflect on the quality of the decision to use so much coal on an island with one of the world's best air quality. Not very smart for the poster child of sustainability, eh? It's like running a central bank like a tabazi. While the owners of the salt pans have every right to find ways of optimising their assets we have to realise that in Mauritius our land use is not exactly world-beating. Maybe we got carried away with the toxic mantra of 'grot' at all costs?

It's never too late to do good though. Let's immediately liberalise the importation of sugar to help make it easier for us as a country to preserve important parts of our souls. We've been there before with La Vallee de Ferney. 10 years ago. Let's do it again!

Harbour Bridge Project Should Be Scrapped

We can spend the money a lot better. Like injecting billions of rupees into the CNT to purchase enough buses to match the calibre of our new airport terminal. So that when you hop onto one you are not putting your life at risk. This should help people leave their cars at home and reduce the pressure on our roads and health system. And help Mauritius overtake Estonia as the place with the planet's best air quality.

Besides it would make a lot of sense -- especially after we've seen what Tsunamis have done in 2004 and 2011 -- to displace the centre of gravity of our economic activity southwards. So that if Port-Louis is struck by a deadly wall of water, we can be back in business a lot quicker. Elsewhere. But we don't want to build a new city on our best arable land. No, we should use our marginal ones. Foodwise.

Meet The ABS

In this drawn-to-scale chart, B is the fraction of Mauritius under sugar cane. A is the rest of our island. The corresponding squares in the lower half of the diagram are the contributions of these sectors to our economy: sugar is expected to account for only 1.4% of GDP in 2012.

And S which is barely greater than what we have under sugar cane is Singapore. I've put a question mark there to represent its off the charts economy -- roughly twice the size of our passport.

Clearly there is way too much land under sugar cane. We could start by following Lalit's advice of bizin plant manze lor later tablisman. This will make us more resilient because it will ease pressure off our trade relationship with the rest of the world and improve food security at the same time. And having more of A and less of B will significantly boost the rate at which decent jobs are created in Mauritius. Without the galloping inflation bean-counters are so fond of delivering.

We should also restore progressiveness in our tax laws so that the claim that our PM is a socialist starts to ring true. And to put our fiscal house back on a sustainable path. Finally if we replace sugar cane with trees on a sufficient scale this could help us secure some extraordinary bragging rights: having the world's best air quality. Which will provide Mauritius with a killer tagline: Go Ahead, Take a Deep Breath!

State Proudly Hatching Traffic Frankenstein

By building a lot of roads worth several billions of our tax rupees. With the hope of reducing road congestion. This is unlikely to happen because traffic follows enlargement of road network literally in lockstep.

Will the LRT contemplated help? Not necessarily our best move. We could instead consider intermediate solutions like those implemented in Curitiba. Investing in buses of higher quality and fitting them with cameras would also enable travellers to enjoy the world's second best air quality in a more relaxed environment. Almost round-the-clock. And at the same time save the views that nature has made us famous for from a concrete invasion.

This will depend on thoughtful policy-making. Something that's been absent in Dodoland for several years. And which is too much to ask from the PMSD.