30/3 and 3/5 Are Our 9/11s

11 people died on 30 March 2013 after 15 centimetres of rain fell on Port-Louis. That's 83% of the 2,996 people who died in the US on September 11, 2001 after adjusting for population. And 34 days later another 11 of our fellow Mauritians perished in a bus accident.

11 people dying in Mauritius is roughly equivalent to the 10,600 lives that were lost in India during the 2004 tsunami. So basically in 2013 we were hit by two deadly tsunamis within about a month.

We cannot forget what happened. Which is why we should refer to them as 30/3 and 3/5 so they stay in national conversations for as long as possible. Just like there is 26/11 for Mumbai and 7/7 for London.

Bus Conductor Sues CNT For Rs15 Million

Ram Bundhoo says that he and his colleague driver, Ganesh Deepchand, who was among the 10 who lost their lives in the Blue Line bus 4263 AG 2007 on Friday May 3 -- the death toll now stands at 11 -- had repeatedly reported mechanical problems with that particular bus.

Ashwin Dookun gave an interview as Chairman of the CNT on Sunday where he recommended that Anil Bachoo take his retirement. He was sacked the next day.

State Flip Flops On the CNT

First it reallocates routes to private companies because a number of the CNT buses are apparently unfit for our roads. That seemed to have been discovered right after 11 people died recently in a gruesome accident in Soreze. And then workers strike because they feel it's a disguised attempt to privatise their organisation essentially asking why would the most profitable lines be transferred if not to further weaken the company.

Government then u-turns under pressure and hands back the lines. The strike stops but then on Friday Cabinet maintains the reallocation of the routes saying it cannot play with the security of passengers.

Now, isn't that funny? Tolerance for killer buses doesn't seem to be uniform among cabinet members. It would be interesting to find out the safety features of the CNT buses compared to let us say those of the official cars that are provided to Ministers. And about the operational history of each of the buses that the CNT bought over the last 20 years or so. Not bad either if we could be told what exactly was done after the accident in Montebello in 2009 where four people lost their lives.

By the way, how come the state buys sophisticated transport equipment like the Airbus A-340 and then buys crap for the travelling citizens. That too after an early harvest and a bumper crop?