Sitting of tuesday 9th november 2010

(No. 1B/556)

Mr E. Guimbeau (First Member for Curepipe & Midlands) asked the Minister of Public Infrastructure, National Development Unit, Land Transport and Shipping whether, in regard to the religious pilgrimages held in Mauritius each year, he will state same, indicating, in each case, the –
(a) names of the religious group/s participating therein, and
(b) amount of grants and financial support in terms of infrastructure and other facilities given by Government, for each of the last five years.

Mr Bachoo: Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, in line with the secular and welfare nature of our country, successive Governments through different Ministries and Departments have always provided support and facilities for religious pilgrimages held locally or abroad. Such facilities range from provision of amenities, security to health. It is the firm intention of this Government to pursue the same policy without fear or favour.

Mr Guimbeau: Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the hon. Minister is not answering my question. Can he table a breakdown of all grants and financial support given to each religious group relating to pilgrimage for the past five years?

Mr Bachoo: Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have got a secular credential. I cannot compartmentalise, because since the very beginning even the previous Governments, we have adopted a policy, whichever Government was in power, that different departments starting from the Prime Minister through the Security Services down the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, CWA, CEB, Wastewater Authority, Water Resources Unit, my Ministry, MPI, NDU, RDA, the Ministry of Local Government through the local institutions and local corporations, at the same time, the Ministry of Environment through the Environment Unit, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Arts and Culture and all Ministries in their own way have been contributing. That is the reason why we would like to maintain the secular credentials and we do not want to compartmentalise and give break-ups of how many rupees and cents have been spent, whichever party/group has been approaching the different departments, has been properly served and given all that was required.

Mr Guimbeau: I agree with all what the hon. Minister says. All I am asking him is to give us a breakdown…

(Interruptions)

Mr Bachoo: It is so difficult…

The Deputy Speaker: Be seated, please! The hon. Member has put the question and the hon. Minister has answered that he does not wish to give the breakdown for some other reasons. I have no control – we cannot just insist and ask the hon. Minister to answer. He has got his reasons and he stated so in the House and we won’t be able to insist even if you are not satisfied with his reply.

(Interruptions)

Mr Guimbeau: Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, we cannot talk about transparency, there is no transparency, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir.

The Deputy Speaker: The hon. Member should put his question if he has any supplementary.

Mr Guimbeau: Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, can the hon. Minister table a breakdown of all improvement made to infrastructure and public services relating to each pilgrimage over the past five years?

Mr Bachoo: I have just mentioned that we have got different departments starting from the Prime Minister’s Office down to all other Ministries. It is very difficult to compute and we do not even keep records, for example, how much of cleaning and painting works have been done. In addition to this, we have got certain works that we do. We do not understand whether it is of secular or religious nature, either it is a pilgrim who is going to use it or whether it is a tourist who is going to use it, whether it is a citizen of the country. If, for example, I am tarring one road that can either lead to a religious place, but at the same time, it may lead to the houses of many people. It can either be a classified road or a non-classified road. That is the reason why compartmentalisation in such matters is very difficult and impossible.

Mr Guimbeau: Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, can we, at least, know how much his Ministry, the MPI, has spent for each of the pilgrimage during the past five years?

Mr Bachoo: In fact, as I have just mentioned, I do not keep records. For example, if I am going to tar the road that leads to Ganga Talao, it is not only meant for those pilgrims who are going to Ganga Talao, it is also meant for the tourists. If I am going to do some work at Père Laval, it is only meant for the people who go to Père Laval, it is meant for the common public also. Similar is the case for all other places where religious pilgrimages are held. This was the policy of any Government which has been in power.

The Deputy Speaker: We move to next question now. Hon. Ramano!