The Minister of National Infrastructure and Community Development, Mr Mahendranuth Sharma Hurreeram, met with the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, Dr Renganaden Padayachy, for the policy dialogue in the context of the preparation of the 2022 – 2023 Budget, on Monday, in Port Louis.
In a statement after the meeting, Minister Hurreeram highlighted the importance of the construction industry for economic recovery, particularly with the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Ukraine-Russia conflict. According to Mr Hurreeram, discussions with the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development also focussed on the various road infrastructure and drain projects.
The Minister indicated that with the upcoming Land Drainage Master Plan and the impacts of climate change, urgent measures would be required to protect the population.
Later, the Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Local Government and Disaster Risk Management, Dr Mohammad Anwar Husnoo, discussed with the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, Dr Renganaden Padayachy, his priorities during the policy dialogue held,on Monday, in Port Louis, in the context of the preparation of the 2022 – 2023 Budget.
In a statement, after the meeting, the Vice-Prime Minister pointed out that the main issue at the level of Local Authorities was staff shortages, and proposed, as a measure in the next budget, the recruitment of technical officers and engineers. He explained that inadequate staffing was hindering the completion of projects, for which funds had already been allocated.
Regarding the Meteorological Services, the Vice-Prime underlined the importance of procuring new equipment as well as training of the personnel in the face of the impact of global warming.
As for disaster management, the execution of phase 1 of an early warning system through SMS and the initiation of Phase 2 were the focus of discussions. Dr Husnoo stressed the importance of having an early warning system via mobile phones to communicate to the population any risk information, such as flash floods, as rapidly as possible, so that they could take the necessary precautions and ensure their own safety.
