On this Saturday 7th May 2022, the MSM held its weekly press conference at the Sun Trust building in Port-Louis. During this press conference, the Minister of Energy and Public Utilities, Joe Lesjongard assured that the CEB is already taking steps to replace the energy input, that was provided by the two Terragen Ltd engines.
He also added that “Terragen’s decision has brought the government to take urgent actions concerning this matter. With the measures taken, we can provide the needful energy to the country. We are managing the situation and it will be even more manageable in winter when the energy consumption decreases. We have a responsibility, and we are doing our best to take it on”.
On the other hand, the MSM president strongly denounced the attitude and comments of members of the Opposition, especially those of Patrick Assirvaden, Osman Mahomed and Arvin Boolell of the Labor Party, who have called for the contract extension to be made public. While maintaining that the authorities concerned will make the contract public, Joe Lesjongard commented on the contracts that were written in the years 1998 to 2000 and from 2012 to 2020. He pointed out that bagasse prices are indexed to coal prices. When coal prices go up, bagasse prices go up,” he said.
As a reminder, Terragen Ltd, an Independent Power Producer (IPP) holding an electricity generation contract with the Central Electricity Board (CEB), has decided to stop its electricity production on Friday 29 April 2022.
The Minister of Arts and Cultural Heritage, Avinash Teeluck, was very critical concerning the Motion of No Confidence being lodged by the Leader of the Opposition, Xavier-Luc Duval (XLD) against the government. According to him, this Motion has no reason to be and is only a waste of time because the “Parliament is above all and above all to seek explanations and answers on important issues that affect the population.”
“Pe perdi letan parlman kan ti kapav servi sa letan la pou poz PNQ, PQ ou debat lor bann proze de lwa,” said Avinash Teeluck.
He also stressed that this Motion is a tactic of the Opposition stating that “Amenn to mosion No Confidence nou pe atann twa. Nou ki pou poz twa kestion dan parlman. Nou ki pou demann twa ki tonn fer dan le pase”.
In addition, the Minister also highlighted that the measures taken by the government in the previous and current mandates, including the minimum wage, the increase in the pension, the “negative income tax” and subsidies on various products, are helping the population to cope with the economic crisis prevailing in the world following the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
The Minister of Financial Services and Good Governance, Mahen Kumar Seeruttun was also present at the press meeting.
