The 40th anniversary of the MSM party is being celebrated in style. The kick-off event was held at the International College in Triolet on the afternoon of Friday 12 August. Other speakers at the event included Minister Kalpana Koonjoo- Shah, Minister of Labour and Commerce Soodesh Callichurn, Attorney General Manish Gobin, MP Joanne Tour, No 5 Sharvanand Ramkaur. Pravind Jugnauth’s speech began with the party song “Soleil lever eclair simin pou l’avenir nou ban zenfants… Sa ki nou lé”.
Making history together
He began by paying tribute to those great pillars who built and marked the party such as Carl Hoffman and Sir Aneerood Jugnauth. He announced that he was proud of his comrades to mark new pages in the history of the government under the Sunshine Party. “We will also make history together. History is already written, every time the MSM is in power, Maurice Rodrigues, Agalega and this struggle to regain our sovereignty over Chagos. We have for progress, development and social advancement,” said the PM. He noted that at every turn, the MSM finds itself facing unimaginable challenges, “since 2019 we are facing the unparalleled pandemic in the world, global health has been affected. We are still suffering from the aftermath of the pandemic but we are moving forward. The World Bank has commended us on our initiatives such as supporting workers with the Wages Assistance Scheme, Self-employed. We are four countries in the world that have done this.
Covid 19
The PM mentioned the expenses related to the purchase of medicines and vaccines, criticising his “demagogic” opposition critics for secretly wishing that “this pandemic crisis situation would never end”. He advised his constituents to proceed with the second Booster Dose just as members of the government have done “We must not be careless; the vaccine lasts only for a certain period. We don’t just say but we do what we advise. We even had the second Booster Dose vaccinated. Don’t take unnecessary risks, especially the elderly or those with health problems.
Pravind Jugnauth then commented on the new Opposition Alliance which “wants to put Dr Navin Ramgoolam in charge of the country”. He questioned his title of Doctor saying that “I learned that he is anti-vaccine”. He recalled an event, shortly before Dr Ramgoolam fell prey to Covid 19, where he had personally advised him about the vaccine and where the latter had openly responded by denying it. He also returned to his gesture of having done everything “without putting politics” to send him to India for his treatments, reproaching the Red Leader for his recent comments. “I am not going to dwell on these comments, I have sent him that despite everything, I will support him in his health needs.
Still on the subject of Covid 19, the PM recalled the good gesture in adopting barrier gestures even if the restrictions are lifted.
Russian-Ukrainian war, effects and solutions
Pravind Jugnauth said that the country is slowly recovering from the Pandemic, the effects of the Lock Down and the closure of the borders “our economy had compressed by 15%”. He went back to that blow with the War between Russia and Ukraine causing the crisis and Inflation. He called the opposition “disgusting” and said that some of the press were advocating negativity around inflation on a daily basis “blaming the government. We are experiencing disruption in the food sector because of the war but also climate change. We have given subsidies on basic commodities to the tune of 1.5 billion. But we couldn’t go on like this. Despite the losses, we are continuing to provide subsidies for rice, flour, household gas, oil, etc. We are continuing to study the possibilities with the Ministry of Trade. He also recalled the marketing of the Smatch brand of the STC but also “the price of home-made bread that we are trying to keep at the same affordable price”. The PM also recalled his efforts in “increasing the pension from Rs 1000 to Rs 2000 even if it costs the government a lot”. He did not fail to recall that he had increased the minimum wage to Rs 11,500.
Priority infrastructure
On the infrastructure development projects in the 20 constituencies, Pravind Jugnauth conceives that “we may not have achieved all that we promised because we find ourselves sacrificing on certain developments to share equitably”, recalling the work on drains, flyovers, sports complexes in Cote d’Or but especially the project to build 12,000 homes which are not lacking in criticism from the opposition. The 12,000 houses are not built overnight. They are not just built in models”.
The PM also elaborated on the developments in the Health sector accelerated with Covid 19, highlighting “the University Hospital in Bel Air Flacq specialising in the treatment of Cancers, a Cardiac Hospital in Cote d’Or, a new Eye Hospital in Réduit, a Transplantation Unit at the Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital in Rose Belle among other projects”. He did not fail to announce for Triolet, the Triolet Arena Sports Complex and the big Market.
He concluded on his tensions with the various political formations against him or he understood that for his political detractors in alliance with certain Media “In their Gang Up, the Man to be shot is Pravind Jugnauth. I am not afraid because my conscience is clear, I speak only the truth and I focus only on implementing what we promised to the people. He did not fail to recall the controversies on which he has long been worried such as Med Point, the tag of Prime Minister l’Imposte in 2014, Rigged elections, Kistnen Papers, Angus Road, Mac Laren, the latest allegations of Sniffing and the ongoing investigations of the CCID…
He ended by thanking the people who have never stopped trusting him. He joked after the opposition alliances which he called a “Chemistry”. The PM recalled his commitment against drugs and the Mafia.
