The voices are being heard from all sides, and various pressure tactics are already being announced. With petrol costing Rs 74.10 and diesel Rs 54.50, a first in the history of Mauritius, it was predictable that the Opposition and activists would not remain quiet. Linion Pep Morisien is calling for a Fuel Strike on Monday 22 May and the Association des Consommateurs de l’Ile Maurice (ACIM) has announced a protest rally for 28 May.
Justifications and explanations
According to the STC’s communiqué of 18 May, without the 10% limit imposed by Regulation 8 of the Consumer Protection (Control of Price of Petroleum Products) Regulations 2011 on the latter increase, petrol would have cost Rs76.47 (i.e. Rs 9.07 representing an increase of 13.46%) and diesel Rs69.11 (i.e. Rs 19.51 representing an increase of 39.33%).
The justification given by the managing director of the State Trading Corporation on the Wednesday TV news was that “We had no choice! Every time a ship comes to deliver petroleum products in the port, the STC suffers losses of Rs 350 to Rs 400 million. It was necessary to limit the losses. The problem is real in the world market while the prices of petroleum products keep increasing…”.
Acting Minister of Commerce, Sunil Bholah’s explanation did not differ much from the STC DG’s justification, “the government is helpless and cannot do otherwise… it is the consequences of the invasion of Ukraine that is impacting the price of oil per barrel. Oil was at $113 a barrel on Wednesday 18 May. We are suffering the consequences of this rise in the price of oil on the international market”.
The Opposition comments freely
Arvin Boolell is direct, “the people are suffering from bad political decisions” and cites in passing the terminated contracts with Betamax and Mangalore Refineries in India. The PTr leader believes that the government has no vision. “He does not know what decisions to take, especially in a difficult period, to revive the economy. This is an unacceptable blow. It seems that the government has self-condemned itself”.
For Nando Bodha, leader of the Rassemblement Morisien and member of the ‘Espoir’ platform, “Nearly half of this new price represents the oil taxes imposed by the government. This price will certainly be revised downwards in the next budget”.
Dev Sunassy of Linion Pep Morisien demands “the reduction of the various taxes on petroleum products. Protestations will follow”. Initially the next demonstration was going to be about abolishing the wearing of masks outdoors. The new increase in fuel prices is now on his agenda.
Quick reactions and future actions
On Thursday 19 May, Linion Pep Morisien has demonstrated outside the PMO offices in Port Louis. Led by Bruneau Laurette, the activist publicly accused the government’s ‘Chess Game’ of expressly raising fuel prices in order to lower prices in the upcoming budget. He announced his Fuel Strike for Monday 22 May. “As the alcohol test is done anytime, anywhere and anyplace we will ask motorists to test their engines anytime, anywhere and anyplace. Therefore, I will test the reliability on the St Jean road, the road that Pravind Jugnauth takes. The government takes Mauritians for ATMs. It is not normal that we pay so much for petrol and that Ministers go and have fun in Dubai”. He also appealed to the Opposition to come forward because “their Fuel Allowance is also paid by the State, therefore public money”. Bruneau Laurette made it clear that this operation should be carried out in several regions and advised motorists to leave their cars at home, not to fill them up and to use public transport to get to their places of work, even if it means being late. This is an action, which he said, could not be penalized in a “national cause” situation. The bosses do not pay to travel by metro. “Travel only by bus” is calling for a boycott of Metro Express services. He, however, pointed out that this fuel strike is not against the petrol station owners and asked them to show solidarity in this strike. “The increase does not benefit the petrol stations but the government. This mobilization is to change things. If the service stations close for two or three days, we’ll see if things do not change”. For his part, Raouf Khodabaccus described the increase as “savage. I call on the police to side with the citizens and not with this ‘vampires’ government”
Jayen Chellum, the secretary general of ACIM, denounced at a press conference on Thursday, the “exorbitant taxes” on fuel and other solutions that the Ministry of Finance could have considered, such as tax increases on companies that made large profits during the pandemic period. In this suffering, he is calling on NGOs and the various trade union fronts to join in his rally announced for 28 May. In addition, Jayen Chellum is still leading the fight to get more than 50 cars approved for the rallies. As a reminder, this imposition by the Commissioner of Police had forced him to cancel his rally against the high cost of living on 30 April. He believes that “this decision cannot stand since thousands of vehicles circulate the streets of the capital on a daily basis without restriction.” Considering this imposition, “the vehicles should have circulated by number of 50”, he points out in his contrast.
