The Prime Minister, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, was briefed, yesterday, at the headquarters of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Centre (NDRRMC) in Port Louis, by the National Emergency Operations Command, following a torrential rainfall warning issued by the Mauritius Meteorological Services.
In a statement after the meeting, the Prime Minister indicated that the Meteorological Services issued a torrential rain warning for Mauritius at 14hrs30 on Wednesday. This bulletin, he claimed, followed the downpour of heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorms that have been affecting several parts of the country, especially the South, South-East and currently the Central Plateau.
He further indicated that according to statistics collected by the Mauritius weather services, in a four-hour period, some 123 millimetres (mm) of rainfall have been registered in Saint Felix, while in the last 24 hours, 204.2 mm and 156.8 mm of rainfall have been registered in the regions of Plaisance and Riche en Eau respectively.
“We continue to be under the influence of active cloud masses that will cause heavy rain and thunderstorms in the foreseeable future as per the meteorological services,” Mr Jugnauth pointed out.
In addition, the Prime Minister dwelt that as climate change takes place, we are more and more at risk of such phenomena that is, as a matter of fact, happening all over the world. The Government’s primary concern, he underscored, is to ensure the safety of all citizens and, it is in this context that our emergency services including the Mauritius Police Force, the National Coast Guard, the Mauritius Fire Rescue Services and; the Ambulance services, are mobilised.
Up to now, the emergency services have carried out more than a hundred interventions and will be on high alert for as long it takes for the situation to improve, Mr Jugnauth reassured.
As regards the education sector, Prime Minister Jugnauth informed that the Ministry of Education, Tertiary Education, Science and Technology, together with the Mauritius Police Force, is doing the necessary to ensure that students who are sitting for Cambridge International Examinations can do so in a secure environment.
Given the difficult weather conditions that are affecting our country at the moment, the Prime Minister appealed to road users to be cautious and to increase their vigilance. “Leave your homes only when it is required and be careful when undertaking electrical installations in this festive period of Divali,” he urged.
Finally, Prime Minister Jugnauth reiterated that Government will continue to ensure that the emergency services keep a close eye on the prevailing situations, prepare themselves for any unforeseen circumstances and, intervene wherever required.
On this note, he appealed to the population to cooperate with authorities so that everyone remains safe and ease the work of emergency services on-site adding that as the weather conditions evolve, the public will be informed accordingly.
Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth addressed the nation early Wednesday evening on MBC 1, following the torrential rain warning issued by the Vacoas meteorological station. As per the PM, “with environmental change, we are not invulnerable to this present circumstance”. Pravind Jugnauth emphasized that the public authority’s need is to guarantee the wellbeing of its residents, and said that the crisis administrations sent recorded in excess of 100 mediations. He likewise pursued for alert, particularly to street clients.
