MSM press conference, Saturday January 20, hosted by Joe Lesjongard and Bobby Hurreeram. Both addressed the recent events linked to the passage of tropical cyclone Belal near Mauritius.
The President of the MSM highlighted the government’s swift action to recover the country from Cyclone Belal. He praised the efforts of essential services such as the police, local authorities and ministries, which worked intensively to help the population. Minister Lesjongard also spoke of the global challenges posed by climate change, underlining the adverse impact of natural disasters on everyone’s lives.
Regarding the resilience of the CEB network, Joe Lesjongard highlighted the efforts of CEB and CWA employees to restore electricity and water after the cyclone. He explained that there had been 43,700 faults on the CEB network after the cyclone, attributing some to obstacles such as falling trees and flooding. The Minister recalled previous cyclones and power cuts, underlining CEB’s ongoing work to restore power after such situations. The Minister of Public Utilities reported that, at 10 a.m. this morning, 321 subscribers were still without power. Joe Lesjongard assured that the power network would be 100% restored by this evening.
Joe Lesjongard also expressed his dissatisfaction with certain politicians who had criticized without all the necessary information. He insisted on the importance of truth and denounced the approach of certain political leaders.
Bobby Hurreeram expressed his condolences to the road victims and praised the courage of the essential services. He explained the reasons for the flooding in Port-Louis, pointing to exceptional weather conditions and soil saturation due to a particularly wet year in 2023. Bobby Hurreeram highlighted the government’s efforts to combat climate change, criticizing the media for questioning the effectiveness of drainage projects.
For his part, Bobby Hurreeram stressed that “zero risk does not exist”. The Minister of National Infrastructures claims that several drainage projects are underway.
