Opposition Leader Xavier Luc Duval was in front of the press on Tuesday afternoon to comment on the PNQ addressed to Agro-Industry and Food Security Minister Maneesh Gobin regarding the cost of renovation and redevelopment of the Splash and Fun Park. According to Xavier Duval, Minister Gobin did not even deny the statement made that it was his colleague Mahen Kumar Seeruttun who was the minister when the board of directors appointed Preetam Boodhun as the chairman of SIT.
It is unacceptable, says the Leader of the Opposition, for Minister Gobin to say that he does not know what is going on during the SIT board meetings when there has always been a PS and a PAS representing the Ministry of Agro-Industry on all SIT boards.
According to him, everyone should know what the Sugar Investment Trust is, which is the reason for this PNQ. The Sugar Investment Trust is a trust created and voted by the Parliament in 2001 for 55,000 small farmers, artisans and retirees of the sugar industry. These 55,000 people were made shareholders of the trust and their contribution was deducted from their salary, sugar money and pension. At the end of each year, they received dividends based on the money invested. But unfortunately, these people are facing the same situation as the SIT by receiving 10 times less dividends than before, even Rs 150 to Rs 500 per year.
“li pe deperir l’argent sa 55 000 dimoun la” are the words echoed by Xavier Luc Duval mentioning that today, SIT is one of the owners of the water park and other investments. He added that in 2017, SIT had a turnover of 1.3 billion rupees with a profit of about 77 million rupees. In 2019, before the Covid explosion in Mauritius, SIT had a turnover of only Rs. 220 million with a deficit of Rs. 111 million in 2019 and a deficit of Rs. 128 million in 2020. In short, a company with a multi-billion-rupee turnover has suddenly found itself in trouble under Seeruttun’s leadership.
Coming back to the Water Park, it is well known that the park has experienced nothing but deficits since its opening and had to close its doors due to the death of 2 children and injuries to many people. Despite this, in 2018, Mr. Boodhun came with a Rs. 350 million project that reaches about Rs. 380 million and opened the park without any market research or consultation to make the project a success. Everything was done internally.
According to an internal audit report, many of the park’s attractions do not work. For example, the lazy river is dry, the pirate ship is completely rusted out, the restrooms are not maintained and the list goes on. The only attractions that are truly functional are those that existed when the park first opened. Not to mention that the first park cost almost half of what it does now. Nothing works, so where did the 380 million rupees get spent!
