Madam Speaker, since I have assumed office as Minister of Land Transport, I have had repeated complaints from residents of St Hubert from one Village Councilor of that locality, Mr P.J., also known as Nitin, as well as from my colleagues from Grand Port, hon. Ms Babooram, hon. Mr Seeburn and the questioner, hon. Mr Ramdass, on the irregular and unsatisfactory bus services being provided by individual bus operators along route 87 and route 11, meaning St Hubert to Curepipe and St Hubert to Mahebourg, respectively. As the problem was persistent and occurring on a daily basis, I convened a meeting at my Ministry on 23 January 2025, at which were present my three colleague MPs, the Village Councilor and representatives from the National Land Transport Authority to consider the problem. During the course of the meeting, Madam Speaker, some disturbing information was provided on the bus releases as recorded on the stand regulator sheet and subsequently tampered with in the returns from the Bus Owners Cooperative Society of the South, on the basis of which payments are effected to bus operators of Routes 87 and 11. The stand regulator sheets for Routes 87 and 11 for the last week of December 2024 were obtained together with the returns from the cooperative society. A scrutiny of both documents disclosed glaringly the existence of a collusion between the bus operators and the

47 cooperative society to defraud disbursement of public funds under the free travel scheme and subsidies on diesel. The comparative exercise carried out revealed that the cooperative society wittingly ignored the entries made on the stand regulator sheet where buses were absent from operation during the whole days as well as where buses had performed a significantly lesser number of trips. In both instances, the cooperative society had recorded the buses to be present in service throughout the month and credited these buses with a higher number of trips in spite of these buses being completely absent on some days. In December 2024, the NLTA effected full payment for all operators of routes 87 and 11 as per the returns of the cooperative society in spite of the fact that two buses were absent for a total of three days out of seven days for which a thorough forensic exercise was carried out. Also, a full diesel subsidy was paid to all the bus operators. In light of the outcome of the comparative analysis carried out, the NLTA had disbursed Rs9,405 in excess on free travel and Rs3,885 in excess of diesel subsidies. These amounts, Madam Speaker, appear insignificant at first look, but I would like to stress the fact that the scrutiny of records focused on only two problematic buses over a period of seven days, out of which, three days the buses were absent, and for which claims were fraudulently claimed and fully paid for. But then, there is a total of over 800 individual bus operators grouped within cooperative societies who have been operating under the same payment system for the last 20 years, that is, since the introduction of the free travel scheme and other financial support, such as the diesel subsidy. When this finding from the forensic exercise is brought to the national level, for 800 individual bus operators on a scheme that cost taxpayers Rs 2.5 billion yearly, therefore tens of billions of rupees over 20 years, one can easily deduce that the amount defrauded could be in billions over the last twenty years! The more so, the number of complaints my Ministry receives day in, day out. Madam Speaker, the Government and the travelling public are not deriving the full benefits from this scheme, and hence, I would like to thank my colleagues MPs from Constituency No. 11, as well as the Village Councillor, Mr Nitin, for their precious help in bringing to light the malpractice outlined above. I would like to encourage my other colleague MPs to report cases where they consider that public funds are being defrauded.

48 The NLTA has been instructed to record a statement from the Village Councillor on the inaccuracies disclosed. This statement has been referred to the police for inquiry and eventual prosecution. I am tabling a copy of the statement with the permission of Mr Nitin. As for Routes 87 and 11, my Ministry intends to consider the invitation of applications from the public to replace the unscrupulous operators, and the provisions under Section 77D of the Road Traffic Act will be used to expedite their replacement. Madam Speaker, may I now seek your indulgence for a few more minutes to tell the House and the stakeholders the remedial measures which are part of the substantive question that my Ministry is taking in respect of the systemic problems regarding the poor level of bus transport service occurring around the island in order to have better control over the operation of buses and for enhancing accountability on the disbursement of public funds to bus operators while ensuring an improved level of service for the travelling public. (i) A fleet management system will be introduced requiring all buses mandatorily to be fitted with a GPS system linked to a control room which will be situated at the NLTA. This system will provide real-time information on the number of buses in operation as well as the number of trips performed. This system is expected to come into operation during the course of this year itself if all goes as scheduled. (ii) The Memorandum of Understanding relating to the payment of free travel compensation signed between the NLTA and the bus operators will be reviewed subject to Government approval from a daily-based payment to a trip-based one. (iii) Similarly, the Fleet Management System will enable a more accurate computation of mileage incurred by each bus on a daily or monthly basis for disbursement of fuel subsidies – diesel subsidies, in fact. (iv) The road service licence of operators not providing services as per the conditions of their licences will be revoked, and as mentioned earlier, section 77D of the Road Traffic Act will be used to have new players. (v) My Ministry will arrange for strengthening the inspectorate staff of the NLTA, which is currently devoid of such officers, and to have Management Support Officers pending a substantive recruitment exercise of the Inspectors. This arrangement will allow for a higher NLTA presence along bus routes and at the stations.

49 (vi) My Ministry is also holding consultations with bus operators to acquire new buses and avail of the incentive provided under the bus modernisation programme. (vii) We will assist, as far as possible, to expedite the recruitment of foreign workers in the bus industry to meet labour shortages. Madam Speaker, to end, the situation in public transport has declined and is today subject to a significant number of complaints that the satisfaction level in all segments of the population is quite low. I am of the view that this is the result of yet another failure of our institutions and a complete absence of bold policies during especially the past 10 years to make the transport sector inclusive and attractive. Therefore, it is worth mentioning that with the collaboration of my colleague MPs and with the Village Councillor, it has taken my Ministry only one meeting to detect and disclose malpractices impacting negatively on the disbursement of funds for which institutions ought to have noticed and addressed, but did not do so. I am therefore taking bold measures to ensure that the roles and the responsibilities of the NLTA are reinforced. Lastly, I wish to reassure the House that my Ministry will ensure that notable improvements are brought to the bus services throughout the island and that all sums of money spent on transport for the mobility of the population are effected with high responsibility and accountability. It is indeed a daunting challenge, Madam Speaker, but I am fully prepared to take it head-on. Thank you.

Thank you, hon. Minister! Yes, the hon. Fourth Member for Rodrigues. RODRIGUES – CATTLE PRODUCTIVITY INCENTIVE