Reply: With regard to part (a) of the question, I wish to apprise the House that the outgoing government had initiated the Emirates Airline Swimming Pool and Sports Complex project in the year 2019, on land partly belonging to Société Central Park and partly on a strip of State land of 3m wide at Phoenix. This project is a tangible proof of the incompetence and gross mismanagement by the former government as State land when, in fact, it was, and is still privately-owned land as at today. I am informed by the Municipal Council of Vacoas-Phoenix that in 2019, the then Ministry of Housing and Land Use Planning vested a plot of land of an extent of 9500 m2, at Closel, Phoenix, into the Municipal Council of Vacoas-Phoenix, for the construction of the Sports Facilities. In the same year, the Municipal Council of Vacoas-Phoenix had put a plot of land of an extent of 5700 m2 at the disposal of the Vacoas/Phoenix Swimming Pool Foundation, for the construction of the swimming pool with associated amenities, in line with the terms and conditions of an MoU between the Foundation and the Municipal Council of Vacoas-Phoenix. In that context, in 2022, the Municipal Council of Vacoas-Phoenix signed a lease agreement with the Foundation to lease the plot of land of an extent of 4000 m2 where the Swimming Pool has been constructed against the payment of an annual fee of Rs500,000. In 2019, the Ministry of Housing and Lands approved the vesting of the subject site of the extent 2A26 in the Ministry of Local Government to be put at the disposal of Municipal Council of Vacoas-Phoenix. However, on 30 April 2024, the Ministry of Housing and Lands waived the vesting of the land formerly belonging to Société Central Park given that the deed of exchange had not been finalized. In order to sort out the land issue, the Ministry of Housing and Lands is presently liaising with Société Central Park to finalise the exchange of land so as to secure title for the plot of land over which stands the swimming pool and also MUGA project. With respect to part (c) of the question, I wish to apprise the House that as per the terms and conditions of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) dated 04 February 2022 between the Council and the Foundation, the latter has to pay a yearly rental of Rs500,000 to the Council for the lease of the said plot of land. In this context, a payment amounting to Rs500,000 was made on 10 February 2022. However, the yearly payment rental for the years 2023 and 2024 have not been made given to irregularity with respect to the land in question.

138 My Ministry is liaising with the Ministry of Housing and Lands to sort out the irregularity on the exchange of land and ensure that the deed of sale is drawn at the earliest. In that respect, a meeting was held at the level of the Ministry of Housing and Lands on 04 December 2024, where it was agreed that officers from the latter Ministry would amend the survey report with the appropriate extend to be exchanged, following which, the deed of sale would be drawn and signed by all parties concerned. UPSEE –EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS ACT 2008 – OBJECTS ALIGNMENT