Reply: I wish to thank the hon. Member for putting this question. It gives me an opportunity to expose yet another colossal blunder committed by the previous government for political vendetta and its implications on public finances. The House will recall that there were two main arrangements that were negotiated to guarantee the supply of petroleum products to Mauritius, namely – (i) during an official mission to India, I had asked the then Honourable Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh if we could have a Government-to-Government arrangement with the Government of India, for the supply of petroleum products from Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd, India. The then Prime Minister of India agreed and ensured that it could become a reality, and (ii) through a contract between STC and Betamax Ltd, after tender exercise, we ensured efficient and reliable transportation of petroleum products. These arrangements would have benefitted Mauritius in terms of stability, certainty, and efficiency in the supply of petroleum products. All the expected benefits were undermined by the previous government decision to terminate these arrangements with both Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd and Betamax Ltd, with no due regard to our long established and privileged relationship with India. The termination of the Contract of Affreightment by the STC with Betamax Ltd has led to claims by Betamax Ltd for a total sum of USD 115,267,199 (Rs4.8 billion). Following the decision by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council on 14 June 2021, the STC was ordered to pay an amount of Rs5,552,813,110 to Betamax Ltd made up as follows – (i) Damages Rs 4.77 billion (ii) Legal and Arbitration costs Rs 176 million (iii) Interest Rs 599 million This amount was paid to Betamax Ltd on 22 June 2021 and was financed as follows – • Rs4.6 billion paid from the Consolidated Fund, and • Rs952,813,110 by the STC. Not surprising that the STC went bankrupt and is now heavily indebted. I would like to highlight that such a huge amount had to be met from taxpayers’ money and the then government had to pass a Supplementary Appropriation Act on 30 June 2021 to that effect. The decision of terminating the contract was taken without giving due consideration to its legal and financial implications. This again illustrates the irresponsibility of the previous regime and the cost to the economy due to political vendetta.

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