Madam Speaker, the Police Department, in particular ADSU, and the Mauritius Revenue Authority are the two main agencies responsible for the fight against drugs, in particular the prevention and illegal entry of drugs into the Republic of Mauritius. I am informed by the Commissioner of Police that both the Police Department and the Mauritius Revenue Authority officers work in close collaboration for the detection of illicit drugs at the ports and the airport. They make use of an array of surveillance and detection tools for that purpose.

31 I am sure the hon. Member would appreciate that, for obvious reasons, I cannot give details of the equipment in use nor the protocols that have been put in place. I am also informed, Madam Speaker, that as the modus operandi of drug traffickers keeps on evolving and they make use of the latest sophisticated equipment, it is imperative that our surveillance system be continuously enhanced to keep pace with the latest trend. Consequently, there is need to provide our law enforcement agencies with state-of-the-art equipment and to ensure that they have a replacement policy for obsolete equipment. Moreover, these agencies should ensure that provisions are made to enter into maintenance contracts so that all new and existing equipment are fully operational at all times for cost-effectiveness and efficiency purposes. This was not the case before. In addition, Government will invest in tailor-made capacity-building programmes for the upskilling of the personnel with regard to the detection of drugs, including synthetic and novel drugs. I wish to reiterate, Madam Speaker, that the fight against drugs is one of the topmost priorities of this Government. We are already translating our pledges into actions, which are now showing results. To this effect, from November 2024 to March 2025, drugs for a street value of around of Rs1.2 billion have been seized. In the same vein, in line with the Government Programme 2025-2029, we will today itself introduce the National Agency for Drug Control Bill into the National Assembly to provide for the establishment of a National Agency for Drug Control, which shall be the apex body for addressing the drug issue, including prevention and drug controls.

Thank you. Yes!

Madam Speaker, it is a fact that we have noticed an increase in drug abuse in our country. I would like to know from the hon. Prime Minister if our intelligence gathering agencies have at least detected an increase in import of drugs through our main ports? Thank you.

Yes, that is the case! That is why we had this large uphold of – I think I mentioned the figure – Rs1.2 billion.

Thank you. Yes, the hon. Second Member for Mahebourg and Plaine Magnien!

32 SSR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT – PARALLEL RUNWAY CONSTRUCTION – LAND ACQUISITION