agricultural lands owned by the Mauritius Investment Corporation Ltd., in Constituency No. 13, Rivière des A…
(No. B/462) Mr R. Jhummun (Second Member for Rivière des Anguilles & Souillac) asked the Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, Home Affairs and External Communications, Minister of Finance, Minister for Rodrigues and Outer Islands whether, in regard to agricultural lands owned by the Mauritius Investment Corporation Ltd., in Constituency No. 13, Rivière des Anguilles and Souillac, he will, for the benefit of the House, obtain information as to – (a) the extent and location thereof in each case, and (b) whether they will be leased and/or put at the disposal of farmers, prospective farmers and SMEs of the region, indicating the procedure to be followed therefor.
Madam Speaker, as regards part (a) of the question, I am informed by the Bank of Mauritius that the Mauritius Investment Corporation Ltd (MIC) has acquired from Omnicane three plots of land of a total of 172 acres in Constituency No. 13 – Rivière des Anguilles and Souillac, which was the constituency of the previous Minister of Finance.
18 The extent and location of each plot of land are as follows – • 38.4 acres at Riche Bois; • 61.0 acres at Britannia, and • 72.6 acres at Tyack. A management contract was entered between the MIC and Omnicane for the latter to plant and harvest sugarcane, to process into cane sugar and other co-products, as well as in the management of sugarcane fields, that is, in between harvesting and during harvesting against a small fee paid to the MIC. Madam Speaker, concerning part (b) of the question, I wish to inform the House that in view of the ramifications regarding the portfolio of the MIC, the Bank of Mauritius is currently examining different options for the restructuring of the MIC, including the optimal use of land assets acquired under very dubious conditions for more than Rs10 billion from Medine Sugar Estate and Omnicane. Furthermore, looking at the price paid for the plots of land purchased by the MIC in various locations, this will be submitted to the Government Valuer for the latter to ascertain whether it was value for money.
Mr Jhummun!
Thank you, Madam Speaker.
(Interruptions)
Too many things happening at the same time! Please!
Etant un vrai démocrate, I know that the hon. Prime Minister will inform the House about the information contained in the management contract; whether it has been done in such a way that it favours the MIC or it is one-sided, favouring only the companies? Thank you.
Yes, hon. Prime Minister!
We will certainly look into that, including the valuation of the plots of lands.
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Yes, hon. Third Member for Port Louis North and Montagne Longue! CIVIL STATUS SUB-OFFICE, TERRE ROUGE – DEPLORABLE STATE – REMEDIAL MEASURES