Second Reading THE APPROPRIATION (2025-2026) BILL (No. XIV of 2025) Order read for resuming adjourned debate on the Appropriation (2025-2026) Bill (No. XIV of 2025). Question again proposed.

Yes, hon. Minister of Land Transport. (12.18 p.m.)

Madam Speaker, in June 2024, during a symposium at Caroline, hon. Dr. Navin Ramgoolam had stated the following – “Les prochaines élections impliquent la survie de l’île Maurice’’ And he was not wrong. Today, we are living this reality. The measures recommended in this budget exercise may be tough but I believe, we all must come together on them for the sake of our children and grandchildren. Having said so, I express empathy to our brothers and sisters who were eagerly looking forward for their pension payment. The Prime Minister has done it, as well. He said that it is not avec gaieté de cœur but these measures are somehow needed as it has been amply explained how their pension will be delayed in payment in ranging from one year to five years. It is indeed a very emotional issue. We are in this sorrow state of affairs because of the legacy that MSM has left us after ten years in office. In making the increase of pension payment an electoral promise in 2014 and 2019 elections, without any plan to sustain the system in time, the MSM and the Minister of Finance, have led this country into the abyss. Mr Jugnauth, must instead, come out and explain how he, in the current situation he left us in, would have been able to finance pension as per normal without compromising others’ disposable incomes, their future pensions and the national debt level. The current Prime Minister and Minister of Finance has shown a lot of courage to tackle a problem from which the previous government had chickened out. And, I wish to commend him for his consideration for the future generation. In the Bible, it is said – “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” From 2015 to 2024, I have attended almost all the Parliamentary sessions, save for, when I was not in Mauritius. Week in week out, I have seen how the country was going into the abyss. And, there was nothing much that we could do here in Parliament. When I heard the hon. Leader of Opposition seeking protection from you the other day, it actually tickled my funny bone. It made me laugh. He forgot what and how Phokeer was; not only for his constant bullying – we were prevented from asking important questions. Questions that the former government’s ministers were constantly bolting away from. It was common practice for the then Prime Minister, to be allowed to drag his first PQ in Prime Minister’s Question Time for 30 minutes, in order for him to get away, scot-free from embarrassing questions – questions on real debt of the country, scandals in ministries, looting of National Banks, mismanagement of procurement processes, non-performing parastatals, SPVs, to mention but a few, were put away with great facility. One evening, in 2017, at Centre Idrice Goomany in Plaine-Verte, in a meeting organised by the Young Wings of the Labour Party of Constituency No. 03, hon. Dr. Navin Ramgoolam, had asked me to speak. During my speech, I said from my experience from a civil servant, I did not prepare the speech on that day–from my experience as a former civil servant, that damages that the MSM was causing will be very difficult to repair. And, today, this is a fact; we can see it. The abyss is a reality and we needed to come out of it, together, as one people as one nation. The hon. Minister Shakeel Mohamed, has just returned from Singapore, and he was questioning me about the pension system in Singapore. He was there last week. Madam Speaker, I started off my career in Singapore as an engineer by contributing 20% of my salary every month, into the Central Provident Fund and my employer was doing the same. And that, I think the hon. Uteem was there at the material time when I was working, and that’s the only pension there is there. It is fully contributory. Bearing in mind the emotional aspects here in Mauritius, there, in Singapore, no pension is paid from government taxpayers’ money. Call it by any name, be it Pay As You Earn, CSG, at the end, it tax payers’ money of Mauritians. Since the presentation of the budget, I have made three public interventions. The first one was six days, after, on MBC TV. Last week, together with the hon. Uteem, to school students in our Constituency and last Saturday, I intervened on Radio Plus because there was someone who was talking about the CNT. So, in an impromptu manner, I was questioned for about 40 minutes by Mr Nawaz Noorbux on the pension system. I was off-guard but I replied to his question. Madam Speaker, I opened the book to him, on radio. I told him that our pension is fully contributory. And, I even asked him – “Do you know how much is deducted from our salary every month?” Because everybody says that MPs and ministers are paid hefty pension at end of their career. I opened the book and I told him – “If I add my pension, if I add my family protection scheme, if I add other social contributions, there is a total of Rs26,000 that is deducted from my salary, every month.” And I am not talking about tax, PAYE– another Rs20,000. So that’s Rs46,000. I explained it to him. So, if I have been a Minister in this Parliament for three mandates, it will be about Rs5 million that I would have contributed to my own pension fund over time. It works exactly like a private pensions fund. So, it’s fully contributory. There is a misconception outside. And he asked me about my car facilities, I told him – “You know I am still using Mr Ganoo’s car, that is five years old. It has 165000 km at the odometer, it breaks down very often. My officers are saying maybe I should consider changing that car for economic sake.” And he asked me about my duty-free car. Why should it be three years instead of five years? And I gave him my own example; I said that my own duty-free car is more than four years old. I have an Audi, more than four years old, and I told him that the Prime Minister has told us to travel only if there is a need to travel and everybody is abiding by that. So, there is a misconception, people are using MPs as excuse to criticise the measures that are needed in this budget. Well, I had to say it because I think it is important sometimes to say things. Let me move to the Land Transport sector, Madam Speaker. When Mr Jean Todt came to Mauritius on invitation of the hon. Prime Minister, he suggested the creation of a Road Safety Fund for which the budget has made mention this year. I have had the chance to talk to the Minister of Financial Services, under whose Ministry falls the subject of insurance, an important stakeholder for the creation of this fund. In his first public declaration after the budget presentation, I heard the former Minister of Land Transport, Alan Ganoo, criticising the innovative financing mechanism that seeks to ensure the long-term sustainability and effectiveness of our road safety initiatives. So, I am a bit baffled by his position on this. Let me remind him that under his ministerial watch, 26 traffic lights at critical locations for road safety had remained faulty for several months. We have initiated necessary actions to repair, and same will be functional very soon. In the new penalty point system which will be online rather, with the use of driving licence counterparts, we shall introduce a bonus concept, whereby drivers who have accumulated penalty points may, under certain conditions, have a reduction in the number of points accumulated. Also, it is envisaged that a special protocol be accorded to professional drivers for buses, taxis and goods vehicles due to the nature of their job and the amount of time they spend on the road, which make them more vulnerable actually. Furthermore, our commitment to road safety begins this year with substantial financial allocation of Rs205 million that will be invested to fund critical infrastructure upgrades across the country and which will include – 1. Improve road markings and signage; 2. Enhanced delineation in accident-prone areas; 3. Installation of additional speed calming measures; 4. Upgrades to dangerous intersections, and lastly 5. Development of safer pedestrian crossings. Before leaving the road safety subject, let me put on record my sincere thanks to the Ministers and MPs of Constituency No. 3 and No. 2 for assisting me in Plaine Verte yesterday in sensitising the participants on the limitation of the size of objects to 3 metres height during procession for the forthcoming Ghoon, that is, the Yamse, and the forbidden practice of carrying electric generators on road. Now, objects during procession are limited to height to 3 metres. So, the House will recall that the new regulations were applied for the Maha Shivaratri procession earlier this year following which, there was no accidents recorded, unlike the previous years, as we all know. So, we are expecting the same collaboration for Yamse this year. Madam Speaker, on social media, I see a nickname name that is being given to me ‘hausse man’ because in the land transport sector, there are a lot of hikes in prices. For example, the increase in road taxes for all categories of vehicles and the introduction of retention fee for all and personalised registration marks for vehicle. So, I will talk about them briefly. Let me begin with the most…

But ‘Haussmann,’ in Paris, was a very important person with fantastic roles. Maybe that is what they meant!

Thank you! The most contested one, Madam Speaker, is about the personalised and registration marks for vehicles. The present all registration marks are issued from number 1 to FN 2500, and from FN to ZZ followed by a number between 1 and 1000. The budget measure announced will enable vehicle owners to have a wider choice as to the range of all registration marks that will henceforth go beyond FN 2501 up to FN 9999. So, more variety in numbers. Similarly, numbers FN to ZZ will also be available from 1 to 9999 in each series. This change in combination will, however, require an amendment to be brought to the definition of all registration marks in Section 2 of the Road Traffic Act. However, there have been several representations and sometimes, several legitimate points put forward by those who have already paid for the numbers in the past. In order to work out what may be the most reasonable formula for this proposed budgetary measure, the number of registrations mark will have to be first drawn, keeping in mind the legal issues that may arise with the introduction of that fee. As regards the particular legal aspect, I have spoken to the hon. Attorney-General and subsequently to the hon. Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and the Junior Minister as well. The new management at the NLTA will work closely with the Ministry of Finance so as to expeditiously chart across the way forward in a fair, legal and reasonable manner on this budgetary measure. A formal communication will be issued in due course. Madam Speaker, the main objective behind readjusting the prices of vehicles is firstly to address a challenge that the touches the lives of countless of Mauritians: the escalating issue of road traffic congestion and its indirect impact of those of the working class who get stuck, stressed and even delayed to work every day. I met with the representatives of the Government Services Employees Association recently, following a letter they had written to the hon. Prime Minister and copied it to me. Their main qualms were transportation and traffic jam related problems facing civil servants working in Ebène and in Port-Louis. The same problem that applies to all Mauritians actually. Madam Speaker, the number of vehicles on our roads has increased by 46% from 2015 to 2024, reaching 722, 000 vehicles as at December 2024 under the MSM regime. To the point that my friend, Mr Khalil Elahee has coined the following sentence – « Plus de voitures que de bébés qui naissent à Maurice. » Indeed, last year, there was a record of 35,000 new vehicles on our roads. This government of change could not adopt a more responsible approach. Madam Speaker, more vehicles also mean more road crashes and fatalities. This 46% in fleet has led to an increase of 40% in road crashes over the same period. There were nearly 40,000 of road accidents last year. A very high figure indeed! Building more roads does not necessarily improve traffic congestion problem. The congestion con is a phenomenon that I have been talking in this Parliament since 2022 during the budget exercise actually. Exactly 2 years ago! It simply says that more roads mean more vehicles given time. The previous government has left us with three clear examples – 1. The roundabouts at Ebène, which I had the chance to talk with my hon. colleague, the Minister of Public Infrastructure, and that of Curepipe have caused more traffic jam. 2. The SAJ Bridge, like I mentioned in Parliament before, has led to more vehicles being on the M1. This causes traffic jam as well as at the entrance of Port Louis. 3. With more vehicles comes the difficulty in finding parking slots, and sometimes disputes and road rages. Sound and air pollution are out of control. Our air quality has deteriorated from being the second position in the world to sixth position because of more vehicles coupled with the fact that our grid has become more polluting as it uses more coal than during the days of Maurice Île Durable. I think hon. Patrick Assirvaden has explained this last week. So, even the electric vehicle is more polluting today than the conventional car if it uses the CEB grid. The stability of the electricity grid has become a problem as well. Charging electric cars after office hours coincide with peak-time electricity demand, and this causes shortages in supply on the electricity grid. This is why our new fleet of 105 electric buses of the CNT – 100 are from India and 5 are from China – will be charged off grid on the grid of the CEB at CNT depot. As regards increase in road taxes, what we normally call as declaration, it was done to keep up with cost of living since it was last reviewed some 15 years ago during which period, the country has experienced an average annual increase in inflation of 3.7% yearly. Therefore, making it a total over 15 years of more than 50% if compounded. The abolition of registration duty on the sale of and transfer of domestic preowned vehicles, however, seeks to encourage sale of cars within the country, and will hopefully bring down the annual increase rate of additional vehicles on the roads and all its associated problems. Let me now move to another measure, Madam Speaker. I am glad that the hon. Minister of Finance has confirmed the financial provision of Rs78 million for the first time ever in a budget exercise for the fleet management system, which when implemented, will bring many benefits to commuters like –  real time passenger information on smartphones;  Better planning of bus travel;  NLTA to real operational reports;  Government to pay strictly for services provided, and  Improvement in service level through better compliance with time table and bus releases. It will take some time because there is a procurement process to follow. This is the normal process of the Ministry. For about three weeks now, there is a new management at the head of the NLTA with the coming back of former Commissioner Mr Nabeebaccus and his deputy Mr Appa Jala. It is only now that we can see daylight about how things were being done there. Application for transfer of public service vehicles, taxis, public buses, contract buses were received as far back as 2020 and were left pending at the NLTA which includes 135 applications for transfer of taxi licenses from individual to individual, from late licensees to their heirs, from heirs to full time drivers and succession which have remained pending since 2020, 2021 and 2022 causing ruthlessly immense hardships to vulnerable families. 40 applications for transfer of contract car, contract bus and road service licenses, 12 applications for petrol station service licenses, 1 application actually for a new station date back to 2019. I have to say that things were left in a drawer and I cannot possibly tell why, for obscure reasons. The new management at the NLTA has processed some 40 applications for registration certificate of works as full time and part time taxi driver. The applicants have already been notified of the outcome of the application. So, that is three weeks of work. Madam Speaker, I have so far replied to several to Parliamentary Questions on poor service level provided by bus companies because of a weakened NLTA over the last ten years and that is at supervision level which was very low. We have made provision for 11 Management Support Officers at the NLTA to give assistance to the Inspectorate cadre, after having attended a crash course so to speak for them to be acquainted in their new role on the field as opposed to doing office work. They have been posted at major bus terminals like Jan Palach, North and South, Victoria Urban Terminal, Place Margeot and Immigration Square. I shall ask the NLTA to review their placements as and when needed for them to continue to monitor bus services and compliance of operators with the approved time table of operation on which they are paid through public funds up until the time the Fleet Management System is up and running and then the system will become autonomous. Since we are at the NLTA, let me mention that a holistic business process reengineering exercise will be undertaken at the NLTA in line with the revised digitalised plan. This was never budgeted by the previous government. Already, we have launched an online MVL payment system together with my colleague the hon. Minister of ICT, also called paiement de declaration which, if everybody adheres to, will allow 550,000 vehicle owners to pay their road tax online. This is going to be the largest online platform for taxes in Mauritius ahead of the MRA which has very good system with a client base of 200,000. We have 550,000 potential customers going online for payment of declaration. So, eventually, we have done the calculations the other day, we can even go up to 577,000 vehicles. We are talking about cooperatives, farmers and taxis. Since we are talking about taxis, the Cabinet of Ministers has taken cognisance of the appointment of a 33-year- old economist Mr Ka Yee Leung Tak Wan as Chairperson of the Taxi Operators Welfare Fund last Friday. He is the holder of BSC in Economics with specialisation in Transport and Logistics Management. I hope he will bring the Taxi Operators Welfare Fund to a different level and to the satisfaction of the taxi operators’ community. I have spoken to Mr Leung over the weekend and suggested to him that getting taxi drivers on MauPass and other administrative issues being cleared will go a long way to facilitate their eventual payment of their declaration online and so, they can pay their monthly contribution of Rs300 to the fund rather than having to go there all time to pay. This will facilitate matters. I have also told Mr Leung that he must endeavour to clear all those taxi drivers who are currently in very difficult situations and who are awaiting their due compensation from the Taxi Operators Welfare Fund according to law. Madam Speaker, the decentralisation of the NLTA is yet another realisation to be witnessed in a very near future. This initiative aims at bringing our services closer to our people while optimising on our resources and promoting the customer-oriented approach. The proposed NLTA sub-office at Phoenix will also cater for a Vehicle Registration and Transfer Centre with a one-stop shop whereby both the NLTA and the Registrar General’s department will be housed under a single roof in the office space that was used before by Larsen & Toubro during the construction of the metro system. The renting out of this facility will bring non-fare revenue to Metro Express Ltd just like the forthcoming renting out of the ex-dormitories that Larsen & Toubro was using for its 1050 workers at Cité Richelieu during construction. We are working together on this to provide a large-scale facility for foreign workers to be housed there. There was a proposal to have a quarantine facility there but the hon. Minister of Agro-Industry has agreed not to proceed with this. So, we are now awaiting clearance from the Ministry of Housing and Lands. The renting of this facility will bring non-fare revenue to Metro Express Ltd just like the forthcoming renting out of the ex-dormitories. The NLTA facilities at Phoenix and in the North and in smaller offices at Victoria Urban Terminal will alleviate the customers in the nearby regions and those of the south such that they would not be required to travel to Port Louis to undertake transfer of ownership and registration of their vehicle; a source of complaint we have seen on social media many a times. Madam Speaker, the bridge to the future cannot be conceived without a clear vision for a modern and sustainable transport system. This can be related to Metro Express Ltd. Over the last few months, since I became Minister, we have worked hard to improve its finances and services. Metro Express Ltd has been paid a total of Rs70.1 million by Alliance media for advertising along its properties. And here I have to thank the hon. Ms Stephanie Anquetil for questions that she had put in Parliament. So, Alliance Media has paid us Rs70.1 million following your question. For several years until I became Minister, that company had paid Rs19.9 million. This is what Metro Express kept telling me. The previous administration was very tolerant towards non-payment and one can only wonder why. The previous administration did not do its level best for the company, that is why the deficit is Rs300million. To further improve the financial situation, we have closed down useless offices in Ebene for which high rental was being paid. We have added two idling trains at peak time to better service commuters and to enhance income. We have embarked on the aggressive campaign ‘to pa payer, to taser’ to lower fare evasion. As I had mentioned in my reply to hon. Ms Anquetil last Tuesday, a Parliamentary Question on security services, the board of Metro Express Ltd met on Saturday Morning and decided the following –  To terminate the contract of Edmond Securities;  To seek police assistance and recruit another security company, and  To initiate campaigns so as to go cashless as from January 2026. So, please, all of you buy your ME cards. I am confident that the annual deficit of Rs300million will be lowered this year. I am confident that it can be further lowered if we manage to recruit a good CEO through the recruitment process that we have embarked on, especially non-fare revenue potential that the facilities at Phoenix and Cité Richelieu can offer to the company. Madam Speaker, the National Transport Corporation is at a cross road towards sustainable public transportation and the pressing challenges facing the national bus service. I always look at my friend, hon. Jugurnauth when I talk about the NTC. We had embarked on a recruitment process for a General Manager but same has not been successful as the panel chaired by the Senior Chief Executive of my Ministry did not find the appropriate candidate. I shall brief the Cabinet of Ministers next Friday, hopefully, and the decision taken accordingly. The Government of Mauritius has taken a decisive step towards modernising our public transport system with 105 electric buses this year. I wish to inform the House that 10 electric buses out of 100 donated by the Government of India and another five donated by the People’s Republic of China are already in Mauritius. The remaining 90 electric buses from India will be shipped in three batches of 30 during the month of October to December 2025. Meanwhile, the CNT is pressing up with the installation of charging facilities as per the established roadmap. We are monitoring closely its prompt implementation and we are watchful of any mishaps or sabotage that could potentially happen in this very hostile environment left behind by the previous administration. The whole country knows how on one particular Monday morning, on a busy school day, two CNT buses caught fire and were completely burnt. We are leaving no stones unturned by a thorough rotating policy to cater for all eventualities. Meanwhile, we are eagerly waiting for the findings of the Financial Crimes Commission inquiry on fake spare parts that were sold for the price of original ones, as narrated to me by my good friend, hon. Jugurnauth. Fake parts bought for the price of genuine spare parts! I hope the FCC can talk to him one day because he has all the details that he can give to facilitate this inquiry. This daylight robbery has caused a lot of damages and I dare say beyond repair to the NTC. We remain convinced that the previous administration, the daylight robbers did not undertake audited accounts for all their years in office for one simple reason: to be able strike down the NTC. I feel very sad and sorry for all the hardworking people of the NTC. Today, even their pension fund is at stake. We are going to be united with the employees and return the glory days back to the NTC. Having said so, a comprehensive review of the NTC’s financial model is underway to ensure long-term viability without overburdening taxpayers. Further expanding on the modernisation of our bus fleet, Madam Speaker, the Bus Modernisation Scheme would be optimised to fully support renewal of bus fleet. A sum of Rs100 m. per year is earmarked under the Item – Bus Modernisation Scheme for the next three years to provide all bus operators serving along bus routes with financial assistance that will enable them to renew their buses. A financial support of Rs1 m. is provided for the acquisition of a semi-low floor bus while Rs700,000 for a high floor bus. However, it has been observed that bus operators were reluctant to acquire semi-low floor buses as they face numerous problems with this specific type of bus, including recurrent breakdowns and some even catching fire. We cannot continue putting the lives of our commuters in danger. Thus, my Ministry will revamp the Bus Modernisation Scheme to support the renewal of the bus fleet to increase the number of buses in operation, as well as to contribute to reducing the transport problems presently being experienced along many routes. In the same vein, we will also review the age limit of public buses. As we embark to re-engineer on public transport system to offer better service and comfort to commuters, there is an urgent need to safeguard the financial sustainability of the public transport sector. The newly setup Road Transport Advisory Board, last Friday, by Cabinet, will be tasked to undertake this important exercise. Madam Speaker, to conclude, the measures enunciated for implementation in this budget exercise are visionary measures for the working generation and the young people. It is a budget of sustainability compared to the ponzi-like budgets of the previous government where there did not seem to have any tomorrow. They were giving eggs to the population and stealing elephants through the backdoor. Yet, you could see them calling out shamelessly on the streets only two days ago. This is the minimum of shamelessness. I think the hon. Assirvaden had used the word ‘sharam.’ This is besharam!

Translate, please!

Besharam means shameless! Today, we are facing the impending danger and existential threat of a country in financial crisis facing a dangerous global economy worsened by the war between Israël and Iran and now with the USA directly involved in it, which will bring major economic shock to the world. This Government is doing its level best to turn the situation around for our own sake and for the sake of the population. My very last word, Madam Speaker, is for the people of Constituency No. 2. I will never forget the trust they put in me. It has been the same for the last ten years, and will continue to the same as long as I am standing here. In my actions, I also have them in mind. I thank you all for your attention.

Thank you! I suspend the Sitting for one and a half hour. We will come back at 2.30 p.m. At 12.52 p.m., the Sitting was suspended. On resuming at 2.31 p.m. with the Deputy Speaker in the Chair.

Please be seated! Hon. Prime Minister, I understand that you have a statement to make.