Madam Speaker, I am informed by the National Archives Department that the Digitalisation Programme, which is an ongoing exercise, has already enabled, under Phase 1 and 2, approximately 1.3 million pages to be successfully scanned, indexed and uploaded on the Document Management System. These records comprise a wide range of archival materials, dating back to the colonial period, including secretariat correspondences, official government papers, administrative records, judicial and magistracy records as well as other historical documents of national and heritage value. I am further informed that the National Archives Department is currently finalising the scope of services and the bidding documents for the implementation of Phase 3 of the project, whereby about 400,000 archival records will be digitised. Madam Speaker, as regards documents of heritage value pertaining to Rodrigues, I am informed that all the 101 volumes of archival records, representing approximately 50,000 pages, have already been scanned and digitised as at date. These include secretariat correspondences, secretariat papers and Rodrigues magistracy letters, covering the period from 1795 to 1929. The process of the uploading and indexing these reports on the Document Management System is ongoing. I am further informed that the Archives Department is already providing access to scanned records upon request, including from the Rodrigues Regional Assembly. However, the Document Management System has not yet been deployed for online access as there are some technical issues with the system, and which are currently being looked into. Moreover, to facilitate the sharing of archived information with our counterparts in Rodrigues, a Memorandum of Understanding between the National Archive Department and the Rodrigues Regional Assembly is currently being finalised by my Ministry. Madam Speaker, I wish to highlight the House that the initiative of digitising our archival records, including the records pertaining to Rodrigues, forms part of Government’s broader strategy to both preserve archival heritage and progressively enhance access to historical records through modern digital platforms and strengthen institutional collaboration. Thank you.

Yes!

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I thank the hon. Minister for his answer. May I know from the hon. Minister, given that the public and we, from Rodrigues, cannot get online access to the readily available digitised archive system, what is the timeframe to allow access thereof? The approximate timeframe. Do we have a timeframe?

The timeframe, if you can.

Approximately.

As I said in my reply, there are some technical issues on the system. We are working on it. As soon as it is okay, it will be available shortly.

Good! Mr Edouard, last question! RODRIGUES VEHICLE FITNESS CENTRE – SERVICE INTERRUPTION & DECENTRALISED OPERATION