Sugar Sector: Signing the Agreement Endorsing the Merger of Supporting Institutions

The Mauritius Sugar Industry Research Institute (MSIRI) this year celebrates the 59th year of its existence. However, a dramatic change will occur in its history. It will not change or functions, or mission name. But no longer master of its destiny. It will sell the site it has occupied since its establishment to another entity. 

This follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Faugoo Satish, Minister of Agro Industry and Vishnu Ramasawmy, coordinator of 21 unions five federations, Tuesday, March 27, 2012 at Vaghjee Hall, Port Louis, 

The signing of this agreement marks the end of a process of an essential aspect of the reform of the sugar industry. This relates to the merger into a single entity from six institutions, namely the Mauritius Cane Industry Authority (MCIA), the Mauritius Sugar Industry Research Institute, the Control Board, the Farmers' Service Corporation, the Mauritius Sugar Authority, the Mauritius Sugar Terminal Corporation and the Sugar Planters Mechanical Pool Corporation. 

These six institutions are financed from a tax commonly known as the Cess levied on revenue from each ton of sugar planters in the sugar industry. A condition of this reform is that this tax should be drastically reduced. For the harvest of 2011, it rose from Rs 514 million to Rs 287 million. To achieve this, there were not many solutions. 

The merger was essential. In the process, only MSIRI and Control Board will retain their respective names. MSIRI retain its autonomy in the research but will be administratively under the authority of the MCIA to be chaired by Ram Prakash Nowbuth, Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Agro Industry. Its CEO is Vinod Boyjeenauth. 

Reform the industry had imposed Faugoo Satish, a size requirement. He had to demonstrate that the process of restructuring would be completed by March 31, 2012. At stake, the disbursement of funds to support the European Union. 

Four days before the deadline, Satish Faugoo managed to get the representatives of 21 unions to affix their signatures to a memorandum of understanding history. Specificity of the agreement: no job losses, three options with very favourable terms to 908 employees concerned, namely, a voluntary early retirement, redeployment within the public service or an application for inclusion in the MCIA.