Resumption of the National Assembly: Top 100 PQs on the agenda for next Tuesday

Regardless of the judgment of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council on the petition contesting the results of the vote of November 7, 2019 in Quartier-Militaire/Moka (No 8), the Question Time section of the resumption of work of the National Assembly of next Tuesday, promises to be extensive. Top 100 Parliamentary Questions (PQs) appear on the Order Paper, approved during the deliberations of yesterday's Council of Ministers. On a quantitative level, the Leader of the House, Pravind Jugnauth, takes the lion's share with 17 calls for the half hour of Prime Minister's Question Time (PMQT), suspense being the order of the day as to the content of the Private Notice Question from the leader of the opposition, Xavier-Luc Duval. For her baptism of fire On the Minister’s Bench, neophyte Dorine Chukowry will have to prepare to answer at least eight Substantive Questions, not counting additional ones on hotly topical issues, including the prices of petroleum products.

Only the Minister of Health, Kailesh Jagutpal, finds himself with a higher number of PQs, i.e. 11, while the Minister of Finance, Renganaden Padayachy, has eight questions. But all things considered, his deputy, given that the Grand Argentier is currently participating in the joint general assembly of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Marrakech, Morocco, namely the Minister of Industry, Sunil Bholah, will have to face, among others, Arvin Boolell, i.e. the Casino Permit granted to Jean-Michel Lee Shim next to the Metro-Express station along the Saint-Jean route in Quatre-Bornes.

For Tuesday's parliamentary session, the ministers with more than five PQs are: Joe Lesjongard (Public Utilities) 8; Anwar Husnoo (VPM and Minister of Regional Administrations) and Kalpana Koonjoo-Shah (Gender Equality): 6 each; Steven Obeegadoo (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Housing) 5. It is clear that with the mourning of his father, former minister Prem Koonjoo, we should expect to see Kalpana Koonjoo-Shah benefit from the compassion of Honorable Members of the Opposition for Tuesday's sitting.

On the other hand, the coincidence of the draw of the PQs meant that the first two of the Prime Minister's Question Time focused on the distant islands of the republic. Thus, Arianne Navarre-Marie of the MMM will ask the Prime Minister to make a statement on the state of negotiations initiated with the United Kingdom regarding the exercise of Mauritius' sovereignty over the Chagos archipelago. This question has all its relevance with the new configuration in the Middle East in the wake of the war between Israel and Hamas since last Saturday.

For his part, Aadil Ameer Meea of the MMM stands ready to raise his concerns about the On-Going Projects carried out in Agalega. Time Permitting, he would like to obtain from the Prime Minister details on the delivery of the work on the landing strip and the jetty in the archipelago and a possible visit by parliamentarians, representing this part of Mauritian territory.

At the time of the PQs addressed to the ministers, Deven Nagalingum (MMM) will question the Minister of Transport, Alan Ganoo, on the Taxi Operators Welfare Fund, in particular the revenues, salaries and other remuneration received by the Chairperson Parwez Nunoo as well as the members of the Board.

The Attorney General and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maneesh Gobin, will be contacted by Richard Duval (PMSD) regarding the appointment of Junichiro Ikeda, the Chairman of Mitsui Osk Lines as honorary consul.

Stéphanie Anquetil (PTR) will seek to know from the Minister of Gender Equality, Kalpana Koonjoo-Shah, whether there has been an investigation into allegations of abuse and brutality against a child in Child Day Care Center in Beau-Champ.

Farhad Aumeer (PTR) will question the Minister of Health, Kailesh Jagutpal, on the shortage of medicines in hospitals and will ask him the reasons as well as the measures taken to remedy it.

The new Minister of Commerce, Dorine Chukowry will initially be questioned by Reza Uteem (MMM) and Nando Bodha on the structure of gasoline and diesel prices after the recent meeting of the Petroleum Pricing Committee. Eshan Juman (PTR) for his part will demand information from the minister regarding the management of ration rice shipments to the State Trading Corporation (STC), the current stock, its marketing as well as government subsidies on this convenience of base.

Joanna Bérenger (MMM) will question the new Minister of Agro-industry, Vikram Hurdoyal, on the monkeys found in Jin Fei and the actions taken by the authorities as well as the amounts paid to Biosphere.

Patrick Assirvaden (PTr) will discuss with the Minister of Energy and Public Services, Joe Lesjongard, the contracts that the company Corexsolar has won from the Central Electricity Board (CEB) since 2020, demanding details about the amounts involved.

Ranjiv Woochit (PTr) will also have a question addressed to the minister on the renewable energy projects submitted to the attention of the Mauritius Renewable Energy Agency (MARENA) since 2020 and the analyzes carried out as well as the contracts allocated.

Rajesh Bhagwan (MMM) will target the director of the Central Water Authority (CWA), Prakash Maunthrooa, seeking information on the latter's salary package since he took office as well as the facilities made available to him including use of an official car.

Aadil Ameer Meea (MMM) will demand from Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Local Government, Anwar Husnoo, details regarding the municipal reform put forward to justify the postponement of the municipal elections last June.

The Opposition Whip, Patrice Armance (PMSD), will want to know the latest developments surrounding Phase 4 of the Metro Express project, namely the extension from Réduit to Côte d'Or via St-Pierre.

Karen Foo-Kune Bacha (MMM) réclamera du Deputy Prime Minister et ministre du Tourisme Steven Obeegadoo, la liste des bénéficiaires de permis de bateaux de plaisance depuis janvier dernier.