Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Johanne Prosper
Published on 2024-03-30 15:00:37
“No government has taken responsibility for the deaths caused; in 56 years of independence, is that all the consideration that the state has for its citizens?” “We are not asking for anything extraordinary, yet: a little respect, consideration to ease our pain, which is unbearable; insupportable. Each of these families has lost wives, children, husbands in unprecedented circumstances, it’s true. But no government until now has been willing to take responsibility for these human losses! Samem tou konsiderasyon enn pei kapav ena pou so bann zanfan?” Allan Wright lashes out at the outset.
Eleven years already. Since the tragic Black Saturday that claimed the lives of 11 Mauritians when torrential rains fell on Port Louis: 152 mm of water in 90 continuous minutes. “The other families and I had quickly begun legal proceedings to hold the state accountable for the loss of our loved ones. The case is still ongoing. We needed concrete actions; answers. But what we all find absurd is that no regime, no government has ever deigned to offer us an opening, a glimmer at the end of this seemingly endless tunnel. In 56 years of independence, is this all a country can do to ease the pain of citizens victimized by an unprecedented tragedy?” Allan Wright wonders.
In the deadly Flash Floods of March 30, 2013, he lost both his wife, Sylvia, and their second son, Jeffrey. Since then, he and Jason, his eldest, have been living an unspeakable rift: “The irony of life is that this Saturday, March 30, is also the eve of Easter, just like it was in 2013. For the past 11 years, Jason and I have lost all joy in celebrating any festivity… Everything tastes bitter. Which celebration to celebrate when there are no loved ones to feel happy about? When their deaths are still not acknowledged, when you cannot ignore them, when you cannot move on…” He adds, “it’s not just us. In each of the 10 other families, it is the same suffering, the same distress… No one can move on, cross the threshold, move forward…”
“Gooroochand and Brinda died of grief”
Allan Wright, a natural fighter, admits nevertheless: “We all have had our hearts broken on that March 30th. This rift never leaves us; it is unbearable.” Time, imperturbable, passes. But not without damage. He adds: “in eleven years, we have lost two parents of the victims. There is Keshav Ramdhari’s father, Gooroochand, and the mother of brothers Amrish and Trishul Teewary, Brinda.”
Allan Wright minces no words: “These two parents died of grief, it is heartbreaking. The death of their children has struck them down… And the fact of not having a response, nor concrete action from the authorities to take responsibility for the loss of these human lives, has obviously overwhelmed them. They kept knocking on doors, seeking answers. None. Their hearts have been so shattered in the way they lost their children. None of us who have lost our loved ones have the taste to live anymore… Time has stopped for all of us since that day. And every year, we live with the slim hope that finally something concrete will come, with a government that will pinpoint responsibilities… But nothing on the horizon yet.”
Allan Wright highlights the injustice of being forced to live without answers. “We did not lose our loved ones in an accident or any other known event. Yes, what happened was unprecedented. But these people did not die just like that. There were failures, shortcomings, human errors that led to, caused the death of these people! Where are those responsible? Who didn’t do their job as needed? Why were there no sanctions, no measures taken, when the authorities said, never again?”
Allan Wright emphasizes: “Can one imagine anything worse for parents than burying their children, their spouses? Sons, the breadwinners of the family? And for 11 years, we have been condemned to survive like this: hostages of our own lives, without any hope. Is that fair?”
Black Saturday
Like Allan Wright, the Ramdharys lost their son, Keshav, their main breadwinner in the dramatic Flash Floods of March 2013. The Khoosye couple also lost their only son, Praveen Kumar, known as Vikesh. Vinod Khoosye, the father, has abandoned all the projects he had for Vikesh.
Brinda Teewary is also doubly burdened: her two sons, Amrish and Trishul, die in the tragic episode. “She was left alone with her daughters-in-law and grandchildren to raise… She fought bravely, as much as she could, to ensure them a decent life. But the grief in her heart eventually overcame her courage,” adds Allan Wright. Brinda Teewary and the mother of Keshav Ramdhary are sisters.
On this Black Saturday, Sylvia and Jeffrey Wright held, as usual, one of the two refreshment points in the South tunnel leading to Caudan Waterfront. In the other shop, at the other end, Amrish and Trishul Teewary, and Vikesh Khoosye, had come to visit their cousin Keshav Ramdhary, the shop owner. When the 152 mm of rain poured over the capital, this tunnel was quickly flooded with rising waters that these six people did not have time to escape from… Their bodies would be found and extracted once the authorities had evacuated the water.
“Jason still trembles when he remembers how he helped recover the bodies of his mother and brother. His tears flow nonstop… You know what this suffering is like? Even today, for both of us, these moments are still vivid and present in our minds and hearts. It’s as if it were yesterday… Like us, each of these families lives through the same ordeal,” says Allan Wright.
Open wounds
For the Bobhany family, time has also stood still. Jenita, the only daughter of bank employee Rabindranath, and Santa, the widow, have supported each other. The young woman got married, but, like Jason Wright, regrets that her two parents were not together for this great moment.
Marie Helene Henriette, sister of Stevenson, both from Rodrigues and living in Baie-du-Tombeau, is traumatized. She admits that as soon as heavy rains fall, she trembles with fear and searches for her husband, children, and grandchildren…
Sujatha, who lost her brother, Retnon Sithanen, and her mother, has sought refuge in prayer. Véronique Lai, of Malagasy origin, has lost all her bearings and has had all the difficulties in the world to provide for their children alone…
“The time has passed, but the wounds are still open. We live in permanent emptiness. We await answers, actions. Some measures have been taken, superficial. Last January, with the passage of Cyclone Belal and the torrential rains that accompanied it, we narrowly avoided a new disaster,” recalls Allan Wright. This Saturday 30th, around him, the other parents and relatives of the victims will symbolically lay flowers and their prayers at the foot of a memorial erected in memory of these Mauritians who died in tragic circumstances. Their humble request: “that their deaths do not fade into oblivion. Let lessons be learned and let human justice be done.”
Flash Floods, flash back
This Saturday 30th of March marks exactly 11 years since the terrible flood disaster of 2013 that claimed the lives of 11 Mauritians. The irony of life, this Saturday 30th was also the eve of Easter, just like that year…
Sylvia Wright (46 years old) and her son Jeffrey (18 years old), the Teewary brothers, Amrish (24 years old) and Trishul (19 years old), their cousin, Keshav Ramdhary (29 years old), and another relative, Vikesh Khoosye (25 years old) perished in the South tunnel leading to the Caudan Waterfront.
Vincent Lai Kin Wong Tat Chong (45 years old) and Rabindranath Bhobany (52 years old) found their death in the underground parking of the Harbour Front as they tried to flee in their cars, and the water rose too quickly. The bodies of Stevenson Henriette (32 years old) and Retnon Sithanen (36 years old) were found in the Pouce River, swept away by the raging waters. The eleventh victim is Christabel Moorghen, a resident of Canal Dayot. Shocked by the rising waters, a heart attack took her last breath.
152 mm of rain fell on Port Louis and lasted 90 minutes. One of the first episodes of flash floods that the country discovered and experienced. Definitely the deadliest episode as well. In those few minutes when torrential rains – a phenomenon hitherto unknown to Mauritians – fell on the capital, Place d’Armes turned into a giant open-air pool while several main roads turned into rivers where cars, buses, trucks, and other vehicles floated! An unprecedented sight.
In front of the wide-eyed and incredulous eyes of hundreds of Mauritians going about their usual business, this tragic Saturday, who narrowly escaped death. Everywhere in the capital, human chains were formed to help each other and not be swept away by the angry currents that flowed through the streets, turning them into raging rivers!
But this was not an unprecedented disaster. On March 26, 2008, the village of Mon-Goût in Pamplemousses experienced a similar tragedy. Laura Paul, a 14-year-old student at Merton College, was returning home from school in a similar downpour when she was trapped and swept away by the Citron River.
A Fact-Finding Committee was instituted. The report of former Judge Bushan Domah provided parameters and recommendations. Yet, five years later, Port Louis saw 11 more Mauritians perish.
And in January 2024, once again, the catastrophic scenario would be repeated almost in the same area…
Read the original article(French) on Le Mauricien
