Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Sarah Jane Lebrasse
Published on 2024-03-19 04:00:57
The Ministry of Blue Economy, Marine Resources and Fisheries, headed by Sudheer Maudhoo, finds itself at the center of controversy regarding its Expression of Interests (EOI) for the management of a barachois known as Pond A in Butte-à-L’Herbe. In fact, the company Rising Tides claims to have held a letter of authorization since 2016 for the implementation of aquaculture projects, including the production of five tons of fish, crabs, and sea cucumbers. Rising Tides strongly contests the EOI titled “to occupy a vested barachois” issued on January 9th and has this week served a notice of demand to the ministry. The protester emphasizes that the authorities are aware that it has been coveting this site for over eight years and that the former minister, the late Prem Koonjoo, had pledged to grant Pond A to Rising Tides.
In this notice served to the ministry of Sudheer Maudhoo through Me Hiren Jankee (attorney), Rising Tides explains that it began proceedings with the relevant authorities in July 2016 to obtain authorization to carry out aquaculture activities in a barachois located in Butte-à-L’Herbe, Grand-Gaube. It claims that, through an official letter, the concerned ministry responded in September 2016 and requested further clarification. The Prashin Rosunee company explains that all the required information was provided and, consequently, an authorization letter was issued to it to carry out aquaculture activities in Pond A of the Butte-à-L’Herbe barachois. This correspondence, according to Rising Tides, explicitly stated that the area of 29,658 square meters would be delimited by the Ministry of Blue Economy.
The four ponds (A, B, C, and D) of this barachois are interconnected and interdependent due to the natural flow of tides, and they must be considered as a single body of water for the safety of aquaculture projects. Rising Tides states in its notice of demand that it had consented and expressly accepted the authorization to implement the aquaculture project in Pond A, assuring the supervisory ministry of its willingness and readiness to move forward since November 2016.
However, Rising Tides also explains that during this period, it provided concrete information to the ministry in the form of a Letter of Intent dated April 4, 2016, from the ministry to another aquaculture project promoter that contained more favorable and accommodating provisions than those offered to it. It argues that a comparison between the two sets of conditions contained in the two letters clearly demonstrated a stark difference in the imposed conditions and reflected “manifest discriminatory treatment.”
Rising Tides adds that in January 2017, the ministry informed it that two conditions related to the presentation of physico-chemical information and security services would change, while others would remain unchanged. The Prashin Rosunee company thus maintains that since January 2017, it had been informed that the ministry would notify it of the signing of the Lease Agreement, and that from that moment on, it had a legitimate expectation of its project being regularized and finalized.
Seeing no progress until April 2017, Rising Tides would write to the Senior Chief Executive as well as to the technical head of the Albion Fisheries Research Centre to inquire about the status and waiting time for the Lease Agreement, as agreed upon since January 2017. It was only in September 2017 that Rising Tides would be summoned by the ministry.
During this meeting, dating back to September 5 of the same year, the company found itself facing a contract that, in its view, contained a series of unilateral statements and highly detrimental conditions, making the project and the business unviable, as noted in the notice of demand. It is explained that in response, the supervisory ministry was informed that the conditions relating to the duration of occupation, the method of contract renewal, and other technical clauses had thwarted the very purpose of implementing the project.
Prashin Rosunee also claims that in June 2021, it had a meeting with Minister Sudheer Maudhoo, Norungee Mangar, and another officer, and was informed that it would benefit from the same conditions as other promoters in this sector. It states that it was notified by post on March 7, 2022, that “application and conditions for the Barachois are still being processed and reviewed and Rising Tides Ltd company will be notified of any developments.”
Thus, it was surprised by the Expression of Interests launched by Minister Sudheer Maudhoo on January 9th for Pond A of the Butte-à-L’Herbe barachois. It believes that the ministry acted in bad faith, as it is explicitly stated that a candidate is not eligible to apply if they “have been granted a Lease Agreement or possess a letter of authorization from the ministry regarding another barachois.” It believes this demonstrates that this clause was purposely included to exclude Rising Tides from this exercise.
The notice of demand was served to the ministry of Sudheer Maudhoo. The latter now has 15 days to respond to this dispute, failing which legal actions will be taken.
Read the original article(French) on Le Mauricien
