Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Sarah Jane Lebrasse
Published on 2024-02-28 09:00:36
The Lord Mayor Isoop Nujurally has confirmed that the twenty or so street vendors operating in Ruisseau-du-Pouce must evacuate the area this week. “We granted them a one-month extension last time on humanitarian grounds. They must leave by the end of February,” he told Le-Mauricien yesterday. The Lord Mayor confirmed that the demolition of the structures will follow.
“The contractor who is supposed to carry out the work is not ready immediately, and it is possible that the demolition will begin in a few days. But, this is not an extension. I ask the vendors to leave because the space where they are located belongs to the municipality,” Isoop Nujurally maintains in this context.
After removing the vendors’ structures, the municipality plans to get rid of the concrete covering the stream. A report from the Fact-Finding Committee, chaired by former judge Bhushan Domah in 2008, recommended its demolition, as well as the parking lot of Air Mauritius and Rogers, as well as the KFC on La-Chaussée. These areas obstruct the flow of water during heavy rains in the capital. However, the municipality asserts that legal actions will be taken against those mentioned, but it cannot destroy the structures in question without a court order.
This is the issue that bothers the street vendors in Ruisseau-du-Pouce. “Why implement part of the report’s recommendation and not the entirety?” one of them questioned yesterday. “We have a legal action in the Supreme Court that is scheduled for June 17. Where we are, they will not respect the law and cannot wait to demolish. But in the capital, they say they have to wait for a court decision before demolishing. What kind of justice are these leaders bringing?” he wonders.
The vendors believe that the municipality is forcing them to accept a place at the Victoria Urban Terminal. “We will not go, see what they will do! We will resist and keep working until the court has made a decision,” maintain those who plan to meet in the coming hours to decide on the course of action.
Read the original article(French) on Le Mauricien
