Professional Documents
Culture Documents
REPLY
(16 APRIL 2019)
Madam Speaker,
As the House is aware, it is a known and accepted fact that climate change
has increased the frequency, intensity and severity of disasters particularly for
small and vulnerable Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like Mauritius.
According to the last report of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) published in October 2018, there is now a higher prevalence of extreme
weather events such as flash floods, rainfall variability and intense tropical
cyclones.
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Part A
Madam Speaker,
1. Fond du Sac has been regularly affected by flooding due to the local
topography of the village which has poor drainage capability and the fact
that major run-off is generated from sugarcane fields located at higher
grounds.
2. In view of its complexity and extensiveness, it was decided during the first
quarter of 2016, to appoint a Consultant in order to identify the best option
for long term remedial measures.
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Part B
Madam Speaker,
As regards part (b) of the question, I am informed that there were 92 plots
of land which needed to be acquired over a total area of around 21 arpents for
the constitution of drains, at Fond du Sac.
The Land acquisition process is fairly lengthy exercise. It involves survey
of land, definition of land acquisition limits after consultation with various
stakeholders, namely the National Development Unit, the Consultant, the
Planning Division of the Ministry of Housing and Lands, District Councils and
Water Resources Unit to sort out issues and constraints prior to finalisation of
drain alignment, access to land-locked sites, width of drains and its reserves.
In the case of Fond du Sac, the main hurdles were the identification of the
land owners and searches had to be carried after which survey started in
May 2017 and completed in December 2018. Survey plan and notices under
Section 8 of the Land Acquisition Act was prepared and finalised and approved
on 21 February 2019.
Regarding the remaining 6 plots, the addresses of the owners have been
traced on 11 April, 2019 and notices under Section 6 were issued on the same
date. For these plots, Section 8 for compulsory land acquisition will be issued
by 26th April, 2019 after the legal timeframe of 14 days for Section 6. The
6 plots will be transcribed after 21 days as provided in the law that is around
17th of May 2019.
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Part C
Madam Speaker,
With regard to Part (c) of the question, I am informed that the Consultant
Mega Design Ltd, had since December 2018, already submitted draft bidding
documents for the appointment of a Contractor to execute works at Fond du Sac
the following works amongst others:
(i) construction of a 2.0 m high floodwall over some 700 m;
(ii) construction and upgrading of a naturally lined cut-off drain 3 m
deep 18 m wide over a length of about 1.3 km;
(iii) construction of masonry lined drain over about 300 m;
(iv) construction of a detention (flood retardation) basin of capacity
83,000 m3 upstream of cut-off drain with flow regulation structure at
outlet;
(v) construction of culverts over cut-off drain across Forbach Road and
Fond du Sac Main Road;
(vi) Upgrading of drain along Fond du Sac Main Road;
(vii) Secondary drains and re-profiling of roads; and
(viii) Relocation of services.
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Part D
(d) state if financial compensation is being paid and, if so, indicate the
eligibility criteria therefor and number of beneficiaries thereof?
Madam Speaker,
With regard to part (d) of the question, in accordance with the First
Schedule (Part 1) of the Social Aid Regulations 1984, flood victims are paid a
daily flood allowance of Rs 182 per member of the family per day for a
maximum of 3 days if, firstly, their premises have been flooded and, secondly,
their foodstuffs have been damaged. The payment is released subject to a police
memo certifying that the foodstuff has been damaged. The amount of flood
allowance paid to the victims of the torrential rain of 09 April 2019 at Fond du
Sac, as at yesterday 16.00 hours, is Rs 63,518 covering 111 households
consisting of 349 persons.
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The total compensation payable from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund to
the victims of Fond du Sac, as at date, will amount to Rs 1,779,000. Payment
has started yesterday and is ongoing today.