A Climate Change Bill will be introduced soon into the National Assembly. The main object of the Bill is to implement, with a view to addressing the adverse effects of climate change and developing Mauritius into a greener economy, the obligations of Mauritius under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement and any other related instrument on climate change. The Bill also establishes a legal framework towards making Mauritius a climate-change resilient and low emission country.
Month: October 2020
234 new Wi-Fi hotspots to be installed soon
An additional 234 free Wi-Fi hotspots will be installed soon in different regions of Mauritius and Rodrigues. The new Wi-Fi hotspots, which are in addition to those that have been already installed by Mauritius Telecom, aim at providing a wider coverage of Wi-Fi accessibility in these regions. The setting up of the additional hotspots would span over a period of three years.
Civic Amenity Centre
The first Civic Amenity Centre (dechetterie) will be operational at La Chaumière by November 2020, thus setting the pace to moving towards a circular economy as announced in Budget Speech 2020-2021. A Civic Amenity Centre is essentially a facility whereby households and small and medium enterprises can dispose of specific types of wastes, which normally are not collected as part of the normal waste collection service. It consists of containers/bays for temporary storage of different sorted waste fractions whereby recyclers collect the ‘waste’ materials for further processing.
Plastic-free Mauritius
The making of Mauritius a plastic-free island is on. Sensitisation campaigns would be launched on 15 October 2020 by the Ministry of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change, in line with the measure announced in the Government Programme 2020-2024 to make Mauritius a plastic free country. To ensure the effective implementation and enforcement of the Environment Protection Regulations, a mass sensitisation campaign would be undertaken as from 15 October 2020 up to April 2021 whereby, information regarding the banned products, alternatives available and penalty for offences under the Regulations would be widely disseminated.
Tougher penalties for offences regarding littering and illegal dumping
Fines applicable for offences of littering and illegal dumping in four Local Authorities will be aligned with that of the Local Government Act 2011 and to the Local Government (Dumping and Waste Carriers) Regulations 2003 being amended to provide for tougher penalties for the offences of littering and illegal dumping as well as additional technical specifications and new conditions being attached to the issue of a Waste Carrier Licence.
Beach Management Plans
Beach Management Plans
The Beach Management Plans at Mont Choisy, Belle Mare, Flic en Flac and La Prairie public beaches will be implemented in phases.
The amenities would comprise among others, vigilance towers, parking facilities with surface drainage system, public toilets, kiosks/gazebos, main garbage bins, litter bins, benches and picnic tables, LED solar lighting system, open showers, open gyms and landscaping works.
“Empowering Programme for Housewives on Healthy Lifestyle”
An “Empowering Programme for Housewives on Healthy Lifestyle” will be organized in 30 localities throughout the island which would target around 1500 housewives. The Programme would start in October 2020 and would end by June 2021. The objectives of the programme are to – (a) encourage housewives to adopt a healthy lifestyle; (b) empower housewives with the required knowledge and skills for choosing as well as preparing healthy foods/ meals for their families; (c) teach housewives how to take anthropometric measurements (height, weight and waist circumference); and (d) show housewives how to calculate Body Mass Index (BMI) indicator to determine underweight, overweight and obesity.
PCR tests
Mauritians would be exempted from payment of the three PCR tests and medical expenses in Mauritius. All non-Mauritians are being charged, in addition to quarantine costs, medical expenses amounting to Rs13,500 including three PCR tests, quarantine related Health staff costs as well as a COVID-19 insurance subscribed by the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority from an insurance company.