Association for the Protection of the Environment and Consumers
Statistics Mauritius said that the population of Mauritius stood at 1,266,334, with a rise of 320 (+0.03%) over the population as at 1 July 2021.
This governmental institution said island-wise, the population was as follows: Island of Mauritius: 1,221,844; Island of Rodrigues : 44,216 and Agalega and St Brandon: 274.
Electronic Time Recorders will be used again from September 1 in the public service. As of Wednesday, the attendance of officials will be recorded electronically rather than manually. The use of these machines had been temporarily halted during lockdown to prevent transmission of Covid-19.
Statistics Mauritius indicated Tuesday that the population of Mauritius stood at 1,266,334, with a rise of 320 (+0.03%) over the population as at 1 July 2021.
This governmental institution said islandwise, the population was as follows: Island of Mauritius: 1,221,844; Island of Rodrigues : 44,216 and Agalega and St Brandon: 274.
La barre des 60 % de la population vaccinée contre la COVID-19 a été franchie. Selon le gouvernement, Maurice est le 2e pays d’Afrique, après les Seychelles, avec le plus fort taux de vaccination et annonce qu’à partir du 15 septembre 2021, la vaccination sera obligatoire dans 5 autres secteurs.
The State Trading Corporation will launch a restricted bidding exercises for the procurement of – (i) 50 metric tons (MT) of Instant Full Cream Milk Powder from a shortlist of eight potential suppliers who can supply milk powder of New Zealand origin; and (ii) 95 MT of Soyabean Oil packed in 1 Litre PET (plastic) bottle from a list of 11 potential suppliers from Egypt. These commodities would be imported on a pilot basis.
The government of Mauritius has announced that it will declare sandal wood as a protected plant, following numerous reports that several groups of people have been entering private properties and State lands illegally to cut these trees for the purpose of procuring the said wood for exportation.
In a communiqué, the government said that there has been a rise in the felling of tree species Santalum album commonly known as sandal wood, a culturally significant tree species which form part of the few trees growing on dry lowland landscape of the country.
It emphasized that with a view to halting the destruction and theft of the sandal wood, the Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security would stop the issue of phytosanitary certificate for export of sandal wood by the National Plant Protection Office as an immediate measure and it will also declare sandal wood as a protected plant.
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Mauritius (Bank) on 4th July 2021 unanimously decided to keep the Key Repo Rate (KRR) unchanged at 1.85 per cent per annum.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has, in its July 2021 World Economic Outlook (WEO) Update, maintained its 6.0 per cent global growth forecast for 2021. For 2022, the global economy is projected to grow by 4.9 per cent, up from the April 2021 WEO forecast of 4.4 per cent. Risks to the global growth forecast are tilted to the downside. Widespread disparities among countries and regions are expected to persist.
The recovery of the domestic economy is expected to gain momentum with the re-opening of borders for international travel. Improving external demand, accommodative monetary policy conditions and the government’s support measures are also expected to revitalise economic activity. Bank staff projects real GDP growth of 5.5 per cent for 2021.
Protecting consumers
In the endeavor to protect the consumers, the Government ensured that importers, distributors and retailers do not bear the brunt of this measure. As a result, this Government is providing a subsidy to the importers and distributors through the Mauritius Revenue Authority. This price control measure is estimated to cost around Rs 500 million and is fully funded by Government.
Officers of the Consumer Affairs Unit of my Ministry are effecting daily visits to trade premises and are inspecting supermarkets, hypermarkets, shops and warehouses. The products under price control are available on the local market and no shortage is foreseen.
In addition, the MRA has also made arrangements for any licensed retailer who still had in his possession a remaining stock of the seven commodities as at 12 July 2021 to apply for the subsidy only for the month of July 2021. As at 29 July 2021, 14 eligible traders have been registered under this scheme.With respect to payment of subsidy, the eligible traders shall be able to make their applications as from 2 August 2021.
The Consumer Affairs Unit has effected 1,435 visits and issued a total of 119 contraventions as at 29 July 2021. These contraventions include offences where traders did not properly affix the prices of products and where they were practicing a price which is higher than that fixed by my Ministry. No case of hoarding has been found and therefore no trader has been contravened for same.
In the proposed revamping process of the Mauritius National Identity Cards (MNIC) System, Government will also upgrade the System to a state-of-the-art one which will provide a wider spectrum of customised e-services thereby further facilitating the daily activities of citizens. Such Smart cards are already being used in countries like Belgium, Finland, Germany, Estonia and France.
Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth told Parliament that wide consultations are presently being held with all concerned stakeholders. Considerable progress has been made with regard to the preparation of the specifications and the procurement strategy to be adopted on the basis of the existing MNIC system, procurement legislation, and the judgments of the Supreme Court and the Privy Council as well as the European Data Protection Supervisor Opinion 7/2018 of August 2018, he added. The new system is expected to be operational by December 2023, he stated.
He said there is need to revamp the MNIC system since the usual lifetime of such IT equipment is between five to seven years. Hence, after almost eight years of operation, it has become necessary to revamp the existing MNIC system as the current hardware and software of the whole system will soon reach their end-of-support and end-of-life, he said.
Since Monday 02 August 2021, all the 17 vaccination centres around the island ar open to every citizen who wishes to be inoculated. This decision has been taken as the vaccines have yielded expected results and in order to vaccinate more than 60% of the population at the earliest.