tapijo

It has been a rather hectic week for me. Peuhh!!! So let’s start from the start.

I got the opportunity to watch one of  the quarter finals between Croatia and Turkey in Austria. So last week I took the plane which was supposed to transit via Dubai then direct to Austria. Great was our dismay when the announcer informed us that the flight was cancelled. We were five Mauritians going to watch the match and the sponsors have already established a planning schedule for us.  Because of the delay we would lose two days as the next flight via Dubai was supposed to be in the evening and the connecting flight the next day. One of us knew of the procedure and contacted one the officers of MK, who after checking booking reservations informed us that we could get seats on the direct flight to Paris and thereafter a connecting flight to Vienna.

It was already four hours (4 in the morning) after our scheduled flight was cancelled and we were still in the airport terminal waiting of the new booking arrangements.  We were so tired that we dozed in the airport buildings and only woke up when we heard announcements. Passengers to Paris were already checking in and we still did not get our new tickets. Upon the advice of one of the ticketing officers we managed to check in with a copy of the booking reservations and we were held at the boarding gate. Announcements were heard that gate was closing and still no boarding tickets. It was typical of a drama or action film. It was at the last second that the officers came up with our tickets and we could finally board the plane and fly 13 hours non stop to Paris, and there another 2 hours to Vienna.

When we returned to Mauritius, i was informed that my aunt passed away. The funeral would be held in 3 hours and since it was a close relative, i had to attend it. So after a12 hours return flight, i had to do the chauffeur and be at the mass and the cemetery.  Needless to say i slept for 12 hours the next day.For seven days, I attended a small prayer session at my cousin’s place and missed two of them because there was inventory count at the company.  Hopefully this week will be a new and steady one because i would not last :p

Brrr!!! It’s freezing… The meteorological station forecasts that the temperature can get as low as 8 deg in the centre of the island. Winter has started two weeks earlier and El nina is no stranger.  It has started to get dark at five in the afternoon. Thought it was half past six.  Very hard to wake up.  And it showers occasionally usually late in the afternoon.

The National pay council has recommended a national compensation varying between Rs 283 and Rs 400  for the year 2008-09. The National parliament has validated this recommendation and thus this increase will become effective as from the next budget. Below is a comparison between last year’s compensation and this year’s.

2008-09          2007-08

0-3,500            283                   260

3.501-6500    300                    300

6,501-8,000    350                   350

> 8,000            400                    400

As a result of this recommendation, the 11 federation of workers syndicates are threatening a protest demonstration in Port Louis unless the government revise the figures upwards.

Last year it was up to the employer to increase the compensation based on their financial performance.Thus the tourism sector played the game by increasing the wages of their employees by more than the recommended figure.

Mauritius is perhaps one of the rarest country where each time a major decision is made, a section of the population has to whine. The case of the flash flood in March demonstrates the fact. On Wednesday, when the meteorological station issued flash flood and electric storms warnings and the decision to close schools  earlier, here again the decision has been criticized widely. Why do we have to close schools when it is raining heavily? - one would comment.  I’m sure if schools did not  release students back home, reGokhool saga again. Forecasts have been glim during the weekend.Indeed it should be raining till Wednesday but with lower intensity. On Monday morning, it was shining. Where are the showers foreacasts have predicted? It then rained heavily by the time it was afternoon for at least 2 hours and by the end of the afternoon, it stopped. The radio broadcast there would be a temporal calm and mention was made that all our reservoirs are full. Mare aux Vacoas is at 80% of its capacity. More news on the 1930hrs hopefully.

While watching the news recently, the speakerine mentioned that the main reservoir of the island is only 60% of its capacity, while at this period of time, it should be around 84%. When interviewed, the chairman of the CWA commented that we did not receive enough rain to fill in the main reservoir. That is all bullshit!! How could we not receive enough rain when there were floods in certain places of the island?  In the meantime, some regions of the upper Plaine Wilhems are facing water cuts. When will Mauritius not face water shortages when paradoxically we are surrounded by water? Could we sustain the targeted 3 million tourists with our actual water network and other public networks? Talks are beautiful but concerted actions between the various ministries are better.

It seems that not only Mauritius is being affected by rising prices of basic commodities. Consumer groups in Europe have gathered themselves on streets to protest against the ever rising prices of rice, wheat, flour to name a few. Even in Italy there has been a one day boycott on pasta. In Bangladesh, surprisingly, rice is being rationed.  People were queuing since early morning to buy five kilo of rice, their staple food. India has even stopped exporting rice preferring to cope with the local demand but this effort is being undermined by shortages in supply.  Food price crisis is going global. According to the BBC, researchers at the IRRI need to be thinking of a way to boost yield on ever decreasing acres of land under agriculture.

The recent rain pour did not do much to alleviate the household’s baskets. Most vegetables were affected by the flooding and if one is lucky to find some on display at the market, his wallet needs to be well stuffed. So for the time being better turn to canned food, hoping that brighter days are only some days away…  Too optimist or naive??

A kid opening a window, a man opening his door. Everybody seems to be opening their doors and windows. What is happening? Then we are told to be ready on the 17th April 2008. What the heck is going on?

Orange… No it’s not the color of the traffic lights. On this day, the national telecommunication company will henceforth be using the international telecommunication brand name. Internet and mobile operations will henceforth fall under the Orange umbrella. There is a great controversy over the decision of MT to be using the name of FT’s subsidiary. Opinions such as the huge outflows of funds to the subsidiary (3% of  total turnover so that MT can use the new appellation), the supposedly opened access to international market, and the view that the new appellation will bring nothing new either to Cellplus or to MT, customers will have to pay more- so much so to oppose the adoption. According to the local press, the rebranding is an act to finance the huge debt of FT. The author goes on by citing the fate of Antaris who adopted the name of the french company. In the meantime a group of MT’s shareholders is turning to the Supreme Court against the change of name and the payment of royalties.

Very very hot and mosquitoes buzzing around… Got some breeze but still can not attenuate the heat. Wish that at least at night we could have some rains and a nice temperature to ease our warrior’s sleep. Yesterday only slept 3 hours. Tried to recap the loss during the day but the bed reminds me of sauna and all i could do is to take a nap on the ground. Damnit how can the Japanese sleep on the ground. It’s so hard!!!

Wet Wednesday! Not soaked but my office would be stinking tomorrow. This happens when there is heavy rainfalls and water would sneak into the walls and the rest is history.

Early afternoon, the meteorological station issued a torrential rain warning, which implied that schools were requested to let their students go home. Same goes for  tertiary sector. Public sector employees were invited to leave before 1600 hrs so as to avoid the usual bottlenecks. At some point in time, there was a rumour in the office that buses would cease to operate at 1500 hrs but i guess this was only an excuse for early leaving.

When i was about to leave at 1630hrs, a colleague told me to take a look at GRNW river. He said that he had never witnessed the spectacle before. So when going over the bridge, i just glanced over. The sight was indeed breathtaking. The river had over flooded its bed and the millions of tons of mud water were rampaging the metallic structure of the bridge. On its pavement, people were gathering trying to take a look at the level of the river. Needless to say the couple of habitats which were built near the bed were completely devastated. Hoping that the 1930 news would diffuse this event, i went on my way and was later disillusioned. But nonetheless, there were other places where river beds had been over flooded and tons of liters of mud waters either obstructed roads or carried lives and even claimed them as had been the case of a 13 year old student whose body had been later found together with a 50 year old woman.

Ex-Lola did bring us plenty of water but paradoxically the main reservoir is still 70% full, while others are near full. There was even an article in the morning press in which a hydrological expert stated that there were signs of water leakages on the walls of the reservoir.The 1930 news interview of the minister of public utilities denied such allegations and had condemned such misleading reporting.

Weather forecast for the evening and tomorrow: rays for the north and west, but still bad news for the east, south and central plateau. But weather is expected to become fairer as ex lola continue to leave our region.

Today while reading yesterday’s paper, i came across an article on the success of a familial company. This company came into existence 40 years back when the founder tried to introduce he first locally made toothpaste. Blendax was then made known to the public. 4o years later, the brand is still going strong. When i read the article, i could not help remembering its advert. It was in the late 80s or early 90s. A woman and a man, one always on a bike. There was eye contact and then there was star coming out of the mouth of either the man or woman. The ad would end with an off-voice. Don’t remember it well. The strikingly white teeth of the protagonists impacted on me as i urged my parents to purchase the paste. I would vigorously brushed my teeth so that eventually they would turn brand white. Needless to say, nothing happened. At that age, was complete fool and gullible to everything adults would say. Like a tree would grow on the head if you happened to swallow a grain fruit. Souvenir souvenir!!! BTW, happy celebrations Mauritius!