Pauline Etienne
10 August 2004
Port Louis — Although everything is being done to maintain the good relations between Madagascar and Mauritius, the prime minister, Paul Bérenger, looks annoyed when he mentions the "Galana saga".
A solution has finally emerged: there will not be any power cuts while awaiting the tanker from the Persian Gulf. It is expected between 15th and 17th August with 27,000 tons of heavy oil. More than 20,000 tons are for the Central Electricity Board.
Nevertheless, the Mauritian government believes that Madagascar jeopardized the Mauritian economy as a whole when the Office Malgache d'hydrocarbures prevented Galana from delivering 24 130 tons of heavy oil to Mauritius. The OMH prohibited M/T Halia from leaving Toamasina and thus blocked all exports to Mauritius. The Central Electricity Board was waiting for this cargo to ensure the electricity supply to the whole island.
The prime minister made it clear that a solution was found thanks to Mauritian resourcefulness. He congratulated the MEPZA, the Central Electricity Board, the State Trading Corporation and the ministers concerned for finding a solution to minimise the consequences on the industrial sectors and the population as a whole.
Polluting activities
As soon as the State Trading Corporation was informed of the situation, it contacted all the stakeholders that could suffer from the problem and they all worked together to find a way out. "This allowed all stakeholders to take necessary measures to avoid any risk at an economic level."
However, there is no question of ending the friendly relationship between the two islands. The PM has remained quite silent on the issue for the moment. He may not want to mix up issues and may prefer to wait for the arrival of the Malagasy delegation in Mauritius for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting for further explanations.
The OMH also released a communiqué accusing Galana of polluting activities. Ivan Collendavelloo has flown to Madgascar to defend Galana's interests with the OMH. Galana immediately released a communiqué stating that it has always dealt with its activities in respect of the Malagasy laws and institutions.
The Malagasy authorities explained that Galana did not respect the export quantum, which jeopardised the strategic stock of Malagasy oil. Yet, Madagascar is said to have reserves for at least eight months. There are rumours actually that a Malagasy company wants to get the contract allocated by the State Trading Corporation to Galana...
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