Nicholas Rainer
8 April 2008
Port Louis — The government's slapdash decision to allocate Rs 5,000 to "worthy" victims of the recent torrential rains wrought pandemonium last week, as angry applicants demanded cash from bewildered officials.
Images of headless chickens aside, this episode illustrates a valuable truth: politicians are prepared to spend the State's money generously in order to burnish their sullied image. If they displayed such magnanimity when it comes to addressing the country's energy problems, we might just have a chance of surmounting some of the mammoth challenges ahead.
A little over a week ago, the price of electricity increased yet again, eroding even further the everyman's already dwindling purchasing power. The fact that fossil fuel producers continue to post record profits despite the astronomical costs involved in exploiting these resources shows that the consumer is getting a very raw deal indeed. The solution to ending this distinctly unsustainable practice is twofold: increasing energy efficiency and the use of renewable energies. For the latter to take off, the government must subsidize them directly.
The Energy Task and Action Plan, a highly influential report financed by the European Commission and the UNDP, is adamant. The document, which was recently submitted to the government, describes the status quo as "not secure, not competitive, not sustainable". It supports this observation with some undeniable facts, such as the "rapidly rising and inefficient energy consumption"; the lack of "strategic oil or coal stocks"; the fact that all our petroleum and coal supplies are "imported by a single supplier through a single port"; and the "vague" nature of our renewable energy policy.
It urges the country to diversify its energy supply by reducing its reliance on fossil fuels and increasing its renewable energy resources. One of the ways of accomplishing this, the report goes on to say, is to make Solar Hot Water Systems (SWHS) mandatory. An efficient SWHS, which can reduce monthly domestic electricity bills by as much as Rs 300, costs about Rs 35,000. The State should foot at least a third of the bill.
This direct subsidy approach is espoused by the Mauritius Commercial Bank in MCB Focus No. 39, an excellent paper on the worrying state of the country's infrastructure. "At policy level, to enable the production and use of renewables to gain convincing and lasting momentum, the recourse to foreign expertise should be sought and valuable temporary incentives could come from tailor-made public support schemes", namely the payment of a "lump sum" directly to renewable energy producers.
Those masochists, who still watch the MBC's unspeakably tedious news bulletins, will have noticed that our politicians are adept at only one thing: politics. But Mauritians are losing patience with all the scheming and pettifogging. They are disgruntled at their lack of purchasing power. The people want competent managers not carpetbaggers.
The ministry of Finance is known to be studying the possibility of subsidizing SWHS. Studies are all very well and good, but what the country requires is action. Politicians are wont to quoting the arch-political realist Winston Churchill. The following words will thus not be lost on them. "It's no use saying, 'We are doing our best'. You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary."
Stop pussyfooting and start subsidizing renewable energies now! If not for the planet then at least for your careers!
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