The policy dialogue in the context of the preparation of the 2022 - 2023 Budget began, today, in Port Louis.
The Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, Dr Renganaden Padayachy, met, this afternoon, with the Minister of Industrial Development, SMEs and Cooperatives, Mr Soomilduth Bholah, and the Minister of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change, Mr Kavydass Ramano, successively.
The importance of SMEs and Cooperatives for economic recovery
In a statement after his meeting with Dr Padayachy, Minister Bholah affirmed that the proposals submitted were aligned with the objective of economic recovery, and were geared towards providing the required assistance to industries, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), as well as cooperatives. He highlighted that the various suggestions focused on the required ingredients for economic recovery.
The Minister stated that while financial support is available through institutions such as the Industrial Finance Cooperation of Mauritius, the Mauritius Investment Corporation Ltd, and commercial banks, viable project plans are critical.
Measures to better address environmental challenges
For his part, the Minister of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change, Mr Kavydass Ramano, briefed the Finance Minister on the proposed priorities and urgent measures in the upcoming budget that would enable the country to face the various challenges in three main areas, namely environmental protection, climate change, and solid waste.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
One of the measures advocated by Mr Ramano in the context of the upcoming budget thus related to the implementation of the course of action to tackle coastal erosion resulting from the impact of climate change.
The necessary steps to ensure the application of the solid waste management strategy was also discussed in the policy dialogue. The Environment Minister recalled that out of the 540,000 tonnes of solid wastes disposed at the Mare Chicose sanitary landfill, over 50% comprised organic wastes (food and yard wastes) and about 25% recyclables such as paper, plastics, glass, metals, and textile wastes.
According to Mr Ramano, efforts should be directed towards waste segregation at source, as well as operating regional composting plants and sorting units. These would require, he said, provision of bins to the population to encourage household waste sorting; procurement of appropriate vehicles by local authorities for the collection and transportation of the sorted waste; and a review of the operations of transfer stations and landfill.
