Policy Dialogue meetings were held, yesterday in Port Louis, between the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, Dr Renganaden Padayachy, and several Ministers in the context of the 2024-2025 Budget.
The Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Recreation, Mr Jean Christophe Stephan Toussaint; the Minister of National Infrastructure and Community Development, Mr Mahendranuth Sharma Hurreeram; and the Minister of Social Integration, Social Security and National Solidarity, Mrs Fazila Jeewa-Daureeawoo, each met Dr Padayachy to put forward their proposals in view of the forthcoming budget.
Youth Empowerment and Sports
After the consultative meeting with Dr Padayachy, Minister Toussaint in a statement recalled that the Ministry of Sports has been producing good results adding that discussions with the Finance Minister revolved around securing additional funds which will be used in the preparation of athletes.
He also spoke about the revamping of Youth Centres and recalled that the revamped Goodlands Youth Centre has recently been reopened. He indicated that the revamping of five to six Youth Centres needs to be carried out.
Speaking about leisure activities, Minister Toussaint said that since 2019, the Ministry has the mandate of organising leisure activities for young people. He informed that the Mauritius Recreation Council organises several leisure activities for the youth in Mauritius and Rodrigues. He said that during the policy dialogue meeting, he made a request for additional funds for the organisation of the Acapella competition to be held end of June.
Funding has also been sought for the Mauritius Sports Council which has the mandate to manage the personnel and equipment for the Community based Fun and Fitness movement MUGA, he said.
Infrastructure
In a statement after his meeting with Dr Padayachy, Minister Hurreeram stated that he had a very fruitful discussion with the Finance Minister where he has informed the latter about the difficulties encountered in the implementation of several projects. The focus was also on how to improve the system for the welfare of the public as well as public officers who will be able to work in better conditions, especially in the wake of several weather challenges such as flash floods, and climate change.
He also dwelt on future projects and priority areas for his Ministry such as the Road Decongestion Programme. He highlighted that significant progress has been achieved on many projects on Motorway M1 and M2, at Phoenix and Terre Rouge and the construction of a Grade Separated Junction at Wootun, and the Interchange construction at Ebène. He also mentioned the SAJ Bridge which, he said, has improved the distribution of traffic within the network of A1 Road and M1 Motorway. He added that several other projects are in the pipeline to increase fluidity of traffic such as the Flic en Flac bypass. He also stated that the Ministry is working on a Masterplan which will facilitate access of those from villages to any motorway as rapidly as possible.
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Social Security
As for Minister Jeewa-Daureeawoo, she said that discussions with Dr Padayachy focused on proposals aimed at enhancing social justice and quality of life of the people. She added that the pre-budget exercice is very important since she is responsible for the well-being of elderly people, people with disabilities, orphans and widows. She underlined the need to find the right balance between economic development and the social aspect.
She emphasised that several proposals have been made especially social measures. They include: the proposal for those aged 80 years and above to benefit from the visit of doctors at home, parents of children who are on the Social Register of Mauritius to be entitled to a grant for the purchase of spectacles.
