19.06.2003
In a press conference held on Wednesday 18th June, Lalit presented its campaign on Agriculture, Agro-Industry and Electricity. In the face of the bankrupcy of the ruling class strategy and to face the savage capitalist globalisation, a new people's centered development strategy is vital, argued Lindsey Collen. spokesperson of Lalit in the press conference. Were also present in the press conference for the first time, three Lalit's central committee member and member of Lalit's Youth: Ian Jacob, Michel Chiffone and Nicholas Raghoonath. Dany Marie, Lalit Central Member, presided the Press Conference, which was attended by Le Mauricien, MBC-TV, Lagazet, Le Socialiste, Week End and Rev Lib. The document presented to the press is bilingual Kreol and English. If you are interested in getting a copy, mail us at < lalit@lalitmauritius.com> In the meantime here is an outline of our campaign:
1. We demand mass conversion of land to planting of food, and this to be done by "organic" and "green" methods on a huge scale, for peoples' food needs and, on a larger scale than ever before, for export. This way Mauritius can get around the disaster that the sugar industry is facing as the Sugar Protocol runs out. This way Mauritius can become a world leader in food production, which is guaranteed GMO-FREE. This will create employment on a large scale, and, at the same time, respect Mauritius' natural heritage. We have the advantage of being a nation of islands, so that we can be free from "contamination par les OGM".
2. We demand compulsory conversion of ex-sugar mills into agro-industrial plants, for exporting produce. This will create employment and absorb the shock of the ruinous globalization that the multinationals are subjecting us to.
3. We call on Government to oppose all new "rounds" at the WTO and to call for suspension of existing WTO agreements until a "World-wide Social Audit" is completed, instead of the embarrassing policy of first encouraging new rounds and then going around begging for exemptions, the way Cuttaree and Jugnauth are doing.
4. We oppose privatization of the CEB. This process must be reversed now, and the CEB bureaucracy replaced by a democratic structure. Unfortunately the present debate on CEB is very parochial, never ever touching on the key issues being addressed world-wide in this epoch, i.e. kinds of energy that are neither polluting nor blindly reliant on finite stocks of fossil fuels that are being depleted irrationally.
5. We demand massive investment into research and production of genuinely renewable and clean energy. In particular Solar, Wind and Sea (tidal and wave) energies. With this kind of vision, and a well-planned CEB, Mauritius can become a world leader in clean, durable and, in the long term, cheap energy. This can create a lot of employment and keep our islands' ecologies balanced.