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Air
Mauritius & the Rules of the Game
Many
of us were expecting the Minister of Finance to announce the
privatisation of certain public utilities and companies
wholly or partially owned by the government. Why privatise?
Privatisation is a means of eliminating waste from the
public sector. Though no privatisation was announced, the budget speech
did emphasize the government’s willingness to eliminate
waste from those bodies.
Last
year, the government appointed Mr Veerasamy as Managing
Director of our national airline. Why was somebody from the
private sector chosen to head Air Mauritius? The nomination
was thus explained (l’express of Saturday 10th
September 2005)
‘La
désignation de Nirvan Veerasamy vient concrétiser un
concept cher à Navin Ramgoolam : la nomination d’experts
du secteur privé à la tête de compagnies publiques.
L’objectif est de permettre à ces grosses pointures de
mettre leur expérience au profit du pays. L’autre exemple
est la nomination de Jean Suzanne, président d’Infinity
BPO, comme conseiller du Premier ministre en matière de
technologies de l’information de la communication.’
Unfortunately,
the mere appointment of someone from the private sector at
the head of a public company does not bring about
efficiency. As Managing Director of Air Mauritius, Mr
Veerasamy was expected to bring his private sector expertise
to the national airline. Perhaps the government should have
impressed upon the new Managing Director that he should from
then onwards play by a different set of rules -- the rules
of the game in a public company were undoubtedly different.
Air Mauritius Ltd is a public company in that it is quoted
on the stock exchange.
Further, the government is the majority shareholder of the
company. A public company cannot be managed as a private
company as demonstrated by the various parliamentary
questions pertaining to the management of Air Mauritius.
These questions would not even have cropped up had Air
Mauritius been a private sector company. It would then have
been perfectly normal to sign any contract, even those that
do not make commercial sense – after all, in the private
sector, self-interest is what motivates each and every
decision.
Adapt
or perish
The
2006/2007 budget,
though criticized by the opposition as an
‘ultra-liberal’ budget, is the key to the survival of
Mauritius in the coming years – it is but a first step in
preparing the Mauritian economy for an increasingly global
world. Does Mauritius need to open up its economy to that
extent? Should the government encourage Integrated Resort
Schemes at all? Is there not a danger of foreigners
‘taking over’ our country? Should we make it easier for
foreigners to invest in Mauritius? Should the
‘Mauritian’ culture be sheltered from globalization?
Should international law firms be allowed to open up in
Mauritius?
Reactions
from various stakeholders have been published in the press
recently. The opening up of foreign law firms in the country
has been the subject of much controversy. Amongst others, we
have read the open letter of Mr Anil Gayan. From his letter,
it is clear that his concerns were mainly a lawyer’s
concerns. Surprisingly, his concern differs as a politician.
Recently, he expressed his concerns about the Mauritian
youth leaving the country to seek employment elsewhere (as
they did not believe we have an Equal Employment opportunity
in this country). These foreign law firms are equal
opportunities employers. Beside the investment, they would
also bring along employment opportunities for Mauritians who
will not have to go abroad to find the Equal Opportunity
Employer. We are not sure that his concerns will remain
unchanged if asked about globalisation from a father’s
point of view.
Every
Mauritian household is already exposed to globalisation.
Most, if not all, households in this country are familiar
with Coca-Cola, Levi’s jeans, Canal Satellite, KFC, Mc
Donald’s, Pizza Hut, Barclays Bank, HSBC to mention but a
few. In the last decade, Mauritius has seen the opening up
of several regional firms – Shoprite, Game, Steers and
Debonair among others. The big four accountancy firms have
opened up branches in the country. Then, why should we
prevent international law firms from setting up local or
regional branches in Mauritius? In this world where change
is the only constant, one is left with no other choice than
to adapt or perish…
CASSANDRA
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