{"id":57,"date":"2010-01-22T11:31:57","date_gmt":"2010-01-22T11:31:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/2010\/01\/22\/readers-response\/"},"modified":"2010-01-22T11:31:57","modified_gmt":"2010-01-22T11:31:57","slug":"readers-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/readers-response\/","title":{"rendered":"Readers Response"},"content":{"rendered":"

Readers’ Response\/ Opinion<\/span><\/span><\/strong> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

To Our Readers\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

Your views are of interest to us. They help us balance the argument in the correct perspective. We welcome you to draw our attention to anything or opinion expressed in the Mauritius Times (or any national or international event of interest) with which\u00a0you agree from your own angle or disagree due to a different appreciation of facts. <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

We will gratefully receive your communications at the email address: <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

mtimes@intnet.mu<\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/span>We may decide to publish your comments or the relevant parts thereof if we consider that they will help our readers better understand specific contexts and maintain MT as the foremost and most balanced analytical newspaper of the country. <\/p>\n

\n

<\/span><\/span> <\/p>\n

Dear Haitians…<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Your country was once the \u2018Pearl of the Caribbean\u2019
Freed from Slavery and Servitude
It became the first independent Black Republic
Two centuries ago<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

You had your legendary hero, a visionary man
Toussaint Louverture had a great dream
A beautiful dream for Haiti and its people<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

During brief intervals<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Of growth and stability<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The rich and the famous came <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

To indulge in Port-au-Prince\u2026<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But my God! How you suffered <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

in the last two hundred years!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

At the hands of the French colons and the Metropole<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

who sought compensation after the abolition of slavery<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

At the hands of the Americans the new arch enemy<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

And the big loan sharks that grounded Haiti in abject poverty…<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

How you suffered from the dictatorship of Papa Doc and Baby Doc <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

and the Tonton Macoutes <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

the so-called \u2018zombies raised from the dead\u2019<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

To terrorise you and your children<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We know they were not zombies<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But thugs who killed in total impunity<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

And had nothing to do with voodoo culture<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In new clothes others came <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

To continue the spoliation <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

and spoke of democracy and national unity<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Other corrupt politicians<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Who plunged Haiti into a vicious circle of crippling debt<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Endless violence and calamitous deforestation<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Then the natural disasters and the interminable catastrophes <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Cyclones followed by a series of flooding not so long ago<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

And today this unimaginable and deadly earthquake!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

How many have died?
No-body knows.
The death toll keeps on rising<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Two hundred thousand may have perished<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Mostly buried under concrete<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Such indignity!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

How many more are injured and maimed and scarred for life?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

How long will it take for the wounds to heal?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Will they ever heal?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In this day and age when <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

other planets can be reached<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Who would have imagined that<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

it would be difficult to bring you water!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

To prevent yet more unnecessary deaths<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

by dehydration this time!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Dear Haitians!
We understand your suffering
We share in your pain and desperation
We hope you will recover soon
from this terrible, terrible disaster! <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Noor Adam Essack<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

London <\/p>\n

\n

Candidats p\u00e8res et fils (2)<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n


J’appr\u00e9cie comme il se doit les commentaires de votre collaborateur LEX \u00e0 la petite note que je vous avais adress\u00e9e la semaine derni\u00e8re. Je tiens tout d’abord \u00e0 assurer ce collaborateur qu’il n’\u00e9tait nullement de mon intention de pol\u00e9miquer sur la question. Je tenais tout simplement \u00e0 relever certains faits de notre histoire politique r\u00e9cente. <\/span><\/p>\n

Qu’il me soit n\u00e9anmoins permis de signaler que l’ancien pr\u00e9sident fran\u00e7ais, Val\u00e9ry Giscard d’Estaing a, si je ne m’abuse, sollicit\u00e9 un mandat \u00e9lectif apr\u00e8s avoir quitt\u00e9 les plus hautes fonctions de la r\u00e9publique fran\u00e7aise. Je pr\u00e9f\u00e8re pour ma part laisser \u00e0 l’\u00e9lecteur le soin de choisir son repr\u00e9sentant plut\u00f4t que de lui imposer des crit\u00e8res autres que le bulletin de vote.<\/span><\/p>\n


Renaud Marie<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

rmarie@servihoo.com<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

LEX\u2019s comments
<\/span><\/strong>Sincerely, I was expecting to read about the views of Mr Renaud Marie on the two issues raised but regrettably I have been disappointed.
On the case he has made out concerning President Valery Giscard d’Estaing, I have to point out that we do not operate in the French system of politics, which is far remote from our system. We operate purely in the Westminster system and the comparison does not stand. I do agree that at the end of the day, the electorate will have to choose, but as electors, we have our views which we express through what we write.<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

Mauritius & tourism<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tourism minister for Tourism, Xavier-Luc Duval,spoke very highly of our tourist industry in a recent speech (Le mauricien<\/em> 15 Jan 10): <\/strong>\u201c<\/em>Tous ce s efforts, rappelle enfin le ministre, ont \u00e9t\u00e9 couronn\u00e9s \u00e0 Londres en novembre dernier lors de la c\u00e9r\u00e9monie des World Travel Awards lorsque Maurice a \u00e9t\u00e9 \u00e9lue Leading Island Destination in the World\u201d.<\/em> We are all glad at this news. \u201cPour ce qui est de l’avenir, il pr\u00e9voit qu’en 2010, nous franchirons la barre d’un million de tourists.\u201d<\/em> <\/span>This is again very nice for the economic development of our little country. Those involved deserve all the praises. He speaks of: \u201c1) l’accessibilit\u00e9 ; 2) la visibilit\u00e9 ; et 3) l’attractivit\u00e9,\u201d <\/em>as a foundation stone for the tourist industry. This is all wonderful; however, one key ingredient is missing, and that is protection of the tourists from all types of theft, burglary and attacks on them while in our country. Unless those visiting our beautiful island are protected the Minister\u2019s vision may not be achieved. The country will be all the poorer; already there are reports in our daily papers of the way the tourists are treated by certain groups of our own citizens. The quicker steps are taken to redress the situation the better for all concerned.<\/span><\/p>\n

Responsible people in Mauritius are saying that we are neglecting all human values; our society is degenerating. Some sociologists too have been saying the same thing for quite some time now. Yet despite all efforts by some well-meaning individuals and groups no change seems to be on the horizon.<\/span><\/p>\n

The presisident of the Union of Post Office Workers (UPOW), Ootesh Ramcharitar, noted in the same paper: \u00ab Actuellement, notre soci\u00e9t\u00e9 est malade, <\/em>en parlant de la criminalit\u00e9 montante \u00e0 Maurice et aussi du mauvais comportement des Mauriciens, particuli\u00e8rement de certains jeunes.\u00a0\u00bb <\/span>Our society is sick. <\/span>All of us are responsible for the state of this sickness. Let\u2019s get started. Assist our police force to catch and apprehend those who are giving us a bad name. Law and order is everybody\u2019s business in a civilized society. Corruption must be eradicated from top down. Our top leaders must be seen to be taking the right decisions to ensure our safety, and we must back them up in this move.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover politicians must not play to the gallery to win votes; stronger measures for punishment by the courts must be instituted. It is high time our leaders take note and ensure our country is made safe for all if we wish to play a prominent role on the world stage.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of tourists flocking to the island they will be keeping away resulting in the loss of much needed revenue to our country. The news is spreading like wildfire that Mauritius is too dangerous a destination to spend one\u2019s holidays there. Overseas Mauritians themselves are feeling ashamed to talk of their country as a suitable place for tourists. So, be warned; don\u2019t take things for granted. Do everything possible to change the impression you are giving to the outside world.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Dr David B.Lingiah<\/span><\/em><\/strong>
Glasgow<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Readers’ Response\/ Opinion To Our Readers\u00a0 Your views are of interest to us. They help us balance the argument in the correct perspective. We welcome you to draw our attention to anything or opinion expressed in the Mauritius Times (or any national or international event of interest) with which\u00a0you agree from your own angle or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8QzSF-V","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}