Mauritius Message Board: Cave Pollution in Mauritius

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Cave Pollution in Mauritius

Posted by Bashir E Khan on 19/11/2007, 7:55 pm
211.28.209.190

On Cave Pollution

The vile suggestion that "vous auriez pu prendre une balle perdue en entrant sur mon terrain sans permission", against the simple act of trespassing demonstrates an aura of ambivalence surrounding landowners’ property rights in many parts of the world.
On the one hand we have the "Shoot first, ask questions afterwards" attitude intimated with full colonial arrogance by one of the Island's most important landowner and industrialist, and on the other hand an attitude which has its roots from the campaigns and philosophy of the 17th Century, British political activist, Gerrard Winstanley when he wrote that “The earth shall be made a common treasury to whole mankind, without respect of persons. The poorest man hath as true a title and just right to the land as the richest man … True freedom lies where a man receives his nourishment and preservation and that is in the use of the earth.” In 1649 Winstanley and his followers took direct actions by occupying public common lands and cultivating them and distributing the crops without charge to the poor.

The author of "This Land is our Land" (Gaia Books, 1997), Marion Shoard, gives a fairly accurate description of the British state of affairs with regard to Land ownership and public rights of access, 200 years after the abolition of slavery. She wrote “In Britain, unlike America, there are firmly established rights enjoyed by everyone which landowners have to accept, however reluctantly. These public rights include rights of way, commoners’ rights, planning controls, Site of Special Scientific Interest obligations, pollution controls and compulsory purchase. Each of these things is an assertion of a claim of the community on land which remains otherwise privately owned. Together they reflect the reality that privately owned land in Britain is not quite as private as you might think. Its private owners have to share their so-called ownership with the rest of us, to some extent."

Not withstanding changing attitudes or rather unchanging colonial attitudes and mindset, under most jurisdictions, properties and land are protected under civil law and privacy acts. For example in the UK &Wales, irrespective of how many signs of "Trespassers will be prosecuted", trespassing is still considered to be a civil wrong, unless the trespassing is explicitly aggravated. The law will allow someone to be prosecuted for the mere act of trespass only in certain very special circumstances.

There is normally a simple and common sense approach to deal with trespassers. And this is, to ask the trespassing person(s) to leave and they must be given ample time to do so. Only in the events of them refusing to do so, can Law enforcement, e.g. Police Officers be called to secure their removal. However, where Trespassers are not posing an immediate threats (such as the case of the journalists of Le Mauricien), no force of any kind can be used to remove trespassers either by the landowners themselves or their agents, e.g. security Guards. It is also not acceptable, that is , not legal, to physically hold trespassers until law enforcement Officers arrive as this defeat the common sense purpose of allowing the trespassers to leave at any time out of their free will.

Any use of physical force or using devices such as booby traps or electric fencing that may result in injuring trespassers are normally strictly forbidden especially when they occur on open or unused land such as the countryside and also when they are not posing any physical threats to the lives of the Landowners or their agents.

Any notions of “balle perdue” or shooting of any kind is not only reprehensible and unwise, but is indicative of a mindset locked in a colonial past.

Due to ecological concern for our planet and the environment we live, today public interest in rural land encompasses things like pollution, biodiversity, public access and also includes the conservation of history and beauty in the landscape.

Concerning the water caves at Riviere Des Ramparts, the Scientist Arthur Clarke has stated “This is the worse example of cave pollution I've ever seen in the world, especially in a developed country like Mauritius. I wasn't expecting to see such a thing in Mauritius”.

For our parts most of us were not expecting to HEAR let alone of “balle perdue” but that such pollution has been going on for 20 years. The Company Tee Sun Ltd has claimed that it hold the relevant licenses from both the Central Water Authority and the Waste Water Authority. Even if this prove to be correct, it cannot be right to pollute the environment in this manner and over such a long period of time. Holding a valid Driving license, for example, does not entitle one to drive over the speed limit or to drive recklessly.

The relevant regulatory authorities have to act swiftly to avoid a major ecological disaster. And it may well be of national interest to include all lands of strategic ecological importance in all future talks between the Government and the MSPA.

Bashir E Khan,
London.
15th November 2007