| PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION
I B/378
The Honourable Third Member for Montagne Blanche and Grand River South East (Mr Guness) To ask Dr the Honourable Prime Minister, Minister of Defence & Home Affairs, Minister of Civil Service & Administrative Reforms and Minister of Rodrigues & Outer Islands:- Whether he will, for the benefit of the House, obtain from the Commissioner of Police, the number of cases of police brutality reported against SP P. R. 1 and his team, indicating the action, if any, taken in each case? REPLY Mr Speaker, Sir, I am informed by the Commissioner of Police that five alleged cases of police brutality have been reported against the officer referred to in the question and his team since 8 August 2005 when the officer concerned took charge of Curepipe C.I.D. Enquiries on these alleged cases are being carried out by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) and the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the Complaints Investigation Bureau (CIB). I wish also to inform the House that Police is required by law to forward to the National Human Rights Commission a copy of every complaint and to report the outcome of the inquiry. Should the Police decide not to take any action on the complaint, the National Human Rights Commission may decide to reopen the case. Moreover, all complaints against members of the Police Force which are enquired by the CIB are submitted to the DPP for advice.
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION
I B/379 The Honourable Second Member for Savanne and Black River (Mrs Hanoomanjee)
To ask Dr the Honourable Prime Minister, Minister of Defence & Home Affairs, Minister of Civil Service & Administrative Reforms and Minister of Rodrigues
& Outer Islands:- Whether he will state if any Member of the Government attended the third anniversary celebrations of the autonomy of Rodrigues and, if not, why not? REPLY Mr Speaker, Sir, I am informed by the Island Chief Executive that no official invitation was addressed to any Member of the Government to attend the third anniversary celebrations of the autonomy of Rodrigues as was also the case for the second anniversary celebrations. During the recent visit of the Chief Commissioner to Mauritius, the Prime Minister expressed his regret for not having been able to visit Rodrigues up to now, but that he shall definitely do so at the earliest opportunity. In any case, the Government is of the view that the celebration of the autonomy of Rodrigues is a local event and should not be given the same dimension as the National Day Celebrations.
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION
I B/380 The Honourable Third Member for Curepipe and Midlands (Mr Dowarkasing) To ask Dr the Honourable Prime Minister, Minister of Defence & Home Affairs, Minister of Civil Service & Administrative Reforms and Minister of Rodrigues & Outer Islands:- Whether, in regard to the Committee set up to look into the democratization process of the economy, he will state
(a) when it was set up (b) its composition (c) its terms of reference (d) the number of times it has met todate and (e) when its work is likely to be completed?
REPLY Mr Speaker, Sir, I have to inform the House that, in line with Government Programme, Cabinet agreed on Thursday 21 July 2005 to the setting up of a Commission, not a Committee, for the Democratisation of the Economy (CFDE) under the Chairmanship of Hon. A. Cader Sayed Hossen. The Commission, presently under the aegis of the Prime Minister’s Office, started operation on 22 September 2005 at Ken Lee Building, Edith Cavell Street, Port Louis.
The Commission comprises, besides its Chairman, a Deputy Chairman, an Officer in Charge and three support staff. The staff requirement of the Commission will depend on the nature and scope of the work to be carried out with the technical and specialized inputs of relevant officers, on a full time or part time basis, from different ministries and departments on secondment to the Commission.
I should also like to apprise Members of the House that the CFDE has been set up with the main objective of empowering people, mainly entrepreneurs and start ups, to enter the traditional avenues of different sectors of the economy and also identify new niches for emerging entrepreneurs to start operations. Regarding part (c) of the question I have to inform the House that the mission of the Commission is to make recommendations to Government on policies and action plans to implement Government’s Programme on the democratisation of the economy. This implies, inter alia: • Ensuring direct participation of new entrepreneurs in mainstream economic activities. These activities include agriculture/sugar/cane by-products, domestic market and export-oriented industry, distributive trade, financial services, ICT and leisure industry-tourism with related activities. • Securing presence of broader categories of citizens in management and control positions in meaningful private sector companies as well as equity of job-access and career-development opportunities in both the public and the private sectors. • Facilitating incremental acquisition and development of know-how and capacity, and • Promoting access to entrepreneurship opportunities, mainly through access to finance and market opportunities.
The House will appreciate that democratising an economic structure determined by a long history of inequalities cannot be a matter of a few days only. It will be a lengthy process. The work of the Commission will be on a continuous basis as it not only includes reforms of the existing structure, but also encompasses new issues which require a new mindset for implementation. No time frame has, therefore, been set for the Commission to complete its assignment. Government will act according to the findings and recommendations of the Commission.
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION
I B/381 The Honourable Third Member for Curepipe and Midlands (Mr Dowarkasing) To ask Dr the Honourable Prime Minister, Minister of Defence & Home Affairs, Minister of Civil Service & Administrative Reforms and Minister of Rodrigues & Outer Islands:- Whether he will, for the benefit of the House, obtain from the Commissioner of Police, information as to (a) the number of hold-ups that have taken place since 01 July 2005 todate (b) the number of arrests effected in connection therewith and (c) the progress of the inquiries undertaken thereinto?
REPLY
Mr Speaker, Sir, I am informed by the Commissioner of Police that our Criminal Code makes no mention of hold-up but rather larceny with aggravating circumstances. For the period 01 July 2005 to date, seven (7) cases of larceny with aggravating circumstances have been reported. So far, ten persons have been arrested. Police enquiry is ongoing in all the cases.
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION
I B/382 The Honourable Third Member for Curepipe and Midlands (Mr Dowarkasing) To ask Dr the Honourable Prime Minister, Minister of Defence & Home Affairs, Minister of Civil Service & Administrative Reforms and Minister of Rodrigues & Outer Islands:- Whether, in regard to the cassette containing evidence in the case of Police v/s Mr V. B.2, he will, for the benefit of the House, obtain information as to whether it has been tampered with and, if so, will he make a statement thereon and, if not, will he ascertain if same has been produced in the court proceedings?
REPLY
Mr Speaker, Sir, I wish to refer the Honourable Member to the reply made by Dr the Honourable Prime Minister to Parliamentary Question (I B/309) on Tuesday 11 October, 2005. May I add that the exhibit referred to in the question is still in the possession of the Police and it has been confirmed to me by the Commissioner of Police that the cassette has not been tampered with. The case is before the Intermediate Court. Mr Speaker, Sir,
I would like to stress that it is up to the Prosecution to decide upon the witnesses to be called in a case and the exhibits to be produced in Court. | 
