Despite still not deigning to reveal the true identity of the promoters behind CT Power, the authorities seem intent on going through with the project. Courtesy of the Prime minister, highlighting this fact nowadays is apparently tantamount to racism.

And although Navin Ramgoolam, of all people, should know better than to pander to the baser instincts of the population, there’s no denying that this never fails to bear dividends. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, etc.

Amidst the impossibility of having a rational debate on virtually any subject, perhaps the time has come to focus on life’s simple things and there’s nothing like a little downtime to help people unwind. The trouble is that the recent historic construction boom hasn’t been offset any significant drive to create green spaces. Worse, public beach frontage is vanishing before our very eyes and the urban sprawl is threatening to asphyxiate the entire country in its tentacles.

This basically means Mauritians are going to have to come up with increasingly novel ways of finding a bit of breathing space.

Let’s begin by addressing the elephant in the room: urban planning is a myth in the Mauritian context it never has and never will be part of our way of life. For if there was even a slither of hope that it constitutes a viable course of action, we would have found out a long time ago. You see, it’s not for want of projects that our villages and towns have been mindlessly turned into ugly odes to concrete. Since the 1970s, there have been numerous proposals to make the country’s urbanization more livable. Sadly, they were all shelved from the Port- Louis masterplan to the idea of turning the centre of Grand-Baie into a pedestrian zone and creating a greenbelt all along the M1. This lack of foresight is only compounded by a still nascent sense of civic responsibility and a penchant for ostentation: the bigger and the gaudier the constructions, the better.

As a result, our built environment occupies a quarter of our land area, a high percentage by most yardsticks. This wouldn’t be such a tragedy if this wave of urbanization was being accompanied by the creation of green spaces where people could go to relax and exercise. The effect of this on the Mauritian psyche cannot be overstated. By depriving the population of places they can go after work and let their hair down in a wholesome way, we are only exacerbating the rampant individualism that’s become so prevalent. It’s our own version of the Parisian scourge known as “ métro, boulot, dodo” and it’s ridiculous.

What are we: a tropical island or a wannabe metropolis? For now, it seems we often get the worst of both worlds: the parochialism of a small, isolated country and the stress usually associated with big cities. Wouldn’t it be better if we had the relaxed attitude of the former and the excitement and cosmopolitanism of the latter? Perhaps that should be our leitmotif for 2013: we want parks and recreation!

Nicholas RAINER