Let’s be fair: no one is saying we are the only country that has been hit by extreme weather, torrential rain and floods. We have seen the world over the havoc nature is wreaking on mankind. But let’s put things into perspective.

We can’t shirk our responsibility by showing images of Dubai being swept by a wave of torrential rain and thump our chests for not being the only country overwhelmed by natural disasters. There is little comparison between Dubai and Mauritius. In Dubai, these rains have hit for the first time in 75 years. So, the damage caused could not be predicted.

Here on the other hand, we became acquainted with flash floods as early as 2013 in an incident that cost us 11 precious lives whose tragic deaths we commemorated only last week with photo ops and whatnot. A report was commissioned and its recommendations became public nearly 10 years ago. The politicians running the country today have – in their majority – been in power for almost as long as that. Apart from making the problem worse by adding more concrete, what exactly have they done to alleviate this phenomenon and prevent loss of lives and revenue?

In the 2019-2020 budget, a colossal sum of Rs650 millions was budgeted for drains. In the 2020-2021 budget, another bigger sum of Rs1,2 billion was announced with pomp and ceremony in what was called by the minister of finance ‘un projet phare’ reaching every town and village. In 2022-2023, Rs3,8 billion were added, supposedly covering even more regions. All this was announced with much chest thumping and the promise that floods would be something of the past. Are they?

On January 15, we helplessly watched cars and people being swept away and again we lost two lives. It’s a miracle we didn’t lose more as the luminaries at the helm – mistaking themselves for meteorologists – promised us fine weather and sent everyone to Port Louis where they were trapped for hours! Then a blame game started and was forgotten about.

Since then, every time there have been a few drops of rain, our luminaries simply cancelled school and sometimes work too. It is the easiest and costliest solution but as long as they dodge their responsibility, everything is fine.

Yesterday, their action took the cake. A rain storm swept over the island on Sunday and predictably caused flooding again. Some of our compatriots watched helplessly as their houses were turned into swimming pools taking away all their belongings. Some of these were social houses recently built by the government and which should have had proper street drains. One even less lucky compatriot watched his house collapse under the water.

Worse than all this is the usual amateurism and mismanagement that surrounded this tragedy and cost the country billions we can ill-afford: the authorities woke up from their usual slumber and immediately issued a communiqué cancelling school and work – advising work from home when it’s possible. While they usually decide only for the public sector, this time they ventured into the private sector as well. Another communiqué was issued a few hours later removing the heavy rain watch, thus plunging the country in total confusion and chaos.

So after the rain on Sunday, the country woke up to enjoy a glorious sunshine but not knowing whether to go to work or to the beach; whether buses were running or not; whether to expect their employees at work or not; whether children should be in school or with their parents… As I write this piece, I have no idea myself! The pompously called crisis committee went back into hibernation and left everyone to fend for themselves! Radio silence!

In an interview in Weekend on Sunday, Senior Counsel Antoine Domingue stated that the MSM government genuinely wants to lose the next elections. I don’t know whether to agree with him or not but if they do, there is no better way to go about it.

A third edition of Touria Prayag’s book “Provisional Charges: The Untold Human Stories” and her second book: “#BLD: When Mauritius Lost its Bedside Manners” are now available at Librairie Le Cygne, Le Printemps Hobby World and all the Bookcourt outlets.