For the author, the Metro Express is not really the best solution to the traffic problem in Mauritius. He suggests, instead, the construction of a second harbour at Mahebourg to take the strain off the one in Port-Louis.

I have read with interest Mr Georges Chung Tick Kan’s article, “Sans le Metro Express, quel avenir pour Maurice ?” (l’express, 27th March 2017). Yes, although the Metro Express might come (partly!) to our rescue, it is to be wondered whether it is really the best solution to our traffic problem.

Well, first of all, we should demarcate the real problem from the symptoms of the problem. For, if this is not the case, we always end up finding the solution for the symptoms and not the problem. And here, I shall point out that the long queues into and out of Port-Louis just constitute the symptom while the real problem is that too many vehicles are trying to get in and out of Port-Louis at the same time! (An interesting analogy is a patient, suffering from a dry and itchy throat, coming to the doctor for relief. He/she would be a poor doctor, indeed, if he/she recommended something, like a soothing drink, to ease the dry and itchy throat – which is just the symptom! – while forgetting to give the patient a drug that will get rid of the flu – the real problem!)

Yes, the Metro Express might get us into Port-Louis faster (than all those buses, going all too often at a snail’s pace!), but what about overcrowding, pollution, parking and traffic circulation inside the city itself. For I’ve got to be convinced that car owners will forsake their cars to take the Metro Express. Right now, there are around 35 bus stations between Curepipe and Port-Louis, while the number of stations for the Metro Express will be substantially lower. Does this not mean that to take the Metro Express, there will be more passengers walking a longer way from home? Thus inducing more people to rely on their own means of transport to go to work! And, lest we forget, the forceful acquiring of land along the Metro Express line is not being well accepted and might well weigh in the balance during the next general elections! So, since compulsion is bound to make a government unpopular, the only course of action resides in motivation… like motivating more and more companies/organizations to operate outside the capital – and a second harbour on the southeast coast might provide such a motivation.

The beneficial consequences of a second harbour

First of all, it will take the strain off Port-Louis harbour. All too often, ships have to queue for days to get unloaded, which shows that “congestion” is not only confined to road activities but to harbour activities as well. A new harbour, on the other hand, will not only bring a faster unloading of goods (since goods will inevitably be “shared” between the two harbours) but will also lessen traffic congestion because of the fewer “goods” vehicles (vans and lorries) getting in and out of Port-Louis.

Secondly, the growth of commercial organizations will take off of their own accord – after the setting up of a custom’s department and a warehouse in the new harbour’s neighbourhood. These commercial activities will, in turn, attract a sizeable part of the traffic bound for Port-Louis, thus alleviating congestion along the Royal Road and M1. And, inevitably, lesser traffic into Port-Louis will facilitate circulation and provide better parking opportunities inside the city during working hours.

Thirdly, more people will elect to live along the main road leading to this new harbour. (Right now, there is only one major town – Rose-Belle – along the Curepipe– Mahébourg corridor, as opposed to five along the Curepipe–Port-Louis corridor). This influx of people will not only bring in its wake small businesses and supermarkets, but also schools and colleges. It is a known fact that traffic is more fluid during school vacations (because students constitute a fair proportion of the traffic community). Thus, it is a fair assumption that traffic from Curepipe to Port-Louis will improve because students in the South will opt for new colleges in Grand-Port instead of those in Plaines-Wilhems.

Fourthly, there will be less pollution in Port-Louis. Pollution is caused by fumes emitted by vehicles. These fumes, in turn, rise up to form a blanket over the capital and prevent the heat filtering in from going back into the atmosphere, thereby giving rise to the greenhouse effect. Thus, less pollution will make it less hot in Port-Louis while improving air quality.

Fifthly, tankers will be able to discharge aviation fuel at the new harbour, thus sparing the need to transport this fuel all the way across the island from Port-Louis. No need also to add that supermarkets in the South will be serviced more easily by this new harbour. Right now, to service a supermarket in Souillac, a van or lorry has to cover a distance of 50 km!

Sixthly, it is to be wondered whether Port-Louis is a harbour in the true sense of the word. It looks as if it is just a port that cannot provide a safe refuge for ships during cyclonic weather (which is why ships are requested to leave the “harbour” to seek safety on the high seas when a cyclone approaches!). Mahébourg, on the other hand, looks like a safer haven – which is why it was chosen as a naval base by the British during World War II.

Our list is not exhaustive and quite a few will point out that it will take time for the new port to have an impact on traffic fluidity. How long? Five years, ten years? But it’s better to be late than sorry! And, in the meantime, quite a few simple (and inexpensive!) things might be done to improve traffic flow – like equipping all buses with two exit doors, introducing flexi-time to spread the rush-hour traffic over time, making greater use of Internet transactions that allow to do business from home, taking actions against bus companies whose vehicles break down all too often, providing lay-bys for all bus stops. (Infuriating really, how a bus stopping at a bus stop can block traffic for an inordinately long time!)

By the way, the idea of opening a new port at Mahébourg is not such a brand new idea. Some 40 years back, it was mentioned, at a political rally, by someone who had this helicopter quality “this ability to rise above day-today events to get an overview of what is really happening”. And if you could fly 10,000 feet above Mauritius on a busy working day, you would see two clogged arteries going towards Port-Louis but an almost deserted route going towards Mahébourg. Well, isn’t it high time we re-equilibrate our traffic flow while giving Mauritius a new harbour? (Killing two birds with one stone, isn’t it?) Why should we have this fixation on Port-Louis (the root cause of our traffic congestion) and get bogged down by this Metro Express? - Whose only raison d’être is to get into our capital city faster at (only) two particular time of the day! Let’s shift our gaze, instead, towards this blue cove in the South East! Indeed, “sans un nouveau port, quel avenir pour Maurice ?”