The Ministry of Blue Economy, Marine Resources and Fisheries of Sudheer Maudhoo finds itself at the center of controversy regarding its call for Expression of Interests for the management of a barachois, known as pond A in Butte-à-L’Herbe.
Indeed, the company Rising Tides claims to have held a letter of authorization since 2016 for the implementation of aquaculture projects, including the production of five tons of fish, crab, and sea cucumbers.
Rising Tides strongly contests the Expression of Interest titled “to occupy a vested barachois” issued on January 9th and has sent a formal notice to the ministry this week.
The protester argues that the authorities are aware that they have been eyeing this site for over eight years and that the former minister, the late Prem Koonjoo, had committed to granting pond A to Rising Tides.
In this formal notice served to the ministry of Sudheer Maudhoo through Me Hiren Jankee (lawyer), Rising Tides explains that it started procedures with the relevant authorities since July 2016 to obtain authorization to carry out aquaculture activities in a barachois located in Butte-à-L’Herbe, Grand-Gaube.
The company asserts that, through an official letter, the concerned ministry had responded in September 2016 and requested further clarification.
The firm’s spokesperson Prashin Rosunee explains that all the required information was provided and, consequently, an authorization letter was issued to conduct aquaculture activities in pond A of the Butte-à-L’Herbe barachois.
This correspondence, according to Rising Tides, explicitly indicated that the area of 29,658 square meters would be delimited by the Ministry of Blue Economy.
The four ponds (A, B, C, and D) of this barachois are interconnected and interdependent due to the natural flow of tides, and they must be considered as a single body of water for the safety of aquaculture projects.
Rising Tides asserts in the formal notice that it had consented and expressly accepted the authorization to implement the aquaculture project in pond A, assuring the supervising ministry of its willingness and readiness to move forward since November 2016.
However, Rising Tides also explains that it had provided concrete information to the ministry during this period in the form of a Letter of Intent dated April 4, 2016, from the ministry to another aquaculture project promoter that contained more favorable and accommodating terms than those proposed to them.
It argues that a comparison between the two sets of conditions contained in the two letters clearly demonstrated a stark difference in the imposed conditions and reflected “manifest discriminatory treatment”.
Rising Tides further claims that in January 2017, the ministry had informed them that two conditions related to the submission of physico-chemical information and security services would change, while others would remain unchanged.
Prashin Rosunee’s company maintains that since January 2017, they had been informed by the ministry that they would be notified of the Lease Agreement signing and that they had, from that moment, “a legitimate expectation of its project being regularized and finalized.”
Seeing no progress until April 2017, Rising Tides wrote to the Senior Chief Executive as well as the technical lead of the Albion Fisheries Research Centre to inquire about the status and the awaited Lease Agreement, as agreed upon since January 2017.
It wasn’t until September 2017 that Rising Tides was summoned by the ministry. During a meeting on September 5 of the same year, the company found itself faced with a contract that, according to them, contained a series of unilateral statements and highly prejudicial conditions, making the project and the business unviable, as noted in the formal notice.
It explains that in response, the supervising ministry was informed that the conditions regarding the duration of occupation, the method of contract renewal, and other technical clauses had thwarted the very purpose of establishing the project.
Prashin Rosunee also claims that in June 2021, they had a meeting with Minister Sudheer Maudhoo, Norungee Mangar, and another official, during which they were informed that they would benefit from the same conditions as other promoters in this sector.
They say they were notified by mail on March 7, 2022, that “the application and conditions for the Barachois are still being processed and reviewed and Rising Tides Ltd company will be notified of any developments.”
Thus, they were surprised by the Expression of Interest launched by the ministry of Sudheer Maudhoo on January 9th for pond A in the Butte-à-L’Herbe barachois.
They believe that the ministry acted in bad faith since it is explicitly stated that a candidate is not eligible to apply if they “have benefited from a Lease Agreement or hold an authorization letter from the ministry regarding another barachois.”
They argue that this clause was intentionally included to exclude Rising Tides from this exercise. The formal notice has been served to the ministry of Sudheer Maudhoo.
The ministry now has 15 days to respond to this dispute, failing which legal action will be taken.
Source: Le Mauricien
