Beachcomber’s Water Plans Raise Questions Amongst Locals

In our July 16 edition, we questioned what Beachcomber, the owner of hotels Dinarobin and Paradis, planned to do with 2,500 cubic meters of water for its hotels and 2,750 cubic meters for a real estate project in Rivière Noire. L’Express has now have some answers.

The project in Rivière Noire, called “Harmonie Integration Development,” is a property development scheme (PDS) located at Salines Koenig.

It will feature 220 villas, mostly for sale to wealthy foreigners, as well as an 18-hole golf course covering approximately 40 hectares.

Not a hotel that would create employment and generate revenue for the country in a sustainable manner.

The water requested by Beachcomber (New Mauritius Hotels) from the Central Water Authority (CWA) will come from the Yemen La Coupée reservoir, which is fed by the Tamarin Falls and Magenta Dam, used to produce electricity.

A 6-kilometer pipeline will transport the water. 700 cubic meters of this water will be used for the needs of residents in the PDS.

It is unclear why these affluent residents require so much water. The water will be filtered by a containerized pressure filter and distributed by pumps and other accessories installed at Salines Koenig.

Additionally, 2,000 cubic meters of untreated water will be used to irrigate the golf courses of these gentlemen and ladies. The total cost for the CWA is Rs 150 million.

Regarding the hotels Paradis and Dinarobin, the water will come from the Baie-du-Cap river and will be transported through a 250mm diameter pipeline that is 12 kilometers long.

800 cubic meters of treated water will be served to the hotels, and 1,700 cubic meters of untreated water will “irrigate” the golf courses! There will also be pumps and filters installed.

The cost: Rs 100 million. Who will pay for these equipment? In principle, Beachcomber, but we are still waiting for confirmation.

In any case, it seems that funds from the Pipe Replacement Programme would have been used.

It is worth noting that despite the installations made, the connection was cancelled or returned green, which is agriculture for Prakash Maunthrooa.

At what rate did Beachcomber agree to pay for this water? After many negotiations, the CWA decided to charge Rs 15 per cubic meter for untreated water and Rs 55 per cubic meter for treated water.

For untreated water, it is the agricultural rate that was applied, with an additional Rs 4 supplement – not the commercial rate.

We wonder what agricultural purpose there is in a golf course! For treated water, it is indeed the commercial rate that was applied, but with an additional Rs 21 per cubic meter supplement.

The Central Water Authority (CWA) would also be responsible for the infrastructure works, which would “relieve Beachcomber of having to pay consultants, contractors, and searching for ‘wayleaves’ and ‘water rights'”.

Beachcomber is also exempt from financial contributions to this project, but it is unclear which one. This raises many questions.

Why did Beachcomber want to rely on the CWA when the hotels have been in operation for several years?

It turns out that the hotels used desalinated water, but the desalination infrastructure needed to be renovated. Beachcomber was preparing to submit an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for this purpose. However, the hotelier complained about the enormous costs of these desalination infrastructure and asked the CWA to provide water from our reservoirs. As a result, Beachcomber will abandon its desalination project.

Notably, the government has plans to introduce massive desalination projects through the Water Resource Bill (see outside text). To replace the water given to hotels?

With all these generous favors granted to Beachcomber, what would it earn for the CWA?

It’s worth noting that the CWA supported this partnership with Beachcomber because it would bring in additional revenue, according to the same CWA. We do not know if the CWA has budgeted for these expected revenues.

Another question arises: who approved this project if it was not the CWA board? Was it the Cabinet of Ministers?

If so, why has it not appeared in the weekly communiqué of the same Cabinet of Ministers? If not, who approved it?

The High-Level Committee, which approved the purchase of medicines and equipment during Covid and kept no record?

In any case, according to our information, the request was returned to the CWA board a few weeks ago and was rejected again.

The board added another reason for rejection: if it grants such a request, other hotels could make similar demands and it would be difficult to refuse.

Does this mean that the request was not approved at a higher level?

Taking water from residents to supply large quantities to rich foreigners and irrigate golf courses! It’s time to stop doing so. Contacted hotels have chosen to remain silent.

Climate change has suddenly hit Morne

On April 30, 2022, CWA tried to explain why residents of Morne did not have water… when it rains. “…we didn’t expect problems related to climate change so quickly.

This is a relatively dry region, but lately, it has been very rainy. Due to the rains, we had to shut down pumps so that residents wouldn’t have muddy water…

The filtration system installed by CWA will take time to be effective…”

The CWA anticipated a future surplus of water that would have to be discarded: “The water extracted at Baie-du-Cap is intended for Morne residents, but in case of surplus, it will be distributed to neighboring regions to avoid clogging CWA pipes.

Otherwise, we would have had to dump this water.”

Two years later, there has been neither surplus nor enough water for Morne’s poor residents. The filtration system is still being tested.

Desalination: a very salty note.

Osman Mahomed said on July 12 during his speech at the National Assembly: “…we are here to make people understand that it can only be out of ignorance or incompetence for Mauritius to resort to expensive desalination because based on latest figures of Statistics Mauritius, 64.5% of treated potable water in our pipes are wasted away mainly through leakages and theft, known as Non-Revenue Water…

The CWA is losing more water through leaky pipes after investing some Rs 5 billion in the controversial pipes replacement program since 2014…

So how can we believe that the money has been used to bring water to Smart Cities rather than changing ‘real broken pipes?'”

Joanna Bérenger added on the same day: “Desalination is a very expensive and energy-hungry method that can be excessively polluting as well.

Besides, nothing is defined here about treating pollutant discharges or how this desalinated water will be returned to CWA’s network…

Desalination is an adaptation option for climate change that should only be adopted when all other ‘sustainable’ options have been explored.”

Source: l’Express