Mauritius Faces an Environmental Catastrophe
Akeefah Lal Mahomed / Dec 6 / Environmental Disaster
On the 25th of July, the vessel MV Wakashio transporting 4,000 tons of oil became stranded on the coast of Mauritius. Despite the immediate dangers posed, Jugnauth’s administration failed to take decisive action, tipping the country into an unprecedented social, economic, and environmental crisis. The government’s inability to protect its citizens has drawn harsh criticisms and is further evidence of discontent in a democracy that has become embedded with invisible corruption.
A Timeline of Events
Between the crash on the 25th of July and the leaking of oil on the 6th of August, no move was made by the government to mitigate risks. Several measures could have been taken from the day of impact, from pumping the oil out of the vessel to prevent oil spilling, applications of booms around the ship to limit the spread of oil, and the selling of scrap metal from the vessel to fund clean-up projects. Yet, the pumping of oil did not commence until after the 7th of August. The shortfall in governance was supplemented by widespread public action. One citizen, Ivan Bibi, was involved with both the implementation of public water booms, and the wider cleanup operation:
“I spent 43 days on the waterfront straight. The first weekend I was one of the first ppl to bring food for the volunteers…and then I was there all weekend, I slept in my car all weekend. What was so beautiful about that was for the first time in Mauritius there was this solidarity. I mean the whole country went to work.”
Immediate Impacts
Mauritius’ oceans, coral reefs and wildlife are under threat. The spill occurred in one of the more sensitive areas of the island, threatening the coral reefs, seagrass and the animals that live amongst them. It is not one species, but a whole ecosystem that is under threat as the chemicals disperse around the island. Causing further damage, and in disregard from international bodies such as Greenpeace, on the 24th of August the Mauritian government deliberately sunk the front of the vessel into a dolphin nest. This decision also comes into contradiction to the ‘mark de revenue’ on the scrap metal. Valuing at 500 million Rupees, the dismantling and reselling of this metal could have provided funding to salvage the damages already caused by government inaction. The later dismantling and resale of the rear of the ship stimulate further questions as to why the administration not only to failed in taking advantage of resources, but chose to cause further environmental damage. Speculations from citizens as to why this has happened have involved government connections to the narcotics trade. At best, it will take decades to recover.
Additionally, the environmental cost has had a knock-on effect on tourism and those most vulnerable in the communities.
“We are talking of the worst oil spill disaster that this country has ever known. We are talking of livelihoods. We are talking of people making a living from sea. We are talking of ecosystem which is collapsing”
The failures to safeguard the safety and security of Mauritius has left the population vulnerable. Mauritius is a developing country highly dependent on tourism, with many living day-to-day to feed themselves. Though the government has passed budget measures to alleviate shocks, this cannot last forever. The subsidisation using foreign reserves has been depreciating the currency, increasing the cost of living. Over the last 6 months, citizens have experienced increases in the cost of living, observable from the price of a packet of crisps to the cost of medication. At a time when 125 000 people are experiencing unemployment, people rely on the oceans to survive.
“Mauritius is so highly dependent on tourism. The people that live there, in that whole area, they depend on that for their livelihoods…especially during a COVID crisis where we’ve been in lockdown. There haven’t been any tourists, so a lot of the people in those areas [who] work on the sea and with tourism, none of these people had been working for months because of COVID, so what did they do? they depended on the ocean to live.”
This, in turn, has ignited protestations. The combination of Wakashio with COVID-19 has seen the biggest organisations of protests in the last 40 years. Public figures such as Bruno Laurette have been pivotal in delegitimising government excuses and holding the administration accountable. Vocalising discontent, 150 000 people gathered in Port Louis on the 29th of August, and later, 80 000 for protestation in Mahebourg. Now, with the government crackdown on marches, it is yet to be seen how the people can adopt new avenues to continue expressions of dissatisfaction.
“One thing I want you to understand is…in Mauritius it’s a whole different dynamic. When you compare you have to look at the proportionality, if you had to take 10% of America coming down onto Washington DC to protest that’d be 35 million people.”
Bubbling Discontent
Historically, Mauritians are seldom active and vocal about discontent. This is due to a system infused with ‘represi,’ political revenge. The state has engaged in actions from boycotting newspapers, to state prosecution against an individual for posting memes. The abuse of state power is enabled through a constitution written at the time of independence, which allows for dynastic parties. Inheritance of party leadership distorts the democratic process and allows for corruption, by ensuring a continuation of previous party politics.
This has bred an environment where the Jugnauth’s administration act with opacity: slow to act and with little explanation. Excuses of poor weather from the government for inaction have only increased resentment amongst citizens as satellite images reveal that this to be a lame excuse. Yet, in the face of negligence, the government famously quoted “cote mon faute?” translating to ‘where’s my fault?’ denying accountability in the matter.
Failure to effectively respond to the Wakashio oil spill activated a population during a global pandemic and continues to destabilise livelihoods. It remains unclear how far-reaching the ecological and health risks are, however, this has resulted in a crisis that will disproportionately affect the most vulnerable. Those who had begun seeing rising standard of livings from tourism will find themselves falling back down the ladder, at the brunt of an economic recession with limited means of income. Those already at the bottom of a developing economy’s wealth-gap find themselves without alternative methods, facing the decision of going hungry or eating oil-ridden seafood. Negligence thus far has created uncertainty in the governor’s ability to care for his citizens. International movements such as extinction rebellion have turned a spotlight on the Wakashio oil spill, however, it is the people of Mauritius who are left with the costs and damages.