GOVERNMENT STRIVES TO ELIMINATE DISCRIMINATION IN EXISTING MAURITIAN LAWS

The Ministerial Committee in Charge of the harmonization study in view of eliminating all forms of discrimination in the existing Mauritian laws gathered today the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment. The committee is chaired by the Attorney General Rama Valayden, and includes MinisterS Jean-François Chaumière, Rajesh Jeetah and Indira Seeburn who was represented by officials of her ministry at today’s session. Permanent secretaries and high cadres of several government departments and ministries, including the State Law Office, also attended the meeting.

Speaking to the press after the meeting, the Attorney General and Ministers Chaumiere and Jeetah explained that the various ministries are expected to submit all their findings on discrimination by next week, after which these will be circulated to all stakeholders for about a month. The amendments will then be brought to parliament gradually. It was also decided that the private sector should be taken on board in this process of eliminating discrimination

Backgrounder

The study was undertaken under the UNDP funded country project ‘Capacity Building for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women’ and was entrusted to a team of three consultants namely Professor V.P.Torul as team leader, Ms. G. Topsee-Sonoo and Ms O. Lim Tung. It aimed at identifying discriminatory statutes and provisions in the existing national legislation using the ILO Convention No. 111 on Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) – C111-, adopted in 1958, as benchmark. It has also taken into account other international instruments advocating equality of opportunity and non-discrimination such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The outcome of the study is meant to form part of the integral process of domesticating C111, ratified by Mauritius in 2002.

2. The research started in May 2006 and was completed in August 2007. It took into account national legislation in force as at 31 July 2007. The report was released to stakeholders in September 2008 for consideration of implementation of the recommendations. In essence, the report reveals the following:

(i) The Constitution of Mauritius makes provisions against all forms of discrimination specified in C111, CEDAW and CERD.

(ii) On the basis of Section 16(1) of the Constitution, which outlaws any discrimination based on sex, specific provisions of some legislation that are still discriminatory against women are therefore unconstitutional.

(iii) The Labour Act and Section 20 of the Industrial Expansion Act make specific distinctions between male and female workers as regards prescribed hours of work.

(iv) As far as Remuneration Orders (R.Os) are concerned, discriminatory features identified mainly relate to:

- job appellations with gender connotation;
- criteria for entitlement to transport benefits;
- restrictions on women to perform certain jobs and operations particularly in the agricultural sector, entailing a difference in wages and other allowances earned by male and female workers;
- different voluntary retirement age prescribed for men and women in certain sectors;
- different sets of privileges and benefits in relation to maternity.

(v) The National Pensions Act contains sex-based discriminatory provisions such as:

- at Section 4(1) of the Act, mention is made only of widow’s pension;
- in certain instances, allowances provided for in the Act are applicable to male beneficiaries only.
(vi) In the Criminal Code, Section 242 is considered discriminatory inasmuch as it gives the husband a defence in cases of manslaughter committed in the face of adultery.

(vii) The Mauritian Civil Code has also been found to contain discriminatory provisions, inter alia, with respect to:

- the transmission of patronymic name to children;
- wordings with gender connotation in various Articles.

(viii) Discriminatory provisions observed in other pieces of legislation are generally linked to the age factor, eligibility for various types of pensions and access to legal aid among others.

3. The report consists of two parts - Part I, concerning discrimination in the Mauritian body of law relating to Convention No. 111 and to additional grounds identified by the ILO as emerging prohibited grounds of discrimination following a general survey carried out in 1996; and Part II, concerning discrimination relating to other international instruments such as the CEDAW, CERD and ICCPR. Appendices I and II give a summary of the findings and recommendations found, respectively, at Part I and II of the report.

MANPOWER FROM RODRIGUES SOUGHT FOR MAINLAND MAURITIAN INDUSTRIES

The Minister of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment, Hon. Jean-François Chaumière held a meeting today in presence of the Chief Commissioner of Rodrigues Johnson Roussety, the Rodrigues Commissioner for Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Mr. Christian Agathe, officials of the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment, and the representative of BACECA – the Building and Civil Engineering Contractors Association, Mr. Bushan Ramloll.

The focus of the meeting was the pool of manpower that can be created in Rodrigues to address the shortage of workers in specific industries on mainland Mauritius, such as construction industries. About 3 900 jobs have been created in this sector lately, and Rodriguans should be able to benefit from this boom, Minister Chaumière underlined.

It was also discussed how the contract of the workers coming from Rodrigues could be drawn so as to be more adapted to the needs of these workers, and the contractors wishing to employ them. It was discussed, for example, that their contracts should specify accommodation and transport conditions as well as whether these contracts should be period or project-based.

Minister Chaumière and Chief Commissioner Johnson Roussety agreed on the principle of training people from Rodrigues for the requirements of specific industries and occupations in Mauritius. Chief Commissioner Roussety and Commissioner should begin working on a scheme in Rodrigues to publicize the needs of the Mauritian labour market, and to explain to workers there what is expected of them should they join the mainland workforce.

REGULATIONS TO BE AMENDED FOR STATUTORY BODIES TO BE ABLE TO EXTEND THE RETIREMENT AGE TO 65

The Minister of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment, Hon. Jean-François Chaumière held a tripartite meeting today with representatives of workers of Mauritius Post – the FCSOU – and the management of Mauritius Post, following representations from the FCSOU regarding the extension of the retirement age to 65 for this company.

For reminder, the Government, under the Finance Act 2008, provided for the gradual extension of the retirement age from 60 to 65. This provision did not include non PRB-governed officers, that is: those from Statutory Bodies. Hence, the representation from the FCSOU for its members employed at the Mauritius Post Limited, which under Section 71 of the Employment Rights Act can negotiate for the retirement age to be extended to 65.

Minister Chaumière has therefore apprised the stakeholders of the Government’s decision for the regulations regarding the retirement age for Statutory Bodies to be amended at the level of the State Law Office so that these institutions may comply with the general government policy of retirement age at 65.

This meeting was held in presence of the Director of Labour and Industrial Relations of the Ministry, representatives of the management of Mauritius Post Limited, the FCSOU, representatives of the Ministry of Finance and of SICOM – which is in charge of pensions for all 105 Statutory Bodies.

1 MILLION US DOLLARS COLLECTED BY MAURITIUS FOR HAITI

The Teledon Solidarité Haiti, an initiative of the Prime Minister, Dr. Navin Ramgoolam launched only 3 days after the disastrous earthquake which struck Haiti on the 12th of January this year, has yielded Rs 15 300 900 as at this morning (Tuesday, 23 February 2010). This figure is expected to rise as new donations will be considered at the close of the Teledon Solidarité Haiti accounts today at 12 p.m.

Minister Jean-François Chaumière, president of the ministerial committee in charge of the Teledon, announced the closing of accounts today at London College of Port Louis. The college, for reminder, was the first institution to make their donation of Rs 105 000 at the launch of the event on Wednesday, 27 January 2010 at the Municipality of Port Louis. Minister Chaumière praised the school as an example-setter not only for the youth, but for the entire country. Indeed, 82-year old Goolam Mohammed Dulloon, President of one of the island’s oldest associations – the Mauritius Muslim Brotherhood – set up 50 years ago, handed Minister Chaumière a cheque of Rs 70 000, collected by his organization for the victims of Haiti.

The Lord Mayor of Port Louis, Sheik Muktar Hossenbacus, Minister Asraf Dulull and the Attorney General Rama Valayden were also present at London College this morning. They all highlighted solidarity as having become inherent of Mauritian life as demonstrated through the Teledon endeavour. Mr. Harold Chan Lam, Founder and Manager of London College, for his part reminded students and those present of the school's tradition of charitable initiative.

The final figure for the Teledon, added to the donation made by the Government of the Republic of Mauritius is expected to amount to
1 000 000 US dollars.