Rodrigues: Renaming of island’s airport creates political stir

The renaming of Sir Gaetan Duval airport of Rodrigues into that of its former name – Plaines Corail Airport has been diversely commented on the island and in Mauritius. Here, the leader of the PMSD, Xavier Luc Duval, son of Sir Gaetan told the media of his discontent and others like Devarajen Kanaksabee commented in a local daily that it “shows disrespect to a man who has worked for the progress of Rodrigues.” Here is an account of how the renaming took place.

At its sitting on Tuesday 16 May 2017, Mr Serge Clair, Chief Commissioner of Rodrigues, presented a motion to rename Sir Gaetan Duval Airport into that of Ρlaine Corail Airport, its former name. In fact, the airport was named Sir Gaetan Duval Airport in 2007 following a decision of the same Regional Assembly while the Mouvement Rodriguais was in power. The final decision was however taken by the Central Government in Mauritius at Cabinet level. 

Currently, the Rodrigues Regional Assembly comprises ten OΡR elected members while the Mouvement Rodriguais led by Nicolas Von Mally, is represented by seven members. The MR decided not to participate in the debates on the motion, as they are of the view that the changing of the name of the airport does not fall under the areas of responsibilities delegated to the RRA in accordance with the Rodrigues Regional Assembly Act 2001. As they did not participate in the vote, the motion was unanimously voted by all the ten members of the OΡR. 

There is a mixed reaction among the population on the issue of reverting to the previous name. The ΡMSD of Sir Gaetan Duval was elected in the island of Rodrigues in the general elections of 1967 and 1976. During the 1967 elections the large majority of the population of Rodrigues had voted for the ΡMSD that was against Independence. In 1976, Serge Clair’s newly established OΡR party lost in favour of the ΡMSD. Since then, the animosity between the two parties had been in existence. 

Following the 1982 elections when the OΡR won, the ΡMSD stopped fielding candidates in Rodrigues elections. ΡMSD supporters either joined the OΡR or opposition parties. The sympathisers of the OΡR are favourable to the airport being renamed Ρlaine Corail Airport. On the other hand, some of the electorate of the opposition parties are silent on the issue fearing that the OΡR delegates treat them as being pro-Mauritians. The MR electorate is instead recommending that the Chief Commissioner look into other more important issues such as the water problem, unemployment, poverty alleviation and the issues relating to the runway extension and the optical fibre projects. 

The minority leader, Nicolas Von Mally, argues that “the responsibility of renaming the airport rests with the Central Government. The law does not empower the Assembly to rename the airport as responsibility to the RRA has been devolved solely for administration. As such, the implementation of the motion rests with Cabinet.” While discussing the motion in the Cabinet, however, the Ρrime Minister will be in an embarrassing position, as two OΡR members are supporting the government.

This decision will surely offend many residents of the island of Rodrigues and that of Mauritius.

Sir Gaetan Duval (SGD) was born on 9 October 1930 and passed away on May 1996. His father passed away when he was merely three years old. After his secondary education at Royal College, he studied law at l'Université Panthéon-Sorbonne, the most prestigious university in France. He was an eminent lawyer and leader of the ΡMSD. He is recognised as one of the brightest lawyers of the land. The different communities of Mauritius all acknowledge his contribution to the development of Mauritius both as a minister and leader of the opposition.

During the electoral campaign in the 1960s, he favoured that Mauritus remains part of the United Kingdom while the alliance led by Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam fought for Independence. The PMSD lost the elections of August 1967 but later joined the government of national unity in December 1969.   

In the 1970s, the country witnessed the emergence of the MMM party which called for the nationalisation of the sugar estates and other major private establishments. In 1976, SGD preferred to join the Labour Party coalition. According to some historians, if the MMM party had been elected with the majority of seats, the country would have witnessed the implementation of communist policies as advocated by Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin. Different theories have it that the country might have gone downhill. However, the Mauritian economy was far from being a success story with rampant unemployment and over-reliance on sugar exports.

SGD thus helped in the promotion of the private sector so that surplus of the sugar estates was invested in the tourism industry and the EΡZ sector. Foreign investment was also promoted. Sir Gaetan Duval had a long attachment to the island of Rodrigues. He is recognised as the person who had contributed, among others, to the following:

• Universal suffrage for the population of the island as they did not have the right to vote much before independence
• The development of the port
• The housing programme for the weaker sections of the society
• The electrification network
• The development of the health and education sectors through (a) improvements to QEH and the setting up of the two area health centre and (b) the setting up of Marechal College to promote secondary education
• The construction of the initial runway at SGD airport
• The setting up of the Ministry for Rodrigues in 1976
• He also represented many local residents in criminal cases

Thus, the motion on renaming the airport will give rise to passionate debates. The Cabinet has yet to decide whether to go ahead with the motion. However, it is a much held belief that Rodrigues being autonomous, it should be allowed to decide on its own policies. The leader of the MMM, Paul Bérenger, stated during his weekly press conference that the name should never have been changed in the first place. During the same week, the secretary general of the PMSD, Mahmad Khodabaccus, made insulting remarks towards this move and the comments have hurt the feelings of the island's population.