Honourable Pravind Kumar JUGNAUTH,
Prime Minister, Minister of Defence,
Home Affairs and External Communications,
Minister for Rodrigues, Outer Islands and Territorial Integrity.
New Treasury Building
Intendance street, Port Louis

8 April 2021

RE: URGENT APPEAL ON BEHALF OF AIR MAURITIUS EMPLOYEES

Honourable Prime Minister,

I refer to my Parliamentary Question bearing reference B/135 which I addressed to you at the sitting of the National Assembly on Tuesday 6 April 2021, reproduced below and for which unfortunately, time did not permit for an oral answer to be provided.

I also refer to the letter dated 15 March 2021 sent by the Air Mauritius Cabin Crew Association (AMCCA) to the Honourable Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, a copy of which is hereto attached, which I hope you have taken cognizance of previously or you have been informed of its contents, whereby the cabin crew of Air Mauritius Ltd made an urgent appeal for assistance from the Government.

On 22 April 2021, it will be a year since our national airline carrier, Air Mauritius Ltd, has been placed under voluntary administration resulting in a major impact on the daily life of hundreds of employees and their families. Since several months now, many of the staff members have been compelled to go on leave without pay or are being scheduled for duty on part-time basis. Many of them are currently in an extremely precarious situation whereby they are struggling to sustain themselves and their families and are unable to meet daily expenses and their obligations. This in turn has had a serious impact on their personal and family life. 

 Based on my discussions with AMCCA, I understand their members are not able to benefit from the Wage Assistance Scheme which your Government has put in place. They also cannot be registered for the Workfare Programme in as much as the decision by the administrators to impose leaves without pay was not processed by the Redundancy Board. With the new lockdown imposed since 10 March 2021, the financial difficulties of many of Air Mauritius Ltd employees have worsened and they find themselves in an even more critical situation since they are unable to benefit from any kind of financial assistance from the authorities.

   In the circumstances, I humbly appeal for your urgent intervention and assistance to set up a financial support scheme on humanitarian grounds dedicated to these employees in order to assist them during these dire times.

Being given the hardship faced by these employees and the impact on their health, I believe a study or survey should be carried, if same has not been done already, to assess the situation of these employees and to provide them, aside from the financial assistance support, with the required medical/psychological assistance.

The hard work of these employees helped our national airline connect us to the world, and the Pailleen-Queue soared to great heights during its glory days. We cannot now turn a deaf ear to the plight of these very employees and ignore them.

I sincerely hope urgent consideration and attention will be given to their heart-felt cry for assistance.

Thanking you.

Yours Sincerely,

Hon. Gilles Fabrice DAVID

 

Letter Hon PM_Air Mauritius employees_GFD