Autonomy of Rodrigues

The beginning of the history of the autonomy of the island Rodrigues goes back to 1915 when a report is addressed to King George V of England by 79 Rodriguais who asks that Rodrigues have two representatives at the Legislative council and deplore that Rodrigues was not included as an electoral district in the Constitution of 1885.

Until 1968, Rodrigues forms integral part of the République of Maurice. This is stipulated in article LXVI of the Abolition off Slavery Act, voted by the the United Kingdom dated August 28th 1833. The article in question is read as follows: … And Be it further enacted and declared, that within the meaning and for the purposes off this Act all Islands and Territories depends upon any off the Colonies aforesaid (the Cape of Good Hope and the Mauritius), and constituting Parts off the same Colonial Government, shall respectively Be taken to Be Shares off such respective Colonies.

Beginnings

The disapproval and the claims of Rodriguais are less visible thereafter, of the fact in particular of the departure of a certain number of Rodriguais towards Sainte Suzanne in 1935 and of the Second world war.

Pierre Coralie, taxi driver of Maurice, start again the movement of dissatisfaction while launching his newspaper Rodriguais , on August 4th 1957.
If one prevents in Rodriguais from speaking, the stones of their mountains will speak in their place , he as a currency of the newspaper writes. Several natives of the island, of which Basile Allas, Xavier Prudence, Jean Azie, Joseph Ah Kang and Mani Ravina, inter alia, enter in scene. Public meetings are organized the weekends in order to mobilize the opinion behind the ideal rodriguais but, the initiators of this dash not having any formation and being for the majority illiterates, the movement does not last. The majority will join side of the independence project of Seewoosagur Ramgoolam right before the elections of August 7th 1967. Only Soopramanien Sooprayen, a teacher of origin Mauritian come to work with the College Saint Louis, in 1965, continuous to preach a true political identity rodriguaise. In 1970, it joins in Xavier Prudence to form the Party of the People Rodriguais (PR).

Meanwhile, Maurice reached the autonomous statute. Maurice is vis-a-vis a big demographic problem, the rate of birth among the Hindu community being very high, poverty threatens because it is very difficult to provide work to an always increasing request as regards employment. British experts sent for a study, recommend a control system of birth by the sterilization of the young husbands in age to procreate.

Charles Gaëtan Duval, young lawyer who affirmed himself like the worthy successor of Jules Koenig to the head of the Democratic Party Social Mauritian, response. For him, the question is clear; it is necessary imperatively that Maurice joins the United Kingdom so that the Mauritians can profit from the British passport and to be able to circulate and work freely in Europe. He preaches also the emigration towards the Australia which recruits labor. It is resulting there which will be very followed by the Mauritians, especially the creole intellectuals who fear the repercussions of independence. A great number of Mauritians - and Rodriguais - will leave on the Charter Flights and will leave Maurice over several years.

Side of the Church, the Bishop of Louis Port, Jean Margéot, will find that the solution recommended in the Wilson report/ratio goes against human dignity. In April 1963, it founds, with Dr. Arthur de Chazal, the Family Action in order to thwart the project of sterilization envisaged by the government. The brothers Mohammed of the Moslem Committee of Action (CAMWOOD) and Aneerood Jugnauth, leader of Indenpdent Forward Block (IFB) are combined in Seewoosagur Ramgoolam and the creole community finds itself insulated. The white and the Church approach Duval, but this one, fearing the force of the Hindus, wants to imply the people rodriguais (creole to 99%), and of the blow, to offer the right to vote in Rodriguais. Clement Roussety, young Rodriguais disciple of Duval, asks Order in Council so that the elections of 1959 and 1963 are invalidated, Rodriguais not having taken part in these elections. What makes it possible Rodriguais to vote for the very first time, with the elections of August 7th, 1967, elections having force of referendum in favor of the independence of Maurice.

First electoral campaign

The year 1968 begins with conflicts between the creole and Moslem communities in several areas from Maurice. Several deaths are to be regretted and the United Kingdom must intervene by the sending of troops based with Aden. Duval gives the watchword so that its partisans rodriguais boycott the ceremony of the flag of March 12th, day of the accession of Maurice to independence. At Rodrigues, the authorities do not manage to hoist the flag in spite of the use of the force.

At the time of the first electoral campaign of Rodrigues and in order to rejoin Rodriguais with its cause, Duval makes use of the Set language. He announces that independence means that the boat will not come any more to supply Rodrigues and that all the children rodriguais will die of hunger, that the retirement and old-age pensions will be abolished and that the churches will be to be transformed into pigsties by the Hindus who will unload at once acquired independence. Rodriguais, very attached to their culture and their faith in Jesus Christ were not long in showing their solidarity towards Duval which incarnated “King Créole” or the defender of the values morals and cultural rodriguaises. Returned of a voyage to the the United States, Duval had endorsed the solgan “Black is Beautiful” (the black is beautiful) expensive with the black Americans after the period Martin Luther King.

Creation of the Ministry of Rodrigues

In front of social instability, Ramgoolam founds the state of emergency, renvoye the legislative elections planned for 1972 and contracts a coalition with Duval in 1971. At that time, the young person Paul Raymond Berenger, ideologist of the French “May 1968” arrived at Maurice and lance a reality and solid trade union movement. Of Rodriguais - Aurélie Perrine and Naine Stammerer, inter alia - are among Bérengistes working in the port. As they follow to the letter the instructions of Berenger to each action of strike, Duval advises in Ramgoolam to bring amendments to the Act Deportation of 1968 in order to off-set Rodriguais “troublemakers” in their island. But, Ramgoolam never had recourse to this action.

At the time of the elections of December 20th 1976, the Mouvement Militant Mauritian of Berenger obtains 30 seats out of the 60 to provide; the remainder goes to the National alliance directed by Seewoosagur Ramgoolam. In the night of the examination, Ramgoolam contracts a new coalition with Duval. This one, knowing that the two elected officials of its party with Rodrigues - Ignace Lewis Nicol François and Cyril Guimbeau - are the only able ones to help to form a government, imposes that a Ministry of Rodrigues is created and allocated with an elected official of the PMSD. Thus, Nicol François becomes first occupying wallet of Rodrigues in January 1977.

If Rodrigues creates the history with these new events, the mentality of vice of the partisans of the PMSD will involve the island in a total anarchy. A category emerges and behaves like the owners of Rodrigues. The made unemployment of the devastation and, whereas a sugar shortage strikes the island, the boat arrives with a wine cargo of bad quality intended for a popular holiday organized by the minister of Rodrigues itself.

Julie Collet, singer historian, however enthusiastic partisane of Francois, composes a song to denounce this attitude:
Boat when returns in Rodrigues
Boat when returns in Rodrigues O
Boat when Li returns in Rodrigues
Just divine Li brought
Plane when fortifies in Rodrigues
Plane when fortifies in Rodrigues O
Plane when fortifies in Rodrigues
Just dimounes Li brought
Di sweetens which us not Ti gained
Rodrigues, which apé us gained
Just divine the bell.

“Clear” and Micro Father Inter

For a few years already, a young priest of origins rodriguaises, Clear Serge - known of Rodriguais like Clear Father -, has returned to Maurice of his studies in France. It is a man who wants to revolutionize the Church. He makes enter the rate/rhythm of the séga to the church and ose to even go to sing in the festivals. The public Mauritian is shocked to see a priest coming on TV to sing “the Source”, a song written by Henri Djian and Guy Bonnet for Isabelle Aubret. Serge Clair meets Lindsay Rivière and Sydney Selvon, two journalists Mauritians and the trio founds the Amicale Maurice-Rodrigues which leads to the launching of a small newspaper entitled the Mail of the Islands . Clearly wants to better make known the Rodrigues island, its people, his culture and his aspirations with the population Mauritian. It launches and animates a radio broadcast, Micro Inter , and puts Rodrigues at before plan. Alas, whereas Ramgoolam, the Prime Minister is absent from country, Duval which only ensures substitution during twenty-four hours, prohibited the emission.

Rodrigues lives always from day to day and in misery. Rodriguais are engaged as plowmen for one eleven months duration. To be able to be made re-employ, the household heads must, in all the cases, pour bribes. Sometimes, some must offer the totality of their silver wages and keep only what they receive in kind, i.e. a few kilos of corn, milk and a few liters of edible oil. Among those which are able to be made engage, one counts mainly the close relations of the PMSD.

In August 1975, Serge Clear, still with the sacerdotal service, organizes a seminar on the laws of work and Industrial Relations Act for Rodriguais with the college of Rodrigues. This is reinforced by Guy Ollivry, lawyer, former deputy of Rodrigues and founder of the Democratic Union Mauritian, come to give a knack to inform Rodriguais on the right to a decent work. Rodriguais are organized and required of Serge Clair to come to help them to launch a serious political party, which would act like defender of weak and of oppressed rodriguais. Serge Clair accepts and in September 1976, is three only months before the elections planned for on December 20th, the Organization of the People of Rodrigues (OPR) occurs in the village of Nassola. The Organization of the People of Rodrigues (OPR) is recorded like political party near the Electoral commission on November 12th, 1976.

Difficult beginnings…

As of the beginning, Clair defines its objectives sincerely; to work with the capacity Mauritian in favor of the release of Rodrigues but never to be combined with any party Mauritian. “Us not EP the war AGAINST anybody, but us EP takes along the battle FOR which people rodriguais capave deboute at the time so proper Li feet! ” (Clear Serge. Victoire and Espoir for the OPR . 1982).

The politicians Mauritians in addition know that it would be difficult to come to fight Rodriguais, a former priest, about his own ground. Harold Walter declares in Rodriguais that it would be suicidal to trust Serge Clair because “ a priest who betrayed God is able to betray his people ”. Promises are made in Rodriguais; and even of the threats if the majority party of Maurice would be put in minority at Rodrigues, it is the population rodriguaise which would pay the consequences of them.

Despite everything, the meetings are organized through the island. The intimidations, Serge Clair answers to forgive, because violence does not carry out nowhere. “Leaves zotte” said Serge Clair.

For the elections of 1976, it is Darcil Perrine, a teacher of Flaring, which resigns of its station to be the fellow candidate of Serge Clair. The party essuie a defeat but nevertheless makes a success of with rafler a percentage of the expressed votes of 33%. In fact, on the 9.416 voters having answered the call of the ballot boxes, the votes were decided between as follows:

Cultural Revivalism and identity awakening

The first problems to which had to face Serge Clair consisted to wake up a deep sense of membership at the people, and to take it along to become aware that it fell on to him to take in hands the reindeers of his own destiny.

Clearly decided, nevertheless, to play the chart of the cultural identity.

Whereas they were at the teacher training school of Maurice, Karl Allas and Marcel Flore had followed courses of leadership exempted by the Institute for the Development and Progress (IDP) under the crook of Jean No5el Adolphe. On their return to the country, they had the responsibility to record local emissions on behalf of the Studio of Sound Arts of Maurice. Whereas they worked on the ground, they discovered that the local musics were in the process of disappearance from the fact even of car-alienation, the local population regarding as lower her music in front of the surge of the Occidental culture. In order to try to save this music, they organized a contest of traditional musics intended for the local folk groups. Thus started to be formed groups of musicians and dancers a little everywhere through the island.

Serge Clair entered the round and proposed to continue work through the creation of a Groupement of the artists Rodriguais . The promotion of the local musics had a godfather and with blow of meetings, the artists started to understand that the culture rodriguaise constituted a richness. The pride of the population was going to reach her paroxysm when, in 1983, Mr. Rama Poonoosamy, Ministre Mauritian of the Culture, declared that Maurice had been invited to a Festival of the Traditional Musics of the Islands of the Indian Ocean in France and that it had decided that it was Rodrigues which would be worthy representing of Maurice and who it was there the occasion for it of going there to show the richness of its music and its culture. A dozen musicians and dancers thus made displacement and Rodriguais understood that they had also things to offer to the world. It was the very first time that the culture rodriguaise exceeded African banks.

Work was accentuated with the organization in the island, on an annual base, of a Festival of the Traditional Musics of the Islands of the Indian Ocean as from 1977 and gathering artists of the islands of the area. These exchanges revealed in Rodriguais affinities which it shared with the other islands and it started to forge a more levelling perception of the people.

With the setting-up of Lasosyasyon bannzil in 1979, of Rodriguais on the occasion to go to the Seychelles and elsewhere for exchanges, conferences and seminars. In 1999, Rodrigues tries a first experiment in the organization of a Kreol Festival. That continues and Rodrigues takes more and more place on the map of the world and in the international press.

The speech of Clear Serge

According to its partisans, the political struggle of Serge Clair is badly included/understood or, voluntarily, badly interpreted in Maurice. Whereas certain politicians consider that Rodriguais want to try a dismantling of the territory Mauritian, the journalists, them, devote themselves to the construction of a feeling of big-brotherism and regarding the island as exclusive property of Maurice. Allusion is made to Rodrigues as being the 10th district of Maurice, and that aggravates more and more Rodriguais which go up, more and more often with the crenel, to denounce the attitude regarded as neocoloniaslist of Port-Louis with respect to Rodrigues. This dispute of the dignity of Rodriguais, from where a antirodriguaise attitude, inevitably leads to a similar reaction on behalf of Rodriguais which finds, from now on, a exploitor in each Mauritian. He thus returned to Serge Clair itself to intervene in order to render comprehensible well that the fight cannot be carried out AGAINST those which degrade Rodriguais, but well WITH all those - Mauritians or foreigners - who have faith in the respect of the values and of the dignity of the people rodriguais.

An advisory counsel

March 12th 1992, the government Mauritian on the spot puts an Executive council at Rodrigues. This council is equipped with 21 members named by the Minister of Rodrigues and acts on the basis of advisory statute relating to certain projects with being set up at Rodrigues. The presidency is entrusted to Miss Antoinette Prudence who was distinguished in the fields social, cultural and political. However, arrived at the capacity in 1995, Navin Ramgoolam do not renew any more the contract of the council. And he refuses to entrust the wallet of Rodrigues to an elected official of the island.

After the installation of government MSM/MMM of December 2000, Sir Aneerood Jugnauth, Prime Minister, and Paul Raymond Berenger, Deputy Prime Minister, at the time of a visit with Rodrigues in February 2001, announce that a maximum autonomy was going to be granted to Rodrigues. November 20th with 19:55, the National Assembly votes unanimously Rodrigues Regional Assembly Act, thus granting an administrative autonomy to Rodrigues.

This new statute gives to Rodrigues the right to make laws and regulations provided that they do not return in conflict with those which are in force on the scale of the Republic. It authorizes the island not only to legislate but also make from the agreements and to solicit of the assistance outside, it after the downstream of the Ministries for the Foreign affairs and the Plan. The Executive council can also launch invitations to tender of a maximum value of 10 million rupees Mauritians for the execution of the development projects. October 12th, 2002, the first Regional assembly of Rodrigues is setting-up and Jean Daniel Spéville assumes the post of head police chief. However on February 4th 2003, this one resigns in order to give the chance to its leader, Louis Serge Clair, to take up these duties.

Difficult transition

The fact that autonomy had been announced only twenty month before the elections for the installation of the new administrative structure, no provision had been made as regards new infrastructurelles facilities or on the level of the additional personnel that would require at the administrative level.

The police chief Chief was to face the problem raised by the management of the arrival of seventeen neophytes in a very new political configuration, while at the same time they made their baptism of fire in this field.

Another problem, the population preserved a certain mentality compared to the development projects in its island. This mentality, developed by Monseigneur Jean Margéot in his pastoral letter of 1990 pennies the title “ Rodrigues, which development? ”, is always of topicality. In fact, Jean Margéot, under item “the Sources of concerns ” wrote this:
as I delighted At the same time by real progress of Rodrigues on the road of the development, I cannot prevent myself from sharing also certain concerns expressed by the Pastoral Council rodriguais compared to the way in which the Rodrigues island is developing.

Marketing of the products rodriguais

At the time when measures are taken for the revival of agriculture and fishing, the problem of the marketing of the products rodriguais residence previous occupant. In spite of certain efforts to ensure a more rational marketing, the uncertainty and the irregularity of the flow of the products rodriguais on the market Mauritian still discourage the production; on the other hand, the always abundant fish with Rodrigues is sold abroad, which sometimes causes a shortage on the local market; finally, the producers rodriguais always suffer from the exploitation of the tradesmen who buy their products at much lower prices to resell them at full price with Maurice or abroad.

Consumer society and credit sale

More and more about people complain about the abuse a practice of hire-purchase encouraged by the tradesmen and the banks. This publicity which encourages the credit led Rodriguais to be involved in debt massively.

Human resources

The key of the development of a country, they are its human resources. However, in Rodrigues in this moment, three factors cause concern in this field: • With the massive emigration of Rodriguais towards Australia or Maurice, Rodrigues knows a lack of frameworks and labor. One can only hope that the opening and the experience gained by Rodriguais emigrated can one being day made profitable for the development of their island. • In addition, the rate of failure with the C.P.E. (Certificate off Primary Education) - 66% with Rodrigues - remains alarming for a country which wants to develop. Because this rate of failure with the CPE results in practice in percentage almost such a high of illiterates. • Moreover, the Alcoolisme is a massive fact which worries much Rodriguais.

Miss participation

One also attends Rodrigues with an alarming phenomenon: it happens that certain well financed projects do not succeed or do not reach the had aims. In the course of road, these projects lose their capacities of mobilization. Important sums remain unutilised there - as in the project of round basins - whereas people need basins and want to have some. What seems most cruelly to miss - and by the fact of even slowing down the development of Rodrigues - it is the participation of Rodriguais themselves in the reflection, and the decisions. There are a spirit to create and structures adapted to set up so that information circulates and that a greater dialog can be done.

Lack of communication

One of the things which would help to ensure this participation of Rodriguais necessary to the development would be the establishment of one communication network inside Rodrigues by a radio and a television adapted to Rodrigues.

The Man rodriguais in the center of the Development

After this short analysis of the development with Rodrigues today, some would be tempted to speak delay of Rodrigues .

Instead of putting the question of the delay of Rodrigues, one would make better put the question to know so with the material improvements arrived in Rodrigues, Rodriguais are growing and to open out humanly; it is necessary to wonder whether by gaining these material advantages, Rodriguais are not likely to lose their heart, their traditional values, their own cultural identity, all that makes that the personality rodriguaise is, according to the Prime Minister, “one of the most gracious facets of diversity Mauritian. ”

The true question which arises for the development of Rodrigues is not how to make to make up for lost time; the true question would be rather how the material development which arrives it will respect the dignity of the man rodriguais. It is useless to develop Rodrigues materially so at the same time Rodriguais and Rodriguaise cannot develop.

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