Taking Arms Against The People
President James Michel has resorted to para-military police and the threat of guns, teargas and batons to stifle the protests of the people of La Misere. This comes in stark contrast to his declaration of sympathy with the same protest three weeks ago, when he called the ASCON offer of compensation for families “ridiculous”, and with those words backed the demonstration.
The deployment was also Minister Joel Morgan’s answer to the residents. Last week he had asked for time to come back to La Misere with new proposals from Ascon.
On Wednesday this week, truckloads of paramilitary police took positions on the road at La Misere where the demonstrations had been held. Others were in other locations close by, such as the church compound. They were armed with guns (possibly for rubber bullets), tea-gas launchers and batons.
The purpose of the show of force was to dissuade residents from staging a protest they had announced last week. The display of force is the only answer that Morgan has brought.
To scare people away, Police Commissioner Ernest Quatre had made a lengthy declaration on the illegality of the demonstration on SBC television the previous night. But Quatre used only the arguments that suited him and he was partial with the truth. It is true that the law forbidding demonstrations without police permission still exists, but that has been declared wrong because it is contrary to the Constitution. Attorney- General Ronny Govinden has already declared before the Supreme Court that it is being repealed. As a public officer, Quatre was also duty-bound to inform people of their constitutional right to stage their protest. The correct course of action for him in this case would have been to seek their cooperation to ensure that peace and order was maintained.
The deployment of force is yet another change of tactic by Michel and Morgan. They have shown that they are powerless in bringing Ascon to account. The declaration by Michel that they would stop work until the compensation offer had been revised was useless. Morgan’s insistence that it was other companies and not Ascon working on the site of Sheikh Khalifa’s palaces was equally empty.
In the meantime, in his latest statements Morgan has done his best to turn the rest of the country against the people of La Misere. They are now being blamed for asking for too much money. But it was Morgan himself who declared the water pollution at La Misere to be a huge crime and that Ascon would pay fully for the consequences, including the maximum fine. People of La Misere have no knowledge of claims of R4.5 million per adult which Morgan has stated. It has been his responsibility to establish with the committee representing residents what the proper figure for the claim should be, especially now that he has taken over the handling of the claim.
The words and actions from Morgan and Michel this week show that they are working against the people of La Misere and not for them. They should just admit that they are defending the interests of Ascon and Sheikh Khalifa, and not those of the people.
Source: Regar 8-20-10