LILE AUX BENITIERS PETITION UPDATE; 16.05.02

[Haberland]

  LILE AUX BENITIERS PETITION UPDATE

* The L'ile aux Benitiers petition;"Mauritius: Paradise Lost?", formulated
by an Ad Hoc 'collectif' of citizens, NGO members & veteran ecologists,
continues to be signed & passed on (via the internet & on paper; nationally
& internationally).

* Over 1000 signatures have been collected locally thus far. The first 1264
signatures were handed over (on 'diskette') to Mr. Ananda Rajoo on the 27th
of April in a meeting at the MIE. As an invited guest at the meeting, and a
Mauritian citizen; I took the opportunity to request a response from the
necessary government officials to the Mauritian general public RE: the fate
of L'ile aux Benitiers.