Open letter to the Prime Minister and all Parliamentary Members

An open letter to the Prime Minister Honourable Dr Navin Rmgoolam, the leader of the opposition Honourable Mr PauL Raymond Berenger, the deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Honourable Dr Rashid Bebeejaun, the Vice-Prime Minister and Leader of the PMSD Honourable Mr Xavier Luc Duval, the Minister of Finance and leader of the MSM Honourable Mr Pravind Jugnauth, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Honourable Dr Arvin Boolell, the Minister of Labour Honourable Mr Shakeel Mohamed, the Minister of Agro Industry Honourable Mr Satish Faugoo, the Minister of Tourism and Secretary-General of the MSM Mr Nando Bodha, Honourable Mr Cehl Fakeemeah Leader of the FSM, all members of the Mauritius National Assembly and ahead of all the Minister of Social Security Honourable Mrs Leela Devi Dookhun-Luchoomun.

Dear Sir/Madam,
“Implementation of a complete UN Convention for the rights of persons with disabilities and equal opportunity bashing through discrimination and protectionism measures at the Mauritius Sugar Authority”
With due respect and in utmost urgency, I am writing you to request your prompt intervention for the above-mentioned issue.

2. First and foremost, I congratulate the Council of Ministers of December 2009 for the approval of the ratification of the abovementioned Convention. I further extend my congratulation to the opposition party for the inclusion of a Disability Discrimination Act within their recent electoral program. However, the matter is really very urgent; during the last twenty years disability rights have been left to a stand still. The absence of a Disability Rights Commission for effective mediation purposes to foster respects towards disability rights and supported by an up to date Disability Discrimination Act that will bring home the complete UN Convention for the rights of persons with disabilities have resulted tremendous amount of protest in the press by disabled persons for the breach of their rights.
3. It is indeed a deep deception that so far the state failed to prove concrete commitment towards disability empowerment through constant evolution in disability rights and measures to support as well as promote these rights. As a consequence, we ended up without a disabled member in parliament when we should logically have at least three. The absence of disabled parliamentarians is deeply felt at the heart of the state’s commitment towards disability rights. What has been done so far is indeed not enough. Excepting the parliamentary question of Honourable Satish Boolell recently, as much as I am aware, there have been no other parliamentary questions regarding disability issues and this since many years. It is indeed high time for a new beginning with better parliamentary commitments towards disability rights. As the first disabled MBA Graduate of Mauritius, a disability activist, the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Outstanding Young Person of Mauritius Award 2010 winner, I am not asking for charities but for my rights as well as those of the large amount of disabled Mauritians who have been subject to discriminations, exclusions and ignorance due to the lack of parliamentary commitment to protect our rights. At this stage, I am to request you to convince your colleagues to take actions for the implementation of Conventional disability rights or take questions to parliament in order to boost the implementation of these rights. Please kindly note that empowerment measures without the implementation of these rights are to no avail. The Equal Opportunities Act could be helpful but it is not fully compatible with the abovementioned Convention. The matter is indeed very urgent because private employers and even public organizations (as shown in my case below) are making a joke of the Training and Employment of Disabled Persons Board (TEPD) Act 1996. This is supported by the Director General of the TEDPB who has in a recent statement given to Impact Magazine on Friday 25th June 2010 highlighted the ignorance of this Act by employers (Annex 1). It is therefore clear that something should be done urgently to make disability rights more compelling and promote the respect of these rights until the implementation of the complete conventional disability rights.
4. The protection of disability rights and the promotion of equal opportunities concept are supposed to be major policies of the state but the practices of parastatal organizations are contrary to these; my case at the Mauritius Sugar Authority (MSA) is a proof.
5. In spite of my commitment, competencies, achievement and qualifications as well as my recognition as being inspiring and outstanding at local and international level with various honours, I am subject to intensive discrimination by the MSA Management and MSA Board. The proof of my achievements is as follows:
(i) I won one of the four Principal awards at MBA Graduation in South Africa.
(ii) In 2009, I became the first Mauritian Disabled to be graduated with a Master of Business Administration in spite of all the financial hurdles, in-depth discriminations and anti-disability rights measures I was subject at the MSA.
(iii) My competence and achievement are recognized at national level and I became the second disabled to emerge as the winner of the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Outstanding Young Person of Mauritius Award, 2010 Edition.
(iv) The recognition of my competences and achievement as inspiring and outstanding was spread at International level with my nomination within the closed circle of the 30 finalist of the 10 Outstanding Young Person of the World 2010 where there were more than 100 countries participating with the entitlement of sending any amount of their best candidates.

I got standing ovation from Mauritius and Ministers for my achievement but the MSA awarded me an outstanding, continuous and malevolent discriminative exclusion supported by what appears to be an unveiled political protection with their roots in many of the major political parties. The MSA Management and Board have so far been going ULTRA-VIRES in my case but they have not been compelled to assume their accountabilities due to the probable political protection enjoyed by some blue-eyed officers behind my exclusion. It is stunning to see how the Equal Opportunities Act 2008 and the Training and Employment of Disabled Persons Board Act 1996 (TEDPB) are being treated with disdain through my discrimination and the empowerment of other officers (WITHOUT DISABILITIES) through positive discrimination measures by means of appointment and restyling to higher positions without having the required qualifications but thanks to political protection or probable corruption of information.

6. My case is currently before the enforcement committee of the Ministry of Labour and closely monitored by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) but even before the Ministry of Labour (MoL), the MSA Management ignored my rights and showed a lack of commitment. During the second mediation meeting before the enforcement committee of the Ministry of Labour, the MSA was represented by the Senior Executive Officer (SEO) who has taken notice of the decision taken by the MoL as highlighted in the letter forward to the ICAC and dated 11th July 2010 (Annex 2). Nearly one month later, the Deputy Executive Director/Human Resources Manager of the MSA who is unfairly holding two managerial positions at one go, due to maladministration, came to the third mediation meeting relating to my case at the MoL, where he not just tell lies in relation to the position of the Union regarding promotions but also claims that he is unaware of the orders given to the SEO of the MSA following the second mediation meeting at the MoL. Is not this an abuse of power? Is this effective management? Human Resources Management(DED/HRM) and Information System Management were both left to a stand still with a malevolent apartheid-like bureaucratic practice within the MSA, is it fair when we have internal qualified and competent professionals like me who are waiting for the opportunity to prove our worth?
7. In relation to the decision taken at the MoL on 11th August 2010 following the third mediation meeting where the DED/HRM was called upon to do the needful for the matter to be taken to the MSA Board within one week, I have no choice but to take action because the majority of the current MSA Board members have ignored the manipulation of information by MSA Management which have led to my exclusion for years. Since there is breach of my rights of protection from discrimination highlighted in the TEDPB Act 1996, I am therefore requesting the prompt intervention of the Minister of Agro Industry (Honourable Mr Satish Faugoo), the Minister of Social Security (Honourable Mrs Dookhun-Luchoomun) and the Minister of of Labour (Honourable Mr Shakeel Mohamed) so as to ensure that my conventional rights as a disabled are not without effect. As for other parliamentary members (both government and opposition included), I will be most grateful if parliamentary questions relating to my case could be asked to the Honourable Minister of Agro Industry.
8. Through my actions, I will be looking forward for the will of god, the truth, the logic and fairness to prevail. Anyway, I have utmost belief that in the fight between right and wrong, there is a battle being weight against only one winner THE TRUTH. This open letter is available on my blog at http://ma-disabilityrightalliance.blogspot.com. Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me on the address below.

Yours Faithfully,


Mervyn Anthony CM, MBA
Vice-President Mauritius Sugar Authority Employees Union (MSAEU)
Disability Activist
Email: mervynanthony@hotmail.com
Blog: http://ma-disabilityrightalliance.blogspot.com
Facebook Account: Mervyn Anthony


Copy to:
(1) The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Agro Industry (Chairperson MSA Board)
(2) The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Social Security
(3) Me Jayarama Valayden, Barrister at Law
(4) The Director General, Training and Employment of Disabled Persons Board
(5) The Executive Director, Mauritius Sugar Authority
(6) The Chief Investigator, Independent Commission Against Corruption.
(7) To all Editors in chief of newspapers constituting the Mauritian press.

Please note that a friend taught me that according to his learning from the Bhagvad Gita: ACTION ALONE IS THY RIGHT. Moreover my action is in line with my belief regarding active non violence leadership of former American anti-segregation leader: DR MARTIN LUTHER KING who avers that “ Our lives and dreams begin to end the day we become silent about things that matters”. Finally I am adding a quote from the Bible to support my belief in my quest to succeed: “By the grace of god I am what I am and his grade towards me has not been without effect”

Please also note that Annex 1 is found in Impact Magazine while Annex 2 is available below. (Thank you for your support)

Complaint to the ICAC on 11th July 2010

The Chief Investigator

Independent Commission Against Corruption

Marine Road

Port Louis

This Sunday, 11 July 2010

Dear Sir,

First of all I wish to thank you and your colleagues for your hospitality before, during and after my interview last Friday (hats off). With reference to my complaint letter dated 18^th June 2010 (Annex 9), please find below a detailed, complete and enhanced official written copy of my complaint summary as undertaken orally against the management of the Mauritius Sugar Authority (MSA) in the routine deposition during my interview at ICAC headquarters in the presence of my wife as witness on Friday, 9^th July 2010. Kindly note that this letter is a review of the letter handed over to ICAC on 09^th July 2010 and which was dated 8^th July 2010 whereby all relevant information has been attached for your ease of references adequately. Hereunder you will probably find all the required information that will inevitably be of utmost importance to help you during your investigation. In relation to section (2)(b)(iv) and section (3)(a) of the Prevention Against Corruption Act 2002, I have utmost confidence that your investigation will lead you towards establishing the guilt of MSA management for corruption through the misuse of information in the light of my allegations and the proofs/references put forward with utmost good faith, and this because the questions I am putting forward, in relation to this case, are compelling and indicative of the alleged fraud. At this stage, due to the fact that the Deputy Executive Director of the MSA lied several times before the enforcement committee of the Ministry of Labour, I am requesting you to keep me informed of all developments during investigation as well as the response of MSA management because it is very clear that they will have only two choices: they may either back-pedaled and comply to my rights or they may well resort to their usual lying and misleading strategy as unveiled before the enforcement committee.

(2) The sponsorship issue:

My various official requests to the MSA for the allocation of my MBA sponsor was to no avail, and this in spite of the fact that I have notified the MSA management several times that a denial of 100% MBA sponsorship would amount to discrimination. Since December 2004 my requests were subject to the ignorance and fraudulent manipulation of my letters dated 30^th December 2004 (Annex 1), 13^th September 2005 (Annex 14), 24^th May 2006 (Annex 2), 16^th July 2006 (Annex 15), and 25 February 2008 (Annex 3). The humanitarian ground issue (Annex 10) to justify the allocation of only 50% sponsor is just a malevolent fraud and illegal eyewash aimed to divert attention from the manipulation of information regarding my application for 100% MBA sponsorship. The laws are here to unveil this injustice and protect me from the constant maintenance of this discrimination with regards to my rights of protection from discrimination relating to the provision of facilities (sponsorship) connected to any employment as enshrined in section (16) (d) of the Training and Employment of Disabled Persons Board Act 1996 (Annex 4) and section (11)(c) of the Equal Opportunities Act 2008 (Annex 5). Why only me 50% sponsorship? The law does not allow such discrimination because of my disability. So it will be interesting to know what explanation they have for this. Why my letters have not been taken back to the Board for approval following my protest regarding the breach of my rights? The MSA management was accountable and duty-bound to take the matter back to the board for approval following my various requests and protests. So doesn’t their ignorance and failure to do the needful amount to manipulation of information? Should not their omission be considered as corruption? Why there have not been any follow-up for the payment of the supposed 50% humanitarian ground sponsorship since April 2006? Why have my letters not been answered? As shown in paragraph 4 of the circular letter dated 18 July 2008 (Annex 11) and my protest in paragraph 3 of my letter to the MSA dated 18^th July 2008 (Annex 12), the MSA was misleading and eye-washing in its strategy based on lies in order to divert all attention away from the malevolent and discriminating practices regarding the allocation of sponsorship for training and skill upgrading. How will the MSA management explain the malevolent content of this letter when my MBA sponsorship was illegally manipulated and delayed? With reference to my letter addressed to the new Executive Director of the MSA dated 6^th July 2010 (Annex 13), I highlighted the fact that it was decided before the enforcement committee that the matter must be taken back to the board for approval. At this stage, I will be grateful if the needful could be done to prevent any further corrupt manipulation that may again lead to the breach of my rights. The points identified behind the sponsorship issues are sufficient to constitute the requirement of a prima facie case for corruption.

(3) The vacation leaves payment and time-off facilities issue:

Please note that the enforcement committee of the Ministry Of Labour has decided, in relation to my letters dated 19 January 2007(Annex 16), 2^nd July 2007 (Annex 17), 18^th July 2007 (Annex 18) as well as the letters from the MSA dated 9^th April 2007 (Annex 19),16^th July 2007 (Annex 20) and the proofs available to justify that I have been subject to discrimination (i.e. the fact that other clerks were allocated time-off facilities for study purposes), that my rights for protection from discrimination regarding the provision of facilities relating to or connected with employment as enshrined in section (11) (c) of the Equal Opportunities Act 2008 (Annex 5) as well as in Section (16)(d) of the Training and Employment of Disabled Persons Board Act 1996 (Annex 4) have both been infringed. The committee therefore summoned the MSA to do the needful for:

(a) The time off facilities to be allocated.

(b) A flexible arrangement to be made in order to allow me to fill my leave forms with the required accessibility to the attendance register to ensure fairness on an equal basis with other employees.

(c) The vacation leave payment which is due since 2006 to be paid unconditionally.

Why the MSA management has not considered my rights relating to the allocation of my time-off facilities, the filling of my leaves form fairly and the payment of my vacation leaves since 2006 and despite the fact that I have sent various letters to protest against these injustices. There is not a single doubt that there was manipulation/misuse of information, thereby amounting to the criteria to constitute corruption.

(4) The promotion issue:

I have been victim of tremendous injustice and discrimination since 2005. The vacant posts I applied for were illegally freezed after the setting up of illegal criteria designed to make me ineligible as shown in the letter of the MSA relating to internal advertisement dated 11 May 2006 (Annex 21) and my letters to the MSA dated 23^rd May 2006 (Annex 22) as well as 25 February 2008 (Annex 3). The delay for the filling of these posts is just a malevolent eye-washed since other forms of career advancement through restyling occurred.

As highlighted by the Mauritius Sugar Authority Employees Union (MSAEU) in its letter addressed to MSA management on 24/06/2010 (Annex 6), the former Executive Director of the MSA had recourse to independent assessor whereby the main objective was to safeguard the interest of some blue-eyed employees who have showed allegiance to him, and this at the expense of meritocracy, qualifications, justice, logic and fairness; thereby jeopardizing the central engine of the organizational operations structure (Organigram) of the MSA. The intensive discrimination I was subject could be explained by the fact that some officers enjoyed facilities equivalent to eye-washed promotion. A reliable example is this officer who in spite of not having the required qualifications has got the privilege of positive discrimination measures as well as eye-washed promotion through the restyling of his former post. After a first salary increase/monthly allocation of MUR 3000 he was subject to an unbelievable monthly allocation of 50% of his salary representing an equivalent allocation of more than 25 increments together with other benefits. On the other hand, I was subject to tremendous exclusion and discrimination within an apartheid-like jungle. Much more than this, in a letter addressed to the Barrister at Law of the Union Me D.Ramano on 31 July 2007 (Annex 23), I was surprisingly not picked up by management to fill the post of Scientific officer IT Social project but the blue-eyed officer was targeted for a second promotion towards a post that have never existed (Senior Field Officer). Much more he don’t even have the qualifications for a clerical officer.

If I was not victim of discrimination, in my capacity as the most qualified, able, competent, brilliant and promising clerk within the MSA, I would have been restyled documentation clerk together with empowerment through the allocation of strategic and innovative responsibilities that would have allowed me to put my hard earned competencies and qualifications at the service of the documentation department so as to modernize the operations of information and documentation management within the MSA in order to enhance and maximize organizational effectiveness. Instead I was subject to a systematic and discriminative exclusion while the organizational structure relating to the Information System and Knowledge Management have been left to a stand still with a clear lack of competencies, creativeness and innovation (All these are reflected in the documentation department and the registry who are both left and forced to operate within the ancient bureaucratic model).

So why I have not been given additional responsibilities and restyled? Restyling is without doubt a form of career advancement or a form of promotion and it is illegal to deny me this in relation to section 16(1)(b) of the Training and Employment of Disabled Persons Board Act 1996 (Annex 4) and section 11(d) of the Equal Opportunities Act 2008 (Annex 5) . What criteria did MSA management used for the selection of employees eligible for the allocation of responsibilities as a mean of empowerment for restyling? “PETIT COPAIN”? Random selection? Qualifications? What are the qualifications of officers who have been restyled? Were not there other employees with better profile in term of qualifications, competencies and dedication to handle further responsibilities? It should not be forgotten that I was malevolently excluded for experience through empowerment as shown by the letter of the MSA dated 11 December 2007 (Annex 24). This again is illegal. Why have the vacant posts not been filled since 2006? On what ground were these vacant posts freezed? Were the board members agreeable to freeze these vacant posts? If yes, why? Was there any manipulation of information at the heart of this promotion issue? These questions will inevitably lead towards establishing the extent to which the misuse of information have spread throughout the operations of the MSA; thereby, leading to the illegal discrimination and maladministration in my case.

I have in the light of my qualifications, merits and competencies applied for the now vacant post of Information Scientist as highlighted in my letter dated 6^thJuly 2010 (Annex 13) and the MSA Board should be accountable for a reply. If I am not selected, they should specify the reason.

Please note that the content of all my correspondences to the ICAC are made public through online means in less than 24 hours. I am doing this because this is the only way to spread the truth and I want the matter to reach the parliament before I step to the supreme court. I am hereby requesting you Sir to do the needful in order to allow the ICAC to undergo an in-depth investigation to confirm my allegation and thereby undertakes appropriate action so as to ensure that the will of the state to fight against corruption for the prosperity of our motherland, is not without effect.

I thank you in anticipation.

Best Regards

Mervyn Anthony CM, MBA

Email: mervynanthony@hotmail.com

Blog: ma-disabilityrightalliance.blogspot.com

Please note that I am given to understand that the ICAC is closely monitoring my case which is currently before the Enforcement Committee of Ministry of Labour. If the injustice persist within the next three weeks then detailed soft copies of the references annexed to this letter will be posted on my blog and on facebook together with more intensive measures to unveil the root of the injustices behind my case. Some of these measures are already underway.

Disability Discrimination: Complaint of corruption to the ICAC

The Secretary
Independent Commission Against Corruption
68, Harbour Area
Near Quay D Roundabout
Port Louis

This Friday June 18, 2010

Dear Sir,

I undersigned Mervyn Anthony, a disabled MBA graduated employed at the Mauritius Sugar Authority (MSA). I am hereby making an official complaint for the misuse of information through manipulation against the management of the MSA. This corruption of information can be explained by the fact that my various applications for promotions, time-off facilities for study, MBA sponsorship and vacation leave payment were all subject to discrimination and denial because all these applications were malevolently manipulated by the management with the complicity of some employees.

I believe that an in-depth and quick investigation should be made in order to determine the extent of this corruption because the logic implies that employees who are directly related to the hiding of this manipulation could probably be enjoying certain kinds of corrupt benefit/s. I can aver with utmost confidence that nobody can deny the fact regarding the manipulation of these information if the enquiry is done in my presence because I know where, through which file and how to prove my allegation. Anyway, I have great confidence that the truth is and will always be supported by itself.

I am requesting you to undertake an in-depth enquiry and recommend the necessary legal proceedings if required. Please note that my complaint is open by nature since it will be circulated interactively online via facebook and it will soon be available on my blog: “ma-disabilityrightsalliance.blogspot.com”.

I will be most grateful if you can keep me informed of all developments. Should you require any further information or if you face any difficulty regarding the accessibility of the required files during investigation, do not hesitate to contact me via my electronic address or through small text message on my mobile.

Yours Faithfully

Mervyn Anthony CM, MBA
Email: mervynanthony@hotmail.com
Blog: ma-disabilityrightsalliance.blogspot.com
Tel (Mobile): 7732572 (sms only/ deaf)

L'erreur est humaine mais trop c'est trop

L’ile Maurice a plus d’une vingtaine d'années de retard à rattraper par rapport à beaucoup des pays faisant partie des Nation Unies dans le domaine du droit des handicapés. Les législations concernants les droits des handicapés dans l’ile n’ont pas été sujets à une amélioration constante et compatible au developpement du pays. Je ne passerai pas par quatre chemins pour pointer du doigt les anciens ministres qui ont occupé le portefeuil du Ministère de la Securité sociale du pays durant ces vingt dernière années. Ces ministres ont été loin d’être à la hauteur de leurs responsabilités envers les handicapés. Pour moi, ces ministres qui étaient issus de tous les bords politiques sont que des blancs bonnets et des bonnets blancs parceque même l’Afrique du Sud qui vient tout juste de se débarraser de l’aparthied depuis quelques années, nous a quitté loin derrière dans le domaine.A cause de ce retard accumulé, le défi est énorme pour rétablir le droit des handicapés dans le plus bref délai. Je fais un appel pressant au gouvernement, à l’opposition, à la presse et aux citoyens pour m’aider constamment dans ma quête de mobiliser les voix afin de faire implémenter le droit Conventionnel des handicapés dans notre systeme légal. La nouvelle Ministre de la Securité Sociale, Madame Leela Devi Dookhun Luchoomun aura un défi énorme à relever mais elle pourra compter sur mes services, comme consultant bénévole, que je suis disposé à offrir volontairement au nom du pays et en ma capacité de ‘DISABILITY ACTIVIST’. Une lettre ouverte à cet effet sera envoyée à la nouvelle Ministre et circulée publiquement à travers la presse et des sources interactives.Je tiens beaucoup à cette cause que je defends et j’irai jusqu’au bout. A travers ma lutte, je m’attend que des signes rassurants, concernant l’implémentation de cette loi, commenceront d’être visibles dans les mois à venir. Cette loi sera définitivement comme la lumière au bout du tunnel pour la communauté des handicapés qui a trop longtemps souffert par des discriminations et des injustices venant de toutes parts. Dans l’unité et la solidarité, nous pouvons ensemble écrire l’histoire pour l’émancipation des handicapés avec l’implémentation de cette loi.
VIVEMENT L’AVENIR

Mervyn Anthony CM. MBA
Disability Activist
Email: mervynanthony@hotmail.com

A new beginning

The creation of this blog is a new beginning in the process of supporting my quest for disability rights in Mauritius. A lot of things will follow soon and I welcome everybody to keep in touch with my blog as from next week. The truth is supported by itself and I have no fear to spread it because I believe it is my accountability to the lord to help the truth to triumph and disability right to prevail.

I will be back soon.

Cheers

Mervyn