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be withdrawn, Rs.27,000 will be charged annually to the granary and Rs.78,000 to the quays. These figures are at present estimates only and may be changed; as soon as the working system of the granary and quays becomes stable it will be necessary to enter exact items in the budget as in the Customs and Port Departments. Lump sum items, indefinitely described, are open to objection. It should be the special duty of Audit to scrutinise the items in order that no extravagant scales may be established and in order that there may be no departure from the general practice of the public service. We notice in particular that Rs.9,500 is at present allotted for miscellaneous charges described as travelling and subsistence allowances, stationery and printing, telephones, lights and extra charges for overtime ". The comparable charges for the whole of the Customs and Port and Marine Departments are only Rs.3,802 (Head 7-items 23, 24, 25, 27, 30 and Head 8-items 35, 37, 40,41). The charges of Rs.18,000 for permanent labour and maintenance are also on an excessively generous scale; we see no reason why the Superintendent of the Granary should receive higher pay than a senior Customs Examining Officer, or the Keeper of the Bonded Warehouse, or why the Technical Assistant at the quays should be given a higher rate of pay than a Chief Inspector of the Public Works Department. It is unfortunate that the rates of pay in this new department of the Mauritian public service should have been fixed without any regard to the rates in the older departments which are most closely comparable, or to the effect on those depart- ments of the new rates. We consider that a sufficient rate of salary for these two posts would be Rs.3,240-4,320 (correspond- ing to the Rs.3,600-4,800 posts, less the 10 per cent. general cut). The two posts of clerk and accountant should be brought on to the general grade of the clerical service which we have proposed elsewhere at Rs.1,700, which will be the rate for a clerk of 14 years standing. These changes will save Rs.4,000 on salaries in each of the two branches, and should be brought into operation imme- diately if the posts have not already been filled. If they have been filled the salaries should be liable only to the general 10 per cent. cut in the case of the present occupants but should be reduced to the scales which we propose as vacancies occur. We recommend that the miscellaneous charges for the granary should not exceed Rs.1,500 and for the quays Rs.2,500, making a total reduction of Rs.13,500 in addition to the allowance of Rs.7,500. Further reductions in labour and maintenance should be found possible in practice.

The working expenditure will then be :-

Granary

Quays

Head 29

Rs. 22,000 69,500

91,500

147

and 27. The estimated revenue from the granary

is quays Rs.250,000. This estimate was based on the following figures:- Gross Revenue. Cost. Net Revenue. Rs.

Rs.

Granary Quays

Rs. 119,500 137,000

30,500

82,000

89,000

55,000

These estimates cannot be realized in the present financial year, as owing to delay in providing the electrical equipment the granary cannot be in use for more than six months. Moreover, its net income has been calculated on a rental of 12 cents a bag, which is probably a higher rate than can actually be charged. If the working expenditure of the granary is reduced, as we have proposed, to Rs.22,000, the gross revenue must be at least Rs.150,000 in order to cover both costs and the normal interest on the capital cost of Rs.2,500,000, and this rental could not be obtained unless the consignee were charged at a rate which would exceed his cost This would be under the present system of handling grain. impossible in practice. The granary has been constructed as a measure of public health, but the Government cannot ignore the fact that to make full use of it must involve loss to the grain merchants who now handle grain through their own warehouses; this loss will certainly be reflected in an increase of price to the consumer if the Government rental is raised to the full commer- cial figure. We doubt if the rental can exceed eight cents, which should produce a gross revenue of Rs.80,000. This would cover the reduced working costs and would meet the interest charges on Rs.1,000,000 capital; it would perhaps be permissible to write off the remaining Rs.1,500,000 of capital on the ground that general revenues may legitimately be charged with the greater part of the cost of this work in the interest of public health, The General Manager calculates that an eight cent rate would save the con- signee 66 cents per ton on the present warehouse rates and cartage charges. The elimination of cartage charges would be a substan- tial set-off against the dealer's loss on having to give up his private warehouses. The consumer would gain by being protected against profiteering as the granary would make it difficult for dealers to conceal stocks and to raise prices on the basis of an alleged shortage. 28. We have heard suggestions that the granary should be diverted from its intended use a8 a rat-proof storehouse for imported rice to that of a warehouse for sugar awaiting export. We strongly dissent from any such eleventh-hour change of policy. The official correspondence on the construction of this granary shows that very great stress was laid on its importance to the public health of Mauritius; it has, indeed, been the case that in recent years the risk of plague has not been very evident, but there can hardly be said to be no risk, and it would be dangerous to

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Reference -

C.O.882/12

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