insurance, and so on; and it also includes a Chapter on the Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of the Individual, such as the protection of the right to life, freedom from arbitrary arrest or detention, protection of freedom of conscience, protection from discrimination on the grounds of race, etc. GOVERNMENT The distribution of seats in the House of Representatives, as a result of the General Election held in June 1971 was: Malta Labour Party 28; Nationalist Party 27. GOVERNOR GENERAL His Excellency Professor Sir Anthony Mamo, Kt, OBE, QC, LLD CABINET Prime Minister, Minister of Commonwealth and Foreign Affairs: The Hon. Dr Anton Buttigieg, BA, LLD, MP Minister of Education and Culture: The Hon. Miss Agatha Barbara, MP Minister of Public Building and Works: The Hon. Mr L. Sant, MP HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Clerk of the House of Representatives: C. Mifsud Leader of the OPPOSITION The Hon. Dr Giorgio Borg Olivier, LLD, D.LITT, MP JUDICIARY Chief Justice: The Hon. Mr Justice Professor J. J. Cremona MALTESE HIGH COMMISSIONERS IN OTHER COMMONWEALTH COUNTRIES Britain: Mr Arthur Scerri (High Commissioner); Australia: J. L. Forace (High Commissioner). COMMONWEALTH HIGH COMMISSIONERS Australia: T. W. Cutts Britain: J. O. Moreton, CMG, MC MALTESE REPRESENTATIVES IN NON-COMMONWEALTH COUNTRIES Council of Europe (Permanent Representative, resident in Malta); United Nations (Permanent Representative, resident in New York); The Holy See and Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta (resident in Malta); Italy, Israel, Greece, Austria and Switzerland (resident in Rome); Tunis, Libya and Arab Republic of Egypt (resident in Tripoli); Belgium, EEC, Spain, Netherlands, West Germany, France and Luxembourg (resident in Brussels); USA and Canada (resident in Washington); USSR (resident in London); People's Republic of China (resident in Canberra). K* MAURITIUS AURITIUS lies 500 miles off the east coast of the Malagasy Republic between latitudes 19° 58′ and 20° 32′ S. and longitudes 57° 17′ and 57° 46' E. It owes its name to the Dutch settlers who landed there in 1598 and who named the island after their ruler, Prince Maurice de Nassau. It is 1,551 miles from Durban, 2,094 from Colombo and 3,182 from Perth, Australia. The territory includes Rodrigues Island, 350 miles to the east, with an area of 40 square miles and a population of about 26,000. Mauritius, which is roughly pear-shaped, is 38 miles long by 29 miles broad. From the north an extensive undulating plain rises gently towards the central plateau, where it reaches a height of about 2,200 feet before dropping sharply to the southern and western coast. There are three main groups of mountains-the Port Louis group running in an east-north-easterly direction, the Black RiverSavanne group massed in a north to south direction, and the Bambous group with an east-west trend. The highest peaks are Piton de la Rivière Noire (2,711 feet), Pieter Both (2,690 feet) and Le Pouce (2,661 feet). The main watershed of the island runs northwards across the central plateau for a distance of about 20 miles. From this ridge the ground slopes towards the coast, except where interrupted by the mountain ranges or by isolated peaks. The rivers consequently tend to run westward or eastward. Most of them are short and fast flowing, generally at the bottom of deep ravines and interrupted by waterfalls. The longest river is Grand River South East (24-5 miles). No river in the island is navigable but some of the larger have been harnessed for hydro-electric purposes. True crater lakes are found at Bassin Blanc and Grand Bassin, but in general water conservation is achieved by man-made reservoirs, of which there are now eight, the most important being Mare aux Vacoas. The mountains are a striking feature of the landscape, rising abruptly from the surrounding plain, with their lower slopes covered with dense vegetation—now being replaced by sugar cane or tea-and their upper slopes ending in precipitous rocky peaks. The island is almost completely encircled by coral reefs, within which are lagoons and a succession of beaches of white coral sand. The island enjoys a sub-tropical maritime climate, with sufficient difference between summer and winter to avoid monotony: further variation is introduced by the wide range of rainfall and temperature resulting from the mountainous nature of the island. The south-east trade winds blow most of the year and the climate is generally humid. The summer season runs from November to April, and the winter from June to October, though April-June and SeptemberNovember can be looked upon as transitional periods and are usually the most pleasant in the year. Rain falls mainly in summer, but there is no well-defined dry season. At sea the annual rainfall near Mauritius is about 40 inches, but the uplift of the moisture-laden maritime air caused by the mountains results in an annual rainfall varying from about 60 inches on the south-east coast to 200 inches on the central plateau. On the west coast the annual fall is 35 inches. Variation from year to year is not large, but is nevertheless sufficiently great to reduce considerably the size of the sugar and other crops when the year is dry. In Port Louis the day maximum and night minimum temperatures during the hottest months average 31°C (87.8°F) and 24°C (75·2°F) respectively; in the winter they average 25°C (77°F) and 20°C (68°F). The highest and lowest reached are: Port Louis.. Maximum Curepipe (1,850 feet above mean sea level) Minimum 12°C (53-6°F) 7°C (44.6°F) A complete census of the population is made every ten years. The last census took place in 1962 and showed a population of 681,619. On 31st December 1971 the population was estimated at 830,605. The following table gives the ethnic distribution of the population in 1971. The term 'General Population' refers to people of European descent and of mixed and African descent. The population of Mauritius being made up of people of European, Indian, African and Chinese ancestry, the number of languages in use among the various ethnic groups is necessarily large. The 1962 census classified the population by mother tongue as follows: The number of live births during 1971 was 20,834, corresponding to a birth rate of 25.3 per thousand while deaths registered during the same year numbered 6,248, corresponding to a crude death rate of 7.6 per thousand. The official language of the country is English, but French may be used in the Legislative Assembly and in the lower courts of law. Creole is, however, the lingua franca. The capital of Mauritius is Port Louis, population 142,270, in the north west. Other important towns are: Curepipe, population 52,915; Beau Bassin-Rose Hill, population 72,550; Quatre Bornes, population 46,405; and VacoasPhoenix, population 50,025. The Public Sector Development Plan (1971-75) provides for expenditure of Rs 660 million over the four-year period. For the year ending 30th June 1972 capital expenditure was Rs 96.8 million. Of this sum Rs 8.6 million was spent on the "Work for All" programme under which it is hoped to provide substantial relief of unemployment. Other expenditure is concentrated mainly on water and sewerage projects, harbour developments in Port Lewis and agricultural and fisheries projects. The projections of potential resources for the financing of the four-year plan are as follows: British aid and technical assistance to Mauritius, including food aid, has been of the order of Rs 33 million per annum over the last four years, partly loan and partly grant funds. These funds have been allocated primarily to water, sewerage and harbour projects and to the capital costs of the new University of Mauritius. Retail price indices for the period 1963-1971 are shown in the following table: (a) Three new indices were introduced in July 1962, with January to June 1962=100, and cover households whose main wage earner draws an income of less than Rs 1,000 per month. The main industry of the island is the growing of sugar as a plantation crop. Some 70,000 workers are employed in this industry during the harvest or 'crop' season, from July to December, and 60,000 during the intercrop season. The whole of the production with the exception of some 33,000 metric tons consumed locally, is exported, mainly to Britain, Canada and the U.S.A. In 1971 the production of sugar reached 621,000 metric tons obtained from a harvested area of about 197,400 acres. The average yield of cane per acre over the whole island was 26.6 metric tons. Sugar produced per acre was 3.15 metric tons. |