Africa-Press – Mauritius. Government will pursue its endeavour in the greening of the land transport system and as part of the Public Transport Decarbonisation Programme, the Metro Express service, which is at present fully operational over 29.4 kms linking Port Louis to Curepipe, and Rose Hill to Réduit through Ebène since January 2023, will be further extended to connect Saint Pierre and La Vigie by October 2024.
This statement was made by the Finance Minister, Dr Renganaden Padayachy, this evening, during his Budget Speech. As regards the transition to Land Transport Electric Vehicles (EV), Minister Padayachy reiterated that budget 2023-2024 aims to modernise the bus fleet as part of its goal to achieve net zero carbon emission as well as to achieve a fully green and clean bus transport system by 2035.
Additional measures include: The provision of a 30 % subsidy up to a maximum of Rs 3.5 million on the purchase of electric buses by bus companies; Provision of loans by the Industrial Finance Corporation of Mauritius at a concessional rate of 2 % for the purchase of fully electric buses;
Extension of the Negative Excise Duty of 10 % introduced in the previous budget up to June 2024; and Creation of new roads to implement cycle lanes at La Vigie-La Brasserie-Beau Songes Link Road, the new Bypasses at Verdun, St Pierre and Bois Cheri, as well as Savanne Road.
Speaking of road accidents and fatalities that regularly occur on our roads, Dr Padayachy highlighted that Government will continue to address this challenge through the provision of speed calming measures at identified risky areas and the construction of footbridges at Ebène, Phoenix, Trianon, and Rivière des Anguilles to facilitate safe pedestrian crossing. He added that for victims of hit-and-run road accidents, the maximum amount of compensation payable will be doubled to Rs 1,500,000.
For More News And Analysis About Mauritius Follow Africa-Press
