Past Present and no Future

Last week I was having some serious talks with a friend about the future of Mauritius. Do we in Mauritius have a long term plan or a road map we are following? I for one have heard nothing on this score and my friend who is an economist said the same to me.

Are we on a ship heading the nowhere destination? Is there some guys thinking of Mauritius by year 2020 or even further?

As far as I recall in my younger days, the people governing the affairs of the country used to have a 5 year plan which is reviewed every year: a sort of revolving 5 year plan. Are we living from hand to mouth, the nasty unsought present? I understood that there was a Ministry of Planning in the previous governments. Who is today looking or imagining our future? We know too well that the legislative term of a government is only five years. I am of opinion that  we need to have a longer term vision for the Mauritian children of tomorrow. Is not it wise to build now and in the near future the destiny of our children and grand children?

I went through the Mauritian Government web site to find out. I saw only two future looking strategic plans: the Draft Long term Energy Strategy 2009-2025; and the draft education and human resources strategy plan 2008-2020. I note that the two documents are still in draft form. Would that mean that no roll out plans are finalized?

It would thus appear that we have a governing body that is of the past and present with no heed of the future? Is there a strategic plan for each ministry? I feel uncomfortable with a situation when the country is not clear where it is heading, unless the leaders know and  they do not feel comfortable to let the public know.

For years I have been training on the necessity to know as an individual : where do you come from?; what are you doing now? and where are you heading too?  I was told that success are granted to persons who give themselves a sense of direction and a mission and refuse to live like a drift wood on the river.

6 comments ↓

#1 Agni on 10.01.09 at 3:40 am

The Titanic had a mission and was on course. It didn’t stop it from sinking.

#2 joseph on 10.02.09 at 11:20 am

I had a discussion yesterday with a friend who was of opinion than ‘Planning of the future’ is no more relevant as the environment keeps changing so fast!
Does having a mission prevents you from having a system to avoid seeing obstacles like huge icebergs?

#3 Agni on 10.03.09 at 7:45 am

I might be wrong, but you seem to be mixing up Vision with Mission.
Further to the point, your friend is both right and wrong, as it is not clear which future he’s talking about: short term, medium term or long term.
To your question: Yes it does! It’s actually what happened to the Titanic.
In our case, what systems did we have in place to prevent us from hitting the global economic crisis on our mission?

#4 joseph on 10.03.09 at 11:29 pm

A mission without vision is a great omission.
A vision without a mission is a waste.

#5 Agni on 10.04.09 at 8:17 pm

I can only hope the discussion with your friend was more than an exchange of quotations.

Great men develop Visions
their side-kicks get the Missions
while the rest waste their time with the Commissions

#6 joseph on 10.05.09 at 10:40 pm

V M C a good one!

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