Urban Terminal — The project back on track

The Ministry of Local Government has submitted a document to the ministerial cabinet, with a new concept as a backdrop

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There is, of course, the Quatre-Bornes project where the last call for tenders resulted in a bidder (the firm RBRB Construction Ltd), but it is complicated, given the reluctance of bidders to comply with certain conditions of the Requests of Proposal (RFP), to mention the number of times when bid exercises turned into a fiasco in Vacoas, Rose-Hill and Curepipe. The Vacoas Urban Terminal project had something to appeal if we rely on the promotional model, unveiled in September 2021 by the architectural firm Architects Studio, which gives pride of place to a commercial location, including a modern market, equipped with a “green hanging garden concept ", connecting another shopping area. The integration of the project into its existing environment composed, among other things, of the railway platform, was enough to attract the Laxmanbhai / Manser Saxon consortium which had won the contract to develop the terminal at a cost of around Rs 4 billion. The terminal was then put on track. Except that things turned sour, over time, against a backdrop of deep disagreements between the Ministry of Local Government and the developer on the concept to adopt.

The Minister of Local Government, Rajiv Woochit, also cites as proof the failure of the three tendering exercises launched for the Curepipe urban terminal, in February 2024, in a document entitled proposals from prospective Promoters for the Development & Operation of a Modern Urban Terminal at La Vigie, Curepipe, on 2 portions of land of a total extent of 25 Arpents 80 perches to be leased by the Government for a period of 60 years... the denials of the former Minister of Lands and Housing, Steven Obeegadoo, also brought lead to the wing of a project which would have served as a platform for a possible extension of the Metro Express towards the south of the island.

Things have also been dragging on for six years in Rose-Hill, even though the state's acquisition of the dilapidated Atrium building, located opposite the metro station, under the procedures linked to the compulsary acquisition of land, has removed a thorn in the feet of stakeholders, in addition to the inclusion in the RFP of a building formerly housing the customer service and cash office of the Central Electricity Board (CEB). If very little