It’s impossible to miss the imposing and flashy 12-storey building at the corner of Edith-Cavell and Desroches streets, in Port-Louis. No more noisy and dusty construction in place of “La School”, whose wooden building under shingles dating from 1824 was razed to the ground despite the disputes. The construction of the new concrete building with a granite facade, which will house the Supreme Court, was completed on November 8. The enclosure is also already fenced with a guard post at the entrance to control access.

From official sources, it comes back to us that at this moment, the time is with the delivery and the arrangement of the furniture. It is planned that this stage will be completed by the end of February so that the Supreme Court can invest, in March, the premises spanning 25,000 m² and comprising 22 courtrooms.

This building overlooks The Cascades Building , which is for some time the seat of the British high commission (see inset), or the Sun Trust , headquarters of the militant socialist movement. Two years of work were necessary with the employment of some 300 Indian workers deployed seven days a week on the site. The project, at a total cost of Rs 1 billion, is fully funded by a grant of 30 million dollars from the Indian government.

A sum reinjected into the Indian economy since the contractor, Renaatus Projects Ltd , like the architects of Design Associates, the consultant National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) and the manual workers selected are Indian. Moreover, calls for tenders have been launched in the Great Peninsula. As for NBCC, it is a company of the Indian government. For the Mauritian side, Landscope Mauritius was responsible for the execution of the project.

The British High Commission: from Port-Louis to Floréal
The British High Commission is packing up in 2020. The approximately 300m2 that the high commission is currently renting at Les Cascades Building will be relocated to the diplomatic district of Floréal, more precisely in the courtyard of the official residence of the British high commissioner. The construction of the new building has already started. On the side of the High Commission, we explain that so far, the British administration has rented commercial space on the 7th floor of Les Cascades Building and that “it’s always better to have your own space, especially for an embassy. Even the Indian high commission is moving to Ebony ”,we increase in stride. To add that it has nothing to do with the arrival of the new neighbor because the move had been decided before the construction of the Supreme Court. For the moment, Les Cascades Building , a Lavastone property, is mainly occupied by a company operating in the financial services sector.

source: Lexpress.mu