On our visit to that village, we met a 69 year old retired taxi driver,  Abdool Rashid Boyragee, Prem Nuckhir, a fruit seller; Anil Jodhun, President of Plaisance Community Centre; and the Vice President of Grand Port Savanne District Council, Navin Cheetamun.

They are all unanimous on one point- the fast development of Plaine Magnien is due to the presence of the S.S.R International Airport and its perpetual expansion and modernisation. It is vividly true as one can see every infrastructure in the village that makes a complete village commune.

The village of Plaine Magnien comprises a police station, two primary schools, a highly demanded state secondary school, France Boyer de la Giroday SSS, a social welfare centre, a multi-purpose complex, Winners, a civil status office, a hospital, a football playground and a C.A.B office among others, without forgetting the prestigious S.S.R International Airport.

“The infrastructure of the village is complete, but still to be improved” says the Vice-President of Grand Port Savanne District Council,  Navin Cheetamun.

He further adds that just like all the other 36 villages that lie within the jurisdiction of the council, Plaine Magnien Village is to witness a horde of developments in the near future, mainly the re-setting of the village football playground with its terracing and lighting among others.

When asked about any specific character of the village, the Vice-President replies: “Plaine Magnien Village is Mauritius in miniature. This is because all ethnic groups of the island live over here in a spirit of brotherhood and harmony prevailing par excellence.” Hardly every 100 metres one can see either a mosque, a shivala, a kovil or a church.

“This is the uniqueness of the village and the magnanimity of the villagers” says Cheetamun.
 Anil Jodhun, an ardent social worker, a successful farmer and a very active President of the Plaisance Community Centre, associates the fast development of Plaine Magnien with two major factors, the Mont-Desert Mon-Tresor Sugar Estate and the S.S.R International Airport.

“It is thanks to MDMT (Mon-Desert Mon-Tresor) that people of Plaine Magnien got the chance to be involved in the plantation of crops such as tomatoes and other vegetables. The MDMT, in its agricultural diversification programme, offered the villagers acres of land for growing crops and this was the first boost towards the development of the village,” he proudly says.

Speaking on the contribution of the airport,  Jodhun says: “It is beyond dispute that among all other villages in the vicinity of the airport, Plaine Magnien has had the lion’s share of the developments. This includes fast progress in terms of shopping centres and artisanal items, among others.”

However, he has a slight bitterness of the S.S.R International Airport being at the doorstep of the villagers. “The airport, being of international nature, is of course a nuisance in terms of its major cause of noise pollution, especially to old people and infants. To compensate this real odd, I think the A.M.L should give priority to youngsters of the region to be employed in the airport services!” he argues .

 Abdool Rashid Boyragee, 69 year old retired taxi man at the international airport, associates the development of Plaine Magnien and its inhabitants to the sincere and motivating move of late Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam (“chacha” as he calls him) to offer taxi permits to young people of the locality in the year 1976-1977. 

“He understood the demand of the region, and irrespective of creed and colour he offered us permit as Airport Taxis, of which I was a beneficiary. My success in life, as that of many others of this village, is due to this humanitarian and visionary move of our chacha!” proudly confesses Boyragee. “I have grown to see Plaine Magnien emerging from a bush-village into a mega one,” he adds.

 Prem Nuckhir, 65 years old, is a fruit and vegetable seller at the landing point of all flying vessels that land ‘over his head’ everyday. He is proud, he says, of being in Plaine Magnien for years. “Plaine Magnien is a good place to live in. For me, it is a pleasure to see all aircrafts going over my head to land on the runway besides my stall. It is great!”

Indeed, Plaine Magnien is a village par excellence. It has even been a major interest for foreign researchers recently such as Antoine Gigal, author and journalist in Egypt, who said that the piles of stones located in the sugar cane fields of Plaine Magnien are pyramids dating from the pharaohs! Though this sparked a polemic the local historians explained that in 1944 the sugar company Mon-Tresor Mon-Desert purchased Union Vale (in the vicinity of Plaine Magnien) and cleaned the land. The stones were piled in the shape of pyramids!!! The people of Plaine Magnien call these ‘pyramids’ simply as ‘Meles’!