MTPA: Claire Le Lay and Avinash Teelock Denounce Political Dismissals

MTPA: Claire Le Lay and Avinash Teelock have condemned their abrupt dismissals as politically motivated. This was stated by Claire Le Lay, who was removed from her position as chairperson of the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) on Tuesday, and Avinash Kanti Teelock, appointed as the agency's director last May, who was also dismissed the same day.

After remaining silent the day before, they finally spoke out on Wednesday afternoon, November 12, through a joint press release. In this document, signed "Claire Le Lay and Avinash Teelock, engaged citizens," the two former officials provided several clarifications. They specifically mentioned that they had never refused to travel, explaining that a "major event" forced them to remain in Mauritius just days before their departure for the World Travel Market (WTM).

"We had to welcome and protect a key witness who came from Europe at his own expense to testify against the former director and certain MTPA officials," they highlighted.

Below is the full press release:

PRESS RELEASE

November 12, 2025

On November 11, we were dismissed without justification via email from our positions as Director and Chairperson of MTPA.

Could this defamatory and erroneous article, some internal information of which seems to have been leaked to the "Week-end" by the office of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism, have triggered our dismissal?

Avinash Teelock and I wish to clarify the following points:

• The Ministry of Finance never refused our request to travel in Business Class.

We requested the Ministry of Finance to reconsider our travel conditions for long-haul flights, as we are expected to conduct an average of more than 10 meetings a day at trade shows, which requires us to travel under optimal conditions to ensure this pace and sign contracts with our partners.

It is especially important to understand that MTPA executives travel using free tickets provided by various airlines that request us to promote their destination.

For example, a Business class round-trip from Mauritius to London would cost less than rs 40,000 in taxes alone.

The journalist seems not to have been well-informed.

• We have never refused to travel, but a major event forced us to stay in the territory just days before the departure for the WTM trade show. The Director ensured that the management of the booth was well handled by an experienced MTPA manager responsible for the English market.

The Minister of Tourism and his Permanent Secretary, present at this trade show, were able to ensure the essential and strategic meetings they had scheduled, for which we thank them.

Until now, bound by confidentiality, we can only reveal today that we had to welcome and protect a key witness who traveled from Europe at his own expense to testify against the former director and certain MTPA officials.

This witness filed a complaint with the Paris Financial Prosecutor's Office and the FCC for a massive corruption case.

This major case, which denounces the fraudulent actions of the former MTPA management, required, for security and confidentiality reasons, our presence during this person’s stay, who took significant risks by coming to testify in Mauritius.

We remind you that we were appointed to independently manage the MTPA and clean up the corruption that was present and which we have not yet fully neutralized.

The only justification for our abrupt dismissal appears to be a political reason to eliminate two professionals tasked with fighting corruption and nepotism.

Claire LE LAY and Avinash TEELOCK, engaged citizens.