2023-09-30 17:00:22
“When the water is brown like that, what do you think? » Under the burning sun of Mamoudzou, Racha Mousdikoudine, coordinator of the Mayotte a soif collective, points to a bottle of cloudy tap water, brandished at arm’s length by a demonstrator in a boubou. As a symbol of the exasperation triggered by this water crisis. This Wednesday, September 27 in the morning, a little more than 400 people gathered at Place de la République, at the call of several collectives and unions. The sign that a mixture of still contained anger is beginning to crystallize in this French overseas department, located in the Indian Ocean.
There are, of course, water cuts two days out of three in most of the seventeen municipalities with neighborhoods that are no longer supplied due to lack of pressure in the network. But also the exorbitant price of a pack of six bottles of water, between 5 and 10 euros, in a department where 77% of the population lives below the poverty line.
Added to this are other subjects of hidden tension, such as distrust of the potability analyzes of the regional health agency, which are 95% compliant, but with the recommendation to boil the water. “as a precaution”. And again this feeling of being abandoned by the State because such a situation would not be possible in another French department. “At Versailles, things flow freely; in Mayotte, we lack water », wrote a young demonstrator on her cardboard sign. Reference to the luxurious meal organized by the Elysée on September 20 at the Palace of Versailles, during the visit of the King of England Charles III.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers “It has become unlivable”: in Mayotte, the drought will deprive residents of tap water two days out of three
“Drinking, washing, washing your clothes, everything is complicated, sighs Sikina Hakim, from Mzouazia in the south of Grande-Terre, the region most impacted by the lack of water. It’s no longer livable. We spend our time stocking up. Stores quickly run out of bottled water. And those who don’t have a salary have to drink tap water. With all the health risks. The nerves will give out, that’s for sure. »
“A series of human errors”
To “say stop”, the Mayotte a soif collective launched a petition in favor of legal action aimed at demanding from the Société Mahoraise des Eaux (SMAE, a subsidiary of Vinci) the supply of bottles in the name of the fundamental right of access to water, as well as the freezing of bills for “rotten water”. However, some demonstrators do not hide their disappointment at not having attracted more people. The pro-“Wuambushu” demonstrations (the operation to fight against slums, illegal immigration and delinquency) mobilized more in May and June.
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