2023-10-20 04:15:12
A fountain in the Kawéni slum, in Mayotte, in April 2023. MORGAN FACHE / ITEM
Is there a shortage of water in Mayotte? “Water is the responsibility of local elected officials”immediately cut off official sources, notably the Minister Delegate for Overseas, Philippe Vigier.
In this matter, however, the State bears an eminent responsibility. The severe shortage that has hit the island since March requires exceptional emergency measures: rationing of residents, sending millions of bottles, mobilization of the army, hasty search for drilling. Since the last drought which, in 2016-2017, hit the small territory of 374 square kilometers, the crisis has remained inextricable.
Consulted by The worldexchanges between the prefecture and the water union, legal documents, an audit by the European Commission and various reports from consulting firms highlight the powerlessness of the public authorities in the 101st French department: in the face of a predictable catastrophe, the State did not take control, while pushing a major player, the Vinci group, into the market, which was unable to respect its contract.
Also read the report: Article reserved for our subscribers With the water shortage, Mayotte is sinking into an “extraordinary” crisis: “It is no longer livable, the nerves will give way”
It all starts at the beginning of 2017, when the first water emergency plan is established for Mayotte. To prevent future crises, investments are planned – 140 million euros financed mainly by the State and the European Union (EU). On the Indian Ocean island, rain provides 95% of drinking water, the rest coming from sea desalination. The decision was then made to create two new desalination units and, above all, to quadruple the production of the existing Petite-Terre plant: a new installation would increase it from 1,300 cubic meters to 5,300 cubic meters per day (12% of current daily consumption).
The prefecture communicated the State’s intentions on this major project, on August 25, 2017, to the president of the Intercommunal Water and Sanitation Union of Mayotte (Sieam). He hardly seems to have a choice: “It is imperative to make these production units operational as quickly as possible. It was agreed that Sieam will entrust this operation to its delegate, SMAE [la Société mahoraise des eaux], by way of amendment to the public service delegation contract for the production of drinking water”the State service writes to him.
A market committed to urgency
SMAE, a subsidiary of the Vinci group, has been the holder since January 2008 a concession from the intercommunal union, to produce and distribute drinking water – a contract worth 17 million euros per year. Here she is responsible for awarding the new contract and directing the work, in a profession that she knows little about and that the Vinci group has no intention of developing, desalination. The existing plant never produced the expected amount of water.
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