2023-09-02 21:35:00
Overseas Minister Philippe Vigier, visiting Mayotte on Saturday, presented the government’s plan to avoid a health crisis in the archipelago where water is severely rationed, announcing bottle distributions, the deployment of cisterns as well than business support.
From the tarmac where he had just landed in a military plane for an express visit, the new minister assured that there had been “important decisions taken yesterday (Friday) in Paris, at the highest level, by the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, in conjunction with Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior and also of Overseas Territories, so that we can have a real Marshall Plan for Mayotte”.
Mr. Vigier made the round trip during the day to the Indian Ocean archipelago – from Reunion where he had just spent three days – to show that the government has taken the measure that “the situation experienced by the Mahoraises and Mahoraises in terms of water was unacceptable”.
Mayotte, the poorest department in France, is subject to its worst drought since 1997, while its supply depends mainly on rainwater. For several months, water has been distributed drop by drop to the inhabitants, 300,000 people according to INSEE, not counting people without papers.
To spare the remaining resources before the next rainy season, which will not arrive before November, the authorities will only provide access to drinking water one day out of three from next Monday, September 4th.
Fifteen cisterns
“All people who are vulnerable, in particular pregnant women, children, will benefit from a daily distribution of water, two liters per person. There are already 30,000 people who have been identified”, declared Mr. Vigier , adding later that people with disabilities and long-term illness would also benefit from these free distributions.
Fifteen cisterns will be in the coming days distributed on the territory and filled thanks to a “water treatment station” so that there is “zero health risk”, for a budget of 2.5 million euros, said the minister. “In addition, 200 water ramps will be deployed on the territory,” added Mr. Vigier.
“This water crisis must not turn into a health crisis,” warned Olivier Brahic, director general of the regional health agency (ARS) on August 28, as caregivers alerted to the number of patients. with digestive disorders or cases of dehydration. To consume tap water, the ARS recommends boiling it because bacteria can infiltrate the pipes during cuts.
Also affected by this lack of water, companies will benefit from aid to offset their fixed costs, implemented by the public finance department of Mayotte, according to the minister’s office.
“That’s the emergency”, explained Mr. Vigier, before recalling the work in progress, “considerable work to be done on the leaks, on the interconnection” between the north and the south of less rich Mayotte in water, by the end of October to increase the resource in the medium term.
On the shores of the Indian Ocean, the Minister paid a visit to Sada (central west coast), to the site where an osmosis unit is to be installed to treat seawater. He also visited a drilling site exploratory in Coconi, and near the almost empty hill reservoir (artificial water reserve) of Combani, to find out about future water production and any difficulties to be ironed out.
“State services will help you analyze the offers,” he assured the director general of Mahoraise des Eaux services, Ibrahim Aboubacar, who is due to receive offers from companies by November to develop the Sada osmosis site.
The distribution of bottles of water is a “good thing” assured the deputy (LR) Mansour Kamardine, nevertheless asking that “all those who are at the RSA (revenu de solidarité active) can have access to this distribution”. The MP regrets, however, that it “took the crisis for us to have investments” in Mahoran water infrastructure.
02/09/2023 21:33:39 – Combani (France) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
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