Rescue is being organized in the small archipelago of Mayotte, lost in the south of the Indian Ocean. On Tuesday, the Onego Bora, a CMA-CGM cargo ship, 117 meters long, coming from Reunion Island, arrived in Longoni, the main port of the archipelago. It is the first ship specially chartered by the national authorities to dock in Mayotte. On board, water, food, construction equipment but also construction equipment.
At the same time, on Tuesday evening, the prefecture informed that 6,000 large tarpaulins had been delivered by plane, capable of covering 100,000 m2 of roofs. Still according to the prefecture, health buildings such as the hospital are the first to have been secured. Relief would now be deployed to individuals and businesses.
Drinking water is gaining ground
The prefecture also indicates that 90% of the territory once again has access to drinking water. However, the infrastructures still do not allow a continuous supply, the municipalities of the archipelago are supplied two days out of three. To this, we must sometimes add malicious acts: a resident reports that the generator which powers the pumps in his municipality has been stolen.
At the same time, repairs to the electricity network continue. In recent hours, 45 Enedis agents have arrived as reinforcements on the island. On Tuesday, the prefecture announced that only 37% of subscribers were connected.
The field hospital is functional
Another positive sign, the field hospital set up at the Cavani stadium, in Mamoudzou (capital of the archipelago), took care of its first patients on Tuesday. This temporary establishment, made of tents, presents, according to Mayotte Hebdo, “all the functionalities of a classic establishment”: surgical capacities, maternity, trauma care, laboratory. It can accommodate around a hundred people per day, including around forty hospitalized people. Its mission is to replace the central hospital of Mayotte, affected by the cyclone, which is only operating at 30% of its capacity.
Mamoudzou wants to ban the reconstruction of slums
Before the cyclone hit the island, local authorities had encouraged the most exposed populations – living in barracks – to take refuge in emergency accommodation centers, set up, very often, in schools. On Monday, Ambdilwahedou Soumaïla, the mayor of Mamoudzou, announced that these centers would close on December 31. According to him, more than 3,500 people had joined these centers and have been accommodated there since. This closure was decided so that reconstruction work could begin in order to accommodate schoolchildren, middle and high school students as quickly as possible, but also to avoid the looting that takes place there after dark.
What will happen to the population who lived in the slums of the island's largest city? No one knows. According to Mayotte Hebdo, the Mamoudzou municipal council adopted a motion on Sunday to prohibit the construction of shanty towns. “It would be irresponsible to allow slums to be built again. We cannot make the same mistake, rebuilding means continuing to kill people,” the mayor explained.
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