Rebuild as quickly as possible. It is this Wednesday, January 8 that the emergency bill for Mayotte is presented to the Council of Ministers. After the passage of Cyclone Chido which devastated the island on December 14 and left at least 39 dead and more than 5,600 injured, this text should allow public actors to “restore the living conditions of residents” All “by preparing for reconstruction” of the small French archipelago in the Indian Ocean.
For this, the bill aims to derogate “for two years” to the rules of town planning and public procurement, to facilitate the reconstruction of schools, but also infrastructure and housing. The text thus provides that “constructions for emergency accommodation built in Mayotte (…) after December 14, 2024 and until the expiration of a period of two years following the publication of this law (…) are exempt from any formality under the town planning code”.
In detail, concerning schools, hard hit while Mayotte is the youngest department in France with one in two inhabitants underage, the project entrusts “the State or one of its public establishments” their reconstruction or renovation in place of local authorities until December 31, 2027.
To carry out the reconstruction of the island, the text must broaden the prerogatives of the public land and development establishment of Mayotte (EPFAM) to entrust it with “the mission of coordinating the reconstruction work of Mayotte”. A personality must also be appointed at its head, according to Matignon. Finally, on land, while it is often difficult to formally identify the owners of land in Mayotte, the text makes it possible to deviate from the usual rules and to be able to expropriate before an owner has been identified, even if it means compensating them. a posteriori.
Emergency economic measures
Furthermore, emergency economic measures are contained in the text, such as the suspension of the collection of social security contributions from self-employed workers, the extension of the rights of socially insured and the unemployed or the increase in unemployment coverage. partial. They will remain in force “until March 31, 2025”, according to the text.
-However, nothing is planned on precarious housing, while François Bayrou had promised during his trip at the end of December “to prevent reconstruction” slums in Mayotte. “The text is unacceptable because it provides no response to the real emergencies of Mayotte”estimates the former deputy and LR vice-president in charge of Overseas Mansour Kamardine, demanding “a measure which prohibits slums” in the archipelago. For her part, Liot MP from Mayotte Estelle Youssouffa, without commenting on the emergency bill, demanded that “Mayotte entrepreneurs have priority over contracts” of reconstruction of the archipelago.
On the legislative level, the text will pass to the Economic Affairs Committee of the National Assembly from Monday January 13, the day of the resumption of activity at the Palais Bourbon. Its examination in committee could continue on Tuesday, before an examination of the text in session on Monday, January 20, according to parliamentary sources.
Concerning longer-term measures, particularly around questions of immigration, security and economic development, the government is planning another draft “program law” which will be developed within three months, specifies Matignon.
