« IYou especially need hydroalcoholic gel and masks », assures Madi Boinaidi, whose family lives in Mayotte, to the secretary of the communist section of Martigues Axel Samuel who takes notes. In the hall of the city hall, solidarity with the Mahorais nationals is taking place during a rally organized by the City in support of the people whose archipelago was devastated by Cyclone Chido.
« To date, there have been several dozen deaths and more than 1 000 injured with thousands of homeless families deprived of their belongings, recalls the mayor (PCF) of Martigues Gaby Charroux. The slums where some 200 people lived 000 people in already precarious conditions were totally destroyed. The landscapes have been disfigured. What was a difficult daily life became a struggle for survival. The urgency today is to act. »
Ali Rassimina can only approve. Since the cyclone hit, the young woman has not been able to contact her aunts, cousins or grandmother who live in a village near Tsingoni. She sticks to what she hears from friends there who give her news of her family, safe and sound. “ Residents need help immediately, not in a week or more, she asserts. There are people who need medication. My grandmother is diabetic, I don't know if she still has medical care for example. The field hospital is in Mamoudzou, but the Mahorais from other surrounding villages are forgotten and isolated. »
A neglected territory
It is the health situation that worries Ali Rassimina the most. “ We are in the middle of the rainy season which lasts until March, the inhabitants no longer have drinking water, some are forced to drink straight from the river. I'll let you imagine what that will mean in terms of hygiene, it's catastrophic. »
Faced with the magnitude of the task, the communist section of Martigues and the City are getting ready to do their part in the reconstruction of the archipelago. “ We will contribute financially through aid which will be voted on at the next municipal council. », Says Gaby Charroux. The PCF is joining forces with Secours populaire to collect donations in order to send food and medical aid there.
But beyond the emergency, the mayor of Martigues considers that this tragedy reveals a reality “ much deeper ». « It reveals the fragility of this territory too often left aside, neglected in its fundamental needs. A territory where infrastructure was already fragile before the cyclone, where access to public services, water, electricity and healthcare were already a difficulty. These disasters only highlight these shortcomings which unfortunately are not new. »
Confirm Ali Rasimina. ” Before the cyclone we were really the forgotten ones of the State, we were sub-French people. In my village we already had water cuts from 8 a.m. to noon one week, then the next day from noon to 4 p.m. hours. » Now it's even worse.
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