After the emergency of helping people and restoring basic services, Mayotte will have to rebuild
After the emergency, Mayotte will have to take up the challenge of reconstruction. “In the area of housing, precarious housing has been destroyed in its entirety. The damage is currently being assessed regarding the masonry habitat: significant destruction is noted »described on Monday a situation update document from the ministries of territories, ecology and housing. At this stage, “the first thing to do is to shelter people”according to Patrick Coulombel, co-founder of the Architectes de l’urgence foundation, a humanitarian organization which is trying to transport 60,000 m2 tarpaulins on site, to cover leaky roofs, among other things.
“A CMA-CGM boat will take away the first elements necessary for repairs”according to the daily update of the resigned government. Currently, 8,000 people are accommodated in schools that are still functioning. 750 places with tents and picot beds are being deployed. As soon as travel resumes, the NGO Architectes de l’urgence “will launch an operation to secure buildings, schools, hospitals and homes”explains Mr. Coulombel to Agence France-Presse (AFP). “It is necessary to remove or bring down elements that could be dangerous so that the buildings can be used quickly. »
There are 100,000 people who live in “precarious habitats”a good part of which collapsed after the passage of the cyclone, as in the shanty town of the Kawéni district, in Mamoudzou. According to the most recent data from the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee), dating from 2017, four out of ten homes are made of sheet metal in Mayotte, and three out of ten do not have running water. “It’s wood, sheet metal on dirt hills. You imagine the wind rushing in, plus the rain creating mudslides”the director of emergencies and operations of the French Red Cross, Florent Vallée, warned AFP.
The specific question of the reconstruction of “slums which are today open-air cemeteries”according to Estelle Youssouffa, LIOT deputy for the archipelago, is still looking for an answer. “We want a reconstruction that is sustainable, that is coherent, that is united, that is responsible. We cannot imagine that Mayotte has survived to return to anarchy, whether urban anarchy or social anarchy”she was moved on Tuesday on France Inter.
