The law of the market is on hold in Mayotte. Due to the widespread shortage that exists, five days after the deadly and devastating passage of Cyclone Chido, the prices of consumer products have been frozen at their levels before the natural disaster. The government published a decree on this subject during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, which entered into force immediately.
Prices cannot therefore be “higher, all taxes included, than those reached on December 13, 2024 or, failing that, on the nearest earlier date, for each establishment in Mayotte”it is specified.
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Products necessary for daily life are concerned, in particular mineral water (natural or from a source not containing added sugar) and food products. But also drinks, alcoholic or not, animal feed and plant treatment products and fertilizers. Other useful products are also included: batteries, dressings, basic hygiene and cleaning products, as well as construction products and materials, electrical equipment and tools.
The text is valid for wholesale, retail and online sales, as well as producer sales prices and import margins. “At all stages of product distribution”it is specified. It also offers the prefect of Mayotte the possibility of setting maximum prices by decree. “applicable to all establishments in the same category of businesses”. This is based on average prices observed before the cyclone in a representative sample of establishments.
Increased risk of cholera epidemic
The fact remains that the supply challenges are immense in the devastated archipelago, particularly in terms of water and basic necessities. The government “makes every effort” to transport water to the populations, assured this Thursday the resigning Minister of Health, Geneviève Darrieussecq, on RTL. Asked about the risk of dehydration which threatens the victims, she recognized that the situation is “very difficult indeed”some areas still being inaccessible. “We transport water, constantly “, she added.
She also warned that unsafe water was being consumed, which could encourage the development of cholera. Intestinal infection spreads more easily in areas where access to drinking water and wastewater treatment is difficult. Mayotte does not, however, count “no case” reported illness today, she said. The government is also ready to send vaccines.
Concerning supply precisely, it should become better by air. “The airport presented access difficulties” in the first days after the cyclone, she recalled, so that only “certain types of military aircraft” could land.
“Now, the landing of larger carriers will be possible. So the delivery will be able to be more fluid”she promised.
Furthermore, a ship “arrives with containers of water, in the next few hours”coming from Reunion, she said.
Emmanuel Macron on site
The French president, as agreed, arrived Thursday morning in Mayotte. The Head of State’s plane landed at 10:10 a.m. local time (8:10 a.m. Paris time). On board, in addition to a restricted delegation, around twenty doctors, nurses, logisticians and civil security personnel as well as four tonnes of food and health freight.
After an aerial reconnaissance of the disaster area, Emmanuel Macron must go to the Mamoudzou hospital center (CHM) and speak with the nursing staff and the patients in care. The resigning Minister of Health indicated this Thursday that the establishment is functioning but “in degraded modes”. “We were also able to put four medical centers back into operation”she added. To relieve the healthcare system, 55 medical evacuations have taken place at this stage to Reunion Island, “mostly” chronically ill people who require constant care, she said.
The French leader will then visit “in a destroyed neighborhood, in contact with the emergency services” mobilized. And must “discuss the situation of the island with elected officials”. It should also specify the “national mourning” which he intends to decree, and begin to outline the titanic reconstruction project.
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The state of “exceptional natural calamity” decreed
Concerning the aftermath, the landscape of desolation at the beginning has already changed in five days, thanks to mutual aid and resourcefulness. The fact remains that, in the most affected neighborhoods – such as Kawéni, the largest slum in France on the outskirts of Mamoudzou – there is a strong risk of seeing precarious housing being reconstituted in a hurry to cope with the rainy season coming.
This is why the Ministry of Overseas Territories announced Wednesday evening in a press release the activation of “the state of exceptional natural calamity”. What is supposed to “enable more rapid and effective management of the crisis and facilitate the implementation of emergency measures”.
This cyclone Chido is the most intense that the archipelago has experienced in 90 years. The overseas territory was ravaged by winds of more than 220 km/h, destroying the most disadvantaged neighborhoods. According to the latest figures, still provisional, 31 deaths and some 1,373 injured have been officially recorded. The authorities nevertheless fear a much heavier toll. The prefect of Mayotte therefore ordered “a mission to search for the dead”according to the Ministry of the Interior which emphasizes that “70% of residents were seriously affected”.
(With AFP)
