[Article publié le jeudi 19 décembre 2024 à 10h53 et mis à jour à 15h28] Five days after the deadly and devastating passage of Cyclone Chido in Mayotte, Emmanuel Macron announced the establishment of a “ compensation fund to support those who are uninsured “, he declared on the spot without specifying the contribution.
This cyclone is the most intense 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. This Thursday, the French president arrived in Mayotte in the morning. After visiting a hospital center in Mamoudzou (CHM), the capital of the department, he went “in a destroyed neighborhood, in contact with the emergency services” mobilized, from Mamoudzou.
« I cannot let it be said (…) that the State would have resigned here “, he said when discovering the damage in this neighborhood.
Several mechanisms lifted
France has also activated the European Union’s civil protection mechanism, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced this Thursday. This mechanism was activated on December 17 and many partners made us an offer which we are looking at », declared Christophe Lemoine. The request concerns 10,000 tents and emergency accommodation to accommodate the affected families of this French archipelago in the Indian Ocean, said another diplomatic source.
Cyclone in Mayotte: a final assessment will be “very difficult” to establish
For its part, 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”. “We are also focusing on legal tools to enable the greatest possible efficiency of the State. This will require emergency legislative measures to be effective immediately and rebuild Mayotte”added the ministry, ahead of the presidential announcements.
Widespread shortage
Due to the widespread shortage since the cyclone, prices of consumer products have been stuck 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.
Mayotte: insurers send a joint expertise mission
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.
(With AFP)
