the draft “emergency law” postponed to the council of ministers until next week

The project of « loi emergency » for Mayotte, devastated by Cyclone Chido, will be presented to the Council of Ministers next week and not during the one scheduled for this Friday, January 3. This will not have “no impact” on its examination in Parliament, which resumes its activity on January 13, assured Matignon on Thursday.

It is about “check certain elements of the bill” et of “take the time to continue consultation with elected officials” of the archipelago, with whom Overseas Minister Manuel Valls spoke for another twenty-four hours, after the visit of Prime Minister François Bayrou on Monday, the same source said.

This text should integrate several of the measures of the plan “Mayotte standing” presented by the head of government. François Bayrou had initially affirmed that this text would be presented to the Council of Ministers on Friday, the first of the year 2025.

For longer-term measures, the government is planning another project. “refoundation law-program” of the archipelago “prepared and designed with the elected officials of Mayotte”which will be “developed within three months”.

Army help

François Bayrou notably promised “to prevent reconstruction” slums in Mayotte, destroyed by the cyclone, without specifying where their inhabitants – a third of the population – would be relocated, and to restore electricity “in every home” by the end of January thanks to reinforcements of agents and generators.

He also announced help from the army for the rehabilitation of water networks and the deployment of 200 Starlinks (satellite link systems from the American company SpaceX) to ensure emergency communications. He also intends to propose to the President of the Republic a « plan vigilance »associating army and gendarmerie, to ” to watch “ educational establishments faced with threats of fire and looting.

Faced with irregular immigration – the department has 320,000 inhabitants according to INSEE, but perhaps 100,000 to 200,000 more with undocumented immigrants – Mr. Bayrou pleaded for a “general and precise census of the population”. Returning to land rights in Mayotte, already restricted in the archipelago, “is a question that needs to be asked”he declared.

On the economic level, he announced the establishment in Mayotte of a “global free zone exempting [d’impôts] all companies for a period of five years ». Chido, the most devastating cyclone in Mayotte in ninety years, caused the death of at least 39 people on December 14 and left more than 5,600 injured, according to a report published last Sunday by the prefecture.