meditation in Guyana for the national day of mourning

A moment of contemplation this Monday, December 23. Eight days after the devastating passage of Cyclone Chido in Mayotte, this Monday is a day of national mourning in tribute to the victims and in solidarity with the Mahorais.

Flags were lowered to half-mast in front of public buildings in Guyana. At 11 a.m., a minute of silence was observed in Guyana in several places, particularly in public establishments. The Head of State also called on the French throughout the territory to observe it.

Decreed by Emmanuel Macron, this day of national mourning consists essentially of symbolic actions and collective contemplation. In Paris, a crisis meeting on the situation in Mayotte took place at midday, in the presence of Prime Minister François Bayrou.

At the Cayenne prefecture, the French flag was at half-mast and a minute of silence was observed. “It is to express our support for the populations of Mayotte hit by Cyclone Chido and who are still in great difficulty, commented Antoine Poussier, prefect of Guyana. And also to show our support for all the agents projected on the island.”

In Guyana, as in other overseas territories, we are well aware of the climatic and organizational fragility of our territories. We know that this type of crisis requires the support of national solidarity.

Like all other prefectures in France, Guyana has been asked to send qualified personnel as reinforcements. Among this staff, Roienfat Oikif Mohamed was born in the Comoros: “I grew up in Mayotte, it is the island that raised me, I studied there, this island educated me and I am attached to it, even if I have been in Guyana for two years “.

At the CTG, Territorial Collectivity of Guyana, and at Cayenne town hall too, the French flags were at half mast. The municipality has granted exceptional aid of 10,000 euros to the town hall of Mamoudzou, capital of Mayotte. For its part, the CTG announced aid of 100,000 euros for Mayotte.

“I made a donation, it’s important to help them and think of them in our own small way,” confides a Guyanese in the streets of Cayenne. “I am appalled by what they have suffered, I just hope that they will benefit from all this aid that is being sent”adds another passerby.

At the Cayenne court, the minute of silence was observed by all staff. At 11 a.m., the person from Guyana La 1ère also gathered in tribute to the victims of Cyclone Chido.

At the same time, the prefect of Mayotte, François-Xavier Bieuville, chaired a tribute ceremony on Zakia Madi Square, in Mamoudzou. Chido is the most devastating cyclone that Mayotte has experienced in 90 years. It caused colossal damage in the department.

On site, the authorities are working to restore water, electricity and communications networks. The toll, still provisional, from the disaster stands at 35 dead and around 2,500 injured. It would, in reality, be much higher.