The State will cover the water bills of Mayotte residents from September to December, faced with a serious shortage of this vital resource on their island, Elisabeth Borne announced Thursday, October 5 in a press release.
“Water service subscribers will not have to pay bills for the months of September to December 2023, given the very significant deterioration in the service provided to the public,” the Prime Minister clarified at the end of the meeting. an interministerial meeting devoted to the subject.
In mid-September, the state chartered a ship carrying 600,000 liters of drinking water to the island. This was one of the measures of the emergency plan developed by the government in order to avoid a health crisis in the territory.
The government also plans to “gradually expand” until mid-November the distribution of free bottled water, currently limited to 50,000 of the most vulnerable people, thanks to more deliveries of bottles from Reunion Island. and the metropolis. A source close to the matter mentions an expansion of this distribution to around 100,000 people. Some 300 soldiers and civilians will be deployed in Mayotte to ensure the logistics of this distribution.
In addition, 30 healthcare workers will increase the workforce at the Mamoudzou hospital center “in the coming days”, and an “aid system” for businesses affected by these shortages will be put in place “during November”.
Difficult “six to eight weeks”
To deal with this water crisis due to a severe drought, the state has intensified cuts and is considering extending them further, anticipating a difficult “six to eight weeks”.
Since September 4, the population of Mahor (i.e. 310,000 inhabitants on January 1, 2023, according to INSEE) has been deprived of water two days out of three.
The poorest department in France is facing its worst drought since 1997, while its supply depends largely on rainwater.
Rainfall deficits are aggravated by a lack of infrastructure and investment in a territory which, under pressure from illegal immigration particularly from the neighboring Comoros, is experiencing demographic growth of 4% per year.