The State has chartered a ship loaded with 600,000 liters of drinking water bound for Mayotte, where a serious episode of drought has imposed very strict water rationing, announced Saturday September 16, Philippe Vigier, the ministry of the Interior and Overseas.
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A container ship from the CGA-CGM group, which provides free transport of the water load, left on the night of Friday September 15 to Saturday September 16 from Reunion Island and should reach the French archipelago of Indian Ocean on September 20, the Overseas Ministry said in a press release. The poorest department in France, Mayotte is subject to its worst drought since 1997, while its supply depends largely on rainwater.
Lack of infrastructure
Rainfall deficits, which are increasingly frequent, are aggravated by a lack of infrastructure and investment in a territory which, under pressure from illegal immigration from the neighboring Comoros, is experiencing demographic growth of 4% per year. For several months, water has been distributed in droplets to its approximately 300,000 inhabitants (according to an INSEE count as of January 1, 2022). Visiting Mayotte at the beginning of the month, the Minister responsible for Overseas Territories, Philippe Vigier, announced a emergency plan to avoid a health crisis in the Mahorais archipelago.
Distribution to vulnerable populations
The first shipment of drinking water sent to Mayotte must be distributed as a priority to the most vulnerable population: infants, pregnant women, people with disabilities or those affected by long-term illnesses and those over 65, according to the ministry. . A week ago, around a hundred people demonstrated in Mamoudzou to denounce the almost daily water cuts they have suffered since the beginning of September 2023.
(With AFP)
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