Emmanuel Macron promised a special law for the reconstruction of Mayotte. It will have to be adopted soon by the Council of Ministers, but we do not yet know the date.
How to quickly rebuild Mayotte? After the passage of Hurricane Chido, which left 39 dead according to the latest provisional report, a large part of the archipelago was destroyed. It must be said that several thousand residents lived in shanty towns, which literally disappeared with the hurricane. Water and electricity are being restored, but there is nothing to talk about a return to normal. Besides, no one wants a return to normal in Mayotte. We will have to rebuild the archipelago, but more solidly to prevent this “exceptional natural calamity” from happening again in the same way within a few years.
So, Emmanuel Macron promised a special law for the reconstruction of Mayotte on December 19, while he was traveling in Mayotte. According to the new Overseas Minister, Manuel Valls, this should be “adopted very quickly by the Council of Ministers”, as he assured during his transfer of power with François-Noël Buffet rue Oudinot.
What will the law allow?
At the moment, we do not know the content of this special law. Manuel Valls gave some ideas during his transfer of power: “The commitment of the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister is clear”, we must “rebuild Mayotte better and differently”, “this is also the meaning of the law reconstruction plan which we hope will be adopted very quickly by the Council of Ministers.” Emmanuel Macron promised to “build with the Minister (of Overseas Territories) a special law because we cannot do it (rebuild, editor’s note) with the current instruments”, he said during a meeting with the elected in Mamoudzou.
To get an idea of the content of this law, we can look at the one passed for the reconstruction of Notre-Dame de Paris, or that for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Two special laws were passed to meet the requirements of these exceptional circumstances. These are also the two examples given by the President of the Republic: “We were able to do it to organize the Olympic Games (…) to rebuild Notre-Dame de Paris and therefore we will do it to rebuild Mayotte.”
The example of Notre-Dame de Paris
On June 16, 2019, Parliament adopted an exceptional law to rebuild the cathedral, three months after the fire. This allowed the government to derogate from the Heritage Code as well as certain town planning and transport rules, etc. In addition, this law authorized the payment of donations by any individual, company or community who so wished, with a tax advantage in return for individuals. This made it possible to successfully complete the exceptional challenge of rebuilding the cathedral in five years.
The law concerning Mayotte could have similar measures, making it possible to override a certain number of regulations which would waste a lot of time. It must be said that the French administration takes a lot of time and sometimes requires several months to obtain construction authorizations, whether for infrastructure or housing. The same system of donations as for Notre-Dame could be put in place, so that all those who wish can help the victims and the reconstruction of this French department.