The inhabitants of Mayotte are deprived of running water because of the drought. However, several logistical problems will have to be resolved to allow the distribution of free water bottles to ramp up from mid-November, the water resources monitoring committee noted this Friday.
“From mid-November, we should distribute bottled water to the entire population who ask us,” declared the prefect of the department, Thierry Suquet, during the meeting of this committee in Mamoudzou on Friday. The Minister Delegate for Overseas Territories, Philippe Vigier, announced at the beginning of September the free distribution of two liters of water per person per day to vulnerable people.
Single bottles, “it’s hell”
The measure, which initially only concerned 50,000 people, was gradually expanded, and last Tuesday the minister announced that the entire Mahorese population would benefit from it from mid-November. The exercise, however, raises several logistical problems.
“Distributing individual bottles of water creates difficulties for populations who have to carry several bottles. We need to think in terms of water packs, or rethink the packaging,” indicated the general director of services at Mamoudzou town hall, Philippe Ramon. A point of view shared by Liot MP Estelle Youssouffa: “It’s hell for the municipal teams and the people who receive the bottles”.
“Just-in-time” stocks
“The question of moving to single packs arises, but our stocks are in tight flow. We must study them to determine if we can move to this level without impacting the reserves,” replied André Lemierre, from the office of the prefect of Mayotte. Faced with the problem posed by the mobilization of community staff, the prefect in charge of the water mission, Gilles Cantal, is considering “the establishment of a living base to allow a considerable reinforcement of personnel”.
Another measure to facilitate access to bottled water for the Mahorais: stricter control of the prices of water packs, which must not be higher than those practiced at the beginning of July 2023. “From next week all those who do not respect the prefectural decree will be sanctioned,” promised Thierry Suquet. Sanctions of up to 1,500 euros for each product subject to irregular sale. Since Wednesday, the period of access to running water for the Mahorais has been reduced to 18 hours instead of 24 hours, one day out of three.