Mayotte lacks drinking water. To deal with this crisis, the State has therefore chartered a ship loaded with 600,000 liters of the precious liquid destined for the department, where a serious episode of drought has imposed very strict rationing, the Ministry of the Interior announced on Saturday and overseas.
A container ship from the CMA-CGM group, which provides free transport of the cargo, left Reunion Island during the night of Friday to Saturday and is expected to reach the French archipelago in the Indian Ocean on September 20, the ministry said.
A record drought since 1997
The poorest department in France, Mayotte is subject to its worst drought since 1997, while its supply depends largely on rainwater. 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 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 Affairs Philippe Vigier announced an emergency plan to avoid a health crisis in the Mahorais archipelago. A week ago, around a hundred people demonstrated in Mamoudzou to denounce the almost daily water cuts they have been experiencing since the beginning of September.
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. .