French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou has promised that Mayotte, the French overseas department that was destroyed by a cyclone, will be rebuilt within two years. His visit to the island in the Indian Ocean comes amid growing frustration that it has been forgotten by subsequent governments in mainland France.
Rebuilding Mayotte in two years “is a goal that must be made”, Bayrou said after touring the temporary field hospital in Mamoudzou.
"There are a bunch of people who say this won't be possible. They may be right, but I know the type: they're the ones saying we should give up. The ones saying that Notre Dame wasn't possible," he said, making reference to the Paris cathedral that reopened at the start of December, five years after it was destroyed by a fire.
Bayrou's visit to Mayotte comes two weeks after cyclone Chido tore through the island, destroying everything in its path, leaving at least 39 people dead and over 5,600 wounded.
'Concrete' action
The people of Mayotte, France's poorest department, "often have the sentiment that what we bring them are assurance, pretty words of solidarity," Bayrou said later, after visiting a desalination plant.
Yet what they want is "concrete" action, he said, promising that "after a day of dialogue” he will announce a reconstruction plan, named ‘Mayotte standing’.
A first phase will focus on reconstruction, and it will be followed by “a long-term plan, because it's not just about rebuilding Mayotte as it was. It's about designing a different future for Mayotte".
Scepticism on the ground
Bayrou is visiting Mayotte with several members of his new government, including two former prime ministers, Education Minister Elisabeth Borne and Overseas Affairs minister Manuel Valls.
Locals have been frustrated by the slow delivery of aid and return of water and electricity, and many are sceptical of the government’s response.
In an open letter published Saturday, local citizens’ groups decried the “flagrant insufficiency” of support after the cyclone, and demanded a “rapid and structured” reconstruction plan and a dedicated fund to compensate the victims.
Soon after being appointed prime minister, Bayrou came under fire for attending a city council meeting in Pau, where he is mayor, instead of a crisis meeting about Mayotte.
Not thousands dead
In the aftermath of the cyclone, there were concerns that the death toll would be in the hundreds or thousands, given the high number of undocumented immigrants living in shantytowns on the island, but Bayrou said Monday that those fears have not come to pass.
The death toll remains officially at 39, and Bayrou said that he expects the numbers to go to “a few dozen or hundreds”, but that the “rumours of thousands of dead are unfounded”.
(with newswires)
