He is looking for “concrete solutions” for Mayotte after cyclone Chido: what awaits François Bayrou and his ministers this Monday

Prime Minister François Bayrou will arrive early Monday morning in Mayotte for a visit focused on "concrete solutions" for the inhabitants of the island devastated by cyclone Chido, we learned Saturday from Matignon.

François Bayrou will be accompanied by Ministers of State Élisabeth Borne (Education) and Manuel Valls (Overseas) and Ministers Valérie Létard (Housing), Yannick Neuder (Health) and Thani Mohamed Soilihi (Francophonie and International Partnerships).

The day will begin at 7:15 a.m. with a visit to the Petite Terre desalination plant, followed by a visit to the Kaweni 2 college in Mamoudzou and the field hospital set up after the cyclone. Several meetings are planned with economic stakeholders, security forces and local elected officials, as well as a tribute ceremony for gendarmerie captain Florian Monnier who died in action after the cyclone.

At the end of this day, François Bayrou will speak at the departmental council before going in the evening to the island of La Réunion, an important logistical base for aid to Mayotte, located 1,435 kilometers away, where he will continue his visit on Tuesday morning before returning to mainland France.

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The announced objectives of this trip

M. Bayrou goes to Mayotte “with the desire to provide concrete solutions to the populations on the ground on the issues of education, health, housing”. And “with his experience as a local elected official, who knows how to provide concrete, and above all rapid, answers to meet the needs of the Mahoraises and the Mahorais”, explains his entourage.

The trip, initially scheduled for Sunday and Monday, has been postponed by 24 hours. On Friday, in an open letter, the leader of the Socialist Party Olivier Faure demanded “action” for Mayotte from the Prime Minister, whom he also criticizes for not having gone “immediately” to the site, for having announced the composition of his government on the day of national mourning last Monday and for having “appeared to seek to downplay the importance of the disaster”.

Appointed Prime Minister on December 13, the day before the cyclone hit, Mr. Bayrou had sparked a lively controversy by going on December 16 to the Municipal Council of Pau, a city of which he intends to remain mayor, after having participated by videoconference in a crisis meeting on Mayotte.

“The debris continues to pile up, raising fears of health risks, water and food remain rationed, electricity is cut off for half the population and in the northwest of the island and in the razed shanty towns, the inhabitants feel abandoned and are waiting for help”, wrote the first secretary of the PS, who also questions the head of government on “the work of counting the deceased”.

The human toll remains very uncertain, with 39 officially counted dead and more than 4,000 injured.