Mayotte: France must raise 'standard of infrastructure, public services' in densely-populated island

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00:00France's Emmanuel Macron was met by an angry crowd that booed and shouted directly at the

00:12President as he extended his visit to the cyclone-hit Mayotte.

00:16People in the storm-ravaged island implored Macron to do more to help, where a preliminary

00:21toll from France's Interior Ministry shows that 31 people have been confirmed killed

00:26and at least 2,500 injured so far.

00:30But officials warn that, realistically, a final death toll of hundreds or even thousands

00:35is more likely.

00:37The residents of the island face harrowing conditions.

00:40They claim that they are missing bare essentials such as water and electricity.

00:44And have nowhere to go because everything is demolished.

00:47Let's take a listen to some of these residents.

00:51For those who have nothing left, those who have nothing to eat, it's despair.

00:56And unfortunately, that's when we start seeing petty theft.

01:00Theft will begin to happen because we are entering a period of scarcity.

01:04We'll use this rainwater to flush the toilet, clean the house a little, wash the plates

01:10and, if we can, wash ourselves.

01:16In the midst of the destruction, some are trying to restore hope.

01:20As in Amidzambouro, where the Cocoa Beach restaurant has opened its doors to the most

01:24affected residents of the archipelago.

01:26Ludivine Blazy and Florent Marché have more on this story.

01:31At this restaurant, there are no menus, plates or bills.

01:35There are charging stations powered by two generators.

01:38Dozens of people are here recharging their phones and laptops.

01:42After Cyclone Chido struck the French island of Mayotte, electricity has become a precious

01:46resource.

01:47Many people need help.

01:49There's no water, no electricity.

01:51I met people who are getting hungry.

01:53It's getting very critical.

01:56It's a good thing we have this place to keep the outside world informed.

02:00But if it wasn't for this place, I don't know what we would have done.

02:04In order to help as many locals as possible, the restaurant is offering its resources.

02:09The generators at Cocoa Beach run on gas originally intended for tourist boat tours.

02:14All unnecessary energy consumption has been cut.

02:17To avoid waste, only freezers remain plugged in.

02:22It's all about solidarity.

02:24Everything is free.

02:25It's a place where people come together.

02:27People look for comfort.

02:28They can drink, eat, work.

02:30And children can play on the other side.

02:32The restaurant's address is passed on by word of mouth.

02:36More arrive by the day.

02:38While waiting for government-promised aid, these initiatives are the only way to keep

02:41up local morale.

02:44For more on this developing story, we're joined here by Renaud Foucault, senior lecturer

02:50in economics from Lancaster University.

02:53Good day, Mr. Foucault.

02:56As the images we've seen that we've been showing, residents of the island of Mayotte have voiced

03:01their angers towards French President Emmanuel Macron.

03:05They say that they're receiving, that they're not receiving enough and that the aid has

03:11been slow to arrive.

03:12What are the challenges that the president will face for the reconstruction of Mayotte?

03:19Mayotte is a department of France, so it is an integral part of France.

03:23But at the same time, it's a place where what happened was kind of predictable in the sense

03:29that it's a place where there has been some shortage of infrastructure.

03:33So there was last year a big crisis of water.

03:36So basics such as clean, drinkable water every day were not ready on a constant basis.

03:43At the same time, it's a place that is much wealthier than the rest of the islands next

03:47door, the Comores.

03:48So it's also a place that has been very attractive for a lot of migrants, simply because when

03:52you can live in a place that is 10 times richer than your own island, it is very tempting.

03:57You have maternities where babies don't die.

03:59I mean, this is a place that has a lot of attraction, meaning that a lot of people were

04:03living in very difficult, unregulated conditions.

04:07So the big challenge of France is to bring back infrastructure, public services working

04:13at a standard that is acceptable for France in a place that is highly densely populated,

04:18where not everyone is documented.

04:20So we've heard about the difficulty to simply know how many people are victims because simply

04:25we don't necessarily know their name and a lot of people are undocumented.

04:30And why was the island so poorly prepared for Cyclone Chido?

04:35What else could have been done to prepare for the arrival of this cyclone in Mayotte?

04:40There has been a lot of attention in France about Mayotte, but I'm afraid it has been

04:44kind of captured by domestic debate.

04:47So most of the discussion at the time of Gérald Darmanin were about the change in the law

04:52of nationality or blocking migration, etc.

04:56So it's very, perhaps, important for a country to protect their border, but at the same time

05:01that doesn't bring infrastructure, clean water, etc.

05:04So the debate was mostly on those issues, but at the same time, for instance, Mayotte

05:09is eligible for 10 years now for European funds.

05:12So there was a lot of European funding available for water and sanitation, including a desalination

05:18station in Mayotte to provide drinking water.

05:22Those things have kind of been abandoned, perhaps because it doesn't resonate that well

05:26with domestic European French voters.

05:29But in the end, I think the focus right now should be to stop talking pounds about controlling

05:35the right of becoming French or not becoming French, but simply rebuilding, ensuring that

05:40people get basic, such as insurance.

05:43Most people are not insured on their housing, ensuring basic European level standard on

05:48the housing that will be rebuilt and stop doing politics with that.

05:53And France's public debt pile grew further in the third quarter, according to the latest

06:00official data.

06:02What impact can France's economic woes now have on the aid that this island will need

06:07to recover?

06:09Is it, will it be a national priority?

06:13It should be a national priority if you are to believe that the French government sees

06:18Mayotte as an integral part of France.

06:21There is no debate that the situation in Mayotte is much more pressing than anything you see

06:26on the continent.

06:27So if France truly believes that Mayotte is a department of France like the other, it

06:32shouldn't be anything but the main priority.

06:35So of course, the debt is very worrying in France, but we are talking about building

06:39infrastructure that would allow finally the island to develop.

06:43There are major hurdles.

06:44It's extremely difficult to think about a path forward for a place like Mayotte, because

06:48at the same time, you have French level public services and salaries for civil servants and

06:54an environment which is much poorer.

06:56You know, if you look at the GDP per capita in Madagascar, in the Comores, it's of course

07:01much lower than in Mayotte.

07:03But if you want to have a path forward for this department of France, you need to give

07:07them the basics on which private business can flourish.

07:11And as you said, French President Macron did say that Mayotte is an integral part of France.

07:17He was also heard saying and telling angry islanders of Mayotte something like, you should

07:23be happy you are in France.

07:26Are these French level services in reality actually available for all the victims of

07:31the cyclone?

07:32Well, right now, definitely not, because there is a shortage of water, a shortage of food.

07:38So the help should arrive.

07:39But there is some truth in the fact that Mayotte is wealthier than the Comores.

07:44I mean, everyone goes to Mayotte because, again, if you are a pregnant woman, you prefer

07:48your baby to be alive.

07:49And so you would you would want to go there.

07:51There is a higher level of public service than in nearby islands.

07:55But Macron is completely tone deaf in saying that because he comes as the person from the

07:59continent telling people who are part of France that they should just say thank you, which

08:05is, of course, not something he would say in the in the in the continent.

08:09And this cyclone in Mayotte has exposed already the fragility of what's been labelled as France's

08:16forgotten territory, as the island is already dealing with a migration crisis that saw thousands

08:22avoid emergency shelter for fear of deportation.

08:27Tell us more about this ongoing situation.

08:30So the situation is a situation where you have very, very poor people living next to

08:36people who are much wealthier everywhere in the world.

08:39When this happens, the very, very poor people want to move.

08:42I live in England.

08:44There's been an obsession for years about stopping the boats of people coming from France

08:48to England.

08:49Even there, with millions and millions, this is not something that blocks people who want

08:54to move from moving.

08:55So the obsession about migration in Mayotte is something real.

08:58It's true that there is overpopulation in Mayotte and there is a very big difficulty

09:02to provide public services at the right level.

09:05You cannot magic up a wall in the water that would stop people from seeking a better life.

09:10So you need to think a bit better, a bit harder about how to live with Mayotte as a French

09:15department in an environment that has, yes, a lot of people who are tempted to find jobs

09:20and health care and public services in Mayotte.

09:24Thank you so much.

09:25That was Renaud Foucault for us, Senior Lecturer in Economics from Lancaster University.

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