Mauritians are mobilizing to face the disaster

Brut America

In Mauritius, thousands of volunteers are mobilizing in the wake of the devastating oil spill.

Transcript

00:00Now we can see how much the puddles in Tiziano did their job

00:04because of the amount of tarmac

00:06because it absorbed inside the puddles

00:10so it's eating pretty well.

00:30Here we are in Beauplan, in the north of the island

00:33in an old coal factory

00:35where hundreds of volunteers meet every day

00:37to help create the puddles

00:39that will hold the oil in the lagoon.

00:41Can you give me a hand to unload the puddles?

00:43Ok, ok.

00:45Come on, let's go!

00:52The puddles you see are currently being worked on

00:55to create floating structures,

00:58which are made of straw and reed

01:00and are inserted in fabric with plastic bottles

01:02to ensure a better floating.

01:04The purpose of these structures is

01:06to limit the impact and propagation

01:08of these puddles in the Mauritian lagoon.

01:24We see that there are people who come to help

01:27and everyone is doing their part

01:29so that we can save the oil lab

01:31which is here in the lagoon

01:33for the waterfowl.

01:42I'm Vany, I'm in charge of the plastic bottles.

01:45We sort all the bottles

01:47to have a sufficient number of liters

01:49to float all the paddles

01:51that will end up in the Bay of Maibourg.

01:53I've been here since Sunday

01:56and we feel a little forced to act

01:58as our government is not helping

02:00and above all to protect our lagoon,

02:02our ecosystem.

02:04It's the most important thing.

02:20These puddles are assembled, sewn

02:22and then stacked

02:24in this centralization point

02:26and then put in the biggest socks

02:28that you can see up there.

02:30These structures are then moved

02:32to the quality control level

02:34in the bottom to ensure

02:36the solidity of the seams

02:38but also to ensure the level of floating.

02:44We really work in close collaboration

02:46with expert committees,

02:48scientists and the Mauritian state

02:50to produce the most reliable

02:53and as efficient as possible.

03:02In the whole island,

03:04we see truckloads of bottles

03:06heading south.

03:08These are the old models

03:10made with plastic gratings.

03:12Here we are at the tip of Jérôme

03:14just in front of the Île aux Egrettes

03:16and all the bottles are ready to go.

03:18There's even a boat coming to pick them up.

03:23This is a school

03:25of kitesurfers in Pointe-Neuf-Saint-Denis.

03:27I'm here as a volunteer

03:29to assist the coast guards

03:31and we have friends

03:33from the diving center with us

03:35and they came to help us

03:37place all the dams.

03:45You can see the real booms

03:47behind us

03:49and we can also see other

03:52fishing boats coming

03:54just in case

03:56there's a small loss

03:58on the high waves.

04:04We're on an area

04:06where a few days ago

04:08we had big oil spills

04:10around here

04:12and the dam wasn't perfect yet.

04:14Now we can see

04:16that we've had time

04:18to rectify everything

04:21and we're catching

04:23small oil spills.

04:25Fortunately, there's not much

04:27left in the lagoon

04:29and we can see the guys

04:31coming to pick up

04:33the little bits left on the left.

04:35It's a precision work.

04:51There's still

04:53about 100 tons

04:55of oil left

04:57on the boat

04:59so we're ready

05:01to pick up

05:03this oil

05:05if it comes

05:07to drain.

05:09But thank God

05:11it's been 2 days

05:13and we don't have

05:15much oil left.

05:21It's really useful

05:23to be here

05:25because as Mauritians

05:27the lagoon is practically

05:29under our feet

05:31and the lagoon is in danger

05:33at the moment.

05:35We're all gathered here

05:37all Mauritians

05:39even foreigners

05:41to help the lagoon.

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