130,000 people deprived of water after “malicious acts”

Agents of the public water management authority have been on strike for several days. Guadeloupe experiences regular water cuts due to outdated networks and years of mismanagement.

The water crisis continues in Guadeloupe. Some 130,000 users are “directly deprived of water” in the archipelago due to“malicious acts”indicated the prefecture of Guadeloupe on Friday March 22 in a press release.

Twelve municipalities out of the 32 in the archipelago are experiencing “total or partial cuts since Tuesday evening”according to the same source, consequence of “damage committed on the drinking water distribution system”. The repair work “will last 10 to 12 days” in the worst case, the prefecture said. “Ninety-two pallets of water were delivered and distributed today at the request of town halls”added the prefecture.

For several days, a strike by agents of the Guadeloupe Joint Water and Sanitation Management Union (SMGEAG), a public authority in Guadeloupe, has affected the distribution of drinking water, which is already regularly critical. “The University Hospital [centre hospitalier universitaire] was also impacted, which could have had dramatic consequences.” the prefecture said in a press release on Thursday, and schools and businesses also closed in several municipalities on Friday. SMGEAG has already filed a complaint against X for the damage, says Guadeloupe La 1ere.

More than a billion euros needed to repair the network

“We are calling for awareness and the establishment of a minimum service of 5 to 6 hours per day, at the most convenient times”asked the president of the Guadeloupe Islands Tourism Committee in a press release on Friday, recalling “the devastating effect” of this situation for the region.

Guadeloupe is experiencing, due to decades of harmful management and dilapidated networks, water cuts organized by the operator to supply the municipalities of the archipelago in turn. Since the end of 2021, a single authority has tried to resolve the problems but is experiencing numerous political and financial dysfunctions.

It is supported by major communities and the State, in a joint management roadmap around an investment plan of more than 300 million euros. Many experts estimate that it would take more than a billion euros to change the pipes which leak more than 50% of the water produced.