The government has decided to extend its support system, which provides for the payment by the State of Mayotte’s water bills, beyond December 31. Insufficient for the president of Mayotte a soif, who recalls that the Mahorais “are forced to live with bottled water”.
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“This is not the answer we expected”reacted Racha Mousdikoudine, president of the Mayotte a soif association, Sunday December 31 on franceinfo, while the State decided to extend the reimbursement of water bills for the inhabitants of Mayotte, faced with a serious shortage of this resource vital on their island.
Racha Mousdikoudine, who saw her association’s appeals rejected by the Council of State on Friday, December 29, is asking the government for water vouchers to help the Mahorais pay for their bottles.
franceinfo: Is the extension of reimbursement of water bills by the government the answer you were waiting for?
Racha Mousdikoudine : No, this was not the answer we expected because we are faced with a failing service, supported with our taxes. All we want is water every day. Hence the various appeals that we have filed against the State and against the SMAE (Mahoraise Water Company).
Despite everything, is this support a plus?
It depends. For example, I really don’t have water at home, I get it once a week if I’m really lucky because we’re up high. And yet the bills still arrive, the last one was for almost 300 euros. Some receive bills of 1,000 euros even though the water does not arrive. Before the crisis, we didn’t even pay 50 euros in water bills every two months. We ask ourselves questions. Why are the bills so high when we are undergoing drastic cuts? And why is the State’s first response to cover the bills? We should have already seen if these are the right amounts and the right consumption.
What is the daily life of residents today?
People may find themselves having to stockpile at midnight or at 2 a.m. when the water is there. It is not normal.
“Even when the water cut-off schedules are respected, we live among our excrement, we have to go to the toilet every day and there are times when we cannot flush the toilet. Our daily life is is also having to give up certain meals.”
Racha Mousdikoudine, president of the Mayotte a soif associationat franceinfo
The State covering the bills does not compensate for anything at all. It’s true that the State pays our bills, but on the other hand, we have to live on bottled water. And the pack of six bottles can easily reach 12 euros. The association, from the start, had asked for fairly simple measures, such as water vouchers. Because concretely, we cannot use tap water to cook food or brush our teeth. If we had checks, we could at least offset the cost of plastic bottles bought in stores, a cost which can amount to almost 1,000 euros per month.
The government had sent tons of bottled water for distribution.
But there are families, like mine, who have not received their water bottles because they are distributed during work hours. And we, for example, are not transported. You have to pay for a taxi to collect the water packs, provided that he agrees to transport them.
It’s December 31, it’s the time of wishes. Which one do you want to say today?
May the State treat us in the same way as in France. I consider that there is discriminatory treatment. I think that all French people are aware of this, in any case all French people who can compare their life overseas with their life in France, especially in Mayotte currently.
“Even if there are only 300,000 of us, let the State not underestimate our lives!”
Racha Mousdikoudine, president of the Mayotte a soif associationat franceinfo
They are as important as if we were a million or 60 million. And even though there were only 10,000 of us, every life counts. And without water, there is no life.