Newly appointed French Prime Minister François Bayrou announced a sweeping recovery plan for Mayotte on Monday, promising to restore power to all households by the end of January and to ban the rebuilding of shantytowns devastated by Cyclone Chido.
The storm, the worst to strike Mayotte in nearly a century, has left the Indian Ocean archipelago struggling to recover, with slow aid response and critical shortages of clean water and electricity fueling local anger.
Bayrou, visiting Mayotte for the first time since taking office, introduced the “Mayotte Standing” initiative, a set of emergency measures aimed at rebuilding the territory, located between Madagascar and Mozambique. Central to the plan is a proposed law to outlaw the reconstruction of informal settlements, which dominated the islands’ landscape prior to the storm.
“We cannot allow Mayotte to become synonymous with shantytowns,” Bayrou stated. “This is an opportunity to envision a new future for Mayotte—one built on resilience and sustainable development.”
The proposed bill will be presented to the cabinet on Jan. 3 and debated in parliament within weeks. However, Bayrou did not clarify how the government intends to rehouse the thousands displaced by the cyclone, many of whom are undocumented migrants from the nearby Comoros Islands.
The Prime Minister faced criticism for not visiting Mayotte sooner, while President Emmanuel Macron was heckled during his earlier trip to the islands.
Addressing Infrastructure Challenges
Bayrou pledged that water supplies, a critical issue even before Cyclone Chido, would return to pre-storm levels by next week. To aid communication, 200 Starlink antennas are being deployed across the islands.
Revising the Death Toll
The official death toll from the cyclone stands at 39, although earlier estimates from local officials suggested the number could reach several thousand. Bayrou, however, cast doubt on those figures, suggesting the toll might be in the hundreds.
“We must remain cautious with such numbers,” he said, noting that interviews with residents indicate earlier reports may have been exaggerated.
Mayotte, France’s poorest overseas territory, faces immense challenges in its recovery, but Bayrou expressed confidence in the government’s ability to rebuild the islands stronger than before.
