French President Emmanuel Macron faced widespread frustration and anger from residents of Mayotte, still reeling from damage from the strongest cyclone to hit the region in nearly a century, during his visit to the Indian Ocean archipelago.
On Friday morning, Macron visited a neighborhood in Tsingoni on the main island of Mayotte, where people continue to have no access to drinking water or telephones almost a week after Cyclone Chido.
As he walked through the area, some shouted, “We want water, we want water!”
Mayotte is the poorest department in France with 320,000 inhabitants and an estimated 100,000 additional migrants. The cyclone devastated entire neighborhoods as many people ignored warnings and thought the storm would not be so extreme.
Can’t see the embed above? Watch the angry exchange here.
The tension was palpable on Thursday evening when Macron was booed by dozens of residents in Pamandzi on the island of Petite-Terre at the final stop of his first day in Mayotte.
People expressed frustration at the slow pace of relief efforts. One woman made an impassioned appeal, resisting Macron’s attempts to put his hand on her shoulder or grab the microphone to respond.
Macron eventually got a microphone from someone else and said: “I have nothing to do with the cyclone. You can blame me, (but) it wasn’t me!”
He turned to the crowd and acknowledged their need.
“You went through something terrible. Everyone fights, regardless of skin color,” he said, calling for unity.
Macron, in turn, became angry and shouted that if France did not exist, its residents would fear “10,000 times more shit.”
The French president added: “There is no place in the Indian Ocean where people get so much help!” One woman was heard saying: “We disagree.”
Dozens of healthcare workers are missing
Macron is known for his willingness to debate and is used to being in crowds and confronting people who are angry with him. He explained that he stayed in Mayotte for two days out of “respect and consideration” for the population.
The French president received a warmer welcome in Tsingoni on Friday morning. People urged him to help, some posing for selfies with him, others showing him their children.
Meanwhile, the French military and local authorities scrambled to repair broken water pipes on the islands and bring water to villages that had none.
In the village of Mirereni, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) outside the northern capital Mayotte, civil security officers tried to remove a large, felled mango tree that had damaged a water pipe.
The pipeline supplies around 10,000 people in three surrounding villages with water. However, officials say the repair could take a little longer than usual due to the heat affecting the equipment.
Locals said they were worried the lack of water could lead to illness. At the beginning of the year there was a cholera outbreak on the island with at least 200 cases.
According to French authorities, at least 31 people died and about 2,500 people were injured during the cyclone, including 67 in serious condition. However, hundreds or even thousands of people are feared to have died in the densely populated area.
French Health Minister Genevieve Darrieussecq said on Friday that 17 percent of hospital staff and 40 percent of all regional health workers in the archipelago were still missing.
“That’s about 60 to 70 people,” she said on the FranceInfo news channel, emphasizing that a large part of the population still does not have access to telephone services.
