The drinking water crisis: the beautiful island of Mayotte is thirsty

Do you know that today is World Water Day?
We chose this article to inform our readers about the global water crisis  in Mayotte, the beautiful island in the Indian Ocean! 

To know more about the actual situation, we discussed the crisis with our drone pilot Gaëtan from Mayotte. Gaëtan, is a 31 years old French independent video maker. He’s one of our very talented dronist, known on Dronestagram as gawa prod.

Few facts about Mayotte and the drinking water crisis:

The Indian Ocean island of Mayotte is situated between Madagascar and the coast of Mozambique. It’s the last department of France since 2011, though traditional Mayotte culture is most closely related to that of the neighboring Comoros islands.

Mayotte has been forced to impose severe water restrictions on tens of thousands of people due to the late arrival of seasonal rains. The drought has exacerbated Mayotte’s water problems. The population of the south don’t have the drinking water everyday since this December. Low-lying island nations have lobbied hard for global efforts to combat climate change, arguing that they are the most vulnerable to extreme weather events such as drought, as well as rising sea levels.

Mayotte is faced with many problems such as the illegal immigration coming from Comoros islands and  Madagascar, crime and unemployment. 88% of the population lives bellow the poverty line. The illiteracy rate is the biggest in France.

Interview with Gaëtan

What do you think of the media coverage and the metropolitan media in the face of this crisis?
French media don’t talk about this, I have the feeling that Mayotte is forgotten from the France Government.
If this drinking water crisis had happened in another France department, all of newspapers would have talked about its and solutions would have been found very quickly in contrary of here. 

Locals feel abandoned by the country’s central authorities and they say that the island is on the verge of collapse.

How can drones help, what are your goals?
My goal is to to show a great image of Mayotte, its beauty. I would like to show people who don’t know this island that we have many beautiful spots and one of the best and the biggest lagoons in the world. 

You are very involved in this cause, are you followed and supported by some community?
Some social local media have related my work like « Bouge toi Mayotte » they have shared on Facebook one of my videos entitled « Mayotte, un des plus beaux lagon du monde ». In one week, the video has been seen more than 100 000 times. It  was a good surprise. 

Thank you Gaëtan, for bringing us your point of view of the situation!

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