To make up for the lack of water in several communes in Guadeloupe, the prefect requisitioned several water operators for three months in the midst of a coronavirus epidemic, sources concordant announced on Tuesday.
"I decided (...) to requisition for three months part of the agents of operators whose territories are most affected by water towers", in order to "restore a minimum water service", wrote the prefect from Guadeloupe, Philippe Gustin, in a letter addressed to the elected officials.
A shortage in the midst of an epidemic
Many homes in Guadeloupe are in fact regularly deprived of drinking water, a situation that has become particularly difficult when the health authorities recommend "washing their hands several times a day" to combat the spread of the new coronavirus.
This requisition will mobilize the financial resources already released over the past two years as part of a priority action plan and a convergence and transformation plan, ie several tens of millions of euros paid by the State, the Region and Department.
Between 65 and 85% of wasted water
The stated objective was then to end the water towers by 2020 - which supply one district with water when another is deprived of it - but the drought came to complicate matters in April; the water towers, which made cuts at least predictable, are no longer respected. "Ending the water towers, which also undermine dilapidated networks, will take time," wrote the prefect to elected officials.
The issue of leaks remains central in this thorny issue with many challenges, including political, for several years: in the Guadeloupe water network, poorly maintained, with infrastructure not renewed, 65 to 85% of production would be wasted, according to expert reports cited by a source familiar with the matter. During his trip to Guadeloupe in September 2018, President Emmanuel Macron, challenged on this problem, had deplored the poor management of the network by operators and communities.
Health
Coronavirus in Guadeloupe: Justice asks the ARS to order tests and treatments "in sufficient number"
Planet
Coronavirus: Traces of the virus in water in Paris? We unravel the true from the false
- Covid 19
- Shortage
- Guadeloupe
- Coronavirus
- Society
- Overseas
- Water