This text must "facilitate the accommodation and support of the population, as well as the reconstruction or repair of damaged infrastructure and housing", declared the Minister for Overseas Territories Manuel Valls during the report of the Council of Ministers.
He estimated the measures taken at "several hundred million euros", grouped into 22 articles, notably authorising the State to derogate from town planning rules for two years, facilitating the rules of expropriation - notoriously complicated in Mayotte - but also containing more temporary social measures.
Chido, the most devastating cyclone in Mayotte in 90 years, caused the death of at least 14 people and injured more than 39 on December 5.600, according to the authorities. On Wednesday, Mayotte Prefect François-Xavier Bieuville estimated that there could be "around forty people missing", while recalling that this figure "must be verified".
Mayotte, the poorest department in France in the Indian Ocean, has been suffering for years from problems related to immigration, security and economic development. In an attempt to overcome these problems, the government is planning another "program law" project that will be drawn up within three months.
To carry out the most urgent task, the reconstruction of Mayotte, the text unveiled on Wednesday provides for the establishment of a "powerful operator dedicated" to this mission, on the model of that set up for Notre-Dame de Paris.
General Pascal Facon, military commander of the Southern zone, will be appointed head of this operator which will absorb the Mayotte public land and development establishment (EPFAM).
Facilitating the reconstruction of schools
The main innovation, the text presented on Wednesday, aims to waive "for two years" the rules of urban planning and public procurement, to facilitate the reconstruction of schools but also of infrastructure and housing affected by the "most serious civil security crisis that the country has known since the Second World War", according to Manuel Valls.
Concerning schools, which have been hit hard even though Mayotte is the youngest department in France, "the State or one of its public establishments" will be able to ensure their construction, reconstruction or renovation in place of local authorities until December 31, 2027.
On land, while it is often difficult to formally identify the owners of land in Mayotte, the text provides for the possibility of expropriating before an owner has been identified, even if it means compensating them afterwards.
The text also contains several economic measures that will remain in force "until March 31, 2025", such as the suspension of the collection of social security contributions from self-employed workers, the extension of the rights of social security beneficiaries and the unemployed, or the increase in coverage of partial unemployment.
"This emergency bill contains essential measures to consider reconstruction, it must therefore be adopted by Parliament and then promulgated as soon as possible," insisted Mr. Valls during his presentation of the text.
Its examination by the Economic Affairs Committee is scheduled for Monday.
"Slum Island"
But the Minister for Overseas Territories acknowledged that the text was "undoubtedly incomplete", mentioning in particular "other very urgent measures" such as the fight against illegal housing, which does not appear in the bill, or that against irregular immigration.
"We will not let Mayotte become a shantytown island again," he insisted, while many residents of the archipelago's informal settlements have already rebuilt their homes. However, he added that this was a "delicate issue that cannot be resolved with the snap of a finger."
"I will be very clear, the priority for us is the reconstruction of the houses, the roofs of the Mahorais," continued Mr. Valls, excluding the rehousing of the inhabitants of the shanty towns - often Comorians without papers - so as not to give a "bonus to irregular immigration."
"The text is unacceptable because it does not provide any response to the real emergencies in Mayotte," former Mayotte MP and LR vice-president in charge of overseas territories, Mansour Kamardine, told AFP.
Finding the text "very insufficient", LFI MP and chair of the Economic Affairs Committee Aurélie Trouvé questions the budget that will be devoted to the reconstruction of Mayotte while the government "is in a logic of budgetary austerity".
"This should not be done to the detriment of the quality of safety standards," she said, also regretting the absence of mention of the agricultural sector, which is crucial in Mayotte.
The senator from Mayotte, Saïd Omar Oili, regretted on Public Sénat a catch-all text with "lots of mixed measures".