Counsellor and Human Rights Activist
On Saturday 13th, a friend of mine from Nouvelle France and myself from Port-Louis made our way to Fond du Sac village after learning about the impact of the torrential rain on the people. It was our first time there and we made it by bus.
We could visit 5 families from 15:00 to 16:30, connecting with them and listening to their plight. We have noted that among those affected were the elderly and children. Their belongings have been washed away by the torrents and the reasons for this being lack of proper drainage system. They are still living in fear of the next one. Water flashed into their house moving towards the ceiling after the rain had briefly stopped. They describe it as a huge sound coming from the fields…a sound they could not quite grasp the meaning of. Soon after the sound in their house. « Enn kaskad delo in debous ar nou ».
One of the villagers told us « lontan lor tablisman tiena enn dan-pi (a well). Ena enn proprieter so zanfan ti tom ladan bien lontan ek zanfan la inn perdi lavi. Depi sa proprieter la in fer met ros ladan ek bous trou la avek beton. Sa ousi kapav pe zoue kont nou. Me personn pa pe okip sa problem drin-la ziska ler. Tou le 3 zan nou gayn sa problem la. Sa fwa la noun perdi tou. »
We understood that some 450 families have been affected and that many elderly persons and children are sleeping on the ground. The community centre was closed when we reached there to be opened at around 16:00. I am wondering where is it that the people find a safe place to sleep at night and for how many days or months are they going to sleep on the ground?
Should it be the department of the Social Security Ministry of Mauritius to remediate to the prevailing situation?
In the meantime if we still have philanthropists or sponsors who could help those people, the moment is now.