Rédaction Africa Links 24 with lexpress
Published on 2024-04-04 02:50:00
Near nineteen thousand houses are flooded following the passing of cyclone Gamane.
The Council of Ministers has approved the declaration of a national disaster. This decision also triggers the mobilization of international aid to support the victims and help with post-natural disaster reconstruction.
More than eighty-nine thousand people are affected, according to the latest assessment of the consequences of cyclone Gamane in the North and Northeast of the country. This situation led the government to declare a national disaster.
The declaration of a national disaster was made at the beginning of yesterday’s Council of Ministers meeting, according to the statement from the presidency. The threshold of twenty-five thousand affected people for such a decision has been significantly surpassed. As indicated by the statement from the weekly Executive meeting, the objective is to mobilize international aid to support the victims and rebuild the destroyed infrastructure, which is the main goal of a national disaster declaration.
“Several countries have expressed their readiness to assist Madagascar in facing the disaster affecting our compatriots,” the Council of Ministers statement reports. Just like the national disaster declarations in 2017, 2020, and 2022, all following significant cyclonic damage, Madagascar has been able to count on humanitarian, logistical, and financial support from its international partners. In 2020 and 2022, Madagascar was able to rely on a fund for disaster risk management support.
This fund stems from an agreement signed with the World Bank in December 2019. It provides a $50 million fund for emergency responses, support for victims, and post-natural disaster reconstruction. The fund can be disbursed within 24 hours following a national disaster declaration. The program is valid for three years, renewable once for the same period.
General mobilization
According to information, however, the disaster risk management support fund was closed in December. It has not been renewed. Nevertheless, there are still 35 million dollars unused. A knowledgeable source confides that the Bretton Woods institution is considering another financing instrument to respond quickly to Madagascar’s national disaster declaration. Other international entities and partner countries of Madagascar are also on high alert.
In the face of the dramatic consequences of cyclone Gamane last week, all help is welcome. During his visit to Ambilobe on Friday, President Andry Rajoelina issued a call for national solidarity. The declaration of a national disaster is therefore addressed to the international community. A general mobilization is necessary given the number of affected people and the extent of the damage.
The Diana, Sava, Analanjirofo, and Ambatosoa regions are the most severely affected. The latest report from the National Bureau for Risk and Disaster Management (BNGRC) reports nineteen deaths and three missing persons. The roughly eighty-nine thousand affected people correspond to more than twenty-two thousand households. Around twenty-three thousand people are displaced and accommodated in seventy-eight shelter sites. Nearly four thousand others are staying with neighbors or family members.
Close to eight hundred houses are destroyed, and around nineteen thousand are flooded. More than a hundred classrooms are partially destroyed, and ten are completely destroyed. Agriculture is also severely affected, with over 2,200 hectares of rice fields flooded and about 700 hectares covered in sand. The damage caused by Gamane to the road infrastructure must also be taken into account. Four bridges did not resist the surges caused by rising waters, combined with the force of the wind.
The emergency response following the passage of cyclone Gamane is therefore on several fronts. The disaster affecting the northern and northeastern regions of the country also risks having negative consequences on the national economy. In addition to responding to the shock, therefore, the international support resulting from the declaration made in yesterday’s Council of Ministers could be necessary to mitigate the medium-term effects of this natural disaster across the entire territory.
Garry Fabrice Ranaivoson
Read the original article(French) on lexpress.mg
