After the vote on the programming law in August 2025, the government now wants to accelerate the reconstruction of Mayotte. Traveling in the archipelago, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu calls for an increase in construction sites, but also for a review of financing methods and the standardization of certain public buildings to reduce delays. Thursday, on the second day of his visit dedicated to reconstruction of the archipelago, the Prime Minister thus called for “create a shock of construction starts“, a formula which summarizes the new priority displayed by the executive: to quickly start more operations.
Cyclone Chido, which hit Mayotte in December 2024, left at least 40 dead and destroyed many homes. A programming law was adopted in August 2025, but some of the projects are still struggling to materialize.
Accelerate projects and permits
During his visit to a recently built sports hall in MamoudzouSébastien Lecornu took this equipment as an example of what he wants to see multiply in the territory: “you have to move, you don’t necessarily have to chat all the time, you have to work“to have”other gyms like this“, affirmed the Prime Minister alongside the mayor of Mamoudzou, Ambdilwahedou Soumaïla.
Thursday August 27, 2026, Sébastien Lecornu, accompanied by ministers Naïma Moutchou and Édouard Geffray, went to Kawéni to follow the progress of the projects undertaken as part of the New National Urban Renewal Program (NPRU). © Bibi Mariame Halidi
In order to speed up operations, the head of government also wants to develop the financial relationship between the State and the communities. The objective is to facilitate the implementation of projects, but this development is accompanied by a requirement addressed directly to mayors: decisions must be able to be followed quickly on the ground. “If the State delegates differently, you must (the mayors), behind, be able to quickly issue permits“.
The building permit thus appears to be one of the points of passage to be made more fluid to prevent operations already financed or planned from remaining blocked before their launch.
Industrialize the construction of public buildings
Sébastien Lecornu also intends to reduce lead times by further standardizing the design of certain equipment. Indeed, the Prime Minister particularly wishes to be able to use the same model for several buildings, such as colleges, rather than starting each time on an entirely specific design, uan approach aimed at reducing both study costs and completion times. “If everyone wants their architectural price, it’s more expensive and it’s ten years longer. If we take a good construction standard, including on environmental and energy issues, and resilience to climate disasters, we must industrialize“, he argued.
In Mayotte, this standardization must however integrate the constraints specific to the territory. The Prime Minister explicitly cites environmental and energy performance, but also the capacity of buildings to resist climatic disasters. The challenge is therefore not only to build faster: it is also a question of having public buildings capable of responding sustainably to the conditions to which the archipelago is exposed.
THE speech by Sébastien Lecornu comes at a time when reconstruction remains at the heart of local expectations. After visiting the sports hall, the Prime Minister met schoolchildren who had already returned to school on Monday. The government is thus seeking to highlight concrete achievements while several projects remain to be released. The strategy is now based on a shorter chain: adapted financing, communities capable of quickly issuing authorizations and construction models that can be reproduced.
A tense political context
There visit of the Prime Minister began against the backdrop of the presidential campaign, with a demonstration after which a trade unionist was taken into police custody. Liot MP (independent) Estelle Youssouffa, for her part, strongly criticized the government’s “communication”.
The migration issue also came up in the discussions. Thursday, Sébastien Lecornu responded on the X network to Mathilde Panot, leader of the Insoumis deputies, who accused him of wanting “throw people into the sea“by proposing”militarize“the fight against illegal immigration.”Suggest that the role of our armies would be to throw people into the sea is an infamy“, he wrote.
The visit of the Minister of Health Stéphanie Rist to the Mayotte hospital center also gave rise to strong questions from the two deputies of the archipelago, Estelle Youssouffa and Anchya Bamana (National Rally). The establishment must be expanded, but the question of housing for caregivers remains unresolved.
