Businessman Astrel Joseph
Reconstruction remains insufficient and the same vulnerabilities persist, five years after the earthquake on the southern peninsula, according to businessman Astrel Joseph. Guest of the show Magik 9 on Thursday, August 13, 2026, he believes that the real challenge is not just to repair the destroyed buildings, but to rethink the planning of the territory, to ensure that building standards are respected and to strengthen collaboration between the state, local authorities and the private sector.
According to Astrel Joseph, the successive disasters that struck the Great South revealed the fragility of infrastructure and the absence of a genuine policy of sustainable reconstruction. The earthquake of 2021, followed a few days later by tropical storm Grace, he said, should have led to a new way of building and developing cities.
« It showed our fragility and our vulnerable areas. It showed the need for us to build otherwise « he stressed the need for stronger partnerships between the State and the private sector.
Rethinking spatial planning
For him, the reconstruction of the Great South must begin with a plan for redevelopment of the territory to identify the safest areas for habitat and economic activities. In particular, it cites hydraulic zones, banks and areas that have gradually become urbanized without adequate planning.
Astrel Joseph also advocates the integration of these guidelines into the communal development plans, as well as important work to raise public awareness.
The businessman insists on the respect of construction standards. In his view, the oversight institutions must exercise their full responsibilities in order to prevent the construction of buildings without authorization, appropriate plans or technical supervision.
« We are strengthening our vulnerabilities «
Five years after the earthquake, the situation remains worrying. For Astrel Joseph, post-disaster repairs must not simply replicate the same construction models.
« We are strengthening our vulnerabilities because we have not built otherwise « he said, regretting that the lessons of previous disasters were quickly forgotten.
It thus calls for genuine collective awareness, both on the part of public authorities, civil society and the private sector.
Civil society to play its role
Beyond physical reconstruction, Astrel Joseph also calls for more awareness-raising and mobilization initiatives around the memory of the earthquake.
According to him, five years after the disaster, it is necessary to be able to measure concrete changes in behaviour, construction and public policies. Commemorative initiatives, meetings and activities are not enough if they do not lead to lasting change.
Lastly, he denounced the shared responsibility between citizens, the private sector and the authorities when construction standards were not respected. For him, certain shortcomings may be facilitated by the complicity or failure of persons responsible for enforcing the rules.
W.A.
