The Center for Studies and Expertise on Risks, the environment, mobility and planning (Cerema) created a delegated department dedicated to Overseas Territories and established a lasting presence in Reunion Island, in Mayotte and Guyana.
Cerema is a public establishment focused on supporting public planning policies., territorial cohesion and ecological and energy transition. Equipped with transversal know-how, multidisciplinary skills and strong potential for innovation and research, Cerema intervenes with State services, communities and businesses to support them in their projects. Its overseas presence completes the establishment's territorial coverage and strengthens its capacity for action in the DROM-COM. “It will make it possible to offer, as close as possible to local needs, a tailor-made offer, adapted to the typology of Reunion, to its geographical specificities, topographic, climatic and even social” indicates Pascal Berteaud, general director of Cerema. The first Regional Steering Committee took place on Thursday August 26, 2021 under the chairmanship of the Prefect and the President of the Region and in the presence of all Cerema partners.. He formalized the creation of the Indian Ocean agency of Cerema. This steering committee debates, in each region, issues linked to the implementation of public policies carried out by the State and local authorities in terms of planning and sustainable development.
Cerema’s expertise
Territorial engineering, performance and asset management of buildings, mobilities, infrastructures de transport, environment and risks, sea and coastline. Different types of interventions are currently being carried out by Cerema in Reunion. Technical assistance on national roads for the Réunion region, inspections and technical studies on the dikes of the Rivière des Pluies for DEAL Réunion, support from CINOR for acquiring skills in Aquatic Environment Management and Flood Prevention, technical support on maritime hydraulic works for the Grand Port Maritime de La Réunion, technical and methodological assistance for the development of the Environmental Noise Prevention Plan for the Department of Reunion… These interventions will multiply in the months to come.
In-depth knowledge of local issues
The new delegation dedicated to Overseas Territories has been entrusted to Séverine Bès de Berc, who was interregional director of BRGM Indian Ocean, based in Réunion from 2011 to 2019 and engineer at BRGM in Guadeloupe from 2003 to 2006. Two agencies were created on July 1, 2021 : one in the Indian Ocean with a location in Reunion and Mayotte and one in the Antilles-Guyana with a location in Guyana. José-Luis Delgado is appointed director of the Indian Ocean Agency, based in Saint-Denis de La Réunion. Divisional engineer of state public works, José-Luis Delgado was previously head of the flood risks department, coastlines and hydraulics at Cerema. Since 1999 he has intervened regularly in Reunion as a hydraulic expert., especially on national roads : Tamarind road, new bridges on the Rainy River, on the Saint-Etienne River, on the Galets River, on the Saint-Denis River… Several recruitments are planned to complete the local teams who will be required to call on all of Cerema’s skills in mainland France, through support for setting up offers, carrying out studies and expertise, professional training, remotely or through missions on the territory.
