Human pressures, unregulated construction, and the abusive exploitation of sand mines are among the factors mentioned by the former Minister of the Environment during his appearance on Magik 9 radio on Thursday, November 6, 2025. Invited to the program Panel Magik, Abner Septembre denounced the behavior of residents who use the La Digue River as a dumping ground for all kinds of waste.

“It’s an environmental catastrophe,” he lamented. “The river deepens its bed and carries all the sediments, which raise the water level up to the base of the bridge. Downstream, people extract sand from the mountainsides and even from the riverbed itself,” he explained.