Préfet Dominique Lacroix talking to reporters during one of his press conferences. (Robert Luckock photo)
MARIGOT--Préfet Dominique Lacroix gave more insight into the natural risk prevention plan PPRN when he was in St. Martin, acknowledging that its text was difficult for some people to understand.
“The PPRN is a legal obligation for the entire national territory. It is not an invention for St. Martin, it is the application of a constitutional principle that was introduced in our constitution,” he explained. “It was the 2003 revision that enabled St. Martin to become an Overseas Collectivité and, among other things, there was the precautionary principle.
“It is in application of this principle that we have this law which imposes that what is necessary must be done when there is a natural risk, to protect people and property in the area concerned.
“The PPRN does not regulate everything. But the protection of populations is a subject that must be addressed. In metropolitan France and the overseas departments, it is the responsibility of the mayors. Here it is the President of the Territorial Council. Therefore, the Collectivité must draw up a Territorial Safeguard Plan which is currently being revised. The Collectivité told us that it would be submitted to the Préfecture before the opening of the hurricane season.”
Lacroix said the PPRN for St. Martin is still in the preparation and reflection phase, and is not a signed and sealed document. “The Inquiry Commission issued an opinion, but it was an opinion, nothing else.”
Work on the PPRN continues until the technical services have examined each of the 318 observations contained in the Inquiry Commission’s report. Because the work is not complete, the timing of the Lacroix commission was good, as adjustments can still be incorporated as well as the seven recommendations integrated from his report.
However, Lacroix said there is still urgency to address the known risks by taking the previous hazards noted in the 2011 PPRN and the hazards noted with Hurricane Irma into account. He noted the uncertainties and questions from the urban planning department and authorisations that were refused because the PPRN was not in effect.
Lacroix said the PPRN is not something that is “set in stone.”
“It adjusts itself according to reality observed and the hazards, and possibly to scientific work that can be done. The PPRN is based on and must be based on the principle of equality. There are no zones for this one and a different zone for that one – there are no zones for housing and one for hotels. When there is a colour rule, that rule applies wherever there is the same colour.”
