A barricade blocks the road leading from Orient Bay into French Quarter on Tuesday. In the Belle Plaine area video showed rocks from desecrated slave walls strewn across the road as far as the eye could see.
MARIGOT--Due to the barricades blocking roads in French Quarter, four schools and the College closed their doors on Tuesday, as teachers could not get to their classes.
The inconvenience caused by the protests has been going for a few days and Vice-Recteur Michel Sanz has now asked parents to keep their children at home.
Meanwhile, Préfet Serge Gouteyron and President Daniel Gibbs met protestors and frustrated residents of French Quarter on Chamba Hill on Tuesday in an attempt to better understand the issues causing the social unrest. In a tense atmosphere, some of the media were present, but no video recording or photos were allowed.
The visit was possibly prompted by Senator Annick Pétrus, who asked at Monday’s meeting whether authorities had gone to the roadblocks to talk to the young people and understand what their demands were. She pointed out to Gouteyron at the meeting that “his language had aggravated the situation.”
French Quarter residents raised several complaints. Chief among them was the absence of a Gendarmerie station in French Quarter since Hurricane Irma and the fact there is still no post office, meaning the elderly and other citizens still have to go to Marigot. Other issues include unemployment, the high cost of living, high water bills, restrictions imposed at Le Galion by Conservatoire du Littoral, and poor Internet coverage.
On the latter point a number of residents have objected to the large number of antennas in French Quarter, citing health concerns.
Monday’s meeting convened by Gouteyron saw 13 elected representatives attend, nine from the majority and three from the opposition. Although all the participants firmly condemned the blockades and using illegal practices, in this case racketeering, none of them proposed immediate solutions to put an end to them at this first meeting.
Gouteyron stated his case by saying: “Here we are in a democracy and there is a rule of law that some are trying to flout. With my authority, I will work to put a stop to this.”
He acknowledged that French Quarter has a crucial lack of public services. “No police station, no post office. ... On the whole island, employment is a problem and I am not satisfied with the way we work with young people on this subject. I will remedy this.”
Gibbs, for his part, recounted the history of the failure of the State in many areas and for many years, notably in terms of immigration regulation, but also in structural investments. He re-iterated several Collectivité infrastructure projects that are in the works.
Territorial Councillor Jules Charville said, “If it is the collective of the collectives that is controlling the blockades, we must urgently resume dialogue with its representatives.”
Elected representative Steven Patrick, who attended the meeting by video conference, expressed his annoyance at the inaction of the authorities, both the State and the Collectivité, to put an end to this situation.
Opposition Leader Louis Mussington emphasised that the young people participating in the protests have nothing to lose, are ready for anything, and are the result of school failure due to the National Education system’s inability to adapt to bilingualism.
Sofia Carti-Codrington, Vice-President in charge of the Solidarity and Families Department, regretted the fact that she had not been invited to the meetings that took place with the collectives.
“This is a social crisis,” she said. “The social and the economy are linked. If social issues explode, the economy will inevitably suffer.
“I’m very disappointed to have not been associated with the draft protocol with the collective, nor even having been the recipient of it,” she told Gibbs and Gouteyron.
Despite a meeting that did not produce any concrete solutions, Gouteyron has promised that unemployment office (Pôle Emploi) staff will visit Sandy Ground and French Quarter next week to register people looking for jobs.
The collectives have also confirmed that they have accepted to meet Gouteyron at 10:00am this morning, Wednesday, to resume dialogue and find a way to end the crisis.
