At 7:30 am yesterday morning, there were already several dozen in the parking lot at Bellevue to respond to the call of the Soualiga United collective. Saint-Martinois, metropolitan residents, elected officials, employees, business leaders, all came to denounce the renewed maintenance of the 1er and September 14 by the prefect of border controls.
Dressed in black according to the given dresscode, they were around 8 am almost 350 partly French to begin the march towards the border.
On the other side, they were 150 according to the police. The two processions met at the gendarmes checkpoint. “One island, one people” is the slogan which was taken up by all in a peaceful atmosphere.
A little later, other people joined the demonstration and in the end between 600 and 700 people were mobilized according to the police. Some of them continued to march towards the border. At the monument, the elected representatives of the French side were joined by the Prime Minister of Sint Maarten and together posed for the photo.
“One,” the COM president wrote on the community's Facebook page.
At the same time on the national road, the gendarmes dismantled the tent and the checkpoint to the applause of the Saint-Martinois who congratulated them and, for some, helped to push the equipment on the side of the road.
This gesture, which is as symbolic as it is appreciated, does not mean that the decision to lift the controls has been taken. "It belongs to the prefect", confirmed to us at the end of the morning the communication service of the Ministry of Overseas. “The Prefect is fully competent in this area and she will be supported by the Minister in her decision. She is the one who knows the measures to be taken locally to limit the circulation of the virus, ”he said.
For his part, Senator Guillaume Arnell had questioned last night the advisers of Emmanuel Macron and Sébastien Lecornu on "the explosive situation" that Saint-Martin is going through.
He was told that she would be mentioned during the cabinet meeting on Wednesday morning. It was also made clear to him that the President of the Republic was dealing with it “personally” and that he would give instructions to the Minister of Overseas Territories.
The representatives of Soualiga United have been adamant that they will maintain their action as long as the controls are not lifted. (soualigapost.com)
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