Last Friday, President Daniel Gibbs organized a press conference during which he made "a point of progress" of post-Irma reconstruction. In the presence of elected officials from the Territorial Council, Daniel Gibbs spoke of the progress in the reconstruction of Saint-Martin and the efforts of the Collectivity, as well as all Saint-Martin residents.
At the outset, the President had "a sincere thought of compassion and solidarity for our Caribbean neighbors in the Bahamas archipelago". Two years to the day, after the ravages of Irma, Daniel Gibbs "refuses this" revisionist "vision, which has tended to spread among our so-called partners for a year. According to some officials "Irma does not exist", and the cyclone would have been only the revealer of our shortcomings! It is false, contemptuous and hurtful ”. The President goes on to say that Saint-Martin must not “get off the radar” of the priorities of France and the European Union ”.
And to recall that "we have suffered destruction of more than 2,2 billion euros, for an estimated GDP of 600 million". Damage which, for the President, is “invisible in the national accounts (…) As if we did not exist! As if we were wiped off the map! " While Saint-Martin is at the forefront of France against the American, Caribbean and Anglo-Saxon world, “we have the impression of being punished for what we are; a small territory half the size of Paris, cosmopolitan, English-speaking and mixed, devoid of nickel and the space industry (…) A territory respectful of the institutions of the Republic, still reluctant to raise its fist, brandish the threat of chaos and distill the myth of saving independence! "
The episode of PPRN stirred up "the underlying societal tensions", assures Daniel Gibbs, "a social hurricane threatens us all. If the voice of the people and their representatives remains scorned, then we, the Collectivity, the State, elected officials, civil servants, socio-professionals, risk being all losers ”.
Reconstruction of the territory is a priority for the Com, which has planned to invest 120 million euros in structural equipment this year. Before tackling the subject of public infrastructure reconstruction projects that have been launched since the beginning of the year, as well as the projects that have started, or will begin. If all is not perfect, the President assures us that he will not let it be said "that the State replaces the failures of the Collectivity in terms of town planning (...) I call for a State to advise and not a state that is only accusatory ”. While affirming that the Collectivity is still awaiting the release, by the State, "of the entirety of the 6 million euros of credits planned for the rehabilitation of social housing"._RM
(continued in our edition tomorrow)
6,147 total views
No comments