~ No real solutions to pending issues.~
FRENCH QUARTER:--- Residents of French Quarter mostly the younger generation met with the Prefet of Saint Martin and Saint Barthelemy Serge Gouteyron and President of the Collectivity Daniel Gibbs on Tuesday. The officials were met with a roadblock on Chamba Hill where the meeting was held. Members of the media and other persons that were in attendance were told that they were not allowed to tape the meeting.
The residents who are already very angry at the situation they are living in under the Team Gibbs administration spoke about the occupation taken up on the Galleon Beach by the Reserve Naturelle, that prohibits residents of French Quarter from using the beach. They said that residents on Orient Beach are allowed to play music and hold parties on that beach and also in Oyster Pond, but the moment locals gather on Galleon Beach the gendarmes are called in. They said their forefathers have all fished in the ponds in French Quarter but today they are prohibited from fishing in the ponds.
They asked the Prefet why a Gendarmerie outpost is no longer in French Quarter since their building is still in the same location. The residents want to know if there is no need for safety and security in French Quarter.
The lack of a Post Office was also highlighted, they said even the elderly are forced to go to Marigot to pay water, light, and other bills because there are no bons in French Quarter that would allow the payment of bills in the largest district on the French side.
With the high price for water charged by the SAUR and no bons anywhere in French Quarter, residents they said have to travel to Marigot and join long lines to pay their bills.
There are no internet services that would allow students living and attending school in French Quarter to study or businesses to properly function. The lack of video surveillance, a project that started but was not completed.
Prefet Serge Gouteyron said that the beaches belong to the people (inhabitants of St. Martin and he already informed the Reserve Naturelle of his point of view.
He promised that next week employees of the Pole Emploi (Labor Department) will be in French Quarter and Sandy Ground to register people that are looking for gainful employment.
President Gibbs said that he inherited a bad situation upon taking office in 2017 and his administration had to deal with Hurricane Irma and the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he had two years of strained relations with the former Prefet and as such he could not get much done, yet he said he did the best he could. Gibbs said that he had numerous meetings with the Postal Services whom he said does not want to return to French Quarter for the lack of business. However, he said that a decision was taken by the Territorial Council to provide a location for a Post Office however he could not give a timeline as to when a post office will reopen in French Quarter. As for the increase in water prices or taxes on the water bill Gibbs said that the contract signed with the SAUR does not allow them to increase taxes by about 0.50 euros. Asked about the high taxes on the EDF bills the President said there are no taxes on the EDF bills that go to the COM.
The meeting that was held on the road on Chamba Hill did not go well as the younger generation exploded when they vented their anger by using profanity as they speak. The youths said the biggest mistake they made was to vote for TEAM Gibbs they said they are being fooled by the President and the Prefet as they do not see any real solutions to their problems any time soon.
Vice President Sofia Carty who is responsible for Social Services said that she understand the frustration expressed by the youths. Addressing the concerns of the internet Carty said it is the residents of the French Quarter that stopped the progress because they had about 500 signatures stopping the installation of antennas in French Quarter.
In the context of the social movement experienced by the Sandy-Ground and Quartier d'Orléans neighborhoods and as an extension of the many contacts he had, the Prefet reiterates that road blockades and the practice of racketeering are inadmissible and that they damage the image of the island, its attractiveness but above all to all the inhabitants.
Sensitive to concerns, the Prefet announces the implementation of the following measures which constitute commitments, and this for some, from next week, namely:
1. Installation of a working group in Quartier d'Orléans and Sandy-Ground bringing together parliamentarians, elected officials, State and Community services, representatives of associations, representatives of neighborhood councils, representatives of young people, socio-professionals, and all those who will want to get involved in the neighborhood within the framework of city policy;
2. Installation of a National Gendarmerie office in the Orleans Quarter, pending the transfer of the Hope Estate gendarmerie brigade to the same quarter, the Director-General of the National Gendarmerie having validated this operation;
3. Installation of a territorial postal agency near the public services office of Quartier d´Orléans in relation to the community.
4. Establishment as of next week of a reception and guidance system for young people, in particular towards employment and training:
- in the Orléans district on Thursday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the MSAP - parking lot at the Thalbert Carti stadium;
- at Sandy Ground on Tuesday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Maison des Services Publics (MSAP).
5. Establishment of a Local Security and Crime Prevention Council (CLSPD) by the end of 2021 in agreement with the Public Prosecutor;
6. Reinforced funding for prevention and assistance actions for children. The State is contributing € 663,600 to this objective for the implementation of 18 actions, which will focus in particular on primary prevention with the aim of reducing social and health inequalities from early childhood, monitoring the health of young children, the care of children with disabilities, the accompaniment and support of families, the care of young adults, the training of childcare professionals. These resources will mainly benefit the Quartier d´Orléans and Sandy Ground neighborhoods.
7. Appointment and arrival from January 1, 2022, of a project director (equivalent to a post of director of territories and the sea) in particular in charge of the urban renewal of the political districts of the City of Sandy-Ground and Neighborhood from Orleans.
