SEPTEMBER 6, 2019
Press conference of the President of St. Martin
Community Hotel, EC Hall
Only the pronouncement is authentic
Ladies and gentlemen
Dear Journalists
We are here, two years after the intrusion into our lives of the sinister event that changed the regular course of our lives.
My speech could be a review; it is, in many ways.
But this speech is seen, above all, as a "milestone" in our reconstruction after Irma.
On this 6 September, it is a question of talking about our progress, step by step, towards reconstruction, construction, and prosperity,
and highlight the efforts of the Community and all Saint-Martinois - despite the difficulties, obstacles, obstacles...
But on this September 6, 2019, I cannot go any further in my speech, without having a sincere thought of compassion for our Caribbean neighbors in the Bahamas archipelago who have just suffered the worst nightmares,
and I'm sure all of you here, who was here two years ago, understand what I'm talking about when I use the term "Nightmare" ...
Dorian left behind a devastated territory, traumatized men and women, who,
Nature is thus made,
will eventually show resilience to recover, to rebuild.
But, in some cases, one nightmare can hide another...
And I can tell you that my elected officials, the agents of this community and myself, as well as every resident of this island, hit by Irma have, over the last 24 months, gone through a lot of hardship to get here, today.
First of all, this moment of exchange between us, in this format of a press conference with me and the vice-presidents of this community, is an opportunity to recall our realities,
because the facts are stubborn:
I confess that to speak of the situation of my Territory, two years to the day after the devastation of the most powerful cyclone, ever known in our geographical area, arouses in me contrasting feelings.
Do I have to recall the extent of the destruction?
At the risk of rehashing our martyrdom and giving the impression of revelling in this victim status?
Should I, conversely, stop talking about it?
At the risk of making it look like everything's fixed, everything's restored, everything's forgotten?
Business as usual ?...
Not!...
I reject this "revisionist" vision, which tends to spread among our so-called partners over the past year:
according to some officials, IRMA does not exist"
and the cyclone would have been only the indicator of our inadequacies!
That's not true.
contemptuous
and hurting !...
Indeed, we still live, today, in a degraded and post-traumatic context.
And it is my duty, as President, to relay outside, with the support of the elected representatives of the Territory,
the expectations of the Saint-Martinois,
their recurrent suffering,
but also and above all their courage, their will to move forward.
Our feelings here are shared, to say the least.
A mixture of resilience, hopes and legitimate concerns about being,
less than ever,
considered a priority of our nation.
Saint-Martin must therefore not "get off the radar" of the priorities of France and the European Union.
Because some people forget quickly!
A few reminders to put our situation in its context, to say the least unpublished:
- nationally, IRMA represented for us the equivalent of an exodus of12 million people, worse than in 1940!
- We have also suffered, and we tend to have forgotten, destructions of more than 2.2 billion euros, with an estimated GDP of 600 million.
Damage, alas, invisible in the national accounts, because the GDP of Saint-Martin is still not included in the French GDP:
as if we didn't exist!
as if we were, for good, wiped off the map!
So we look, together, towards the future.
But we don't forget.
Because how could we forget?
In the absence of sufficient statistics from INSEE, despite our repeated requests, the Community of Saint-Martin is little known,
and little-recognized.
The result is many clichés, sometimes vexing,
and many received ideas that prevent us from moving forward as much as we wish.
Sometimes I wonder if, even more than other ultramarine citizens, we would not be "punished", and perceived, through the EXCEL tables of ministries, as French people entirely apart - and not in their own right.
While we are at the forefront of France against the American, Caribbean and Anglo-Saxon world, we now feel that we are being punished for who we are:
a small territory half the largest than Paris,
cosmopolitan, English-speaking and mixed-race,
nickel-free and space industry-
And, maybe worse!
A territory respectful of the institutions of the Republic,
still reluctant to raise his fist, brandish the threat of chaos and distill the myth of saving independence!
If it is a "calculation" on the part of the Government, it may prove to be wrong and dangerous.
And the PPRN episode has stoked the underlying societal tensions:
in other words, two years after IRMA,
a social hurricane threatens us,...
... ALL OF THEM...
If the voice of the people and their representatives remain scorned,
So, we
-Community, state, elected officials, civil servants, socio-professionals...-
are in danger of being ALL losers.
TheSaint-Martinoisare afraid of this new layer of regulation qui touches one of the foundations of ownership, andI'm talking here about the PPRN...
For my part, after experiencing Irma, I am aware that we must, for the future of our children, adapt and reduce our vulnerabilities,I repeat, I am for a revision of the PPRN.
But not in this way, with this advance application.
Once again, I'm reaching out to the state so that together we can get out of this blocking situation.
The Saints Martinois have the right to say how they want to live on their land, and above all to be heard.
We are only asking for an additional period of time, short of additionaltime, so that the process of consultation with the strengths of the community and the population can lead to our proposal for an NPP,
so that in consultation it can be confronted with that of the state,
taken, I repeat, in too much haste.
Secondly, I would like to remind you today, contrary to the clichés sometimes conveyed, that our approach is credible, "positive" and responsible:
The illustrious Félix EBOUE urged the ultra-marine youth to "play the game".
That's what we did.
That's what we do.
The COM has always "played the game", provided for by the Protocols of November 2017:
First, and first of all, it did not wait to launch the titanic construction of the reconstruction of the Territory.
This is our priority, our battle, my obsession!
Much has been done in two years,
often in a hurry and sometimes in destitution:
I hammer it, the Community carries, with its own means, projects of proximity aimed at improving the environment and quality of life of Saint-Martinois.
For example, the COM plans to invest 120 million euros in structural equipment this year.
I am not going to give you their census here, and I will impose a "catalogue" on you.
But I would like to emphasize this morning on some projects:
- The reconstruction of schools, with 11 construction sites open, for a total of 14 million euros, has progressed well in recent months. For the past two years, this reconstruction has cost us a total of 24 million euros.
In fact, itis now nearing completion, with a near-normal 2019 re-entry:
The way we've come since the start of the new year on November 6, 2017!
This is a priority project for the future of our children, on which we have concentrated our efforts, with the constant and unqualified support of the Ministry of National Education and the rector of The AcademicRegionthatI have would like to thank.
Among the most emblematic achievements,
I will mention the seismic comfort of Marigot High School, the installation of fibre optics in schools, the renovation of school canteens...
I know the efforts of the entire school community during this long period of reconstruction,
and I would like to thank those who understood the issues facing the Community - and who took their pain in patience.
- Several public infrastructure reconstruction projects have also been launched since the beginning of the year, I am thinking here of the reconstruction of the market square of Marigot, the Carbets of Orient Bay, the rue de Holland, the development of the access roads to Hamlet du Pont and Howell Center Shopping Centre, and to the burying of power grids and the Internet.
Other projects have, or will, start:
I will mention the future House of Associations of Grand-Case, the development of the Place du Tribunal de Marigot, the construction of water and sanitation networks, the renovation of the Sandy Ground Bridge, the repair of the Marina Port la Royale, or the rehabilitation of public lighting and video surveillance equipment.
The construction of the new 900 colleges is scheduled to begin in 2020, and I have just signed the agreement to finance this essential equipment.
At the same time, our community has strengthened its "strategic" services:
- Urbanism, Human Resources, Public Procurement,
- its controls (particularly on the RSA) and its coaching capabilities, including through internal promotion through a partnership with the CNFPT which we intend to deepen.
We continue to do so.
A new, experienced and dynamic Director General of Services has just arrived;
my Cabinet, at the same time, has been reorganized, densified and strengthened - here and in Paris.
While not everything is perfect, I will not allow the state to replace the community's urban planning failures(see Journal Le Pelican).
It is a lack of awareness of the free administration of local authorities, including overseas.
I call for a state to advise and not just an accusatory state.
And I give my full support and confidence to the officers in my community.
Are we in order !...
But, my team is well aware of it, be sure! :
the process of regularizing and securing the legal security of personnel management is a long-term work, begun as early as 2017, and which must take into account the "post-IRMA" dimension, which has substantially impacted the officers of the COM - who have shown courage and endurance worthy of praise and respect.
The governance of our major tools in terms of land use planning, SEMSAMAR has also been reformed, as I had committed to it since my 2017 election campaign.
We thought it was impossible!
We did it, last December, in sometimes threatening conditions!
The COM, which had to give up the collection of dividends from its SEM for 3 years: 2017, 2018 and 2019,
is still waiting for the state to release all of the 6 million euros of appropriations planned for the rehabilitation of social housing.
An additional effort by theState, in terms of the Renovation of Unsanitary Habitat in Orleans Neighborhood and Sandy Ground, will prove, however, necessary in the next two years...
I'll be vigilant on this,
St. Martin needs it.
A savings plan, designed to optimize operating expenses, was also presented on10december 2018.
Savings deposits, mentioned in the2007-2016RegionalAccountsReport, are targeted:
procurement procedures, studies, fees, renegotiation of old loan rates, grants to associations and satellites...
For example, I have just proceeded, as I had committed to it in our program, to move the Maison de Saint-Martin to Paris for a 3/4 reduction in rent...
This effort of rationalization and "common sense" continues, while ensuring, importantly!, that it does not negatively impact the economic growth and purchasing power of St. Martin's.
In addition, the COM foresees the development of an EPP (Pluriannuelle Energy Programme),co-developed with the State, and following the signing of a State/COM/EDF agreement in arbitration;
We will ensure that the necessary electricity tariff equalization, which has been in place since 1975, is legally secured.
In practical terms, I want St. Martin's not to pay more for their electricity.
This agreement is also intended to provide for the application, in Saint-Martin, of common law devices: energy cheque, energy saving certificates, CRE assistance for thermal insulation...
Finally, and I will stress this point: since 23 November 2018, Saint-Martin fully assumes its responsibilities as President of the Presidents of the Ultraperipheal Regions and the Association of UPRs.
Next year, Saint-Martin will host for the first time the CP-RUP Conference, on 6 and 7 Feb.
- This will be a time to show the world that the reconstruction of Saint-Martin, and in particular its tourist infrastructure, is indeed a reality.
- It will also be an opportunity, and I will make sure to do so!, to spread strong messages at the highest level of the State and the European Commission.
Thirdly, it is appropriate to recall our demands: they are not the result of recriminations of a population of "spoiled children", but simply call for the necessary national solidarity:
For national solidarity, not to the displeasure of some, is not "a dirty word" but,
as far as we are concerned, and in the context we know, a vital necessity.
Seeking public aid across the board,
simply getting what we are entitled to, is not "unhealthy,"
but essential to succeed in our catch-up in terms of structuring investments... and thus consolidate the conditions conducive to the arrival of private investors and the emergence of more endogenous development.
Put another way, to rebuild St. Martin, and beyond, we will have to "walk on both our legs":
- make the best use of public funds, to make up for decades of underinvestment
(I am thinking, for example, of the road network, designed when the Territory was six times less populated than now, or the essential construction sites of training);
- and at the same time effectively attract private investors, in order to be able, in the future, to be able, in an autonomous and responsible Community, to rely more on ourselves. This implies the return of the taste for risk, the desire to undertake...
But it is clear that regulation, and its punitive interpretation, discourages many wills and talents.
In other words, we cannot, decently, make us lose on both counts:
- deprive us of public investment, in the name of budgetary and accounting considerations,
- and scare away private investors, in the name of moralizing, fussy and inadequate regulation.
The challenges of our Territory, now and more than ever, remain multiple and pressing.
Social and economic catch-up must continue in Saint-Martin, where GDP per capita is just 50.5% of the hexagonal average:
Saint-Martin remains the3rd poorest community in France: after Mayotte, Wallis and Futuna;
tied with Guyana.
It should be pointed out, forcefully, that discrepancies with the metropolitan situation are delays which, as such, are intended to be closed:
it cannot, in this case, be "specificities" to be tolerated in the name of a biased interpretation of our status of autonomy.
In this context, the Saint-Martinois, increasingly informed, denounce the contradictions of our state:
- Autopian when it comes to enforcing, here, the law that punishes...
- But hesitant and parsimonious, since it is necessary to apply, in the same place, the law that protects.
For one cannot have, in a republican framework, one without the other:
Repression without protection,
To rigour without generosity,
The requirement without benevolence...
The episode of the consultation around the PPRN shows this:
the Saint-Martinois fear this strange renunciation which ultimately leads to a dirigisme that leads nothing
and a liberalism that frees no one.
More than ever, we must be vigilant; without a priori, without prejudices, certainly!
But without weakness in the face of the lecturers, wherever they come from, from here or elsewhere, from the Lowlands, or from LowerEarth..
So, as some famous characters in history used to say:
"What to do"?
I would outline a three-point strategy here.
(1) In the immediate future: overcoming bureaucratic obstacles...
Regarding the investigation of FSUE files, which is now THE priority of my teams:
France has obtained 46 million euros from Union European, available only since August 2018.
To date, we have raised 33.2 million euros in invoices and received only 11.9 million refunds from theState.
Our efforts are hampered by administrative difficulties that we may have, I admit,underestimated.
Our effort is also compromised by "off-ground" interpretations of already rigid texts and demanding procedures, which we were promised, here in nature, to simplify!
Remember the statements of the President of the Republic, September 12, 2017: I quote "We must shake up the procedures and I commit to Saint-Martin being reborn... »
Imagine that, for some State services supposed to "accompany" us, we were no longer in a pressing emergency as of October 10, 2017!!
So, I ask you:
who, then, among you, who were present in Saint-Martin and who stayed, took a life, a "normal" activity a month after the passage of Irma?!
- A word on the issue of the endorsement to the Protocol of November 6, 2017, which should be finalized at a next Interministerial Committee...
To date, we are missing 50 million euros in relation to the commitment signed here...
This relaunch of a fair and balanced partnership with the Ministry of Overseas Affairs is, for the President of Saint-Martin that I am, a priority for the coming months...
- The same is true of the 2019-2022 Convergence Agreement, which is due to be signed in the coming weeks; the consequential development of a Convergence Plan, provided for by the "Real Equality Overseas" Act, cannot be and the "catch-up" dimension of these part-parting documents. We will be vigilant on these two points, which are technical but have their symbolic, political and operational importance!
But what we want today, looking at our future in the medium and long term,
It's about moving from reconstruction to development.
I said, here, in front of the Prime Minister in 2017, and I repeat: we want to rebuild faster, but also better, by valuing our youth and promoting innovation.
Saint-Martin, with the dedicated tools, aims to become a land of excellence, for example by developing research and development, in tropical buildings and anti-seismic materials and anti-cyclonic drugs.
It is a matter of survival for us, as well as the improvement of our urban planning rules, in dialogue with the population and elected officials, and in strict respect for the competences devolved to us by the organic law of 2007,
and there is no need for discussion,
except to want to impose a guardianship on us...
For this, we cannot be content with compassionate statements or arbitrary judgments ...
The Saint-Martinois must, therefore, benefit, like all other French citizens, from the public policies made available to all the French territories...
- I am thinking of digital, renewable energy, waste recovery, and health with the financing of telemedicine schemes;
- To benefit from the support of the Caisse des Depots et Consignations and its Action Coeur de Ville programme: it is a question of giving ourselves the means to renovate the marigot centre, including the marinas; The Director-General of the CDC will be in Saint-Martin and I will present our investment plans directly to him.
- To have our Medical and Social Centre, our Water Establishment, as well as part of the port and airport work financed by the 'Grand Borrowing' of 60 million euros announced in the Interministerial Committee on 12 March 2018;
- To succeed in the dematerialization of the RSA from January 2020, prior to its takeover by the State, like Guyana, Mayotte... and now From Reunion. With the "COHESIA card" set up at the instigation of the COM, we have led the way.
- Provide, as stipulated in the Organic Act of 2007 and the Protocols of 2017, an exceptional Catch-up grant,aimed in particular atroad investments.
But I will also recall, this time more briefly, our structural demands for true autonomy:
- A Full-Time Prefect;
- A Vice-Rector;
- An INSEE Antenna, at least reinforced and dedicated teams from the Interregional Directorate of the West Indies-Guyanese. The improvement of the statistical apparatus is indeed essential to access the quality of management authority for the European funds of the next 2021-2027 programme;
- Strengthening the services and establishments of the decentralized state on the spot:
- A DGAC agent at Grand Case airport... as before 2015
- An involvement of the ANRU and the ANAH; we expect a lot from the creation of the new National Agency for the Cohesion of the Territories, which will be able to provide the necessary impetus,
- A prison for short sentences,
- Full Weather France coverage.
In fact, imagine that after Dorian's recent visit to the territory, no one can inform the amount of water that fell on St. Martin.
However, and this is my third and final point, I am, more than ever, seeking a close, lasting and loyal partnership with the State...
I would, therefore, like to be part of the "Strategy 5.0" of the Ministry of Overseas Affairs and will present here some avenues of progress, some areas of cooperation...
- Zero exclusion
The Government should be made aware of the rate of non-use of social benefits in Saint-Martin,aterritory under the common law in the field of social security.
Contrary to popular belief shall the Overseas In general and St. Martin in particular, the population does not indulge in assistance.
worse! many people in these territories do not even benefit from the aid to which they are entitled!
This is particularly the case in Saint-Martin, mainly because of a lack of information and a lack of support for the creation of files deemed too complex...
While Saint-Martin is, as I have pointed out, one of the poorest territories in France, with a GDP per capita 15% lower than the average of the DOMs,
indeed, some social benefits are not as distributed as they should be.
This situation is found for the ASPA (the "minimum old age"). This is, even more, the case for the Activity Premium.
The reading of the statistics of the CNAF as of 31 December 2018 leaves us wondering: there are 20 times fewer households as well as in Guadeloupe... while the population of Saint-Martinis is 11 times lower than the Guadeloupean population...
Obviously, and as the perfect Laubièssaid at the time, "there is a subject", especially since the socio-demographic characteristics of the two territories are comparable...
A "Zero Exclusion" Strategy would mean ensuring that Saint-Martinoiscan, like all French citizens, benefits fully from these two benefits... are still expected to be significantly raised during this five-year period.
It should be recalled that the State/COM Protocol of 21 November 2017 stated that: "The State will ensure, in particular through appropriate actions of its decentralized services, that an improvement in the service provided to the public by organizations within the social sphere (including CAF, CGSS) will be recognized in the short term"...
- Zero carbon
The EPPs are supposed to evolve the energy mix to integrate more renewable energy; projects exist in Saint-Martin, particularly in the field of photovoltaics and geothermal energy.
But reducing the Territory's dependence on fossil resources will mean depriving ourselves of a substantial part of our tax revenues, in a budgetary context that is always difficult (we still suffer a 20% discount to the level pre-IRMA revenue).
Financial support from the State would, therefore, be necessary during a transitional period to be negotiated.
- Zero waste
In terms of regional cooperation in waste management and recovery, a Saint-Martinois project (Preparation for recycling and transfer of recyclable flows to Guadeloupe)is supported by the Ministry of Overseas; it is well placed to be "accompanied" in the coming weeks:
funding for project acceleration support would be welcome...
In the medium term, the financing of the stricto sensu project (22 million euros) should be able to be provided by FEDER funds, but also by state loans, from the Grand Investment Plan that I have just mentioned, with the support of ADEME.
- Zero pollutants
The current problem, as you all know, is bromate's pollution in drinking water systems.
Hence the urgent need to accelerate the pace of renewal of drinking water pipes; the mobilization of the aforementioned "Great Borrowing" should fill this, as should the massive allocation of European funds from the very beginning of the next programming, early 2021...
- Zero vulnerability
Existential subject for St. Martin, you can imagine it!!
But state funding of prevention and protection structures is still "virtual" (the PPI validated at the Inter-Ministerial Committee in March 2018 had provided for 17.8 million euros of budgetary appropriations out of a total of 29MIt's a no-e.
At the same time, the implementation and funding in Saint-Martin of a Flood Prevention Action Programme(PAPI)is still relevant; I hope to be able tomove forward on this issue in the coming months.
In conclusion,
I'm sorry I took so long, but there's so much to say !...
Next year, my speech will be much shorter... simply because the reconstruction will have progressed well, and will be practically completed: this is what I wish us, all of us !!!
My dearest wish, for September 6, 2020? to evoke plans for a modern, prosperous and welcoming tourist destination. Looking to the future. Far, far away fromIRMA.
We must therefore continue, despite the headwinds, to adopt the responsible attitude that has always been ours.
But without naivety, without "complex of the good student" ...
Be constructive, without letting go, never forgetting the urgent need to preserve our unity, our Saint-Martinoise identity and our social cohesions.
Put another way, and always to paraphrase Felix EBOUE:
neither reach out nor raise a fist...
So we must be united, more than ever. And I'm talking totoas much to the people of this(i)only to our institutional and private partners.
I had already stressed this imperative, during my speech at the Territorial Council on 17 July, and in my speeches on the occasion of the National Day and the tribute to Victor SCOELCHER.
I repeat it again, this September 6, 2019...
Some people mistakenly think that we are costing, and don't count! Let's show them,
bysucceeding, together,
they're wrong!
Thank you for yourattention.
My vice-presidents and I are now available for a time of exchange...
