the French state launches a vast operation to clear the road to the airport

4 mins

Charlotte Mannevy, correspondent of RFI in New Caledonia, was able to reach the airport this Sunday, but still had to turn around to let a convoy of armored vehicles from Nouméa pass. 600 gendarmes are mobilized for this major operation which began at 6 a.m. this Sunday morning (7 p.m. UT Saturday).

Access was possible to the airport, still closed and guarded by the police, but an entire part of the axis is still completely impassable as there is so much debris. The remains of burned cars still smoking and hundreds of stones, branches and other debris still litter the road.

Construction equipment began to clear them under the protection of mobile police and armored vehicles. You must therefore go through side roads and slalom between numerous wrecks to get out of the town. There, the atmosphere is completely different since the dams are simply filters. They are not in the hands of rioters but of independence activists. Jean-Charles, head of one of them, assures RFI that his fight is peaceful and that it does not prevent individuals from passing through. However, its barrier will be raised as soon as the police convoy passes.

Read alsoNew Caledonia: “It is in everyone’s interest to calm the situation, especially with regard to young people”

A very precarious calm

If relative calm was again announced this Sunday in this French territory in the Pacific, the situation remains very tense in places, with violence in Nouméa, in fact. According to local media, the media library in the Rivière Salée district was set on fire last night. This district of the capital, like others in this city, has become inaccessible to the authorities.

Some 3,200 people have been stranded for seven days in New Caledonia or abroad. New Zealand was somewhat pressing this Sunday. Its Minister of Foreign Affairs assures that planes are just waiting for the green light from Paris to take off and pick up its nationals. Restoring the functioning of the airport and access to the Nouméa metropolitan area also means the possibility of supplying the archipelago with food, but also with medicine and basic materials. In recent days, calls for the lifting of the blockades have also increased in the face of the start of shortages, in food stores, pharmacies and even hospitals. A job that promises to be long for local law enforcement and the reinforcements who arrived Friday from Metropolis.

Read alsoNew Caledonia: the toll rises, resupply and unblocking of roads become essential

Note that schools in the South province will remain closed next week, according to the authorities of this area which includes almost two thirds of the population of New Caledonia.

Also listenNew Caledonia: the issue “is the question of environmental migration”

♦ Report: Solidarity at work in Australia

Several hundred Caledonians are currently stranded in Australia. They were able to count on the solidarity of the Caledonians who live there, some offering them shelter, a meal, or simply some practical information to get by in Sydney, a city that is sometimes unknown to them. After a week of hardship and anxiety, several dozen of them met this Sunday in a city center park for a picnic and to warm their hearts, says our correspondent in Sydney, Grégory Plesse.

“ Sir, grapes? » « Ah thank you, that’s nice… » « Take the cluster, take the cluster! » There are nearly sixty of them on this beautiful sunny Sunday who gathered around a casual picnic. Whether they are residents or stranded in Australia, they all share the same anxiety, like Teiki, who arrived in Australia only three weeks ago for a one-year stay. “ When you’re at a distance, it’s more complicated because you know there’s family there. You wonder how they’re doing… And then sometimes, they’re not necessarily available to answer you, so you wonder if they have a problem. Well, it’s a bit complicated from a distance. I wanted to go back, just to be there… »

So, this little moment of conviviality is a moment of relief that feels good. Christine arrived yesterday from Paris, where she went to see her daughter, but her husband and son and her parents are in Nouméa: “ It’s especially good for morale. And then this solidarity… I honestly admit that being there is comforting, we are with Caledonians, it feels like family! »

In support of the spontaneous outpouring of generosity from the Caledonians of Australia, the Consul General of France today launched an appeal for solidarity to the French community in Australia.