In Prospérité, a small village in French Guiana, the Kali’na, one of the six Amerindian peoples of Guyana, have entered into resistance against a mega-project for a power plant which is to be built less than two kilometers from their village. A delegation was in Paris this week to try to carry their message to the highest summit of the State. She was notably received by the elected representatives of Nupes in the National Assembly.
On October 24, the gendarmes landed at dawn in the village of Prospérité to arrest their customary chief Roland Sjabeur. Unheard of in Guyana, explains the deputy of the Democratic and Republican Left Jean-Victor Castor: “ The history of Yopoto is the first time that a prefect has authorized himself to go into a village, to arrest a helmet, a customary chief, a Yopoto, it’s the first time it’s been done. There is a red line that has been crossed. Today, even if there was a tiny margin of maneuver to find a way to negotiate, it is no longer possible. »
“ Tranquility »
And yet Roland Sjabeur and the Kali’na are not opposed to the project itself. A hybrid power plant which aims to supply up to 10,000 homes using solar panels and a brand new hydrogen energy storage system. What they really want: From a concrete point of view, we are simply looking for tranquility in our village, for that, this project must be moved elsewhere. »
Why less than two kilometers from the village?
Why install this plant less than 2 kilometers from the village, and this without any consultation when Guyana covers more than 83,000 km2? This question, the Kalin’a and their customary chief therefore came to ask it in Paris, while on the spot, the hour is with the confrontation.
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