Martinique is trying to restore calm after several nights of urban violence sparked by a protest against the high cost of living launched in early September.
According to a decree signed on Friday, September 20 by the prefect, Jean-Christophe Bouvier, “Except for an express exemption granted by the district sub-prefects, demonstrations, gatherings and other protest meetings on public roads and on private roads open to public traffic are prohibited”in the municipalities of Fort-de-France, Lamentin, Ducos and Robert. This ban extends from Friday at 6 p.m. local time until Monday, September 23 at 8 a.m., the decree specifies.
Since Wednesday evening, some districts of Fort-de-France, the capital of this French Caribbean island of some 350,000 inhabitants, and Lamentin, a neighbouring commune, have been subject to a curfew, from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., until Monday.
Despite the partial curfew, the night from Thursday to Friday was again “hectic”The prefecture specified, referring to three dams “erected and lit at Lamentin” and eight in the south of the island. Four people were arrested.
Organization of a round table “in the next few days”
To justify the ban on demonstrations, the representative of the State in Martinique invoked, in a press release, a measure aimed at “put an end to the violence and damage committed during meetings, but also to the numerous obstacles to daily life and freedom of movement that harm the entire population of Martinique, especially during the weekend”.
However, “Protest demonstrations periodically declared to the competent authorities will continue to be able to take place”added the prefecture.
The organization also announced, “in the next few days” a new round table on the topic of the cost of living with all stakeholders, “elected officials, public authorities, economic and associative actors”without giving a precise date.
In Martinique, according to a 2022 INSEE study, food prices were 40% higher than in France.
