For a month and a half now, the only road leading to the south of Grande Terre has been brought to a screeching halt at a place called Le Thabor, which marks the start of the “Saint-Louis crossing”. Two Centaurs, armoured vehicles of the latest generation, block traffic, while gendarmes control the comings and goings, which can only be done on foot, behind them. bastion walls, These metal cages lined with bags filled with rubble, which protect against gunfire and intrusion. A fortified checkpoint, worthy of a war zone, never seen before in the territory, but made necessary, according to the authorities, by the incessant gunfire suffered by the police in Saint-Louis: more than three hundred in four months.
The “north lock” of Thabor responds, on the other side of Saint-Louis, to the “south lock”. bastion walls They are even more numerous there, because the place is “totally exposed”This is a cause of concern for General Nicolas Matthéos, commander of the gendarmerie in New Caledonia. A 22-year-old police officer, Nicolas Molinari, was also killed just a few metres away on 15 May. “deliberately aimed between the two eyes”says General Matthéos. A murder investigation has been opened. Two men were also killed here, shot dead during a special operation by the gendarmerie on 19 September.
On the map posted at the headquarters of the National Gendarmerie in Noumea, a red line represents the six kilometres of road off-limits to car traffic. “Saint-Louis was already a problem during my first stay in New Caledonia, more than fifteen years ago, and it remains so today. Every insurrection begins here and ends here, long after calm has returned everywhere.analyzes General Matthéos.
snipers
First “model” of development of an indigenous economy under the government of the religious congregation of the Marist fathers in the 19th centurymy In the 1980s, Saint-Louis took up the cause of independence again. With religious ties disintegrating and customary and family structures failing to take over, some young people ended up sinking into a crime that seems insoluble. In twenty years, fifty young people have been victims of violent deaths in Saint-Louis, which has barely 1,200 inhabitants.
The road that runs in front of the tribe serves as a means of pressure on the authorities: in 2001, with the so-called “Ave Maria” conflict, which led to the departure of the entire Wallisian community, in 2009, during the social conflict of the Aircal airline, in 2016 during the death of a young man from the tribe or even in 2021 with the conflict of the so-called “southern factory”, at every moment of tension, protesters block the axis, or even shoot at motorists who venture there. To the point that on social networks people are calling for “raze Saint-Louis” are multiplying, further widening the gap with the rebellious tribe.
You have 60.33% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
