Charred carcasses of vehicles on the road, dented household appliances, piles of pallets and charred rubbish at every roundabout: after several nights of riots on the sidelines of a protest movement against the high cost of living, Avenue Maurice-Bishop, a major artery of Fort-de-France, which runs through the popular Sainte-Thérèse district for more than a kilometre, offered, on Wednesday 18 September, the spectacle of a no-man’s land.
Along this paved strip lined with shops, few passersby noted the damage with bitterness. “Since Sunday I can’t go to the gas station cashier: we can’t move around”“This is the last time I saw the incident,” said Fred, a 63-year-old pensioner who did not want to reveal his surname. This resident of the avenue was forced to park his car several hundred metres from his house to protect it from the rioters. But he remains understanding. “It is the only way young people have to express their anger”said the retiree with a shrug.
With a bottle of water in his hand, Guy, 60, has to walk the entire avenue to the Dillon district, near the motorway, to return to his home in the neighbouring town of Lamentin. “I hope I find someone to pick me up.”says this artist. In fact, due to the lockdowns, public transport is paralyzed on this crucial axis leading to the airport. “These people are taking people hostage”the sexagenarian grumbled in disappointment.
“A maximum of arrests”
In this sensitive district of Fort-de-France, located near the Grand Port Maritime of Martinique, sporadic fires are not exceptional. This time, the spark that ignited the gunpowder was a protest movement against the high cost of living, launched by the Demonstration for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources (RPPRAC). Since 1Ahem In September, this group, very active on social media, increased its calls for demonstrations to demand price reductions in supermarkets.
After several nights marked by looting and clashes between rioters and the police, Martinique’s prefect, Jean-Christophe Bouvier, announced on Wednesday evening the establishment of a curfew between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. in the districts of Sainte-Thérèse and Dillon, in addition to the riots, as well as in several other areas of activity in Fort-de-France and Lamentin. The measure came into force that same evening. Travel prohibited at night “for a limited renewable period” until September 23, the prefecture said in a press release.
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