The French Prime Minister has been harassed by angry locals after their village was ‘sacrificed’ to save a celebrity enclave.
Sébastien Lecornu visited Le Porge in the Gironde region on Monday to meet with the mayor after it was destroyed by forest fires in late July to August and 183 houses were set on fire.
But residents booed, whistled and shouted anti-government slogans at the French leader after feeling dissatisfied with the government’s response to the disaster.
‘Where is he? Where is he?’ the crowd shouted.
Meeting with the residents “would have been the least he could do,” said Tony Veiga, a 65-year-old retiree. “It basically comes down to treating us like we don’t matter.”
Furious locals claim firefighters prioritized saving the luxurious Cap-Ferret peninsula – where many wealthy Parisians holiday – over protecting locals’ homes.
Ludivine Daurignac, the organizer of a group of affected residents of Le Porge who plan to file complaints and obtain “truth, transparency and justice,” said: “He does not want to meet us. It’s a shame, we had things we wanted to say.
“We were met by lines of riot police blocking our access.”
French Prime Minister has been harassed by angry locals after their village was ‘sacrificed’ to save a celebrity enclave
Residents booed, whistled and shouted anti-government slogans at the French leader after feeling dissatisfied with the government’s response to the disaster
Le Porge in the Gironde region on Monday to meet with the mayor after it was devastated by forest fires in late July to August and 183 houses were burned down (photo)
The fire was France’s largest since 1949, destroying 42,000 hectares and brought under control by August 1.
The flames reached a radius of 16 kilometers around Bordeaux and forced the evacuation of more than 220,000 residents and tourists.
Mr Lecornu announced measures to help south-west residents affected by bushfires rebuild their lives.
The aid includes around €12 million in aid for the Gironde and Landes regions in south-west France that have been hardest hit by the fires, as well as accelerated processes for rebuilding houses.
He said this will “enable local authorities to launch projects without delay and ultimately allow them to draw up some kind of recovery plan.”
Lecornu’s office said he had spoken to affected residents and farmers.
“We have absolutely nothing to hide about how the fire protection operations have been carried out in recent weeks,” Lecornu said as he met local officials in the nearby town of Mérignac after leaving Le Porge.
He had already been to Le Porge on Sunday afternoon to tour the municipality with the mayor – an unannounced excursion that took place without any press cameras present.
The fire was France’s largest since 1949, destroying 42,000 hectares and brought under control by August 1.
A firefighter uses a backpack blower to clear vegetation and create a firebreak during a controlled fire operation in a forest in Le Porge
A resident stands in his house, destroyed by a forest fire, in Le Porge, south-west France
Furious locals claim firefighters prioritized saving the luxury Cap-Ferret peninsula (pictured)
Speaking in Mérignac, Lecornu announced that building permits for the “equivalent reconstruction” of houses destroyed by the fires would be issued within a month, or even faster.
About 10 million euros will go to the Gironde region and 2 million euros to the Landes region in the south.
Lecornu also warned that he would sue insurers who “don’t play the game.”
The crisis has been a big test for Mr Lecornu, and so it was was appointed Prime Minister by Emmanuel Macron in September last year.
Although he has denied having any presidential ambitions, local reports claim that the president’s office is increasingly viewing Mr Lecornu as a viable centrist candidate for the 2027 elections, when Mr Macron’s term expires.
