SAINT-MARTIN (MARIGOT) – President of the Collectivite of Saint-Martin Daniel Gibbs issued a statement on Friday with respect to the current blockades of certain main roads on the French side of the island.
The statement reads as follows :
Dear Residents of Saint-Martin,
Since yesterday morning, our territory is impacted by random roadblocks whose perpetrators are still unidentified at this time.
Several groups of people who have not yet communicated any form of claims and have therefore not identified themselves, are committing acts of blockages and rackets which are creating an anxious climate on the territory.
I am calling on the instigators and direct actors for a return to calm and reason.
The State, fully competent, is responsible for security in this territory : it must ensure the safety of persons and guarantee as well public order.
I therefore stand beside the Prefet GOUTEYRON in his request for a return to calm and dialogue in a climate that will have to be rational and peaceful.
Such destructive acts have a negative impact on our social and economic relationships.
Beyond the damages done to our infrastructures, the consequences on daily relationships are considerable, putting at stake the education of young Saint-Martiners in neighbourhoods that are being blocked.
It is our entire community that is suffering from this lack of dialogue.
Everyone is responsible.
Finally, I appeal to certain media who must remember that their role is to inform the population and not to stir up violence.
Source: Souliga Newsday https://www.soualiganewsday.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=40552:president-gibbs-calls-for-calm-and-dialogue-road-blocks-creating-anxious-climate&Itemid=450
