“
The bill is salty!
": Several hundred demonstrators gathered on Friday morning in front of the Marseille commercial court to protest against the closure of bars and restaurants decreed by the government, in an attempt to contain the Covid-19 epidemic.
Read also: Covid-19: facing the sling, Olivier Véran traveling to Marseille
Martine Vassal, LR president of the Aix-Marseille metropolis and of the Bouches-du-Rhône department, and Renaud Muselier, LR president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, joined the demonstration to the applause of the crowd, AFP journalists observed.
“
The cup is full.
We were in the process of remaking ourselves.
Personally, I don't want any more help but that I be allowed to work
”, testified Patrick Labourrasse, restaurateur in Aix-en-Provence.
Speaking with a megaphone in front of the crowd, the boss of the Union des métiers et des industries de l'hôtellerie des Bouches-du-Rhône Bernard Marty reiterated the firm opposition of his union to the announced restrictions, the crowd booing the name of the Minister of Health Olivier Véran when he pronounced it.
"
And where is he?"
Let him come here!
», Launched a protester.
Marseilles entrepreneurs stepped up to the plate as soon as the government announced strict measures on Wednesday, which classified the Aix-Marseille metropolis in a “
maximum alert
” zone
.
In particular, they provide for the closure of bars and restaurants on Saturday.
Faced with this sling, the Minister of Health will travel to Marseille on Friday afternoon.
Olivier Véran must go to the public hospital in La Timone where he will visit the intensive care unit, before meeting an epidemiologist.
Alain Griset, Minister Delegate to the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Recovery, will accompany Mr. Véran and must meet with representatives of professional federations in the hotel and restaurant sector.
The employers' union of Bouches-du-Rhône (UPE13) denounced in a press release published on Friday an “
economic reconfinement
” and expressed its indignation at seeing the metropolis treated “
as a bad pupil by the rest of the country
”, asking the government to “
allow time [for barrier gestures] to produce their effects without endangering the economy and jobs of an entire territory
”.
Like the elected representatives of the territory, she asks for "
a 10-day moratorium on the announcements of the Minister of Health, so that the measures put in place by the prefect on September 14 have produced their effects
".
Thursday, the elected officials from the left as from the right of the territory stepped up to the plate against government measures in a forum signed by more than 50 elected officials.
"
You are making a fundamental strategic error, you are worsening the economic crisis and you are fabricating a social crisis for us without resolving the health crisis
", they denounced.
The president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region Renaud Muselier announced for his part that he was going to file an interim relief on Friday against the prefectural decree imposing these measures.
The Prime Minister assumed these measures Thursday evening, assuring that the situation was "
very worrying in all France
" but "
especially serious in the big agglomerations
", evoking for Marseille "
a race against the clock
".
