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There are ten of them on Monday afternoon, teenagers, forties and seniors, taking advantage of the mild weather and the sun to indulge in a few games of pétanque.
Issa is seated at the counter outside the small cabin that serves as a tavern.
He sips a drink served by Arlette while watching his comrades “cross swords” on an impeccable field.
An old man is installed alone in his corner, peaceful.
He too keeps an eye on the score.
All are part of the ACPP, for "Artisans and petanquier traders of Paillon".
An association whose hundred members have been meeting for more than thirty years on land belonging to the SNCF, hidden behind two dilapidated buildings - one of which was recently destroyed - at 56 route de Turin, in the north-east of Nice.
To speak of dilapidation to qualify the filthy building that remains is a sweet understatement.
You would think you saw the Val-de-Grâce district in a certain Balzac novel.
From the front door to the roof, everything is dripping with dirt, an illustration of a rare incivility and not of the work of time.
The intercom is blown up, and hangs by a thread, many shutters are just as much, clinging pitifully to their hinges, the balconies are cluttered with rubbish of all kinds, the facade itself is pierced here and there , as if it had been licked by a wrecking ball.
Moreover, that was the plan, before a colony of squatters came to take over the walls.
Difficult to count them, there are as many coming in as there are going out, all the time.
Most are of African and sub-Saharan origin.
From the front door to the roof, everything is dripping with dirt, an illustration of a rare incivility and not of the work of time.
Nicolas Daguin
Read alsoSquatted housing: the City of Nice adopts a plan to make the accelerated eviction procedure effective
Hood on the head, beer in hand or cigarette in beak, some vegetate leaning against the facade.
And then go away before being replaced by others.
An incessant ballet which could be, at worst, tolerated - even if this one is played a few meters from a primary school -, if it were not made even more sinister by the lack of hygiene and know- live off these illegal tenants.
To access the ACPP pétanque court, you have to walk along the building to the right, taking a small wet alley.
However, it hasn't rained for weeks.
“No, no, it's not water, it's just shit,”
translates Patrick, one of the bowlers.
And to continue in the same tone:
They throw everything out the windows.
And there is no mains drainage anymore, so it overflows and comes to accumulate here.
The smell is unbearable.
"And again, imagine with the heat,"
he remarks.
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“
Each time a new squatter takes an apartment, rather than emptying what's left, he throws everything out the window.
For them it's normal, when we don't know, we swing"
In the middle of this pestilential puddle, a television set pouted, half submerged.
“That too they threw away
,” continues Patrick, however satisfied to see that his car, parked within firing range, was spared.
Once the building is bypassed, a large concrete slab takes shape.
Remains of its twin, demolished before the squatters arrived.
The spectacle is astounding.
The monochrome block is a rainbow of trash.
Furniture, household appliances, clothes, half or even completely open garbage bags… One of them seems to be on the move:
“It's full of rats,
rationalizes Patrick, used to seeing rodents doing their shopping.
Each time a new squatter takes an apartment, rather than emptying out what's left, he throws everything out the window.
For them it's normal, when we don't know, we swing.
I have, however, put garbage cans at their disposal.
On this minefield, along the facade, a bare tree holds firm.
A few underpants, t-shirts and joggings serve as foliage.
"It's their Christmas tree!"
Ironically Patrick.
Patrick tries somehow to avoid the puddle of rubbish that submerges the small path leading to the pétanque court.
Nicolas Daguin
Read also“No one protects us!”
: in Nice, several owners of the same building victims of a couple of squatters
Minimum comfort requires, but the squatters did not hesitate to help themselves to water and electricity by hacking into neighboring facilities.
Large electric cables hang from the windows and disappear who knows where.
"Don't believe, they have TV and everything you need"
, still assures Patrick.
On the petanque ground, the members of the ACPP are sorry.
"What can we do?"
Comments one of them, resigned.
"Not long ago, they threw eggs and stones at us
," says Arlette.
“But we are not going to rub shoulders with them, we know that it could degenerate very quickly
,” adds Issa.
"Don't want to take a stab!"
Add another bowler.
There it's day, it's fine, but at night, believe me that the members make the mouth to come.
Not only do we risk walking in molasses, but we also have a real feeling of insecurity.
»
To overcome this feeling and put an end to a situation that has become unbearable, the president of the ACPP, Franck Nusbaum, urged the City to act as quickly as possible by asking it several times.
“I wrote again on November 21 and 24, with no response.
And then, during a meeting with the presidents of the Clos de Boule on January 19, I directly challenged Anthony Borré (the first Deputy Delegate for Security, editor's note) who told me that he was taking note, but nothing ever
since
,” he laments.
“If it lasts too long, I can guarantee you that we will end up protesting.
My members are nice but they have limits.
We will not hesitate to block the road to Turin
, ”he warns again.
Eric Ciotti steps up to the plate
Warned of the situation in early January, the deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes and president of the Republicans, Éric Ciotti, also took the pen to the wound in a letter addressed to the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, dated January 12.
"This situation is completely unacceptable for the inhabitants of the district as well as for the children educated in the René Arziari primary school, located in the immediate vicinity of the building
", he had then denounced, photos in support. .
A missive remained a dead letter until today.
“
Faced with those who denounce from morning to evening and always finding the same responsible, we act and we will obtain the expulsion”
Anthony Borré, First Deputy Delegate for Security.
It was finally by means of a press release that Anthony Borré reacted Monday at the end of the day, ensuring the full mobilization of the City.
“By yet another letter, the deputy Éric Ciotti challenges and vituperates against the City of Nice on a squat located at 56 route de Turin which has been regularly occupied since 2019 and whose building is intended to be demolished in 2023 The local residents have indeed pointed this out to us because, at the risk of surprising them, we maintain a direct relationship with them, who do not suffer from the need for an intermediary
,
”
he replied curtly to the deputy.
Recalling that
“Since 2019, 13 interventions have already taken place on this site.
This completely unacceptable and inadmissible squat is well followed by the squat pole of the Municipal Police who wrote an order of insalubrity to be able to act and which was transmitted to the ARS.
»
Read alsoSquats: can we reconcile the right to property and the right to housing?
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Guillaume Errard's response
The security assistant also made it clear that the building was
“jointly owned, managed by a trustee who has been given formal notice to act, the majority of the lots belonging to the EPF (Public Land Establishment) Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.
“
The deputy, member of the Law Commission of the National Assembly, should know that the City of Nice cannot evict squatters without the assistance of the trustee and of justice,
he again scolded
.
We also call on it to act to simplify procedures.
We asked the syndic to request a commissioner of justice in order to obtain the assistance of the State as quickly as possible to evacuate the squatters and dealers who have taken possession of the premises.
Faced with those who denounce from morning to evening and always finding the same responsible, we act and we will obtain the expulsion.
SEE
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- Nantes: the house of a couple of octogenarians squatted by a collective
