“We had to relieve the pressure, find something to do for the guys to relax,” explains Alexandre Agat, vice-president of the FDSEA of Charente-Maritime.
Installed on the A10 motorway, in Saintes, targeted during the night from Wednesday to Thursday the headquarters of Eau 17, the main producer of drinking water in the department (the Eau 17 union treats and delivers drinking water to 432 communes of Charente-Maritime).
Several trailers of bulky items were dumped in front of the accesses of this union itself located in Saintes.
In mid-December, the elected representatives of Eau 17 unanimously voted for an unprecedented motion to denounce "the inaction of the members of the majority union and the Young Farmers (JA) of the State" and to demand a ban on plant protection products. near drinking water catchments.
This text, while sparing farmers, was much more aimed at “the manufacturers of plant protection products and the State (…) responsible for water pollution”.
“They had the wrong target”
A similar motion was adopted by the departmental council in a watered-down version the following days.
The FDSEA 17 and the JA – who also targeted the Mutualité sociale agricole (MSA) – clearly did not appreciate it.
“We want a moderate discourse on agricultural practices, we do not need agribashing,” insists Alexandre Agat while assuming this modus operandi.
His slogan, modeled on the national demands of the FNSEA: “No elimination [of pesticides, Editor’s note] without solutions, and on the condition that they are economically viable and technically feasible,” specifies the vice-president of the FDSEA 17 which does not accept any parallel between the use of pesticides and air or water pollution.
Christophe Sueur, the president of Eau 17, for his part confirms the nocturnal action of farmers.
Also read: Our live monitoring of the farmers' anger movement
“We are not a state service but a water producer.
They hit the wrong target.
This motion was designed to challenge the State,” regrets this Oléron elected official while supporting the agricultural world.
The members of FDSEA 17 and JA intend to continue blocking the A10 this Thursday and take other actions to “show themselves”.
Alexandre Agat confirms this: “We will stay, unless the government announces interesting things to us.”