Le Figaro Marseille
“We widely support this project. It was a surprise to see it suddenly stop
,” whisper activists who came to support the cause of the shooting room in Marseille, near the municipal council of the day which was held out of sight.
Around a hundred of them were present to show their affection towards a project now on hiatus, organized around a brand new collective called
“
I say yes
”
.
“We represent the people of Marseille who are disgusted by the town hall’s reversal on this subject. We have long based the project on associations, but we must remember that it is above all a promise of the Marseille Spring campaign
,” explains Omar*, member of the collective, to
Figaro
.
“We want to show that behind this experiment are also Marseillais who voted for it.
We hope that they will wake up
,” he continues, referring to the setback inflicted last January, when the opening of this shooting room was delayed due to reservations from the Ministry of Health about its location.
Initially planned at 110 boulevard de la Libération, in the 4th arrondissement, the
“addiction care center
” (HSA) found itself without a roof overnight, in particular due to a strong mobilization of residents of the neighborhood who did not did not want, dismayed by the choice of exporting such a place far from the places of consumption in the city center and close to hundreds of children attending schools sometimes located only a few hundred meters from its doors.
This is a project that I am leading and I will make sure to continue to carry it out.
Michèle Rubirola, first deputy mayor of Marseille
“We were disappointed: we had found a place that could accommodate people without causing public security problems. It could also have worked in the 4th arrondissement
,” insists Stéphane Akoka, director of ASUD Mars Say Yeah, the association leading the project with Marseille town hall.
“We had made very good progress and we regret that it took so long.
This project could have opened in 2016. How many overdoses could have been avoided with its installation?
, he asked Le
Figaro
.
“Everyone agrees that this room is necessary, but everyone wants it to be far from home.
We must assume the position of carrying the project
,” he concludes with regret.
Disappointed but not discouraged, the association has just proposed eleven new potential locations to the steering committee set up to carry out the project.
As revealed in a letter revealed by
BFMTV Marseille Provence
and which
Le Figaro
was able to consult, the proposals are now refocused around the 1st and 3rd arrondissements of the city.
A step backwards for the supporters of the HSA, who had already thought about this perimeter a few months ago, before packing up on Boulevard de la Libération.
A proposal that one of the emblematic figures of the shooting room in Marseille, Michèle Rubirola, has not yet even consulted.
The first deputy mayor, sent to the front by the municipal majority to defend the HSA tooth and nail, told Le
Figaro
to wait for the newly relaunched steering committee to coordinate to meet.
“It’s a project that I’m leading and I’m going to make sure I continue to carry it out
,” she soberly commented.
A meeting with Sabrina Agresti-Roubache planned soon
Behind, the troops mobilized to bring the project to life in the public space do not hide their bitterness after having their hair beaten by opponents in the shooting room.
“We want to show Michèle Rubirola that we support her too.
Dozens of people mobilized against the HSA by saying anything and having made intolerable comments
,” underlines Omar, referring to the citizen collective Enfants Libération, made up of parents and traders firmly opposed to the opening of the HSA in their neighborhood.
The latter, who won their case after a long fight which gradually became politicized in spite of themselves, were received this Friday by the Secretary of State for Citizenship and the City, Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, on a visit in Marseille this weekend.
The
“pro”
shooting rooms, for their part, also hope to be received by the minister.
According to our information, the office of the Secretary of State has established ties with the representatives of the
“I say yes!” collective.
, without agreeing on a meeting date.
In the meantime, the activists tried to challenge the municipal majority by carrying out a
“die-in”
just in front of the doors of the municipal council, simulating death by lying on the ground to symbolize
“the tragedies of the victims of stigmatization, making physically taking into account the number of lives lost and the importance of acting to offer them a place of care in Marseille
,” as described in a press release.
The future of the project has never been so uncertain.
*
The first name has been changed