Politics

WORTHY SPEECH OF PRESIDENT MACRON IN GUYANA IN PRESENCE OF JCLAUDE JUNCKER

OF EUROPEAN COMMISSION PART 2

11/06/2017, 18:46 Time
Responsible Author: Rahma Sophia Rachdi, J Foster | Paris, Washington DC
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Collecitivity of Guyane French West Indies logo (Source: European Commission)

President Macron & JC Juncker
(Source: European Commission)

USPA NEWS - The French President Emmanuel Macron, and the European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker, meet at the European Space Station in Kourou, French Space station, on October 27th. The Commission wants to extend and adapt its action towards the outermost regions, as called for by the Treaty of Lisbon.President Emmanuel Macron has managed to make a trip with two challenges: to go to Guyana, despite the tense context, since recent riots and demonstrations of protesting groups Guyanese, to claim a better purchasing power and assert the role " played well "by France with regard to the Outermost Regions (ultra peripheral regions) of the EU. Here is the excerpt of the full speech addressed by President Macron in presence of Jean Claude Juncker, Part2.We publish in several parts the contents of his speech in several clips.

Map of Guyane
Source: refecttim

"Today, the Minister will sign with the territorial authority of Guyana an agreement that will release nearly 98 million euros, including 27 for the municipalities of Guyana, which is highly anticipated, we received long yesterday with the ministers and we are moving on this line. But I say this very clearly, the role of the state is not to hold unrealistic commitments and is in no way to give in to any pressure whatsoever, especially when they have not democratic legitimacy and those carried by elected officials. Also yesterday we have worked for several hours with the parliamentarians, the president Rodolphe Alexandre, the mayors, it is the interlocutors, it is the elected officials of the Republic." Explained French President Emmanuel Macron THE BILLIONS ARE THOSE OF THE FRENCH AND MUST PAY THEM IN THE END"--------------------------------------- "However, above all, I believe very deeply in a radical change of method, if the billions were enough to solve the problems, first whenever the President of the Republic moves he would have billions to distribute; but here I want to remind you that these billions are those of the French and the French, and that someone must pay them in the end and, therefore, that the activity should enable them to commit themselves" Continued President Macron, before he adds " But above all it is that much more widely, it is an in-depth action that supposes innovation, a reorganization of the State, communities, even a change in our collective mentality which is the condition for success. And what I want to build during the next 5 years and that's why I decided to come to this territory, known as the most difficult and the most crisis of overseas territories, from the beginning of the quinquennium accompanied by ministers. It's because I do not believe in old methods and, therefore, I will not make commitments that I will roll like balls that will never be kept. I will only take things that I will keep, as we saw yesterday, I committed myself to things that have already been voted or acted upon. But above all, I want it to be shared responsibilities, that we can together decide." ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT MUST BE BUILT BY SECTORS“ PRESIDENT MACRON SAID I want to come back to several elements that make up the future of Guyana, first and foremost the economy. Economic development must first be built by certain sectors, the wood industry. The Secretary of State to the Minister of State was yesterday especially with certain actors in the sector, we will put in place measures that will improve our organization. A decree will be signed before the end of the year that will raise the thresholds for the environmental assessment prior to the creation of runways. It does not cost a cent, but it is an illustration of what we must do to allow more growth in Guyana. It is not to promise hundreds of millions to make forest roads that, given the current constraints that are made for France hexagonal, would not allow in the five-year period to open these trails where these forest roads. It is to adapt our regulatory framework to the reality on the ground. The decree will be taken before the end of the year. The biomass industry is discouraged, you know the territory or for others may have discovered, I think we do not run out of wood. And so there is the possibility of developing a real biomass sector relevant to the Guyanese and Guyanese economy. The construction of biomass plants is validated by multiannual energy planning, by order of the Minister of Energy; then the file of the central is then instructed by the CREU (phon), then its financing is finally examined by Bercy under the tax exemption. WOOD SECTOR REPRESENT 3 €M FROM 2017---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This system today as it is done takes 4 years, 4 years, which means that if I had to commit at the end of the year or early next year, you would probably not see the day during this five-year period. Here too we will finish, this mechanism will be reformed so that these files are treated quickly, with a unique procedure of commitment. The Ministry of Agriculture has set up support for the wood sector, it will represent 3 million euros from 2017.------------------------------------------------------------- ACCORDING TO PARIS AGREEMENT FRANCE WILL STOP ISSUING NEW HYDROCARBONS With regard to hydrocarbons, France has undertaken to stop issuing new hydrocarbon exploration licenses in the Paris Agreement. We have therefore decided to be consistent with our international commitments; and that's the heart of the bill that was brought by the minister of state. We have fulfilled this commitment with the exception of acquired rights, in accordance with the law, such as the "French Guiana" license which had been granted to TOTAL since 2011. The new permits are not granted, the "French Guiana" license which is expected, relevant to the economy of Guyana and also because there are strong commitments of the company TOTAL in terms of impact on the economy and employment, has therefore been extended. The next step is the issuance of the authorization to drill and the decision will be made next fall. As far as the gold sector is concerned, I was there several months ago on the ground and everyone knows my commitment to the beginnings of the Montagne d'Or project; and yesterday the Secretary of State received several associations, very sensitive organizations on this subject. Government support will be conditional on the fulfillment of commitments, on the one hand by the Sustainable Mining Charter; and secondly, the ability of the project to respond to all the issues that will be raised during the public debate. The public debate is therefore conducted by the National Commission, which is an independent authority; and it will have to highlight the points of sensitivity in environmental terms, in terms of democratic acceptability, in terms of economic repercussions. And it will be necessary that the project - so that it remains acceptable and can advance - meets all these constraints. I invite the people of Guyana to take an interest in this debate, which is a moment of transparency and consultation. It aims to inform the public, also to evolve the project based on the opinions collected; and decisions will only be made after this one." explained french President Macron

Gold Mine Logo
Source: Gold Mine

THE LEGAL GOLD MINING SHOULD BE FEDERATED TO RESEARCH & PROMOTE BEST PRACTICES The State proposes to the actors of the legal gold mining a plan of sector on the model of the National Center of technological research which exists in New Caledonia on the nickel, which will make it possible to federate the research, to develop the activities in particular creators of local jobs; and to promote best practices, especially those that comply with the "responsible mine" charter At the same time, we intend to develop economic activities related to biodiversity and renewable energies. I mentioned biomass but we can do even more in this territory, which is one of the reserves of French biodiversity, both through the Amazonian forest but also across the coast and the maritime exposure of Guyana." President Macron stated He added " Our desire on this subject is to be able to create around the university a real cluster of skills that will allow to synergize the already existing laboratories, the teachers-researchers present, by also valuing - and the minister and his colleague in higher education, research and innovation will focus by the end of the year to make concrete proposals - the attractiveness for highly qualified positions; and by involving the Agency for Biodiversity, which will deploy agents in the cluster. It is around this pole of research that we will be able to develop economic activity, a better knowledge of the ground and what is a French force, a French wealth in the heart of the Amazon and in front of the ocean. FISHERIE IS A CRUCIAL SECTOR IN GUYANA---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Fishing is also an important sector that we will continue to structure, with help that will be evaluated and that will be part of the work of the conference and I will come back to it, but also with simplifications that we must implement. And in this respect, the dialogue we have had with the European Commission in recent weeks has been extremely productive and President Juncker will have the opportunity this afternoon to explain in detail the decisions taken by the Commission, which will allow part of renovating the fleets; and on the other hand to facilitate the work of fishermen, which is fundamental." President Macron explained.

Maripalousa's logo
Source: Guyane Tourism Office

PUBLIC WORKS MUST BE STRUCTURED ACCORDING TO MARIPASNULA´ S BUILDINGS The economy today is 90% nourished by the public order, we must - you have understood - develop sectors and develop private economic activity much more. Public works buildings are also an example, as we saw yesterday in Maripasoula, they are now dependent on public procurement but by structuring this sector, strengthening it we can also create more jobs. And this requires radical simplification measures: licensing, procedures, with the further development and acceleration of single certificate procedures." President

Reading
Source: Reading Writing

THE UNDER 20´S REPRESENT 42% OF THE POPULATION SO THAT EDUCATION IS THE KEY-------------------------- "I want to turn now to education, another essential component in a territory where the challenges are immense, since the population has more than doubled in 20 years; and today the under-20s represent 42% of the population in French Guiana, against about 24% in France, which shows you that the challenges here are profoundly new. In addition, this educational challenge in French Guiana is reinforced by the fact that French is not the native language of a large number of French or foreign inhabitants, because one speaks at home the Creole, the Portuguese, the bonus Saramaka, we saw it yesterday. And so there is a real challenge at school to learn the language of the Republic, which allows access to employment, be it the public employment of private employment and build one's life." Explained President Macron---------------------------------------------- And when we talk about opening up the territories, it is first and foremost through education that it will be done. And MP Adam is a great example and I am very proud that today he wears the colors of the Republic Marche on this territory, and we were yesterday on his land, we could see all the importance with the Ministers and in particular the Minister of National Education, the strength of the school of the Republic. That's why we made quick decisions to fund the internship of excellence where we were yesterday. The state will fund it in full so that young girls and boys in this very remote area can go to school in the Republic and learn. This is also why both the college and the high school will be commitments made during the five-year period, with the December call for projects to be launched for the high school of Maripasoula. In total, the State is financing an additional exceptional grant to the local authority of Guyana of 250 million euros over 5 years, for the construction of 10 colleges and 5 high schools, or 50 million euros per year from 2017.And it is also here that the biggest efforts for the 2018 school year were made in terms of hiring and opening of positions." Explained Emmanuel Macron, French President ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "An additional effort for the construction and rehabilitation of primary schools results in the revaluation of 10 to 15 million euros of the annual allocation to municipalities to build schools over 10 years, a commitment of 150 million euros. All this underlines the good implementation of the measure also of doubling of the classes which could be realized in more than 41% of the cases, 120 classes already work with numbers of 12 to 15 pupils; and we will accompany the communes - we talked about it yesterday with the mayors - who will have arrangements to make to go after this reform.----------------------------------- Staff management will also be modernized, new contract teachers will be appointed sooner, loyal to multi-year contracts, trained and accompanied before taking up their duties; and more flexible tenure procedures will be put in place, with an alternating apprenticeship system put in place at ESPE and with also the valuation of courses and hirings in French Guiana. And what I'm announcing for National Education is what we want to do across the public service, we want to maximize the value of career paths and careers, and I know that the Minister there is particularly attached, which will allow women and men born in Guyana to succeed in the civil service in Guyana. The speakers in mother tongue have finally been doubled in schools, with an investment of several million euros. The fight for education is absolutely fundamental and it is for me one of the priorities, if we want to make the territory of Guyana succeed." Emphasised President Emmanuel Macron

Disability Logo
Source: Handicap Ministry

A DONATION OF 25 €M FOR SUPPORTING HOSPITALS IS A PRIORITY IN GUYANA--------------------------------------- I come now to health, in Guyana the priority is support for hospitals. 25 million euros were thus donated in 2017 to the hospital center of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, to enable it to face its investment budget. The Kourou Medical and Surgical Center, which had been put up for sale by the Red Cross, was turned into a public hospital in early October. Finally, the Cayenne hospital benefited from an exceptional contribution, cash of 20 million euros and 40 million euros of financing of a special investment program were confirmed by the government." Added President Macron------------------------------------------ Commitments have therefore been fully committed to the health component. I hope that we can go further, the foundations of the Overseas should enlighten us on this subject, but already I wish that we could make the commitment to develop childcare and to finance them up to 40 million euros in the territories. We will also need to work on the demographics of medical staff and set up installation or mobility contracts, with 71 doctors per 100,000 inhabitants in French Guiana and nearly 3 times less equipped than the national average. GUYANA WILL BENEFIT FROM A €M 5 ALLOCATION FOR DISABILITY------------------------------------------------------ The intervention for disability will also be increased this year by 5 million euros; finally, it is clear that the attractiveness of our health system compared to cross-border countries also weakens the effectiveness for the Guyanese and Guyanese of this one. I mentioned it yesterday in Maripasoula, none of Kourou's elected representatives of the opposition were mistaken in thinking that it was Surinamese who came today to knock on the doors of the medical center, I confirm that the mayor of Maripasoula has spoken well of Brazilians, I invite you to go and question him. But what the mayor of Maripasoula described illustrates this tension, that the additional means that I evoked will not be enough to fill. There is today a hospitable or medical attractiveness of the French territory compared to Suriname and Brazil in particular, but also Haiti which makes that whatever the investments or the structures, we have an influx of women and men neighboring countries that cramps these services and does not allow Guyanese women and men to have the benefits and care to which they are entitled." promised President Macron." That is why we will develop a partnership with neighboring countries in this regard to better accommodate the patients it is necessary, but also invest in Suriname, Brazil in a very practical way to help create on-site medical centers and care quality ; and to prevent this influx of population from arriving, but also to experience a true border status for the health establishments present on the river. Again, we must be innovative, we can not continue - in particular Saint Laurent as Maripasoula to have the current operation, so we must be able to innovate and find a more suitable framework than today, it is one of the things I asked to write in the works of the conference." Added President Macron

Kourou Space Center
Source: Kourou Espace Net

A ROAD MAP WILL BE DRAWN FOR COMPLETING THE INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM--------------------------------Finally, we must continue the infrastructure program, I think the roadmap that must be supported in connection with the regional development plan and the revival of land. I mentioned it for a moment, the State has committed up to 300 million euros for the doubling of the Larivot bridge and the doubling of the national road 2. I also think of the work that municipalities do on the network water supply, I finally think of the construction of social housing for which the State is committed to doubling the financing in Guyana. This commitment will also be held." emphasised President Macron PRESIDENT MACRON LAUNCHES A NEW PHEDRE OLAN IN SPACE STATON KOUROU--------------------------------- In Kourou, I will launch the development of a new Phèdre plan, to further benefit Guyana from the presence of CNES beyond 17% of GDP, 1,700 direct jobs and 7,000 indirect jobs that are already related to the space base. But it is also better to mobilize the funding already in place, we will abound by 2 million per year, the equivalent of property tax revenue which CNES is exempted, or 10 million euros during the quinquennium the efforts made. But this new Phèdre plan must improve the return in terms of job creation and activities of CNES's presence." President Macro, stated THE MISSION FRANCE VERY BROADBAND" WILL MOBILISE €M 40 fFOR GUYANA------------------------------------- "The mission "France very broadband" for its part mobilizes 40 million euros for Guyana, for the coverage of telecommunications needs, 50% of this amount will be reserved for serving isolated territories. Finally 53 million euros will be delegated for the investment plan of the community. But also in terms of telecommunications infrastructure, I want us to be more innovative, it's not about going to get fiber everywhere, we also need to develop a low-altitude satellite coverage, which allows in areas particularly difficult to access to have a very high speed Internet and mobile phone coverage much more effective at lower cost." announced President Macron-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Land is also a particularly sensitive topic, the state is committed to transferring hundreds of thousands of hectares to communities and indigenous peoples, but where, how, to whom, in what time frame? All this is not decided today and all that has a value today. When I hear about numbers, I am surprised that we consider that several hundred thousand hectares would have no value when the State gives them, because it did not escape me that when local authorities in French Guiana, where private actors give way to them, they sell them for a fee." Added President Macron--------------------------------------------------- "Four general inspections are commissioned, they will be in Guyana at the beginning of November, they will meet all the actors. I propose the provision of land by the State according to a plan established with the communities, in the form of a call for applications; and the convergence plan could provide, for example, territorial land devolution schemes, but with real projects and coherence in relation to the priorities as I have just recalled, in terms of economic development and development of land. Guyana." Explained President Macron

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