Question 6611 — overseas
France · National Assembly
Mr. Thierry Robert draws the attention of the Minister, to the Minister of State, Minister of Ecological and Inclusive Transition, responsible for transport, to the elements that occurred recently in the context of the construction of the new coastal road in Reunion (NRL), a project co-financed by the State, in accordance with the Matignon II agreements. On February 21, 2018, the vice-president of the Réunion region announced that it is strongly considered, by the community, to only deliver “half an NRL by 2020-2021”. This corresponds to the viaduct part; as for the dike part, it would be carried out later. To justify this announcement, the region cites the absence of materials to build the dike and in particular the inability to currently exploit the Bois Blanc quarry in Saint-Leu. However, the question of materials does not fall within the competence of the region to the extent that the contract signed for the completion of the NRL places responsibility on the companies awarded the contract. In addition, there are materials immediately available in Reunion to continue the NRL construction site, in particular massive rocks from the quarry exclusively dedicated to the NRL, on the Dioré site in Saint-André, authorized by prefectural decree dated December 2015. This is extremely important because raise the questions of securing a very busy and dangerous road, increasingly subject to the risk of rock falls or even collapse of sections of cliff, as well as the maintenance of local employment and particularly that of construction workers and transporters. Therefore, there is objectively no reason for the project owner not to sign the service order as quickly as possible so that the work of the dike can begin and not be postponed as was indicated. Also, he would be grateful if he could indicate to him, given that the State is a financial partner of the NRL, and therefore co-responsible for this project, what the Government is considering following this suspension of the construction site, as envisaged by the Réunion region.