The Youth of Saint Barth take a stand

JEK

Senior Insider
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Their petition exceeds 2,200 signatures:
the youth of the island speak
This is a small group of about fifteen young Saint-Barth natives, aged 18 to 22. Under the collective name “Ouanalao’s Guardians”, they launched a petition to have the Emeraude Plage project scaled down. More than 2,200 people signed.
They all grew up on this island and are worried about their future. A group of locals, in their twenties, decided to enter the debate by writing an online petition to have the Emerald project revised down. In three days, more than 2,200 people signed, or more than 20% of the population. "When we got 200 signers, we already didn't believe it! "
Of course, the Emeraude project and its impact are worrying: fifty rooms (the old version of the hotel had 35), several swimming pools, a large underground car park, and two-storey buildings on the beach. "When I was little, my father used to take me diving to Saint John every Sunday. There was a whole herbarium in front of Nikki Beach ... Today there is nothing left, "regrets a young girl. "Before, we played soccer on the beach in Saint-Jean," recalls another. "We don't need more. There are enough of us, there are enough cars like that. Not to mention the issue of housing and infrastructure. Devé and Vitet regularly find themselves without water, we cannot manage the amount of waste ... "
If they do not have the idea of ​​canceling the project, they would like, to summarize, something more reasonable. Smaller, less energy-consuming.
The hotel buildings that will replace the Emerald Beach, road side. On the sea side, the project leader would have agreed to lower the height of the constructions, although he is not obliged to do so, explained Bruno Magras to the territorial council on Friday.
home. "" We feel dispossessed. People come to the island to invest, to make a profit. We no longer feel at home, we have the impression of being embarrassed, that we are not part of standing. We don't even know if we'll have the life or the means to stay, in the end. Our visions for the future are narrowed. "Our children will never know what we went through. We are the last generation to have experienced the beautiful, the true Saint-Barth. "
The group is part of this generation ultra-aware of the problem of global warming and global degradation of the environment. They do not understand the slow development of solar energy in Saint Barth, find that the protection of ecosystems is insufficient. They have known Irma, and fear the future. "Corals are not made to attract tourists but to protect the island. The coastline protects us, and I don't want this to be the case when other 5 categories will arrive. Some even talk about giving up parenthood in a world that is overheating. "We still haven't gotten around to banning single-use plastics. I am a gardener, I work in villas where the air conditioning turns H24, there is not even insulation ... "If they prefer to remain anonymous for the moment, the young people assume and defend
their positions. This choice is above all "because we have the impression that as soon as we open it, we are sent back to what our parents, our family could have done ... But we are not our parents , and we think for ourselves, adults and vaccinated. Besides, it sometimes happens that there are tensions at home ... "" We are not utopians, and we don't stop at building. It is not just a desire to point out mistakes. We just want it to subside. Called “Ouanalao’s Guards”, the small group said they were “determined” and clarified that this petition, which will eventually be sent to the President of the Community, is “a first step”.
Bruno Magras indicated during the territorial council that the owner of the future Emerald Beach agrees to file an amending building permit, which would lower the level of construction on the sea side. Not sure that this is enough to reassure young people. For its part, the Saint-Barth Essen- tial association has filed a generous appeal against the initial building permit.
When contacted, the petitioner did not reply.
> Online petition at www.change.org: “Review of the hotel construction project at Place de l'Emeraude Plage”.
“This type of project will impact our entire lives. We wanted to show that it was not only ten who thought that. We wanted to click. And then we have the impression of not having the right to speak, except during the elections. "
" We have the impression
to be in a Monopoly "The Emerald Beach is only a trigger for these young people. "We could have done the same for Autour du Rocher, the complex of villas in Flemish ... It feels like being in a Monopoly. They are killing the
charm of the island. And when there is no longer this charm, the hoteliers will leave but we will stay. "On a daily basis, they are feeling more and more" stress, everything must go quickly, the social bond is falling apart. "
“We see the degradations as we go along; the island is nothing like the one I knew when I was 10 - 12 years old, ”said one of them. “We saw all the debates on social networks, and between the inhabitants, but nothing concrete. We said to ourselves, is it not up to us to
taking action ? Because it is young people like us who will recover the broken pieces then. "
"We feel dispossessed"
Within the small group, some are studying higher education outside the island, others work in Saint-Barth. Some have obtained land from their parents, in order to build their houses there in the future. For the others, it is more complicated. "I buy, but off the island. I’ll come back, sure, but I know I could never live and build here.
 
Just - wow! 20% response with signatures is truly amazing. Perhaps Pandora’s Box has officially been opened? I hope they find great success in their endeavor.
 
The permits are everywhere. Fences. Rock piles.Cranes. Signs of development. The world has discovered this rock.
 
What was passed this year alone, in terms of permits was as I recall from another thread, over 200? Behind our Villa and up the hill a new one is being constructed and two doors to our right, facing the ocean a major redo.
Don’t know the local laws- once a permit is approved and issued, can it be canceled, especially after work has commenced?
 
It appears that the petition (found here) can be signed by anyone - one need not be an island resident and it can be signed more than once using different names/emails. So the statement that "in three days, more than 2,200 people signed, or more than 20% of the population" may be misleading.

The 2017
élections territoriales were summed up by saying the only opponent Bruno really had was abstention (although his total votes and % of votes did decrease). Votes were cast by 3685 of 5478 of those registered to vote. I believe the next elections are in 2022.
 
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