Movement against the high cost of living: why Martinique is on fire

In Martinique, the fight against the high cost of living and the price gap with mainland France is at the heart of a movement that is gaining momentum.

A movement against the high cost of living is setting Martinique on fire. With violence increasing. Just last night, fires broke out in several neighborhoods of Fort-de-France. The police and firefighters are on alert and are often targeted. On Monday evening, six police officers were injured by pellet gunfire. Last weekend, a police station was targeted by two live ammunition shots according to the prefecture. Roadblocks have been set up and the images may recall the beginning of the protests in New Caledonia, even if the causes are very different.

The issue is the purchasing power of the people of Martinique. Since September 1, more than the police, the protesters have been targeting food distribution. At the Grand Port Maritime de Martinique, through which almost all goods pass, a container was reportedly robbed. A roadblock has been set up on the main route between the south and the north of Martinique. Hypermarkets were blocked last weekend at the call of the Rally for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources (RPPRAC).

What are these protesters, recognizable by their red clothing, actually demanding? Last July, the RPPRAC warned, in the midst of the national political slump, with a letter addressed to large retailers to obtain the alignment of prices with those of the mainland from September 1st. “A fantasy”, says the president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Martinique. At the RPPRAC, transparency is also demanded. Several meetings have been organized with the State and food distributors. But regularly, the representatives of the movement leave these meetings at the beginning. They demand each time that they be filmed and broadcast. They are refused, they leave…

Cereals, school supplies… Huge price differences between mainland France and Martinique

In Martinique, the price gap with mainland France is 14% according to INSEE, in a 2023 report. And 40% for food products. There is worse than these raw figures: since the 2010s and, already, mobilizations against “La Vie Chère” and “Profitation” in the Antilles, the price gap has been increasing. The press offers many telling examples. In Le Monde, the price of locally grown zucchini, above 7 euros per kilo. In Ouest France, a pack of 6 1.5-liter bottles of water sold for 11.10 euros, when the same brands display a price of 3.66 euros in mainland France.

On the KiPrix.com website, a database that compares prices between mainland France and Martinique, your entire shopping cart is included. Children’s breakfast cereals: 115% more expensive. Barilla pasta shells: we’re doing x2. School supplies are seasonal: 80% more expensive in Fort-de-France than in mainland France.

One in four Martinicans lives below the poverty line. So what are the solutions? There is already a “quality-price shield”. It is a system for moderating the prices of a basket of food products, baby products, hygiene products. It moderates prices, it does not lower them… The prefecture, the voice of the State, distributors and communities are committed to “a 20% reduction on average in the price” of 2,500 basic necessities.

There is also a lead on the octroi de mer. It is a legacy of the colonial era: a tax on products, whether imported or not. And it is an essential resource for local authorities. But the Territorial Collectivity of Martinique is ready to accept a “removal of the octroi de mer rates on 54 families of products”. According to the prefect, a flash mission of tax and financial experts must be conducted to “go to the end of what is possible” and “to propose something solid”. To whom? “To the minister who will take office”.