“Since the closure of Chu, people have been wandering in poorly lit parking lots”

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A rally was held in front of the town hall of Argenteuil (Val-d'Oise) before the municipal council, Tuesday, December 17, to “demand shelter for the homeless”. A demonstration following the closure of the Emergency Accommodation Center (Chu) on July 31, 2023, that the mayor of Argenteuil, Georges Mothron (Dvd), had justified it by explaining that the center no longer met its original purpose, believing that people were staying there too long, sometimes months or even years. The town hall also mentioned endangering staff and a lack of hygiene and safety. Xavier Péricat, 1^is deputy, explained that Argenteuil “takes its long-standing share for emergency accommodation, which is basically a State responsibility”.

“Six towns in Val-d’Oise have day centers, Cergy has three and the largest town in the department no longer has any…”

Created in 2009, the Emergency Accommodation Center “offered the basic minimum: a shower, a meal, a rest area, a washing machine to around a hundred people, including 18 in night care”, underlined the committee. defense of Chu, denouncing this situation: “six towns in Val-d'Oise have day centers, Cergy has three and the largest town in the department no longer has any…”

System D

The 18 people in night reception had been transferred to hotels in 115, and for day reception, it was either going to Cergy or Bezons, which were often full, or system D.

“People who wander”

Omar Slaouti, opposition municipal councilor (Dvg), returned to the subject, questioning the majority.

“There are, since the closure of the Emergency Shelter Center, people, you see them or you don't see them, or you pretend not to see them, who are wandering in basements, in poorly lit parking lots, sometimes in cars, or not far from the heat blowers at the exit of the stores. These homeless people, many of whom were housed, wonder, for some of them, I say this seriously, if the next day they will be able to wake up. Because we've had some intense cold weather lately and we'll have some soon. Mr. Mayor, do you plan to open gymnasiums as soon as the cold reaches unacceptable temperatures, to live and sleep outside, regardless of prefectural decisions, even if I know that it is not you who triggered the Extreme Cold Plan? Second question, you promised daytime reception in our city. To date there is none. Where will it be, who will it be run by and when will it open? »

“When will the day center open? »

Philippe Métézeau, former elected official (centrist) of the majority, also calls on the municipality. “Several elected officials gave very different reasons to explain the closure of the Argenteuil Emergency Accommodation Center. I will only remember the one given by the mayor: there was an urban planning project which required emergency closure (15 days!). Eighteen months have passed: no construction site, no building permit, no details… and the buildings in the center are still there, sadly empty! We could – at the very least – have kept them in operation as long as their demolition is not essential, if indeed it ever becomes so! »

The mayor discusses a project for a new day center with an association

Georges Mothron explained that “accommodation, in case of cold, is fully provided. We are opening gymnasiums in Argenteuil, as we have already done on numerous occasions. It is planned this way, with partners who come to help us welcome families. »

“On the Chu, I tell you again that it was not within the competence of the City to manage it. We had a meeting a few weeks ago to ask an external partner, accustomed to managing day care centers in Val-d'Oise, to make us a proposal. We expect it in the coming weeks. We will come back to give the explanations, in a very short time, in this Municipal Council and at the Ccas.”

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