the State announces an agreement to lower the price of food by 20%

This agreement was not ratified by the collective Rally for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources, at the origin of the mobilization since September 1, which called for “continuing the movement”.

An agreement without a way out of the crisis. The State assured on Wednesday October 16 that it had signed an agreement, in particular with distributors, to reduce food prices by “20% on average” in Martinique, the scene since September of a mobilization against the high cost of living. This agreement, signed at the end of a seventh round of negotiations, was announced by the prefect of Martinique, Jean-Christophe Bouvier. However, it was not ratified by the collective Rally for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources (RPPRAC), at the origin of the mobilization since September 1, which slammed the door and called for “continue the movement”.

“The accumulation of collective efforts provided for in the protocol will allow hypermarkets to make a reduction of 20% on average in the sales prices currently charged on a list of 54 product families corresponding to the most consumed food products in Martinique”wrote the prefect in a press release. The “protocol of objectives and means to combat the high cost of living”, in this territory where food prices are currently 40% higher than in France, was signed between the local prefecture, the Territorial Collectivity of Martinique and a battery of local players, ranging from distributors (hypermarkets and supermarkets in particular) to parliamentarians, including the Grand Port maritime and the transporter CMA-CGM.

“The lasting drop in food prices will result in particular, among others, from the entry into force of five major measures to structurally reduce the costs of purchasing and transporting the 6,000 imported food products (…) , as well as a firm and obligatory commitment from major distributors to significantly reduce their margins on the sale of these products”, specified the prefect. He also called for a “de-escalation of violence”, as the authorities extended a nighttime curfew on the island on Monday until October 21.

The RPPRAC was quick to react to this announcement: “The people in total disagreement (with the protocol) decided to continue the movement.” “We are asking that the minister (for Overseas Territories) travel to Martinique. As long as the minister does not travel, no one will be able to travel” on the island, declared to his supporters at the end of the negotiations the leader of the movement, Rodrigue Petitot. Filter dams have been multiplying in the region for a month.

If the RPPRAC did not initial the agreement, it is because it wanted the reduction in prices agreed by the State and the various local actors to concern “all food” and not just around fifty product families. “We are talking about 6,000 products out of 40,000,” lambasted the leader. “We are ultra-determined. We maintain the blockages, we maintain everything. The fight is until we win our case”he insisted. A position that worries the deputy for the North of the island, Marcellin Nadeau: “To the extent that the RPPRAC has not signed, we cannot say that we are out of the crisis.”