Pastries, tea and smiles, lots of smiles. Under the barnum of the “parents’ café”, at the foot of the bars of the Grande Plaine, local elected officials and the prefect of Var are pampered by the women of the city. “This is Sainte-Musse: a welcoming place, where life is good”enthuses Linda Smadi, deputy head of the House of Public Services.
This Thursday morning, in this area east of Toulon, several associations wanted to pull out all the stops. The authorities, including the presidents of the Department and TPM, came to sign the City Contract, a document which sets in stone the continuation of public aid granted to priority areas, known as “QPV”, until 2030. Sainte-Musse in is part.
The delegation of suits and ties takes the opportunity to stroll through the district, considered not so long ago as one of the “hottest” in the metropolis.
Under a pair of shoes hung by the laces on the electrical wires – a signal sometimes used by dealers to indicate a point of sale – technicians from the Toulon Habitat Méditerranée (THM) HLM office present the renovation work on the entire La Poncette and its 198 housing units. The total renovation of the exterior spaces and habitats began at the end of last year and should be completed in the spring. Amount of this “very big operation”: 5.5 million euros.
Nine deaths in three years
Around the procession, police officers, in civilian clothes or in uniform, keep watch. But calm reigns between the buildings, where barriers and car wrecks have become rarer in recent times. On the terrace sipping coffee, Mehmet has lived here for fifteen years. And for him, it is clear: “It hasn’t always been like this, but for the past few months, it’s been very quiet.”
Some figures worthy of a large neighboring city don’t lie. Between 2018 and 2021, there have been nine deaths here, linked to drug trafficking. Since then, security has returned, thanks to the “republican reconquest” system and “clear square” police operations, assures prefect Philippe Mahé. However, there remain shadows on the board.
“There are lots of squatters in my building. We have fires regularly and we are afraid”laments Soumia, mother of four children and resident of the Grande Plaine. “Politicians promise and they leave”over Mehdi. “There is nothing for us here, especially no work.” In Sainte-Musse, 56% of 16-25 year olds are out of school and unemployed.
Emmanuel Lebot, “City Contract” project manager for the municipality of Toulon, is aware of the difficulty of the task. “But we work tirelessly so that things improve, to help associations, for social workers to talk to each other, for access to rights, for development projects to move forward… And we do all that on the basis of what the locals tell us.”
Another expert on the file summarizes: “It’s a neighborhood on a drip… And so much the better! It would only take that to stop for the whole building to collapse.”
“Positive discrimination is good”
In Toulon, ten sectors were chosen to become “priority districts of city policy”: Sainte-Musse; Beaulieu – Sainte-Marie; Saint-Jean-du-Var; La Rode; Le Jonquet – La Baume – Le Guyemer; La Beaucaire; the city center; Pont-du-Las – Rodeilhac; La Florane and Pontcarral. These “QPVs”, affected by poverty and, often, by insecurity, will be able to benefit from financial and structural aid established in the “2024-2030 city contract”.
This document is based on the following axes: ensuring public tranquility and security; improve the living environment; promote actions in favor of youth; support residents towards employment. For example, in the previous city contract (2015-2023), around 1.5 million euros annually were allocated to these areas by the State.
“It’s not the 16th arrondissement”
“I am for this positive discrimination”commented Jean-Pierre Giran, president of the TPM metropolis, signatory of the contract. “It seems legitimate to me that we can help people born in an environment which is not exactly that of the 16th arrondissement of Paris. »
And to continue: “We don’t want to climb a ladder when there are no rungs. As such, city policy is a fundamental bar. It must help ensure that Sainte-Musse becomes a neighborhood like any other. »
The prefect of Var insisted on the fact that the contract “ will make things visible and concrete “. As an example, he cited the shared garden project which is close to the hearts of residents, and which could see the light of day in Sainte-Musse in the coming months.
