Stéphane, a resident of the neighborhood, is angry. “I don’t understand why they did that…” sighs the one who regularly comes to lend a hand in sorting and arranging the objects placed in the donation cupboard. Located on Boulevard des Frères-Maillet, right next to the Kerfeunteun MPT, it allowed the deposit and exchange of books and various objects (crockery, board games, toys, clothing). A fire completely destroyed it during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday. The bus shelter, located across the street, was also damaged.
On Wednesday afternoon, city officials collected the rubble and cleaned the sidewalk. A “heartbreaking”, for Stéphane. This cabinet, which was one of the thirty-three winning projects in the city’s participatory budget in 2023, had been in place for only a few weeks, “but already, it had become a meeting place for many residents.”
“We are not going to abandon this project”
“It’s lamentable and disappointing, we are filing a complaint,” reacts Bernard Jasserand, deputy mayor of Kerfeunteun, for whom there is little doubt about the act of vandalism. “There was real citizen participation around this cabinet, residents installed shelves, others reinforced the roof. There was a bond that was created and it was really very encouraging”comments the elected official.
Beyond the cost of the installation (€2,500), it is “all the energy and all the work of the services which have gone away”. Bernard Jasserand promises: there will be another wardrobe. “We are not going to abandon this project. We’re going to work on it again, but it might be something different…”
Belgium
