For several weeks, local officials have been insulting each other in the press about the price of a gas bottle. At what point will they tell the truth to the people of Reunion about the constant increase in the price of energy on a global scale? All nations are looking for less carbon-intensive and cheaper energy to run an economic system that is predatory of natural resources and above all exhausted.
As a reminder, according to the International Energy Agency, natural gas is the fossil energy that has progressed the most in the global energy mix for 45 years. It currently represents 24% of global energy demand after oil (33%) and coal (25%). The increase in the price of gas is indeed a global phenomenon that the elected representatives of Reunion Island are not afraid of, unless they are “good gods”!
What worries us are the comments about the universal nature (that is to say for everyone) of the 15 euro gas bottle. It is populist to want a 15 euro gas bottle for everyone. We say it with courage, many Reunion Islanders are able to pay between 18 and 20 euros for their gas bottle. The support of local authorities must focus on the most vulnerable groups (seniors, single-parent families, young workers, students, job seekers, poor workers) but not the well-off and very well-off people.
Wanting the universality of the 15 euro gas bottle means supporting the richest, pillaging public accounts and fattening the oil multinationals. In a context of instability in the financial resources of local authorities, taking more targeted and better controlled measures would benefit all Reunion Islanders.
The approach of the Departmental Council of Reunion Island, which aims to support the most vulnerable people via CAPAH, seems fairer and more responsible to us. It should nevertheless be extended to the different audiences mentioned above.
The globalization of the Reunion economy, the geopolitical instability that reigns around our island, the acceleration of the effects of climate change and the erosion of biodiversity and natural resources, require us to implement public transition policies. courageous and immediate ecological and social. The citizen voice – Réunion is working on its new social and ecological contract for all the inhabitants of Réunion. Contract based on respect, fairness and solidarity.
Giovanni Payet
President of Citizen Voice – Reunion.
Readers' Letters
