The mayor of Hensies believes that the Federal government is accumulating errors in the management of this crisis.
A monumental quack, one more. When interior minister Pieter De Crem announced that border visits would be authorized again this Saturday, hundreds of Belgians were turned away in total incomprehension on the French border. After a chaotic announcement, Minister Philippe Goffin finally said in the middle of the afternoon on Saturday that the authorization only concerned the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany. The borders of France will remain closed until June 15 at least.
On the ground, local authorities and police zones are exhausted. “It’s amazing, we can clearly speak of a fault on the part of the Federal”, deplores Éric Thiébaut (PS), mayor of Hensies. This Saturday, the latter was contacted by a large number of citizens wishing to obtain confirmation of the possibility of crossing the border to see relatives or go shopping. “I did not receive the information, I read it like everyone else in the press. Since the announcement came from a minister, we assumed it was true. “
A few hours later, the bourgmestre was contacted by citizens who had been fined. “It was not until 2:30 p.m. that we received the Royal Decree. It’s crazy to have communicated in this way without having obtained the agreement of the French Minister of the Interior. This is too much of a hiccup in an already chaotic management of the crisis. This completely discredits the political world. It is dangerous for democracy because people are tempted to vote for extremes, populist parties. “
For Éric Thiébaut, the Federal government therefore does not play its role. “Between the misunderstanding of those involved in education who are made to take drastic measures to return to class before sweeping everything with the back of their hand and the catastrophic management of masks, … The cup is full. We are still waiting for the masks promised by the government. If the municipalities had not taken the lead, our caregivers, our citizens would still be waiting. Enough is enough.”
An observation shared by other mayors, more particularly in the Hauts-Pays region where the cross-border reality is a fact: the mayors of Hensies, Quiévrain, Dour and Honnelles had already decided to go it alone in the management of this crisis by making it mandatory to wear a mask in confined public places. A decision that had been challenged since it went beyond the recommendations issued by the federal level …
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