There are struggles that unite. The one initiated by the Beaucaire collective to protest against charges that had exploded is of this type.
It was last May that this collective was created by committed tenants. “We wanted to understand why and especially how to pay these exorbitant bills”says Sonia.
Months of fighting and mobilization then took place to obtain answers from the social landlord Toulon Habitat Méditerranée.
With a victory announced at the end of 2023: charges, indexed to gas (1) will be able to benefit from the tariff shield. A relief shared by the inhabitants of the Berthe city in La Seyne, who are also affected.
The fight goes on
“Those who have started paying will be reimbursed, we were told,” welcomes Naziha, also a member of the collective. Despite everything, she remains cautious: “We will be careful to ensure that it is effective. The idea today is also to change the contract and review the indexation. Because we are afraid that it will start again.”
Supported by elected officials from the opposition (Toulon in common or even Hakim Bouaksa in La Seyne) and political parties (La France Insoumise), the collective would like, from now on, their heating like their hot water to be indexed on the calculation of costs of energy production by the incinerator. “But above all, assure Sonia, We want to transform ourselves into an association to continue our actions.”
For Naziha as for herself, the problems linked to heating bills were “the straw that broke the already full camel’s back.”
“The concerns in Beaucaire have been accumulating for years. We are not heard and more than that, we feel completely abandoned”explains the mother.
And to continue: “There is no work but patching up. We live with rats and bedbugs, the heating works randomly, maintenance is not done regularly, the elevators are continually broken down… No matter how much we complain, no matter how much we ask the landlord, nothing gets done. We want to ensure our rights to live with dignity prevail.”
The future association hopes to create a link between THM and the often disillusioned residents. “We need to change things. We love our neighborhood and we deserve to live well there”assure the two women.
1. While Beaucaire and 80% of the Berthe city in La Seyne are heated by the heat produced by the Lagoubran incineration plant, the price of charges is indexed to gas. With the war in Ukraine, it soared.
Vigilant elected officials
In their fight, the inhabitants of Beaucaire and the city of Berthe were supported by Magali Brunel, Philippe Leroy, André de Ubeda (elected representatives of Toulon jointly), Hakim Bouaksa (elected opposition official in La Seyne) as well as by La France Insoumise. For them, the fight is not over either.
“There remains a lot of work to be done in the neighborhoods,” justifies Seynois. “We must open them up. This is a political choice”, adds Magali Brunel. André de Ubeda insists on broadening the debate: “the question of housing, particularly social housing, is paramount in our department”.
2024-01-13 22:49:58
#tenants #association #live #dignity #district #Toulon
