The coronavirus crisis is shaking up the process of merging Greater Friborg, an entity of 75,000 inhabitants, which will not materialize before 2023. The consultative vote in the municipalities, scheduled for May 17 but canceled due to pandemic, should be held on November 29.
The Covid-19 health crisis has hampered a “mature project”, deplored Thursday in Granges-Paccot (FR) Carl-Alex Ridoré, prefect of the Sarine and president of the Constituent Assembly of Greater Friborg. The steering committee decided to make the most of the project, with the setting of new stages in 2021.
The merger of nine municipalities into an entity with 75,000 inhabitants, including 38,000 for the city of Friborg alone, will not therefore occur before January 1, 2023, a delay of one year. “It is not cheerfulness that we take note of it,” noted State Councilor Didier Castella, in charge of the institutions.
Impact of the crisis
We must now analyze the impact of the economic crisis, in particular the fiscal aspect, noted Carl-Alex Ridoré. “Now can’t encrypt it”. The speakers deplored the turn of things, knowing that both the State Council and the Grand Council wanted to make an extraordinary financial contribution.
As it stands, the next municipal elections, which should have been part of the process, are maintained on March 7, 2021. This means that new elections could intervene, if necessary, in 2023 to fix the new authorities of the Grand Freiburg. Didier Castella spoke of maintaining the momentum gained.
“The route chosen by the steering committee is the most responsible but also the most difficult,” warned the prefect of Sarine, to make a flagship project for the canton of Friborg a reality. The other two scenarios would have been to act as if nothing had happened or to suspend the process “while waiting to see more clearly”.
Without Matran
“The next step will be to decide on the final scope of the merger,” added Carl-Alex Ridoré. “Clarify to better understand the situation”. Also on Thursday, the trustee of Matran Sébastien Dorthe, said in an interview in La Liberté that his municipality of 1,500 inhabitants intended to withdraw from Greater Friborg.
Didier Castella also said he wanted to seize the opportunity to link the project and reflections on the Friborg regions. Its management will present a detailed concept in the first half of 2021, by associating people working both for Greater Friborg and for the project to merge the municipalities of Gruyère.
For the record, the Grand Friborg project involves the merger of nine municipalities to form a stronger cantonal center. It initially included Avry, Belfaux, Corminboeuf, Friborg, Givisiez, Granges-Paccot, Marly, Matran and Villars-sur-Glâne. The observing municipalities are Pierrafortscha and Grolley.
