Residents of the Joyful condominium in Aubervilliers demonstrated this Monday afternoon in front of the ANRU headquarters in Paris. They are mobilizing to save their place of residence.
The inhabitants of the Joyful condominium in Aubervilliers in Seine-Saint-Denis met on Monday at 1:30 p.m. in front of the headquarters of the National Agency for Urban Renovation. (ANRU). They intend to protest against the destruction of the co-ownership and their expropriation. According to them, itshe must to be recorded this Monday during a meeting between theANRU and the town hall of the municipality dionysian. Information denied by theANRU which ensures that the fate of the co-ownership is not on the agenda of the meeting.
Thus around thirty people who left Aubervilliers with their cushions and bolsters went to the 6th arrondissement of Paris to express their dissatisfaction with the “gentrification“d’Aubervilliers.”The town hall plans to move people further and further away to make way for more opulent homes.“, explains Yoann Pinaud, organizer and Director of the Citizen Alliance of Seine-Saint-Denis.
This building, built in 1954, houses people, mostly “very modest“, according to Amel Dogmane, resident for 27 years. This housing complex suffers from many problems including the wear and tear of the facade caused by time. “The dwellings are healthy inside, but it is their envelope and in particular the roof that needs to be rehabilitated“, she explains. Some Condominium units are also experiencing insulation issues.
The inhabitants ask that the project be revised taking into account their wishes. For some, living in this accommodation represent financial sacrifices for many years. “I went into debt for 25 years to buy this apartment, they will buy me the accommodation for a pittance and I will lose everything“laments another resident. A demolition project for the building had already been proposed in 2018. It was finally abandoned after consultation of the inhabitants by the city councilor of the time Meriem Derkaoui.
Following this decision, the co-owners then agreed to make significant financial contributions to a project to safeguard their place of residence. This project, whose work started a few months ago, aims in particular to consolidate the balconies as well as to secure the electrical installation and to insulate and redo the roof. “We have kept our commitments by each paying 5,000 euros in charges over the past three years, now it is up to the public authorities to keep theirs“Amel asks Dogmane. She also concedes that having to find housing would put a large part of the residents in a perilous situation.
The inhabitants also blame the regular changes of majority in Aubervilliers which, according to them, prevented the establishment of continuity in the backup plan.
For its part, the ANRU affirms that it has not yet received any request for the financing of the destruction of the co-ownership. Contacted, the National Agency for Urban Renovation specifies that it is studying the possible alternatives to meet the needs of the inhabitants. Finally, theANRU states that a file about the housing complex was sent to him a few months ago. According to the agency, the process towards a final decision will still be long, adding thatno decision has yet been taken.
Contacted several times, the Town Hall of Aubervilliers did not respond to our requests.
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