A tribute so as not to forget Amara Dioumassy, ​​51 years old, worker who died on the Austerlitz basin construction site

A ceremony was organized this Saturday to remember the memory of a Malian worker who died on the Austerlitz basin construction site in June 2023. This basin, which should make the Seine swimmable, will be inaugurated on Thursday. An investigation into this workplace accident is still ongoing.

Out of oblivion this “modest death”: supporters and family paid tribute on Saturday in Paris to Amara Dioumassy, ​​who died on the construction site of a basin intended to make the Seine swimmable during the Olympic Games, inaugurated with great fanfare next week. The team leader of Malian origin Amara Dioumassy, ​​51 years old and father of 12 children, died on June 16, 2023 in the Austerlitz basin, struck by a construction truck which was reversing without a reversing beep.

Around a hundred union activists and members of his family, some in tears, gathered on Saturday in pouring rain at the scene of the tragedy to demand “recognition and justice for Amara”.
“No action was taken for the family” And “her children are hungry”, said his brother, Bally, 38, wearing a CGT flag in a bandana. “We wanted to hide this death,” accuses Lyes Chouaï, CGT union delegate of SADE, a subsidiary of Veolia which employed Amara, and co-organizer of the tribute, interviewed by AFP.

A CGT activist called out to passers-by to remind them that a worker had died there almost a year ago, without arousing their interest. “He died at the foot of the forensic institute (site of the construction site, Editor’s note), they came to note his death, he was transported directly to the institute, from where he was sent back to be buried in Mali “says Lyes Chouaï, who worked with Amara.

The supporters of this experienced construction worker denounce serious safety breaches on this site managed by SADE, with the City of Paris as principal. Asked by AFP, the Paris town hall and Veolia recalled that the judicial investigation was still underway for “determine responsibilitiesensuring there is “fully cooperated”.

For Lyes Chouaï, Saturday’s tribute aimed to challenge “the maximum number of people in relation to this modest death next to these Games which will be seen by the whole world”. The ceremony comes on the eve of World Safety at Work Day, of which France is a bad student, with two people dying every day in the workplace, the worst incidence in the European Union.

The demonstrators also expressed “pain” And “anger“before the inauguration of the Austerlitz basin, scheduled for Thursday, during which the town hall said it wanted”pay homage” to Amara Dioumassy. “We were harassed by the Paris town hall to find out if the family could be there at the inauguration. It’s a little indecent,” believes Lyes Chouaï. “Shame on Paris town hall!”reacted Bally Dioumassy.

Unlike the vast majority of Olympic projects in Ile-de-France managed by Solideo, the public establishment responsible for infrastructure for the competitions, the Austerlitz basin is managed by the City of Paris. This construction site “really seemed unacceptable to us in terms of safety standards” and it was necessary “move quickly to meet deadlines”according to the unionist.

The van that hit Amara”did not have a reversing beep to alert of its passage, there was no marking on the ground of the direction of movement of the vehicles”, lists Lyes Chouaï. “Amara had stored equipment in a container, on the edge of a single traffic lane which was not demarcated between machines and pedestrians. he adds. After Amara’s death and the passage of the labor inspection which stopped the construction site for 10 days, “everything was put back into place gradually, but it should have been done from the start”, he laments.