The mayor of the city of Loiret, hard hit by the urban violence triggered by the death of Nahel, estimates that the bill amounts to between 5 and 10 million euros.
The government will unveil this Thursday, after the Council of Ministers, its emergency bill to accelerate reconstruction, after the urban violence that affected several cities in June. The executive intends to release aid quickly and lift certain blockages to avoid delays.
>> “There is no magic solution”: mayors in full introspection, after the urban riots which shook their commune
Welcome adjustments for certain municipalities particularly affected by the riots. This is for example the case of Montargis (Loiret), where the diggers are already active. Right in the city center, a cloud of dust rises from a shopping street and passers-by have to cover their mouths and noses. “Here was a drugstore. The building was in danger of collapsing, they had to put up props”details a resident.
Not far from there, the mayor Les Républicains of the city observes the scene. As every day since the riots, Benoît Digeon comes to see the progress of the work and try to reassure the traders. That day, it was a manager of a phone shop who was worried. His store has been looted and he fears his insurance won’t cover everything: “We are preparing all the files, we have filed a complaint and made pre-declarations of loss. But contractually, we will have to pay deductibles”. The city councilor for his part tried to put pressure on the insurers: “We wrote to France Assureurs (the organization that represents insurance) to ask them to push all the companies. We want the deductibles to be abolished.”
Rebuild “quickly”?
On the night of June 29 to 30, more than 200 rioters ransacked businesses: several buildings will have to be demolished after being set on fire. Street furniture has also suffered greatly: sprayed bus shelters, potholed sidewalks, damaged parking meters. It will be difficult to restore everything quickly, according to Benoît Digeon: “Rebuilding quickly does not exist, we cannot break the rules. Our objective is not to circumvent the old spirit of the city center”.
The mayor of Montargis has made his calculations: to rehabilitate the damaged public space, he will have to pay 450,000 euros. A substantial budget for the municipality, Benoît Digeon therefore appeals to the State and hopes that the emergency bill will make it possible to accelerate the reconstruction of the municipalities victims of the rioters. “The state must help us!he pleads. These are very heavy expenses. We helped individuals to relocate, and we have 420 people who work at the town hall and to whom we had to pay a lot of overtime.
Private and public damage combined, the damage to Montargis is estimated by the town hall between 5 and 10 million euros. A drop in the overall bill: according to the federation of insurers, the damage linked to the urban violence which followed the death of a teenager killed on June 27 by a police officer will cost 650 million, more than double the 280 million euros anticipated last week. The professional federation has counted 11,300 claims declarations. The nine tenths”of the cost of this urban violence concern the 3,900 property of professionals and local communities affecteds”, said the president of France Assureurs, Florence Lustman, on franceinfo.
In detail, claims on professional property represent 55% of the 650 million euros mentioned, and those on the property of local authorities 35%, specifies France Assureurs. The rest mainly concerns damage suffered by individuals for their personal vehicles.