cost of living in Martinique has brought thousands of people onto the streets”/>
Thousands of residents of Martinique, a French overseas territory in the Caribbean, demonstrated in the administrative center of Fort-de-France against the high cost of living.
As Day.Az reports, Le Monde reports this with reference to Agence France Presse.
“Thousands of protesters gathered in Fort-de-France on Saturday to continue their movement against the high cost of living,” the agency writes.
It is noted that the demonstrations are taking place despite the recent agreement between the French authorities and sellers to reduce food prices in Martinique. The agency emphasizes that the agreement was not signed by the Movement for the Protection of People and Resources of the Afro-Caribbean Territory (RPPRAC), which called for a demonstration on Saturday.
According to movement leader Rodrigue Petitot, quoted by the agency, the price reduction agreement covers only a portion of the goods sold in Martinique.
Earlier, the prefecture of Martinique extended the curfew for a week, until October 21, amid unrest on the island due to the high cost of living. Since October 7, protests have flared up on the island again. Protesters burned the island’s prefectural building, as well as four police cars parked next to it. Local authorities imposed a curfew on October 10 after 26 law enforcement officers were injured during clashes with protesters.
Since the beginning of September, protests have continued in Martinique due to rising costs of living, especially food products. Protesters attack police using live ammunition. Against the backdrop of the pogroms, the French authorities, for the first time in 65 years, ordered a special detachment to be sent to Martinique to suppress CRS protests. To reach agreements on measures to reduce prices, several meetings have already been organized with the participation of government departments, local authorities, business representatives and the “Union for the Defense of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources,” which was the initiator of the protests.
According to the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Research (Insee), food prices on the island are 40% higher than in France itself. This is due to the so-called “maritime tax” – customs duties on the import of goods into the French overseas territories of Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Mayotte and Reunion. It is one of the oldest levies in the French tax system, introduced in 1670 in Martinique. Initially, this measure was supposed to be temporary. The tax is imposed on a huge number of goods imported from France. So, the markup on cookies, for example, is 15%, and on cigarettes – 50%.