Government News: Top Stories

French riot police arrive in Caribbean territory
by Rodolphe Lamy

The Associated Press Translate This Article
13 February 2009

FORT-DE-FRANCE, Martinique (AP) - French riot police landed in the Caribbean territory of Martinique on Thursday to keep the peace as unrest over the high cost of living escalated and a strike kept shops and some schools shuttered.

The turmoil has led about 10,000 tourists to cancel vacations in Martinique and Guadeloupe, another French Caribbean territory hit by a strike, according to the National Travel Agencies organization.

Martinique's police chief, Col. Francois-Xavier Bourges, said 10 people have been detained for looting and stealing gasoline. Garbage piled up in the streets, and supermarkets were closed for the eighth straight day.

The deployment of 130 French riot police aims to 'ensure that order is maintained,' said France's minister for overseas territories, Yves Jego, who arrived here Wednesday night.

The French islands have a high cost of living and use the euro. Many islanders' feel their salaries are not keeping up with rising prices for food and other goods.

Business leaders in Martinique agreed to lower the prices of 100 products—including food items—by 20 percent after government and transportation officials said they would reduce freight costs, according to trade union president Alain Coridon.

But protesters also are demanding a monthly increase of nearly $580 each for minimum-wage workers and a reduction in water and power bills.

The organization behind the strike that has paralyzed Guadeloupe for more than three weeks suspended negotiations on Thursday with mediators appointed by the French government, an official from the island's Regional Council said. The official was speaking on the condition of anonymity according to council policy.

The group, known by the initials LKP, is demanding that the government back up a preliminary accord hammered out with the island's employers' union last weekend. The deal, which would have raised salaries of some 45,000 workers by nearly $300 per month, fell apart after the employers' union demanded the government help defray the extra cost by slashing payroll taxes.

The French government ruled out any such measure.

The LKP could not immediately be reached for comment.

Hotelier Club Med said the work stoppage forced its resort in Guadeloupe to close in late January but its Buccaneer's Creek resort in Martinique remains open.

___

Associated Press writers Christophe Langlois in Basseterre, Guadeloupe; Sophie Tetrel in Paris; and Andrew O. Selsky in San Juan, Puerto Rico, contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Global Good News comment:

For Maharishi's Vedic Approach to solving the problems of today's news, please visit:
http://maharishi-programmes.globalgoodnews.com

For information about Maharishi's seven-point programme to create a healthy, happy, prosperous society, and a peaceful world, please visit: Global Financial Capital of New York

Translation software is not perfect; however if you would like to try it, you can translate this page using:

(Google)
(Altavista babelfish)