Report of President Gibbs' trip to Paris

The President of the community went to Paris the last week of January, in order to continue the work of negotiation with the government on aid for the reconstruction of Saint-Martin.

Accompanied by the Director of Tourism, Ms. Stéphanie Bessière, President Daniel Gibbs was first received in the ministries, in order to present the 2017-2027 tourism development strategy, validated by the territorial council, last November. The President was thus able to present the challenges of tourism development and the needs of Saint-Martin to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Minister of Overseas Territories and Atout France, the main operator in promoting the French territory. The President was also accompanied by two local hoteliers whom he had invited to discussions on the problems and urgent needs in the field of hotel reconstruction.

Tuesday January 23, the meeting with the Minister of Sports, Laura Flessel, was constructive since the latter announced financial support to the community for the reconstruction of sports infrastructures. The community wanted to focus its first efforts on the Sandy Ground, Quartier d’Orléans and Marigot stadiums. In addition to the funds already available under the National Center for Sports Development (CNDS) and the donation from the French Football Federation (FFF), the minister announced an additional envelope of 500,000 euros earmarked by the ministry for the reconstruction of the installations sports. The Minister also announced the provision of an agent from the Sports Department to the community. Laura Flessel also supports the Center of Excellence through Sport project supported by the community and its President, in particular through the help of the UCPA training center which can provide logistical assistance to the community and partner associations, in the preparation of the project.

During this trip, President Gibbs also went to Bry-sur-Marne, Wednesday January 24, where he met the mayor Jean-Pierre Spilbauer to redefine the convention of twinning. Youth, at the heart of the public policies of the two communities, is the common thread of this new convention project, with the high points of sporting, linguistic and cultural exchanges between schools and young people of the two territories. This agreement will be the subject of an annual action plan, which will be prepared before the summer for implementation at the start of the school year in September.

The President wanted to thank the elected officials and the population of Bry sur Marne, for their mobilization after Irma. The city provided logistical support to the Maison de Saint-Martin in the management of donations and grants to the community. During his greetings, the mayor of Bry announced that his municipality had earmarked the sum of 85,000 euros for the reconstruction of Saint-Martin schools.

Thursday January 25, the President went to Brussels to meet European Commissioner Corina Crétu. The commissioner must defend Saint-Martin during her next meeting with Minister Mézard, in charge of Territorial Cohesion. It was therefore for President Gibbs to take stock of the available European envelopes. 49 million euros are planned for the reconstruction axis, for hurricanes Irma and Maria, the distribution between Guadeloupe and Saint-Martin will be done in proportion to the damage (around 46 million for Saint-Martin).
< br />Tuesday January 30, the President met the Head of State in the presence of the Minister of Overseas Territories, Annick Girardin, to take stock of the persistent problems in Saint-Martin, the progress and the priorities in terms of reconstruction.

The President also recalled the financial challenges of rebuilding public infrastructure (roads, school and administrative buildings, network installations). President Macron was made aware of the need to accelerate the reconstruction of public buildings and especially school buildings. The President of the community reaffirmed that he did not want a discounted return to school for the students of Saint-Martin.

By March 1, President Macron is committed to that insurance compensation payments, which are abnormally low, be accelerated. We are currently only at 20% disbursement, or 200 million out of a billion euros, four months after Irma (12% for hotels), this situation is “unacceptable”, commented Emmanuel Macron.

The President of the Republic heard the request from the President of the Community to protect aid from the European Union Solidarity Fund (FSUE), approximately 46 million euros earmarked for Saint-Martin, with a view to reimburse emergency expenses, in particular clearing.

The PPI and catch-up is currently being developed, it will be finalized at the beginning of March and presented in broad terms, during the interministerial meeting of March 12, 2018. The Community will be able to benefit from credits from the Major Investment Plan, in particular to accelerate the ecological transition. The community's public establishments and local businesses will also benefit from the support of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations.

The need to improve the statistical system was also recalled during this interview; solutions will be found with the government. President Macron also declared himself in favor of carrying out structuring projects to improve the tourist offer and optimize the tax exemption system (on demolition and hotel renovation in particular).

Finally the President of the Republic underlined the relevance of President Gibbs' initiative regarding the dematerialization of emergency aid (because