President Daniel Gibbs welcomes the commitment of Electricians Without Borders in our territory

For 3 years, the Community of Saint-Martin has ensured that the projects carried out as part of the post-Irma reconstruction by the Fondation de France with donations from the French can benefit the most vulnerable families. The NGO Electriciens sans frontières has been working in this context in the territory of Saint-Martin since September 2017, to electrically secure houses damaged by the cyclone. ESF supplied and commissioned generators after Irma and distributed 500 emergency solar lamps to families in difficulty.

Thursday February 25, 2021, the first kit of solar lamps was installed at the home of our centenarian, Madame Dorcille Barry Mitchel, who has just celebrated her 103rd birthday. Territorial advisor Annick Pétrus, senator from Saint-Martin and sponsor of this operation, also representing President Daniel Gibbs, presented the material to Mrs. Barry Mitchel.

This project is carried out in partnership with the section SEGPA from the Mont des Accords college which works on the preparation and distribution of the kits, from the companies SMEC and Schneider Electric, and from the Compagnons Bâtisseurs. A diagnosis carried out by ESF volunteer electricians made it possible to target homes lacking electricity which will be the first to benefit from these installations. The second beneficiaries will be the healthcare workers working in private homes in priority areas of the city's policy, often forced to provide care in insufficient light conditions.

As a reminder: the installation of solar lamps is financed by donations from the French. Indeed, the Community of Saint-Martin, overwhelmed with pledges of donations from individuals and businesses in mainland France and the Antilles after Irma, had chosen to entrust this financial windfall (more than 12 million euros) to the Fondation de France, so that it can carry out projects for Saint-Martin and its population.

President Daniel Gibbs received Electriciens sans Frontières and its partners, at the Hôtel de la Collectivité, Thursday 25 February, to thank them for the work carried out in the region for the benefit of the most vulnerable households.