The announced decision by the PACA Region to remove security gates in train stations, a campaign promise implemented by Christian Estrosi, has not gone unnoticed.
The regional opposition, represented solely by the Front National, did not miss the opportunity to create controversy through the statements and writings of its regional group President Frédéric Boccaletti and its Vice-President, Philippe Vardon from Nice.
The two officials remind us that Christian Estrosi “had promised their installation within the first 6 months of this mandate in half of the PACA region’s TER stations, meaning 70. In reality, they were deployed in only 8 stations for 13 months.”
More specifically, Philippe Vardon revisits his intervention on this topic from the very first plenary session of the regional assembly: “we denounced a device far too costly for its real effectiveness. Based on the figures provided for the Arcs-Draguignan station, we had indeed estimated its cost at 100,000 euros per month for each station! We have always wished for a prioritization of human presence and have consistently demanded the reallocation of these colossal sums in that direction.”
The decision made by the current President of the Region, Renaud Muselier (“It is better to strengthen human controls and cameras. It is more effective and better suited to the threat”) can only please the two Frontist leaders: “not simply for the satisfaction of being right but because we believe it is a good decision, moving towards the safety of our compatriots.”
However, the final jab could not be missed: “We nonetheless regret that it comes so late, after (according to figures given by the Vice-President for Transport Philippe Tabarot) 3.7 million euros have been spent to satisfy the ‘Estrosi experiment’” – accuse Philippe Vardon and Frédéric Boccaletti.
Indeed, it would be better to think before taking action!
