*It could be read in Nice Matin* * that a dojo was inaugurated in the Liserons neighborhood at the far east of the city of Nice. All the elected officials, very pleased with themselves, came to inaugurate it, ensuring, as usual, that the neighborhood was particularly cleaned before the arrival of the mayor and his deputies. The mayor himself, Christian Estrosi, had made the trip for this occasion, the last time he came being to denounce the drug trafficking that plagues this neglected area of Nice.
There is nothing to criticize about the speech the mayor gave on this occasion, a speech built around the federative values of sport, which I fully agree with, it must be said.
Nevertheless, I think this inauguration was an absurdity and I will explain why.
First of all, and this is the main reason, itโs the location chosen to set up this dojo, and in particular the path to access it that seems to me to be an aberration. It was set up in the place where the association โActivities for Allโ used to be. However, one cannot enter it by the road leading to Mont Gros. One must make a detour and either pass in front of the two buildings (7A and 7B) to go to the interior courtyard located below the highway off-ramp or pass by an abandoned garden that has been unlit for many years. And itโs also the place where deals take place every day.
Seriously, put yourself in the shoes of these parents for two minutes, would you send your children to practice judo there knowing that, to access the hall, your children had to pass by these deal points every day? Would you be so reckless to make them risk ‘normalizing’ this type of trafficking in their minds? Worse, would you risk letting your child one day be โrecruitedโ into this lucrative business?
If such an absurdity could be realized, it’s because the project was designed in the offices of the town hall by a few people who did not bother to consult the residents of the neighborhood beforehandโthe primary ones concerned, it seems? Indeed, the residents were not even informed of this inauguration. Only a few were informed on the same day. Even the only association in the neighborhood, Galice, had not been informed.
Finally, it should be known that this dojo cost about 34,000 euros and that the building it was installed in is located in a building that will be demolished in a few months! Was there not any other place where this project could have made sense over time?
In conclusion, even though the project itself is commendable, this project as implemented is utterly absurd and shows a lack of understanding of the reality on the ground.
If our political leaders took the time to truly consult the residents of a neighborhood before coming to grandly inaugurate a dojo that does not meet any demand, if they were truly listening to the voters (since it hasn’t escaped anyone that this inauguration comes three months before the municipal elections), this inauguration would never have taken place.
To not end on a negative note, come listen to the residents of the neighborhood and tackle the real problems that spoil the lives of these forgotten people of Nice.
Fouzia Ayoub, association Nice au coeur