Anse-Bertrand (France) (AFP)

Edouard Philippe assured Saturday on his arrival in Guadeloupe that the government was taking "head to head" the subject of Sargassum algae and promised that "the accompaniment" of the State would "continue in the long term", without however 'advance on financing.

While a 10-million-euro plan to fight Sargassum strandings had been launched in mid-2018, to cover two years, the Prime Minister did not specify whether the envelope would be renewed when it expires.

But "the support of the state is very clear (...) and it will continue in the long term," he said during a visit to Anse-Bertrand (north).

"The right way to settle the subject is not to multiply the plans year after year," Philippe said.

"It is obviously necessary to support the local authorities to find immediate solutions but it is also to project oneself into the future and find long-term solutions," he added, pleading to treat this subject "at the international level" .

Mr. Philippe is also expected Saturday (16H30 local, 22H30 in France) at the end of the 1st international conference on Sargassum, which has notably rewarded 12 research projects to improve the knowledge and recovery of these algae brown, which once stranded release toxic and nauseating gases.

"Our goal is to tackle this subject head on," insisted Philippe, who noted the damage caused by the algae by visiting the restaurant "Chez Coco", nestled at the end of a lagoon and currently closed after having wiped out multiple claims.

"The mechanical removal of algae is a big problem, we lost 15 m of beach," said its owner, Romeo Rambinaising, showing impressive photos of Sargassum invasions in recent years.

Mr. Rambinaising hoped that "the government will continue the investments, that the losses of the companies are taken into account, that one finds a real system to manage the strandings". "We can not afford to continue in this situation," he said.

President of the Guadeloupe region Ary Chalus, for his part, said he thought the plan of 10 million euros, half of which would be shared by the state, the other half by the European Union and the communities, would be "renewed".

"This is a request I made personally to the President of the Republic," he added. "And it is clear that we will not stop here, otherwise it is the death of the economy in Guadeloupe, Martinique and others," he said.

© 2019 AFP