REPORTAGE
It was three weeks ago. The capital of Chanteloup-les-Vignes, in the Yvelines, was destroyed during a fire. Europe 1 returned to the scene, after the shock and the emotion, to take the time to immerse oneself in the daily life of the inhabitants of the Cité de la Noé and to understand how it was possible to arrive there.
It is 5.30 pm, Place du Pas, in the heart of the city. Night falls but public lighting does not work, regularly broken by dealers. For locals, the atmosphere of the neighborhood changes dramatically. "We're totally in the dark, we do not see anything, we do not know if there are young people hidden in a corner, we do not see anything, it's a security problem to have no light in the winter. There is a danger! At 17:30, I'm at home and I do not go out, "said a resident.
"A small part imposes its freedom by violence"
This inhabitant is not the only one. Near the RER station, the inhabitants who come back from work are groping their way, forced to light themselves on the phone to go home. And once they are there, they stay there because at dusk, drug trafficking begins. The challenge for dealers is to maintain this darkness to operate quietly. Whenever the lighting was repaired, it was broken again. Intervention technicians have even been attacked. Since then, the provider does not want to intervene.
The authorities describe an essentially local traffic. We are far from what is called "a hub" but it is enough to disrupt the life of the whole city, said the mayor Republicans Catherine Arenou: "There is a population that suffers daily from a small part that imposes its freedom by violence and exactions.This is not tolerable.
Even more worrying for the city of Chanteloup-les-Vignes, this deeply rooted feeling that the real delinquents, outside the system, can mobilize the younger ones and topple them, during a night of violence like during the fire of the marquee , a center for the performing arts and circus inaugurated in 2018. With social networks, everything goes very quickly, the slightest incident can take enormous proportions, testify several interlocutors on the spot.
"We have to come talk to us, we are not savages"
But at the same time, when you talk to these young people about the nightmare of the residents, they are not at all aware of it. They argue that they are not listened to by the Municipality at all: "The people of Chanteloup do not care about the circus, there are other problems, the mayor should have done something more constructive for young people like job creation, before, there were ways, we traveled all the time, everyone could escape ".
Many people even call for dialogue: "We have to come and talk to us, we are not savages." The former mayor came from his town hall and came to speak to the young people. These arguments, the mayor hears them regularly and she says she is affected because she assures to give all she can for her city.
The former mayor, Pierre Cardo, 70, formerly retired, also on the right is a figure still very much appreciated. The day after the fire, he himself went to the city to meet young people, in the presence of the current mayor. There was then a real dialogue. But this link remains very fragile and the inhabitants of Chanteloup-les-Vignes expect much more.