Fort-de-France (AFP)
The supply of fresh produce to stores in Martinique is limited by the strike against the pension reform in French ports and the shelves are gradually emptying, noted an AFP journalist.
In place of yogurts, desserts, hams, butters or cheeses, we find in almost all the stores of the island the same type of poster: "Dear customers, because of social movements in the hexagonal ports, we are not able to offer you all of your usual products. We apologize for the inconvenience. "
For the time being, boats with a precise rotation schedule leave from mainland ports, notably Le Havre, with half-full containers, which does not allow the shelves to be filled. "We are on a weekly order cycle for fresh food. Today we have slowed down or even stopped orders while waiting for the situation to recover," says Laurent Bodec, Hyper U store manager at Fort-de-France.
On the shelves, only locally produced products remain. But the local market is not able to replace the thousands of tonnes (22,500 in 2014 according to a report by the Food Directorate) of milk, dairy products, eggs and honey imported each year by the large distribution in Martinique.
If the situation were to recover tomorrow, it would take 12 to 15 days for the shelves to be supplied again, specifies a local source close to the file.
In the meantime, if the impact is immediately visible on products with short expiration dates, it could also, in a few weeks, be felt on the shelves of dry or hygienic products, also imported, but whose stocks are for sufficient time.
The National Federation of CGT ports and docks on Thursday called for a "dead ports" operation on January 9 to protest against the government's planned pension reform plan. Dockworkers had already stopped work on December 5, 10, 12 and 17, dates which corresponded to national interprofessional calls.
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