- Benjamin Griveaux offers a "municipal public service to eradicate pests including bedbugs in apartment buildings".
- For several months, the LREM candidate for mayor of Paris has been fighting against bedbugs. And for good reason, he was himself very recently a victim, he confirms at 20 Minutes.
- "We must talk about it so that people are not ashamed to say it," insists the MP for Paris.
" It's a nightmare ". Benjamin Griveaux does not mince words on the phone. For the past few months, the LREM candidate for mayor of Paris has been increasing positions in the National Assembly, in his municipal campaign and even displayed unexpected rapprochements and agreements with ... France Insoumise engaged since July on a specific subject: The bedbugs, those critters that feed on human blood at night and were already on earth 100 million years ago. And for good reason. Benjamin Griveaux was himself recently a victim, he confirms at 20 Minutes.
Le Point quickly reported on this in October 2019 with an article on its “real enemies”. But on the eve of the presentation of his measures for cleanliness in Paris, Benjamin Griveaux returns to 20 Minutes on this episode of his life which took place last summer, at the start of a campaign ... hectic. He, who recently decided to "split the armor", according to his entourage, to evoke "his anxieties and his failures", as he recently said in a meeting, seems to want to grasp the subject of bedbugs. “You have to talk about it so people aren't ashamed to say it. When I first talked about it at a dinner party, suddenly the word went free. It has nothing to do with hygiene, but you have to talk about it to act effectively, ”he says. And to clarify: "I am asymptomatic, when I get bitten, it is not seen. This was not the case for my children and my wife. It is quite traumatic to wake up in the morning covered with pimples. ” A subject behind him?
100,000 infested sites in Ile-de-France
"I got rid of it. But it took three months. This is all crazy, ”says the man who also mobilized as a member of parliament on the subject. Via a question submitted on October 22, 2019 to the Ministry of Solidarity, Benjamin Griveaux drew attention to the phenomenon of the resurgence of… bed bugs in France and Ile-de-France. “In Paris, more than in other French cities, specialists even qualify the infestation as explosive. And for good reason, the increase in international travel, the exchange of apartments, the use of public transport, the purchase of second-hand furniture, the barter of clothes, the purchase in thrift stores. All of these new practices are vectors for the spread of bedbugs, ”he reported.
He now wants to make the fight against this "scourge" and cleanliness, one of his campaign themes in the race for mayor. “I was confronted with the issue of bedbugs personally. And having been confronted with this subject, obviously I was interested in it, ”he comments. A real phenomenon that has been on the rise in the capital for five years. But also far from being put aside by the current municipality.
In 2018, in Ile-de-France 100,000 sites - accommodation, hotels, etc. - have been infested with bedbugs, according to the union chamber for disinfection, pest control and rodent control. These animals, haunting the French, according to a survey, whose bites cause itching, develop in mattresses and sheets, but also in furniture and nooks. But above all, they are difficult to kill at once. Parisian cinemas have also been invaded recently. “Fast expanding worldwide, bedbugs are increasingly present in Paris. This upsurge is due in part to the increase in international travel, the development of tourist accommodation rentals and the recovery of second-hand furniture and clothing, ”according to the Paris city hall on a dedicated Internet page.
The creation of an anti-bedbug "public service"
Currently, the services of the City of Paris do not intervene in individuals, except for people in precarious situations, sent to the City of Paris by a social worker. For owners or renters of private park accommodation, the town hall invites you to contact a company specializing in pest control, often with very high prices of up to several thousand euros. But what more do some mayoral candidates want to do?
"We must develop a public service of bedbugs," said Friday, Danielle Simonnet (candidate supported by LFI) during a debate on housing organized by the Abbé-Pierre Foundation, with several of its competitors in the municipal elections, report Les Echos . “We don't often agree with Danielle Simonnet. But bedbugs are a great topic that I share with her. There is a part of regulation to be put on the question of pests ”, engaged Benjamin Griveaux.
Our 2020 Municipal File
According to him, one in five social housing is infested in Paris. "With the municipal anti-pest brigade, I offer a public service to eradicate pests including bedbugs in apartment buildings starting with the 230,000 social housing units in the city with strict control over the products used", details -t it. And to specify: "For the most modest it will be taken care of by the town hall and if not it will be tariffs according to the incomes. But it is normal that the city supports the most modest. "
In February 2018, the mayor of Paris decided to tackle bedbugs by launching an information campaign and mobilizing its services to fight against these beasts. A budget of three million euros to fight against bedbugs, had in particular been voted. But a few weeks before the first round of municipal elections, the little animals should come back to the table.
France
France: Why are bedbugs making such an irritating comeback?
Society
Bedbugs are the haunt of the French, according to a survey
- municipal
- LREM
- Paris
- Paris town hall
- Benjamin griveaux