Used in West Indian banana plantations until 1993, chlordecone still poisons the soils of Guadeloupe and Martinique. Four ministers, including Agnès Buzyn, are to be heard on Monday by a parliamentary inquiry commission to discuss the responsibility of the State and pave the way for compensation.
Although chlordecone has not been used in the banana plantations of Martinique and Guadeloupe since 1993, soil pollution continues to poison the inhabitants of the two overseas islands.
While at the beginning of the month, it was revealed that several tons of chlordecone would have been buried on a site in Guadeloupe where a high school is now located, a parliamentary commission of inquiry is today seeking to know who bears the “public” responsibilities. and deprived” of the extension of the use of this insecticide.
This Monday, October 14 begins the hearing of four ministers: Frédérique Vidal, Minister of Research, Agnès Buzyn, Minister of Health, Annick Girardin, Minister of Overseas Territories and Didier Guillaume, Minister of Agriculture. Objective of these hearings, which will continue until Thursday: to assess the consequences of soil pollution, trace responsibilities and pave the way for compensation for victims and contaminated territories.
Polluted soils for 700 years
Banned in the United States in 1975 and in France in 1990, chlordecone continued to be used in West Indian banana plantations to control the banana weevil until 1993 under a government exemption. Massively polluting and up to 700 years the soilsthe insecticide classified as a probable carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer is strongly suspected of promoting the development of prostate cancer. It can also be causing severe neurological disorders – motor, mood, elocution and immediate memory disorders, anarchic movements of the eyeballs – and testicular disorders and classified as an endocrine disruptor. According to a recent survey by Public Health France, almost all Guadeloupeans (95%) and Martiniquans (92%) are contaminated with chlordecone.
It was not until 1999 that the health scandal around its use broke out, when a campaign by the Department of Health and Social Development showed that the soils have been contaminated for centuries, just like the rivers, the sea coast, livestock, poultry, fish, shellfish and vegetables.
“Before the 1990s, we did not have technical analyzes of this level. It is the finesse of these analyzes that made this possible”, explained during his hearing Professor Jérôme Salomon, Director General of Health, quoted speak Figaro.
Since then, Emmanuel Macron has recognized during a trip in September 2018 to the West Indies that the poisoning of the soil with chlordecone was the “fruit of collective blindness”, in which the State must “take its share of responsibility”.
Other hearings expected
Chaired by the deputy of Martinique Serge Letchimy, the parliamentary commission of inquiry wishes to shed light on the environmental, health and economic impact of the use of chlordecone in Martininque and Guadeloupe. “It seemed totally justified to me to know what happened, how we were able to authorize these products, who imported them, under what conditions and what measures were taken after we [a] found that they were hyperdangerous products”, declared Serge Letchimy, quoted by the World.
In addition to the four ministers heard this week, the parliamentary commission of inquiry also interviewed health agencies, state administrations and services, and scientific experts. Others will follow: those of farmers, fishermen, associations and state services on site. A first report should appear for the beginning of December.
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