The government of the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe extended a territory-wide curfew on Oct. 25, applying from 7 PM through 6 AM, after a strike by workers at the EDF-PEI power plant shut down the island’s electricity supply. The power plant at Pointe Jarry, is run by the Insular Electricity Production unit of national utility Electricity of France. The order marked an extension of the curfew imposed the previous day “to prevent the risk of public order disturbance in the context of the general power outage.”
Guadeloupe lost power on Oct. 24 when workers at the EDF-PEI facility, amid ongoing complaints over salaries, entered the control room of the thermal power plant and caused an emergency shutdown of the engines. While the curfew was incentivized by the interests of “public peace and expedient recovery of power,” the government permitted urgent travel, although such travel remained subject to the oversight of local law enforcement.
After police secured the plant, the government requisitioned the employees needed to operate the power station through a prefectural decree. This ordered employees deemed essential to the operation of the station to return to work based on an “observed or foreseeable damage to good order, public health, tranquility and safety.” Amidst the outage, the population experienced water shortages, and healthcare facilities were forced to rely on generators. The government issued an update on the morning of Oct. 25, assuring the public that 160,000 users have had their electricity restored. An additional 70,000 customers without power are expected to regain access to power “over the weekend.”
From Jurist, Oct. 28. Used with permission.
See our last report on the struggle in the French West Indies.
Photo: Region Guadeloupe
