The High Commissioner of the Republic in New Caledonia Louis Le Franc said Tuesday that residents of Nouméa had been taken out of their homes before their “homes were burned” during the violence.
The High Commissioner of the Republic in New Caledonia reported Tuesday “tense shooting with large caliber weapons, large hunting rifles, on the gendarmes” during the violence in the commune of Mont-Dore, as well as at houses burned in Nouméa. “We have no deaths, there are no serious injuries for the moment, there could have been some,” Louis Le Franc declared at a press conference, calling for calm.
Destruction of businesses, pharmacies and homes
“Every cause deserves to be defended politically, but it does not deserve to be defended by taking deadly actions against the gendarmes, against the inhabitants, in the Nouméa metropolitan area,” added the high commissioner. “In the city of Nouméa, the action is carried out mainly in the northern districts with the destruction of businesses, pharmacies and homes,” continued Mr. Le Franc. “Because we were unfortunately able to observe the exfiltration of residents” before their “homes were burned”.
Violence broke out on the Caledonian archipelago on Monday during the examination in the National Assembly of a sensitive constitutional revision relating to the expansion of the electoral body specific to the provincial vote.
A call for calm launched
Tuesday morning, the government of New Caledonia also launched an appeal for “reason and calm”. Nouméa firefighters said they received nearly 1,500 calls overnight from Monday to Tuesday and intervened on around 200 fires. According to an employers’ group, around thirty shops, factories and other businesses were set on fire.