On Tuesday 21 May, one of the armed wings of the colonial justice system, and more specifically the public prosecutor Yves Dupas, gave a provisional assessment of the destruction carried out by the (young) insurgent Kanak since 13 May in Kanaky: “Significant damage, particularly by fire, has been observed in the city of Nouméa and neighbouring municipalities concerning, on the one hand, public buildings or facilities, and on the other hand, economic structures”. Regarding the said “economic structures”, the prosecutor said that “about 400 establishments of the types of shops, hypermarkets, companies” were destroyed or damaged.
Which – to get an idea – brings us back to the assessment made by the president of the CCI (Chamber of Commerce and Industry) of New Caledonia, David Guyenne, on May 21: instead of the 200 million euros of damage announced several days ago for the first 150 companies “looted and burned”, now “we are estimating a billion euros” of damage, he updated himself while gnashing his teeth on a public service radio.
Below is a small overview of some colonial interests and equipment that went up in smoke.
