SLFP denounces a situation “worthy of a state of war”
Ransacked and pillaged pharmacy, garbage cans and cars on fire, attacked firefighters, etc.: images of the night of New Year’s Eve 2019 in Brussels had toured social networks, including abroad. To avoid such incidents this year, the mayor of Molenbeek, Catherine Moureaux, already announced in mid-December additional security measures on its territory on New Year’s Eve, next Tuesday. The bins will thus be moved. The presence of police district officers will be reinforced. But that’s not all.
The DH learns that another measure has been taken to avoid overflows in the capital: that of escorting the firefighters by the police!
Contacted by us, the president of the SLFP Pompiers confirmed the information, which he also denounced. “We have been informed that three police patrols will be present at the headquarters, at the Heliport barracks. Two other patrols will be assigned to the barracks of the Chaussée de Mons, in Anderlecht. And one will be among us, at the Cité station, in the city center “, specifies Eric Labourdette, disturbed by these unprecedented measures in the capital.
“We’re going to have to escort firefighters who are going to rescue people, is that normal? Not at all ! We are in Belgium, not in a state of war! Politicians must at some point ask themselves how we arrive at such a situation, have to escort our rescuers!“exclaims the president of the SLFP Pompiers.
And if no firefighter refused to work on Christmas Eve, everyone has the feeling that they will be under siege. “We know that there will be overflows. Politicians would not have taken action if they did not fear incidents. But removing garbage cans from the streets to avoid fires is absolutely useless. And the next step, what will it be? Are we going to remove the cars, the bus shelters? The real problem is the lax approach to the behavior of these young people who, last year, did not hesitate to trash everything in their path and to attack the emergency services!”
In addition to these police escorts, the firefighters also equipped their vehicles with glass breakage protection films. “For the past few weeks, ambulances have even been equipped with these anti-jet paving films to prevent the windows from exploding in the event of an attack. However, we did not have time to equip all the vehicles“, specifies Eric Labourdette, before continuing on another measure taken for this New Year’s Eve 2020, measure which he judges just as ridiculous.”The firefighters received training a few days ago to ‘react well to attacks. Is it normal to get there? I ask our politicians again! Soon, we will have to intervene to save lives with bulletproof vests!“ends the one who already dreads the first assessment of this New Year.
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