2023-07-22 06:00:00
The new ticket machine on the Place de la Vieille Taille, in the center of Rixensart, was inaugurated this Wednesday, July 19 at the start of the evening. Fifty people came to the event.
This project was launched following the closure of bank cash dispensers and the unwillingness of surrounding banks to install a replacement cash dispenser with the Batopin consortium. “It’s been almost a year since a petition was signed by 4,000 citizens and merchants to request that a distributor be installed once more, explained the mayor Patricia Lebon. It was, in fact, not normal that the residents of Rixensart no longer have access to their cash. In addition, this penalizes the local economy. This is why the Municipal College decided to install it. “
“A first in Belgium”
“It is not a distributor financed by banks, but a service to citizens financed by the municipality”, emphasized from the outset the alderman of finances Vincent Garny, who carried the project.
With that of the Flemish municipality of Moorsele, also installed this Wednesday, this type of municipal distributor is a first in Belgium, and therefore necessarily the first in Wallonia. “This distributor is the result of collaboration between citizens, municipal elected officials and the municipal administration. We can be proud to have been a pioneer in this area”, added the mayor in her introductory speech. Patricia Lebon also thanked ORES and Proximus for their participation in this project.
The distributor was installed by Loomis, a company specializing in cash transport. “For a few years now, Loomis has evolved and has set itself a new mission: that of access to cash for citizens. We therefore regularly collaborate in this context with public services, municipalities or regions, to revitalize exchanges at the local level”, explained Fabien Farges, Development, Innovation and Diversification Director of Loomis, who came especially for this inauguration.
A cost of €20,000 per year
This new distributor has of course a cost. “It amounts to 20,000 euros per year, which amounts to approximately 1 euro per inhabitant, for his part, declared Alderman Grégory Verté. But economies of scale will certainly be made in the future.”
In addition, according to Vincent Garny, other Walloon municipalities are considering the possibility of installing one as well. “The municipal college of Courcelles has already contacted us to draw inspiration from our file.”
To be functional from July 19 for the inauguration, the machine has experienced some technical setbacks, especially for its touch screen. All this should be repaired in the coming days, according to the municipal authorities.
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