In Échirolles, in the suburbs of Grenoble, the town hall gave three days to the tenants of a building in the city center to vacate their apartment because of the damage committed by drug dealers who squatted the building and who transformed it into a huge deal point. Very damaged, the building has become too dangerous and the tenants have to leave.
The anger of the residents
Since Wednesday, Amandine Demore, the mayor of Échirolles, has been meeting with the tenants of the building to convince them to leave the premises. “Sir, there is an immediate and permanent danger of death in the building because of the damage,” she announces. “Yes, but 72 hours to gather your things and leave is incomprehensible!”, replied a resident.
“I know, but I have to, I don’t want anything to happen to you,” she continues. Because inside, there are torn concrete slabs or bare electrical wires hanging from the walls, the result of months of occupation by the neighborhood’s drug dealers. Some accommodations serve as drug hideouts, others house lookouts, now dislodged by the police. “We hurry up, we leave the scene immediately!”, shouts a police officer to the lookout. “He’s an individual we know, last week he was acting as a lookout outside. There, he’s going to leave the accommodation and he’s going to leave the premises,” he says.
This forced departure does not go down well with residents like Rabah. “I’ve lived here for three years, I pay my rent… We’re going to find solutions to make those who haven’t done anything pay, like us. The drug dealers, we just have to get them out!” Residents must have left the premises by Friday at the latest and for three weeks. They will be rehoused, time to carry out the necessary renovation work and chase away the drug dealers, hopes the town hall.
