2023-11-22 11:07:00
The anecdote makes you smile. Except in this bakery within sight of Avenue Jean Volders. The traders on this shopping street in the lower part of Saint-Gilles are at their wits’ end. They are continually subjected to the uncivil behavior of drug addicts around the Porte de Hal park. Syringes, feces, vomit, crack residue, dirt, cans, not to mention insults and threats. “They no longer hide, consume in the doorframes of buildings. Every morning, in a frightening state, they come in to change their coins into bills to buy their fix. They beg for customers. Harass the sellers, who no longer dare to come on foot and take their bikes to travel 500m from their homes,” list the bakery owners. The metro is no safer: people take drugs there at all hours, “even on Sundays at 3 p.m.,” says the street florist. “No one takes the elevator anymore, which is brand new and already stinks.”
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They no longer hide, consume in the doorframes of buildings. Every morning, in a frightening state, they come in to change their coins into bills to buy their fix.
“Worse than ever”
Drug addicts constantly bother customers of businesses on Avenue Jean Volders in Saint-Gilles. ©GSV
According to the owners of the bakery, “the accelerated decay dates back to the summer, to the month of August. It was super quick.” Same story in the flowers and ceramics workshop, opposite: “we hadn’t noticed anything in a year and a half and then bam!”. Right next door, the beer retailer nods. “This corresponds to the police operations carried out at the Gare du Midi this summer: it moved drug users towards Porte de Hal.” We are not talking here about hash and weed dealt at the foot of the Jacques Franck towers, but about hard drugs: crack and heroin. “There were already drug addicts when I arrived in 2014,” continues the wine merchant. “Then it got better. Businesses have arrived.” Gentrification has played a role, the neighborhood has become peaceful. “But this fall, it’s worse than ever. Worse than 10 years ago”. His door was forced 3 times and his window was shattered twice. This is evidenced by the plywood patch that is blocking it. “The joke is that the municipality criticized me for not having declared my new wooden panel, which must be taxed”.
Crack users no longer hide in the Porte de Hal district in Saint-Gilles. ©DR
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They cut themselves coming in through the broken door: there was blood everywhere. That’s how the peacekeepers found the box, by following the blood that was flowing.
In recent months, the avenue’s shops have frequently been victims of indiscriminate theft. “They folded the shutter, opened it 30cm, broke the window of the classified door, then went inside to steal the cash register,” testifies the owner of the pastry shop, a little further up the street. “They wanted cash: they didn’t even take the tablet next to it,” she is surprised. “They cut themselves on the way back: there was blood everywhere. That’s how the peacekeepers found the box, by following the blood that was flowing.” Loot: barely a few dozen euros. Only the red pieces remained. On avenue de la Porte de Hal, the organic supermarket no longer counts petty thefts, thefts of beers and alcohol. Nor the broken windows: 3 windows in recent weeks. “Including a big burglary at 6 a.m. They went through the air vent: we had to consolidate the threshold.” One of the bosses assures him: “So far, we have had no problems. But there, we installed an alarm system: we sleep better”.
Intrusions
All areas surrounding the Porte de Hal park are affected by the resurgence of drug addiction. Residents reported this to the Mayor. ©EdA – Julien Rensonnet
More worrying: men looking for cash enter stores as soon as the staff’s backs are turned. “We surprised one with his hands in the pockets of his clothes on the coat rack, at the back of the tea room,” we report at the pastry shop. At the beer retailer, a man took advantage of a lemonade tasting to discreetly mingle with the customers. “My employee surprised him in the storage room!” As for the florist and her ceramicist sidekick who share a commercial floor, these incursions are no laughing matter. “In the evening, we saw guys coming home drunk and scaring the students in the ceramics class. We had to take them out. Since then, we’ve pushed the lock when we’re alone. Not very pleasant for customers. We are even thinking of a way to escape through the cellar just in case”. Same kind of mishap at the laundry, where “thin and dirty men” come in all the time to exchange their coins. “I closed the store to run an errand at the end of the day. It was still summer, it was light. It must have been 8 p.m. I had a sign for a previous broken window. When I came back, the plate was removed and a guy was fiddling at the cash register.” And to deplore: “My daughters no longer want to be alone. I worked in Ixelles, in Woluwe. I was happy to arrive here, I have a good location. But what is happening is a real surprise: I would leave without hesitation,” laments this friendly shopkeeper.
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In the evening, we saw guys coming home drunk and scaring the students in ceramics class. Since then, we’ve pushed the lock when we’re alone. Not very pleasant for customers. We’re even thinking of a way to escape through the cellar just in case.
Material damage is accumulating among traders on Avenue Jean Volders in Saint-Gilles. At issue: crack users looking for cash. ©DR – EdA Julien Rensonnet
Local residents also suffer. Their thresholds serve as shelter and their cars as piggy banks. “We find entire rows of cars with smashed windows,” notes the florist. Which pushes some to “leave their vehicles open” according to the grocer. No safer: “a drug addict peed in a customer’s car”. Worse according to the wine merchant: “a local resident found someone in her car taking their dose”.
The discouragement is therefore equal to the numerous letters and phone calls sent to the authorities. “The municipality does nothing. The police cars pass at 50 km/h and the peace guards in purple look elsewhere,” the bakers tense. Relayed by the washerwoman: “There is no camera, no public lighting. Even the postmen no longer want to come: they are constantly changing.” To her and to the beer retailer, the prevention department distributed… the leaflet from an installer of metal shutters. “We should rather attack the source of the problem,” laughs the wine merchant. The bakers can’t take it anymore: “The local night shops sell pipes! We all participate in the neighborhood’s commercial offering, which wasn’t very varied when we arrived. But do we still want to invest in it? It is also a question of public safety and health: we must help these people. When a tragedy happens, the Commune will not be able to say that it was not aware of it”.
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There are no cameras, no street lights. Even the postmen no longer want to come: they are constantly changing.
A torn cash drawer was found thanks to traces of blood left by the thieves. The loot was paltry. ©DR – EdA Julien Rensonnet
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