Poor living standards bring Parisians on to the street
Fire in Paris' eleventh arrondissement in May
Over the past weekend, thousands of street demonstrators have been parading through Paris showing their lack of understanding for a government whose priorities do not seem lie with those living below the poverty threshold in France.
Just last week there was a fire in Le Passage Brady - known for its Indian cuisine - killing three people. In 2005, fires which took place in hotels – so-called regulated premises - were responsible for 55 deaths, 33 of which were children.
The demonstrations also filtered through Paris’ second arrondissement where colonies of homeless families have been setting up camp over the past five weeks.
Why so many deaths? Why so many fires?
Not a year goes by in Paris without hearing about the fatal consequences from a fire in some under-equipped squat, usually occupied by immigrants coming over from Africa. A large proportion of these fires happen in central Paris in accommodation which doesn’t even provide the most basic amenities. Blogs and newspapers are always full of news regarding such injustices.
In Britain, and most definitely in the United States, the perception that laws regarding health and safety have gone mad is commonplace. However, it is possible that the paranoid facets and over-the-top connotations applied to such laws could perhaps be a little hasty.
In Britain, property, whatever its physical state is obliged to adhere to a long list of safety regulations. Have you ever wondered why your bedroom in a rented apartment always seems to come with a forever-beeping fire detector? That is all thanks to health and safety regulations.
Double glazing and central heating is more or less installed on a national level in Britain. Unlike in France, where a large number of apartments have electric heaters, single-glazed windows and a series of wires, tubes and unidentifiable sockets haphazardly coming out of the walls.
It is unsure whether or not there are more deaths caused by this sort of situation in France than elsewhere. But it does call in to question some safety aspects concerning how Paris’ urban zones are maintained and secured in the case of a fire.
What’s more, it is always society’s poorest members who end up bearing the brunt of France’s poor urban infrastructure.
Why is it a nation whose train network is the fastest in Europe is unable to provide accommodation which comes without a death warrant? So much for the values of liberté, égalité and fraternité.
Infognito
Screen Trek
QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!
it is sad, and scary, how so many Western nations are being controlled by right wingers, the new French Prez for a start! And then their are pretned lefties, like Blair! The new guy will be the same no doubt.
Hurricane Katrina, in America, proved that their administration is only concerned with waging war and getting their big companies big contracts, like Halliburton in Iraq, yet they couldn't organize a response to save their own citizens in New Orleans, of course it just was accidental that most of those citizens were black....funny how that situation keeps cropping up eh?
cheers and be safe!
fog