the cost of blockages exceeds one million euros in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, according to the prefecture

This figure includes in particular the cleaning and restoration of roads, the losses of motorway companies, the recycling of waste dumped on public roads and the repair of damaged radars, according to the prefecture of Pau.

The cost of the blockades carried out by angry farmers for around ten days exceeds one million euros in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, the prefecture announced on Tuesday, which denounces undeclared gatherings and “unacceptable damage”particularly on the A64 motorway. “To date, an initial assessment shows that the overall cost of these blockages amounts to more than one million euros”wrote the Pau prefecture in a press release.

This figure includes in particular the cleaning and restoration of roads, the losses of motorway companies, the recycling of waste dumped on public roads and the repair of damaged radars. However, it does not take into account the impacts on economic activity, such as the loss of income from ski resorts.

“Illegal dumping (waste, tires, slurry, asbestos) was recorded in front of several toll booths, on motorways, on departmental roads and damage was noted. Two radars were also destroyed, nineteen were prevented from operating”detailed the prefecture, which also mentions hundreds of tons of burned waste. The authorities also deplored a “acceleration of degradation” in recent days, such as a dumping of dead animals in Pau or the degradation of the bitumen on the A64 motorway in Urt/Briscous by a backhoe loader.

Since December 12, demonstrators angry against the massive slaughter of herds of cattle when a case of lumpy skin disease (LCD) is detected have established themselves on the A64 in the Basque Country. They disrupt traffic on this highway linking Toulouse to Bayonne and also cut off in Haute-Garonne near Carbonne. If the Basque union ELB, affiliated with the Peasant Confederation, announced Tuesday in a press release “suspend the occupation of the highway” in Briscous in order to “keep our forces intact”Rural Coordination said it planned to stay there.