Macron pledges to repair riot-damaged French schools and town halls

PARIS – French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged swift government support to help mayors rebuild schools, libraries and town halls destroyed during

a week of violence

that swept across the country after

an incident involving the fatal police shooting of a teenager.

Thousands of insurance claims have started to pour in as small business owners seek to repair stores and offices attacked during the riots, with Finance Minster Bruno Le Maire promising additional support for those worst hit.

French employers’ lobby Medef has estimated the cost of the violence at more than €1 billion (S$1.5 billion), with 200 businesses looted, and 300 bank branches and 250 tobacco stores destroyed. The figure does not include public buildings.

“The videos of the riots that circulated around the world hurt the image of France,” Medef head Geoffroy Roux de Bezieux told Le Parisien newspaper.

He added that while it is difficult to know if the impact of the riots will be long-lasting, there will certainly be a drop in tourist reservations this summer. He further noted that many have already cancelled their reservations.

According to statistics agency Insee, France depends on tourism for some 4 per cent of economic output.

French insurers have so far received around 5,900 claims worth a total of some €280 million resulting from the violence, according to Ms Florence Lustman, chair of industry lobby France Assureurs.

This compares with 10,000 claims for a cost of €205 million during the last major riots in late 2005.

The unrest in France since the death of 17-year-old Nahel, who was of North African descent, on June 27 has underscored long-running tensions over racism and inequality in the country, especially in ethnically mixed neighbourhoods around cities and towns.

The opposition at both ends of the political spectrum has seized on the crisis as evidence that the government is failing to ensure public safety and narrow down the economic disparity.

Mr Macron met more than 200 mayors on Tuesday to discuss the impact and causes of the riots.

A continued massive police deployment has led to a significant drop in the level of unrest.

The number of arrests dropped to 72 on Monday night from a peak of more than 1,300 last Friday.

The number of vehicles burned or buildings damaged has dropped each night since peaking last Thursday, government data shows.

All told, close to 3,500 people have been arrested since the unrest began a week ago.

Meanwhile, insurers will consider reducing the deductibles on claims for those independent businesses worst hit by the violence, and have pledged to pay compensation as quickly as possible, Mr Le Maire said.

The government may in addition scrap social and fiscal charges for shop owners who have been the most impacted, he added.

“If your store has been burned to the ground and a life’s work has been reduced to ashes, the state must be by your side,” he said. “We’ll do everything necessary so that economic activity can calmly pick up again in our country as quickly as possible.”

A survey of 1,005 adults by polling and market research firm Ifop carried out last Thursday and Friday showed that Mr Macron’s approval rating has risen two points to 33 per cent, the highest since March.

Still, a separate poll of 1,000 people by Elabe for BFM TV showed that far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s political standing has benefited the most from the riots.

Nahel, whose last name has officially been withheld by the authorities, was buried last Saturday in Nanterre, his home town where he was shot at close range in a car.

The officer who fired the gun has been charged with murder and is in pre-trial detention. BLOOMBERG