The President of French Polynesia, Moetai Brotherson, canceled his planned visit to Teahupoo on Saturday, where the 2024 Olympic surfing competition is to take place, after once again questioning the “sustainability” of this event. During technical tests on Friday, filmed by environmental defense associations, the barge planned for the installation of the new judges’ tower broke coral.
Moetai Brotherson has decided to cancel the tests scheduled in its presence on Saturday and to suspend the work which was to begin on Monday, ruling out using the old wooden tower as the associations wish. “Today, we broke coral, tomorrow, if we use these old devices, these are lives that we potentially put in danger, I will not take this responsibility,” he declared on the channel local television TNTV.
The problem of another site
“If in the end there is no solution, since we will no longer be able to reuse the old foundations (… nor) the old tower, we will have to ask ourselves the question of the sustainability of the surfing events at Teahupoo “, he added. The project manager is always looking for technical solutions, according to him.
After proposing it in November, Moetai Brotherson admitted to AFP that moving the competition to another Tahitian wave was not possible “since it was Teahupoo’s candidacy which was submitted”. Moving the event to a French wave would cost “several billion Pacific francs” (several million euros), he warned.
The director of the Tahiti site for Paris 2024, Barbara Martins-Nio, acknowledged the incident during Friday’s technical test. “The associations are right, accessibility to the site is complex, we would like to reach out to them by suggesting close technical collaboration in order to find peace of mind,” she told AFP.
“I am confident that a technical solution exists, the challenge today is to find a communication channel that suits everyone and that takes into account the basic postulate, namely that a new tower and new foundations are the only solution. If we do not succeed, then we will have to collectively ask ourselves the question of what comes next,” she expressed. Vai ara o Teahupoothe main association opposed to the new aluminum judges’ tower, has chosen to no longer speak in the media.