Satisfied with the temporary interruption of tree felling on the route of the future A69 motorway between Toulouse and Castres, Thomas Brail and two other opponents of the project suspended their hunger and thirst strike on Tuesday October 10. These two activists interrupted their action after the Occitanie prefecture assured, Tuesday, that “major clearing operations will not take place” by a meeting which will bring together on Friday the prefect of Occitanie, the prefect of Tarn, elected officials of the territory and representatives of associations “concerned by the project”.
“This break should allow for calm before Friday’s meeting”underlined the Ministry of Transport. “We are hopeful that this meeting could lead to positive things and the hunger and thirst strike was becoming very problematic from a health point of view”supported Alexis Boniface, co-president of the National Tree Surveillance Group (GNSA), an environmental defense association of which Thomas Brail is the founder.
Construction started this summer
The activists began their hunger strike about a month ago and their thirst strike on Monday. Thomas Brail was hospitalized Tuesday morning after losing consciousness and is expected to stay in hospital for a few days, Vincent Allirol, one of his relatives also involved against the highway, told AFP.
Questioned on Tuesday on this subject by Tarn MP Karen Erodi (La France insoumise), at the National Assembly, the Minister of Transport, Clément Beaune, defended the process “democratic” which led to the A69 construction site, ensuring that he had “monitoring hour by hour” the health of the three thirst strikers.
For months, opponents have been multiplying rallies and legal appeals to obtain the suspension of the construction site, which began before the summer. Several environmental movements have called for a new mobilization for the weekend of October 21 and 22, on the route of the criticized highway. A call relayed by Les Uprisings of the Earth.
Locally, the socialist president of the Tarn departmental council, Christophe Ramond, believes that the highway is “an absolute necessity for the Tarn” and factor of “opening up” of the Castres-Mazamet population area. In Tarn, insists Mr. Ramond, families need a car or two every day. “Not because of a passion for cars, but because in our rural and mountainous areas, deprived of public transport, having a vehicle is essential for getting around”, he explains.
The opposition camp received last week the support of a collective of 1,500 scientists, including experts from the IPCC, who published a platform in The Obs ensuring that “The A69 is one of those projects that must be abandoned.”