Mayor attacked, ports on strike and hearings on Perrier… The essential news in the region

Neige attendue dans le Gard, Jean-Pierre Rico agressé et visite de l’usine Perrier… c’est l’actu de la journée en région. Midi Libre et MAXXPPP – Midi Libre

Every evening at 8:30 p.m., find the five regional news items of the day that you shouldn't have missed.

The mayor of Pérols attacked by a resident in the town hall

#HERAULTMayor of Pérols, Jean-Pierre Rico was assaulted while carrying out his duties on Friday, January 31. He was in his office when he was informed that a resident had locked himself in the financial department office. “I immediately called the municipal police before going to see what was happening,” explains Jean-Pierre Rico. When the police arrived, the individual became angry. “He jumped on me and grabbed me by the neck, all the while insulting me. The police managed to push him further away.” The elected official filed a complaint with the national police. Several witnesses witnessed this violence.

Perrier affair: the ARS and the prefect on the grill

#GARD –The Senate inquiry committee on the mineral water affair is traveling to the Gard this Friday to visit the Perrier factory and then meet with local stakeholders in the case. This is an important step in this work, which should end with the publication of a highly anticipated report in May. On Thursday, the director of the Regional Health Agency, Didier Jaffre, and the Gard Prefect, Jérôme Bonet, were questioned. They were pushed into their entrenchments on the authorization given to Perrier to use microfilters that can modify the microbes in the water and cause it to lose its natural mineral qualities, or on the lack of traceability of the various production lines. The PS rapporteur, Alexandre Ouizille, was also surprised by the slowness of the administration. The prefect admitted “a delaying tactic” by Nestlé, owner of Perrier, when Didier Jaffre insisted on his priority given to the health safety of the water. Without convincing the senators, it seems, that there was no consumer fraud. To be continued.

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Snow this weekend ?

#GARD – This start to the weekend is going to be particularly wet according to Météo France and La Chaîne Météo. From this Friday, showers are forecast throughout the Gard before a night when heavy rainfall is expected in the west of the department, particularly in the Viganais and Aigoual areas. The situation will be particularly important to monitor on Saturday, the day when a Cévennes-type rain episode is forecast. The rain will turn to snow that day from 1,000 meters above sea level. Storms are forecast on the coast, so be careful.

Today's number: 259,000

#NIMES – This is the number of passengers who passed through Nîmes airport in 2024. This figure, up 3% compared to 2023 despite the cessation of flights to Edinburgh, had not been recorded since 1987 on the Gard platform, whose offer is based on low-cost flights to London, Dublin, Porto, and two destinations in Morocco. Nîmes recorded 28,000 flights last year, including 8,500 related to the Civil Security base (Dash and Canadair, in particular) and 12,000 for pilot training.

Ports: threat of strike

#LITTORAL On Tuesday, CGT agents from the regional council of the ports of Sète and Port-la-Nouvelle called for a strike on Thursday, February 6. They feared the loss of ARTT (working time adjustment and reduction) and annual leave days for certain categories of professions. The strike ultimately did not take place. “We were given guarantees. We can talk about small steps forward. “The ball is in the regional council's court,” the unionists assured. The next step, this Friday morning, is the answers that the Region must provide and a general assembly planned for the region's session scheduled for February 14. “If there is no new progress, we do not rule out a massive and renewable strike.”

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