“I needed to fill up. A first station was closed, I went to the village next door and there, I found that a liter of gasoline was offered at 2.445 euros. This is not not possible! I wanted to let out a rant”explains the mayor of Saint-Julien-Le-Montagnier, who took up his pen on Thursday to alert the prefect.
It must be said that for the inhabitants of his village, located in the Haut Var, the situation is extremely delicate. Saint-Julien is made up of twenty-eight hamlets and six subdivisions. The town is spread over 76km2 including 41 of urbanization. “It’s the surface of Toulon”assures Emmanuel Hugou.
Access to care, to the workplace…
Impossible to do without the car. “Some citizens have to travel ten kilometers just to come to the town hall. We have small shops but for larger shopping or shopping for clothes, for example, people go to Vinon-sur-Verdon, even to Manosque, to 25km from the village. Not to mention that the vast majority of residents have to take the car to go to work, often several tens of kilometers away. Access to healthcare is also complicated…”
The situation is untenable and “ given the urgency, I appeal to you, Mr. Prefect, with regard to the extended powers that are yours to act”, he writes.
“Speculative Practice”
In his letter, Emmanuel Hugou recalls that “Economists assure us that despite the consequences of the current social and international crises on prices, to date prices exceeding 2.20 euros are not objectively justified by these situations but clearly attest to a speculative practice by professionals in the sector. in question, whether they are producers, refiners, suppliers or distributors. I am deeply respectful of the principles of freedom in economic matters, but today such practices seem to testify explicitly to an abuse of economic position towards consumers who are absolutely forced, because of shortages, to obtain supplies from only supplied distributors. (…)
A call for help
“I therefore consider, with regard to commercial operators who practice unfounded speculation on fuel prices that, in addition to the profoundly immoral nature of the approach, and the economic hold-up that this would represent, their action would also be likely to put the population in real danger by de facto preventing access to an essential service. (…)”
“Without of course claiming to limit the scope of your possibilities, it seems to me, for example, that in this exceptional circumstance, as you did for the regulation of the volumes of fuel served, you might pronounce a high limit on prices for the few days affected by supply difficulties”suggests the mayor of Saint-Julien to the prefect.
“I don’t know if he has that power. But it’s a cry for help. How do we do it?” he confides.