2023-08-09 04:52:00
Filling up with kerosene for the planes that land every day at Liège airport, this is now the daily life of Hicham Imane (PS), refueller by trade. When he sat in the Walloon Parliament between 2014 and 2016 – the game of deputies brought him to Parliament, before leaving him – he certainly did not imagine that one day he would be a “sky station attendant”. , in his own words. Although he retains a short mandate as CPAS councilor in Charleroi, the time when he was a municipal councilor of the largest Walloon city, a Walloon deputy for the district of Charleroi or even president of the public housing company, La Sambrienne, is long gone. “In 2018, just after the municipal elections for which I had invested 200% as in my mandates, I did not obtain the expected electoral score. So it was time for me to ask myself the question of my future.”
Horeca, heavy goods vehicles and then…
He first headed for a career in the Horeca. He takes over, with friends, the café “Chez ta mère”, place de la Digue in Charleroi. But “the Covid came to stop everything”. “I said to myself that we had to find another solution.” So he passes several permits: the various heavy goods vehicle permits as well as those allowing the transport of dangerous products. “From there, we have a job right away,” he explains. It must be said that the profession of heavy goods vehicle driver is in short supply in the south of the country.
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However, the trucker’s life that he then started was not always easy. Hicham Imane has children. However, his work often takes him far from home. “I spent two to three days on the road without returning home. I went to France, the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg. It’s a dangerous job too, it’s a difficult life, life on the road. It’s complicated, so when I saw that Charleroi airport was looking for a refueller, I applied.” But “it didn’t take off,” he says humorously. “I don’t think my political past helped,” he adds more seriously. So when Liège airport also went looking for reinforcements to expand its team of refuellers, it applied. He trained, did his internship and got the job “They welcomed me with open arms. Here the atmosphere is extraordinary, the airport never stops, it is in full development and there is no lack of work. I work from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. or from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Solid days again, but the fatigue is compensated by “the pleasure of doing this job”.
In his job, we “train all the time”. “It’s really a nice surprise. This job gave me a breath of fresh air. We have to manage the kerosene, its quality and all the safety aspects related to our job, which is therefore not just about refueling planes.” This new life pleases him, even if the prospect of the next elections tickles the left-wing militant that he has remained. “It’s the fight for the people that I miss.” Nevertheless, he is not inactive on this side either since the non-profit association “LaHFuni du mois” which he created in 2015, in Charleroi and which distributes food parcels, ready meals and clothes also to those who need it is running at full speed. “The sad fact is that we are constantly increasing the number of beneficiary members.”
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Hicham Imane is also annoyed to see the rise in energy prices making “many people’s lives more difficult”. He who chaired a housing company is still irritated by noting that “the allocation of housing, in Wallonia remains a real problem, it could go faster, it should go faster, especially when we see the prices in the private ”.
politics in the blood
He tells us to remain “a politician”. “You don’t get up in the morning to find out you’re made for it, you either have it in your blood or you don’t.” These ambitions in this area are local since he hopes to be a candidate again in Charleroi in October 2024 during the next municipal elections. “My intention is to continue to fight against precariousness. I’m not saying that those in power have done nothing, on the contrary, but I believe that more needs to be done.” In the past, he confesses “mistakes”. “I made big blunders of youth. I will be more attentive, but I don’t want to change who I am to be on lists. I want to be able to keep my straight talk.”
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