Un edifying observation that will not fail to leave a bitter taste in many French people. As spotted The Parisianthe Contribuables associés association recently pointed out the cases of misuse and waste of public money in recent years by local authorities but also by certain ministries.
In his work Black book of waste 2022, 100 mind-blowing wastes paid for by our taxes, Associated Taxpayers highlights in particular the mismanagement of Minister Annick Girardin’s office when she was in charge of Overseas Territories, between 2017 and 2020. According to a report by the Court of Auditors written last September, the ministry would have spent nearly 730,000 euros in food costs between May 2017 and September 2020 for the team of advisers to the member of the government, made up of 10 to 15 people. This is equivalent to an average of 15,800 euros monthly.
Several local authority projects are also in the sights of the book. This is particularly the case of the nautical complex of Châteauroux, in Indre, and the aquatic center of Libournais, in Gironde, which were highlighted by budget overruns of several tens of millions of euros.
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preposterous waste
Associated taxpayers also dissects several unusual cases. In Paris, the municipality of Anne Hidalgo has spent more than 40,000 euros to set up solar urinals north of the capital. Intended to collect the urine of passers-by to transform it into fertilizer, this device was inadvertently placed in the shade, under a plane tree, and therefore never worked. The public space was thus damaged by many liters of urine.
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Another blunder of public actors spotted by our colleagues, the lane reserved for carpooling located on the A15 between Franconville, in Val-d’Oise, and Gennevilliers, in Hauts-de-Seine, has never seen the light of day. Despite the 5 million euros spent on its development, this initiative aroused the rebellion of the inhabitants and was finally canceled.