Territorial Council: A unanimous end-of-year session

No pointless debates or heated exchanges disrupted the proceedings of the last territorial council meeting of 2025. This was a delight for the president of the Collectivité, Xavier Lédée, who appreciates nothing more than the calm and balance of a serene and peaceful debate. Thus, after installing the new territorial councilor Diana Bourel in the seat vacated by Romaric Magras, the elected officials proceeded to review the deliberations on the agenda at a festive pace.
The change in the composition of the internal working and study committees resulting from the departures of Sandra Baptiste and Romaric Magras, replaced respectively by Sylvère Gréaux and Diana Bourel: adopted. The vote on the regulations for non-collective sanitation, which allows national regulations to be adapted to the local context, taking into account the specific characteristics of the island: adopted. Despite a pertinent question from Dimitri about the enforcement of sanctions. "The service has been in existence for twenty years, recruitment is underway, and the sanctions have been defined," replied the head of the service. Not in a confrontational mood, Dimitri Lédée left it at that.
Next came the approval of the internal regulations for the community center: adopted, after some discussion on the appropriateness of using the name "Northern Islands" and the distribution of subsidies.
The vote was unanimous on the Saint-Barth Digital Hub project, which will connect Saint-Barthélemy to the Celia system via an underwater cable. The project requires an investment of €14.6 million. The Collectivité will contribute €9.4 million, and the European Commission €5.2 million.
The other items, which included waiving late penalties for companies that participated in the Rockefeller space project, a formal notice to acquire registered plots of land in Petit-Cul-de-Sac, yet another modification to the employment table, and an increase in the employer's contribution to the supplementary health and welfare insurance of local government employees, were all adopted unanimously.
Senator Micheline Jacques had time to express some reservations about the choice of artist Kalash for the New Year's concert. The parliamentarian feared that the island's image would be tarnished. She can rest assured: given the proposed performance, if any image is to suffer a few scratches, it will not be that of Saint Barth.