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New controversy at the Collectivité: elected officials are at odds over the harbor development project, which was launched without approval from the Executive Council. While opponents of the project allege a violation of the law, the president of the Collectivité is pressing ahead.
?With work on the harbor basin barely underway, is it in danger of being halted? That, at least, is the request made by three members of the Executive Council. Bettina Cointre, Marie-Hélène Bernier, and Maxime Desouches have sent a formal notice to the president of the local government, as well as to the prefect, demanding the “immediate halt of the harbor basin development work.” Setting aside their disagreements over the substance of the project, the elected officials are taking issue here with the process—or rather, the manner in which it is being handled. “It’s the method that’s unacceptable—they’re pushing it through by force when we’re willing to discuss it,” argues Marie-Hélène Bernier. Their main complaint is that this project was not approved by the Executive Council. To justify their position, opponents cite the same resolution, which states that the Executive Council is delegated authority to “determine the order of priority for work to be funded by the local government, when such an order has not been established by the Territorial Council.” The elected officials of Saint-Barth Action Équilibre view this text as legal proof that the President bypassed the Executive Council.
A Contested Order of Priority
For his part, President Xavier Lédée argues that this project was in fact approved by the Territorial Council by these very same elected officials. “ “For 19 years, the Territorial Council has been setting the order of priorities,” says Xavier Lédée. “And this order is nothing other than the budget that is voted on and that determines which projects will be implemented and which will need to be worked on during the year.” ” The harbor basin development project is indeed included in the budget vote by the Territorial Council on March 26, 2026 (JSB 1659), in the list of multi-year budget authorizations provided for in the 2026 initial budget. But as Alexandra Questel (Saint-Barth D’Abord) points out, elected officials have little leeway during the budget vote, which is approved in its entirety rather than item by item. “When the budget vote took place, we told the president that we did not agree with this proposal, to which he replied that we could all work on it further in the Land Use Planning Committee,” explains the chair of the Saint-Barth D’Abord group. As a reminder, the budget was adopted by a majority vote, with five votes against (Marie-Hélène Bernier, Maxime Desouches, Pascale Minarro, Dimitri Lédée, and Jonas Brin) and two abstentions (Bettina Cointre and Micheline Jacques). However, in the Land Use Planning Committee—which is purely advisory—there was no majority. This was a sign that the proposal did not have the support of the other elected officials.
“I needed to move forward”
The project was then placed on the Executive Council’s agenda on June 10, but the motion was not put to a vote due to the absence of Alexandra Questel, which meant the quorum could not be met. “I needed to move forward,” commented Xavier Lédée. “Since no permits of any kind were required for this project and the elected officials were unable to take a position, I approved it so we could move forward. It’s summer, and there are companies waiting.” ” According to the president of the Collectivité, everything was done by the book. “Every document that is signed is sent to the prefecture for a legality review, and nothing out of the ordinary was found,” he confirms. The Saint-Barth D’Abord group also contacted the prefecture, expressing concern about the legality of this process, particularly to “ensure both the safety of the involved companies and that of the Collectivity.” In an email sent on July 9, Alexandra Questel posed the following question: “In the current institutional context, marked by the absence of a majority and the tensions between political groups that everyone is aware of, wouldn’t it be legally more prudent for the Executive Council to adopt a resolution explicitly approving the carrying out of this work?” This request went unanswered, just like the formal notice sent by Saint-Barth Action-Équilibre. Was there a breach of duty? The State representative declined to take on the role of arbitrator. When contacted, the prefecture did not respond to our inquiries regarding the legal issue. The courts may have to address the matter if the elected officials of Saint-Barth Action-Équilibre carry out their threats.
A Project to Improve Traffic Flow
“We’re rebuilding parking lots where there are parking lots, and planting greenery where there is greenery,” summarizes Xavier Lédée, president of the Collectivité, who is surprised that this project has become such a sensitive issue. So what is the purpose of this €444,252 project? To improve traffic flow, according to Xavier Lédée. “It takes a different amount of time to parallel park on the sidewalk versus to park at an angle,” the president asserts. This project will create two delivery zones, one space for people with reduced mobility, 20 spaces reserved for two-wheeled vehicles along the kiosk, and 17 spaces for cars. Previously, there were 16 spaces for light vehicles along the sidewalk. The green spaces will be redesigned.
