'Monumental social crisis' looms in New Caledonia, warns business sector

A "monumental social crisis" looms in New Caledonia, small and medium business federation (CPME-NC) President Nicole Moreau has warned.

She said the crisis following the riots that broke out in the French Pacific territory earlier this year was not only human and economic, but also social.

"Nine hundred businesses have completely disappeared, and some 25,000 employees are now out of a job," she told public broadcaster France Culture on Wednesday.

Specifically referring to small and medium businesses, she said "most of them have received nothing" in terms of insurance companies' reimbursements.

"Only the big companies have managed to get paid for their damages, not the small ones"

Since the riots broke out in May, insurance companies have also withdrawn every clause related to the coverage of riots and public unrest risks in their policies.

In the public works sector, BTP Federation President Benoît Meunier told a news conference on Wednesday that eighty percent of the sector's companies are no longer working.

"Local collectivities are out of cash, France must reinject money to restart construction of public buildings, schools. We need a clear schedule. There's been a lot of announcements, but so far, we haven't seen anything. We need visibility", he said.

New Caledonia's President Louis Mapou has just returned from a ten-day mission in Paris where he was leading a bipartisan government delegation.

During the trip, he met French President Emmanuel Macron and received assurances from Prime Minister Michel Barnier and several cabinet members.

This included a credit line of up to one billion Euros that would be included in France's 2025 budget, which remains to be endorsed with a backdrop of political turmoil.

Critics of Mapou's PS2R (salvage, reconstruction and recovery plan) maintain the French assistance should have focused on non-refundable grants, not loans that will further increase New Caledonia's debt to unsustainable levels.

Several politicians have also recently warned of looming "hunger riots" due to the economic crisis and the sharp drop in revenues.