No French brick in Trump wall

Paris, March 21: The CEO of the French construction group Vinci said Tuesday that he would not participate in the building of any wall on the US border with Mexico, called for by President Donald Trump.

“I have to take into account the reality of my company, our culture, our way of doing things and our sensitivities, not only those of my American colleagues, but around the world,” Xavier Huillard told BFM Business television.

“For these reasons, and this is not at all a value judgment on the US, we prefer not to touch this wall.” The barrier Mr Trump has promised to erect along the US-Mexico border, a project valued at tens of billions of dollars, is at the centre of a diplomatic crisis between Mexico City and Washington and is provoking worldwide criticism.

“If we decide to do something that’s likely to offend a majority of our employees, I think it’s wiser to avoid it,” Huillard said.

The CEO of Vinci’s French rival Bouygues said last month he was not interested in the project, saying it would be “a metal structure” in which his firm didn’t have particular expertise.

But the French-Swiss group LafargeHolcim is ready to sell its cement to build the border wall, the company’s chief said in an interview this month. “We are here to supply our customers’ needs,” Eric Olsen said. “We don’t have a political view on things.” — AFP