Mass Guiana strike set to delay launch of satellite

MORE than a week after French Guiana workers started a massive strike across the country, a Eutelsat 172B satellite remains unloaded at the Cayenne airport, making its launch scheduled for April 25 unrealistic.

The strike, which started more than a week ago but hamstrung all sectors on Monday, has now affected three launch programmes at the Kourou Space Center, costing about $500 000 (R6.4 million) a day in lost productivity, says a researcher from French space agency CNES.

The Kourou Space Centre, located on the coast, is the main provider of jobs in the French territory, besides the public sector, creating a situation of sharp inequalities between state officials and employees from the space centre on one hand, and the rest of the population.

The average wage per year is about 44% lower than wages in mainland France, while the unemployment rate is twice as high at 22%.

The strikers decided to block the road leading to the centre first, quickly crippling the country.

Blocking access to the centre clearly demonstrated that the economic activity of Guiana relied heavily on the centre.

But other demands quickly followed, like better infrastructure for transport, better security overseeing children going to and from school, and the development of new university courses or professional training – as many Guiana students are forced to study in mainland France, while those who cannot afford it remain unemployed in the South American territory.

Among the 15- to 24-yearold population, about 40% are reportedly unemployed, while only half of them are going to school – 10% less that mainland France.

Out of 250 000 inhabitants, 46 000 don’t have direct access to water, and the territory has half of the number of doctors that France has.

The cost of living is about 12 percent higher than in France. Food is 45 percent higher than in France. .