Prosecutor warns against renewed Lifou Airport blockade

By Andrew Curran.

New Caledonia’s top prosecutor has warned protesters planning to resume blockading Lifou Island Airport (LIF) this week that they may face criminal charges, while the local leader who brokered the lifting of the previous blockade has stated his opposition to the airport protest restarting.

As reported by Nouméa’s Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, Prosecutor Yves Dupas has warned the Drehu Customary Coordination Committee, the group behind the plan to resume blockading the island’s airport tomorrow, September 1, that a criminal investigation will be opened if airport operations are obstructed.

Air Calédonie flights to Lifou, which is part of the Loyalty Islands archipelago northeast of New Caledonia’s main island, stopped between early March and early June as protesters, led by the Drehu Customary Coordination Committee, prevented flights from taking off or landing as part of a campaign to persuade the New Caledonian Government to reverse a decision to shift the airline’s Nouméa hub from Magenta Airport (GEA) to La Tontouta Airport (NOU).

Lifou Airport blockade due to restart on Tuesday

Local protesters on Maré and Ouvéa islands, also in the Loyalty Islands, as well as the Île des Pins, which is not part of the Loyalty Islands, also blockaded their airports. Île des Pins Airport (ILP) has since reopened to Air Calédonie flights, but Ouvéa (UVE) and Maré (MEE) airports remain closed to Air Calédonie services. The government has not switched the flights back to Magenta Airport

The Drehu Customary Coordination Committee (known in French as Comité de Coordination Coutumière Drehu – 3CD) is a grassroots traditional activist organisation based on Lifou Island (Drehu).

Earlier this month, yhe committee’s president, Guillaume Waminya, said that protesters would resume blockading Lifou Airport after talks with the Nouméa-based government failed to result in Air Calédonie flights returning to Magenta Airport.

Many residents of the outer islands who need to fly to Nouméa favour Magenta’s proximity to the capital. In contrast, La Tontouta is considerably further from the city centre.

Power stuggle underway over who controls the Lifou Airport protests

In late May, the Wetr High Chief, Sihaze Jean-Baptiste Ukeinesödi, issued an instruction for the Lifou protesters to stand down, saying the ongoing airport closure was damaging the island. That instruction was obeyed.

Traditional chieftaincies are an important part of New Caledonian society, and multiple chieftaincies exist across New Caledonia. The Wetr Chieftaincy encompasses part of Lifou, and it appears something of a power struggle is taking place over which traditional group – the Wetr Chieftaincy or the Drehu Customary Coordination Committee – is controlling the protesters.

Ukeinesödi says plans to resume the airport blockade are proceeding without his consent and that protesters would be responsible for any legal consequences. He says that, as far as he is concerned, the airport is open and should stay open.

Dupas says protesters face potential charges under the country’s Transport Code, with fines and jail time among the possible penalties. He says there will be “swift and firm legal action”.

Air Calédonie currently flies seven times per week between Nouméa La Tontouta and Lifou Island. At the time of publication, neither its website nor its social media accounts are flagging any cancellations.

Photo: Air Calédonie
Contact the writer: andrew@aerosouthpacific.com