Transcript
WZ: There is a high level of sensitivity around the island of Ouvea because of what happened there in 1988. Back then, in the middle of the French presidential elections, armed Kanak pro-independence activists killed four police officers and taken many more hostage. A French team was sent in to resolve the crisis which ended with the death of 19 Kanaks in circumstances still in dispute. It was the most traumatic event in New Caledonia's recent history and one which ushered in negotiations that have led to two big accords and the peace enjoyed now.
JT: How is this sensitivity being expressed?
WZ: No reference is being made to the old Ouvea crisis. There is no need to do that as everybody in charge knows how Ouvea has been scarred by its past. What has stood out is that there was no rapid police action to what the top political party in Noumea called an act of barbaric piracy. If that had been the case police would not have hesitated to intervene. Instead police responded with calm, taking testimony of those assaulted at sea.
JT: What did they have to say?
WZ: What has been reported is that the yacht of a charter company in Noumea had come to a World Heritage area off Ouvea where the group was surprised by about a dozen locals claiming they were not allowed to be there. The locals had firearms, they assaulted foreign tourists on the yacht, damaged equipment and took off with some gear. They say they had been authorised by the customary authorities to stay in the reserve.
JT: But this account has been challenged?
WZ: Yes, here it is starting to get tricky. One local leader says there was an agreement that they were allowed to stay within the atoll zone for three days. He said they asked for that after they had already been in the area for a long time. But the claim goes that they stayed longer. The locals took spearguns from the yacht which to them suggested that they were fishing in a restricted area. The outcry over the incident has now prompted the chiefs to also lodge a police complaint. They did this quite publicly at the end of a protest march.
JT: What has the police reaction been?
WZ: Two weeks after the attack, police have now detained eight people for questioning but no charges have been laid. They are likely to come because after all tourists were physically attacked and property was damaged. It's unclear if the tourists did breach environmental laws as the locals say.
JT: What's the impact on tourism?
WZ: Tourism authorities are naturally aghast at the publicity. In France, it generated headlines about shootings and piracy. However, Australia has left its travel advisory unchanged, rating New Caledonia as safe as for example New Zealand which means safer than France. Still there has to be a rethink on how to manage high-end tourism in marine reserves.
