UPDATE - French minister says Mont Blanc tunnel will reopen
Date: 24-Aug-01
Country: FRANCE
The Alpine tunnel, which provides a vital freight link between Italy and France under Europe's highest mountain, was closed in 1999 following a fire which killed 39 people.
Its operators hope to open the roadway this autumn.
But senior Green member of parliament Noel Mamere warned on Wednesday that the socialist-led government risked a split if it reopened the tunnel to traffic, which ecologists and local people say represents a threat to health and the environment.
On Sunday, three Alpine communities voted to keep the tunnel shut in a referendum which the courts have declared invalid.
Asked if the tunnel would reopen, Gayssot told reporters: "Yes. Once the problems of safety and environmental protection are solved."
Gayssot said he would consult all groups involved in the issue before making a decision. He has already scheduled a meeting with local officials on October 1 in the Savoie region, which the tunnel links to neighbouring Italy.
The Communist minister also hit back at newly appointed Environment Minister Yves Cochet who has applauded the "no" vote in the Alpine referendum.
Gayssot said Cochet, a Green Party member, apparently did not know enough about the issue when he said conditions were not right to reopen the tunnel this year - a comment which sparked French truckers group Unostra to threaten a boycott of the area.
"I assume Mr Cochet's statement was based on a lack of knowledge of the dossier," he added following the government's first cabinet meeting after the summer break.
However, the issue is unlikely to disappear.
The Green Party's presidential candidate Alain Lipietz made clear the importance of this issue for the ecologists by telling Le Figaro newspaper that he planned to launch his campaign with a speech on transport policy infront of the Mont Blanc tunnel.
