Bulgarian town seeks to acquire famous Communist-era mystic ruin
The Municipality Kazanlak will put the decision to a local referendum with the argument that Buzludzha would boost its tourism appeal
Interview with the Mayor of Courcelles, Belgium
Caroline Taquin was a municipal councillor of MR (Reformist Movement) between 2006 and 2012, when she was elected Mayor of Courcelles. Re-elected in 2018, she also become a Federal Member of Parliament in 2019. Before getting involved full time in politics, she wоrked as a primary school teacher.
The original answers were provided in French. The English version is edited for clarity.
Courcelles is one of the most populated Walloon municipalities, it is a centre in its own right with its 31,309 inhabitants. It is made up of 4 villages: Courcelles, Gouy-lez-Piéton, Souvret and Trazegnies. The population density is over 700 inhabitants / km².
It is a fairly significant commercial centre compared to towns of similar size.
[They are listed below]:
Not really. Even if our very lively municipality was deprived of its many events due to the sanitary restrictions in force, we have still carried on intensely with the management of the pandemic as a priority and have employed all means to equip, support and inform our citizens, healthcare personnel, schools and economic actors. We have, therefore, made every effort to move forward on our projects! We can say that 2020 was very busy.
It is a crisis line set up by the PCS and managed by the coordinator of the town house who is also a psychologist.
The aim of this call centre is to help people suffering psychologically from the health crisis whether it is because of stress, isolation, exhaustion or even mourning. The village houses being closed during lockdown and activities offered to citizens cancelled, the PCS service has reconverted itself in this period of health crisis, in its social role by helping the most vulnerable people.
For the past two weeks, the service has also offered solidarity, reception, listening and referral services to people who need it. The coordinator receives people by appointment for an individual interview.
Here are the main actions we have taken:
The town has put in place an economic recovery plan to provide financial assistance to all sectors impacted by the containment measures:
A coronavirus line has been set up as well as an email address for citizens (coronavirus@courcelles.be) to which I respond personally.
I also stay in touch with citizens via SMS, video, limited appointments, (depending on the urgency of the needs), but also via social networks. I miss physical contact very much.
To make citizens aware of the need to comply with the measures, we communicate regularly through our social networks, we placed posters in strategic places reminding them of the social distancing to be observed, we repeatedly distributed masks to front-line nursing staff, merchants and market sellers.
We communicate very regularly in the local newspapers; specific letters are sent to target audiences when the protocols are modified (for example: sports, beauty salons, horeca, shops, etc.). Letters were also sent to 5,623 citizens over 65 in which they received free masks.
Regarding the wearing of masks at school, we were the first municipality to impose it on children over the age of 6 in schools after the All Saints holiday. We had decided to close the schools a week before the holidays, but the virus was still present and on the rise. All measures were explained to parents via letters.
It was not an easy decision to make, but it was necessary to protect children and teachers in order to slow the spread of the virus.
Even if this decision was not unanimous at the start, it still convinced more than 80% of parents. We did well, because we received many messages of encouragement from health practitioners who welcomed this initiative, which also aimed to alleviate their arduous daily work and protect people of all ages.
Even if expert opinions diverge, there is no longer any evidence that the transmission of Covid is much greater in children even if they do not necessarily contract a serious form.
Since the beginning of the month [of February], we have also decided to equip teachers and children's sectors (nurseries, childcare centers, etc.) with FFP2 masks, because of the new virus variants and in order to take all the necessary precautions to protect the young ones.
For the year 2021, priority will still be placed on the continuity of the renovation of municipal schools and the start of the construction of two schools in the coming years for an amount of € 9,072,000 (without the subsidies).
Each year, work has been undertaken in school buildings such as the renovation of roofs, the placement of new frames, boilers, fences, courtyards, fire escapes, the replacement of sanitary blocks, the construction of modular pavilions and the renovation of buildings and playgrounds. This work will continue in the years to come for the well-being of all our schoolchildren! …
The housing assistance unit bringing together all local actors with expertise in the field. This allows citizens to have all the stakeholders around the table and to obtain all the information and the procedures to be carried out in a single meeting.
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