NOUMEA(Oceania Flash) — There have been several calls in New Caledonia by political leaders on France to step in and launch a large scale operation to disarm Kanak and Wallisian dwellers in the village of Saint Louis, where a seven-month conflict has claimed another life on Monday, the daily newspaper Les Nouvelles Caledoniennes reports on Tuesday.
In the early hours of Monday, 35-year-old Petelo Motuku, a public works department employee and father of one originally from Futuna island (Northeast of Fiji) residing in the Ave Maria Catholic mission, was shot as he was driving to work in Noumea.
The fragmentation bullet that killed him was believed to be high caliber, and commonly used for game hunting.
Motuku’s death marks another step in the escalation of violence between the Kanak and Wallisian/Futunian communities.
The confrontation stems from the claim from Kanaks in the Saint Louis village (in the suburbs of the capital Noumea) that about a thousand Wallisians who gradually settled in the nearby Ave Maria Catholic mission from the 1960s onwards should now leave.
Les Nouvelles Caledoniennes says the latest incident has cause great emotion and concern in the French Pacific territory, as it could mark another step into a possible upsurge of violence between the two communities.
“Since this conflict started, Wallisian representatives have consistently repeated that if one of their was killed, he would be avenged in the blood,” Les Nouvelles recalls.
The office of the French High commissioner in New Caledonia, Thierry Lataste, was still attempting to call for meeting between the involved parties in order to find a way out of the spiral of violence.
Earlier talks had not managed to secure a lasting solution, but since December last year, it is now estimated some 40 Wallisian families have left the troubled area to re-settle closer to Noumea, under a Southern province scheme.
Since Motuku’s death, snipers from both sides have remained posted and continuous shooting was heard since.
Police have stepped a security cordon around Saint Louis, but have not intervened yet.
The situation has prompted several political leaders, including far-right National Front Guy Georges and center-right Alliance Didier Leroux to call for urgent action from lax enforcers.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Leroux lashed out at the French State, saying it was incapable to put an end to the conflict.
“The first mission of the state is to ensure public security, law and order,” he said.
Leroux said it was urgent that both parties are disarmed and he called on traditional leaders in both communities to call on their respective communities to lay down their weapons.
