The renovation of the center of Marseille pinned by the regional chamber of accounts

In a report made public this week, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur chamber of accounts does not spare its criticisms of the management by the local company of equipment and development of the metropolitan area (Soleam), between 2010 and 2018, the city bruised by the collapse of unsanitary buildings that killed eight people in November 2018.

The company, whose majority shareholder is the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolis headed by Martine Vassal (LR), has carried out operations that are generally "far removed from the stated ambitions and expectations, without it being able to be held responsible for it. sole responsible ", she notes.

"The total control of the shareholder communities on Soleam allows them to impose incessant upheavals affecting the projects that this operator has undertaken and to put up with their being put on hold for long periods", pinches the report.

It thus notes that the development operations, and in particular the operation known as + Grand center-ville +, entrusted to the company with a budget of 230 million euros, which were initially due to be completed in 2020 have been extended until 2025.

"While some improvements and public facilities have been achieved, the housing targets were far from being achieved: out of the 1.500 new housing units initially planned, only 31 had been completed at the end of 2018".

"The operation to support the requalifications of buildings by private owners has not yielded convincing results either," notes the chamber.

In addition, "other operations, not initially planned, such as the requalification of the place Jean Jaurès, took place in chaotic conditions", she also points out about this former car park transformed into a playground but violently contested by some residents.

"As a result, the management costs of this operation (...) turn out to be particularly high with regard to the sites actually implemented, the expenses and receipts charged to the concession".

For the regional chamber of accounts, the Soleam "responded step by step to the demands of its shareholder communities, without any real strategic medium-term vision". The "multitude" of actors "confines" it to a role "of executor, more than of concessionaire", she deplores.