The same containers in Benu Village that caught fire on Tuesday in Esch-sur-Alzette once again were in flames 32 hours later. The municipality therefore decided to demolish them for security reasons.
An excavator was used to scrape the clay façade off the burnt containers, whilst a local contractor was called to the scene every hour because the straw used in the clay façade was becoming increasingly damp, explains CGDIS commander Yves Vesque.
"The excavator is coming to scrape off this façade of clay and straw so that we can immediately get to the metal wall of the containers. In the meantime, the fire brigade is also carrying out some extinguishing work."
Exactly how this fire came about must now be clarified; investigators from the legal police were present again today. In general, the future of Benu village remains uncertain, partly because it is not clear which buildings in the village actually belong to the municipality, says Christian Weis, Mayor of Esch. In mid-December, the court ruled that Benu Village ASBL should be liquidated.
"The liquidating agency still has to clarify what happens to the remaining buildings. For now, it will try to salvage what is usable and settle the contents of the containers with the ASBL's debts."
For now, a meeting between the municipality and the liquidator is planned for January, though the mayor is already aware that hardly anything will be left of the building for safety reasons.
The organisation's twenty former employees have now come together to restart the project. This time, the aim is to create flat hierarchies by involving local people and employees in the project. However, other organisations are also interested in the site. Nevertheless, former employee Marc Gemeinhardt remains optimistic that the municipality will support the project once again.
"We are just confident in the sense that we know our material well and also know the location well. I think those are probably the two big plus points we can offer. One minus point, however, is that we now have to set up a new organisation and then build it up. I haven't personally heard of any ASBL that is interested in the village, but apparently the community already has this kind of information."
The Benu Village employees were all given their notice in December and will officially lose their jobs at the end of February. The twenty dedicated people are therefore also taking a risk by hoping that the project will be restarted.
