Following a meeting of the Luxembourg City municipal council on Monday, Mayor Lydie Polfer announced that Prime Minister Luc Frieden has agreed to create a task force to address safety concerns in the Gare district.
Read also: Luxembourg City mayor calls for urgent meeting with Prime MinisterAfter residents recently floated the idea of forming a militia, a group consisting of officials from Luxembourg City and the Home Affairs, Justice, Health, and Family Affairs Ministries is now to sit down and create a coordinated response to the situation.
Mayor Polfer expressed relief over the PM’s openness to address existing problems and reiterated that a militia is evidently out of the question. Nevertheless, she deemed it equally evident that the reality of residents has been untenable for many years, and that she will continue taking their concerns seriously.
Opinion: We need to act sooner rather than later to save GareAmid bilateral accusations, opposition councillor Christa Brömmel of The Greens (Déi Gréng) underlined that she is equally concerned about the idea of a militia and that there is no “easy” solution, stating that this is precisely why the issues need to be discussed.
Councillor Gabriel Boisante of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP) pleaded for improved business support, arguing that the municipality should revise its rent model to attract younger businesses to the capital. He outlined his plan for a “win-win” situation with lower rents to facilitate better returns and allow for reinvestments to support an even greater number of businesses in the long run.
Councillor Maurice Bauer of the Christian Social People’s Party (CSV) contended that this is a model worth exploring, but pointed out the need to differentiate between properties that the municipality rents and those that it owns. He accordingly warned that specific rent rates and increases have been set to avoid accusations of creating unfair competition in the capital.
Finally, Mayor Polfer was happy to announce that the construction site on Rue de Strasbourg, after facing a delay of over 100 days, is set to be completed in autumn this year.
