ベルギー王室御用達の高級チョコ工場　洪水の被害に

【ショーフォンテーヌＡＦＰ＝時事】ベルギー東部の産業地帯の渓谷から水が引き始めると、燃料油と川の泥の悪臭に混じってココアの匂いが漂ってきた。（写真は洪水の被害に遭ったベルギー・ボースシェブルモンにあるチョコレートブランド「ガレー」の工場）
　ベルギーはかつてない規模の洪水に見舞われ、多くの企業が一時的に休業を余儀なくされた。同国を代表する高級チョコレートブランド「ガレー」の工場もその一つだ。
　工場は、リエージュ市郊外のショーフォンテーヌコミューン（自治体）にあるボースシェブルモンを流れるベドル川のほとりにある。この工場で生産されるチョコレートは、遠く日本のファンにも届けられている。
　世界のチョコレートの中心地を自任するベルギーで、ガレーは「ゴディバ」や「レオニダス」とともに、王室御用達の認定を受けている。
　だが、ドイツ国境に近いかつての炭鉱地域の渓谷は、一週間続いた集中豪雨で洪水に見舞われ、ガレーの工場でも正面の壁の一部が損壊した。

■現状把握の時
　道具や作業台は押し流され、積み重なった。川の水位が通常より１．８メートル上昇したことが、壁に付いた泥水の跡から分かった。
　広報部長のバレリー・シュテフェナト氏（３２）は、長靴をはいて電話を手に工場敷地内を歩きながら、「まずは現状をしっかり把握しなければ」と話した。
　原材料の容器はひっくり返ってふたが開き、辺りにはチョコレートの匂いが漂っている。
　ガレーを含め、同国の南部や東部にある企業では、疑問が沸き起こるだろう。気象学者や気候科学者の警告はなぜ無視されたのか。政府はなぜ動かなかったのか。
　川の水位が上昇し始めた１４日、ガレーの工場の従業員は土のうを積み上げて生産を打ち切った。だが、翌１５日に洪水が発生するとは予測するすべもなかった。
　「工場は１９７６年からここで操業しています。ボースシェブルモンで洪水なんて聞いたこともありません」とシュテフェナト氏はため息をついた。
　だが、運送用トラック１台と１０メートルのコンテナは荷積み場に投げ出されている。また、６０人の従業員がいつ職場に戻れるのかもまだ分からない。
　「（復旧に）どのくらいかかるのかまだ分かりません。１か月か、２か月それとも３か月か。特定の市場に的を絞るかどうかによります。ベルギー市場か欧州市場か」とシュテフェナトさんは語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/07/20-13:43）

As the floodwaters receded in the river valleys of industrial eastern Belgium, the smell of cocoa was mixed with the stench of spilled fuel oil and churned up river mud.
Among the many businesses knocked temporarily out of action by the unprecedented inundation was the Galler factory, home to one of the country's iconic luxury chocolate brands.
Built on the banks of the now churning Vesdre river, in Vaux-sous-Chevremont in Chaudfontaine commune outside the city of Liege, the plant ships high-end bars to aficionados as far away as Japan.
In Belgium, which styles itself the world capital of chocolate, it is accredited to supply the royal court of Philippe, king of the Belgians, alongside the likes of Godiva and Leonidas.
But, after a week of torrential rains sent waves of water surging down the narrow valleys of this former coal-mining area near the German border, part of the front wall of the plant has collapsed.
- Taking stock -
Tools and workstations are swept into piles, and muddy water has stained the walls 1.8 metres (six feet) above its normal level.
It's time to take stock, said Valerie Stefenatto, the 32-year-old communications manager, as she walked the premises in rubber boots, telephone in hand.
The priority now is to secure the factory and to get the electricity back on, to see if the machines are still working or not.
Vats of raw ingredients had been knocked over or burst and the smell of chocolate drifted through the air.
At Galler and at other businesses across the south and east of the country, questions will be asked.
Why were meteorologists' and climate scientists' warnings unheeded? Why did the government not act?
Here, when the river level started to rise on Wednesday, staff stacked sandbags and shut off production, but they had no way of predicting the wall of water that hit on Thursday.
The factory has been here since 1976. We've never known a flood in Vaux-sous-Chevremont, Stefenatto sighed.
Things could have been worse. Stocks of finished chocolate were stored in a depot on higher ground, north of Liege, and the wider commune has seen five residents killed and dozens left homeless.
We have colleagues who have lost everything, Stefenatto said, as exhausted workers found plastic chairs on the parking area. To get get back on our feet, we'll have to focus on the morale of the troops.
- Plans on hold -
But a delivery truck and its 10 metre container has been tossed across the loading area, and it's too soon to say when the 60-strong workforce will be able to get back to work.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, Galler produced 1,700 tonnes of chocolate per year and turned over 30 million euros. It had ambitious expansion plans, backed by a Liege consortium and by foreign investors.
We don't yet know how long it's going to take. One, two, three months? It'll depend whether we decide to focus on certain markets, Belgian or European, Stefenatto told AFP.
The storms have now moved east and south, bringing devastation to Germany and threatening Austria's Alpine valleys. The final economic and human toll in Belgium, where a least 27 are dead, is not yet known.