パリ五輪サーフィン会場の変更を提案　環境破壊とデモも

【アバルア（クック諸島）ＡＦＰ＝時事】２０２４年パリ五輪のサーフィン競技会場となっているタヒチで、審査員が使用する巨大タワーの建設計画に対するデモが起きたことを受け、フランス領ポリネシアのモエタイ・ブロテルソン行政長官は７日、代替会場を提案した。（写真は資料写真）
　パリ五輪の大会組織委員会は、審査員が競技をより適切に評価できるよう、海上に高さ１４メートルのアルミ製構造物の建設を検討しているが、地元団体はこのタワーの建設によりサンゴが修復不能になるほどの損傷を受けるとして抗議活動を主導している。最近も数百人がサーフィンの競技会場に指定されているチョープーで平和的なデモを行った。また、この計画に反対するオンライン署名には１５万人以上からの賛同が集まっている。
　タヒチ島を含む１００以上の島々からなる仏領ポリネシアのブロテルソン行政長官はＡＦＰに対し、環境への懸念を共有し、タワーを必要としない別の場所を競技会場として提案したと述べた。
　ブロテルソン行政長官によると、世界屈指のサーフスポットであるチョープーに知名度は劣るものの、タヒチ島西海岸のタハルーのビーチはアクセスがよりよく、陸上には必要なインフラがすでにすべて整っているという。
　タハルーは以前も候補地に挙がっていたものの、ブロテルソン行政長官は「当時その選択は不可能だった」と明かし、「今日の利害関係と抗議活動を考慮すると、その（タハルーという）選択肢を再考してもよいのではないか」と話した。
　巨大タワーの建設費用は４４０万ユーロ（約７億１０００万円）と見積もられている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/11/09-17:40）

The president of the French overseas territory of French Polynesia has suggested an alternative venue for the 2024 Olympics surf competition after plans for a gigantic tower at a planned venue in Tahiti site caused uproar.
Surfers are due to catch the first waves of the Paris Games in nine months in Tahiti, some 15,000 kilometres (9,300 miles) from the French capital, but a plan to build a giant tower in a legendary surf spot is sparking resistance.
The organisers of the 2024 Games want to erect a 14-metre (46-foot) aluminium structure in the water for judges to better assess the competition.
Local associations have led protests against the tower, saying its installation would damage corals beyond repair.
Several hundred people recently joined a peaceful protest at the site near the village of Teahupoo ?- one of the world's most famous surfing areas and the designated Olympic venue.
An online petition against the project has attracted close to 150,000 signatures.
Moetai Brotherson, President of French Polynesia -- which comprises more than 100 islands including Tahiti -- told AFP on Tuesday that he shared the environmental concerns, and suggested a different spot for the competition, without the need for a tower.
While less well-known than the original venue, the site at Taharuu Beach on Tahiti's west coast was more accessible and already had all the necessary infrastructure on land, he said on the sidelines of a Pacific islands forum on the Cook Islands.
Taharuu had been in the running previously but, Brotherson said, that choice wasn't possible at the time.
However, he said, given the stakes and the protests today, perhaps we could revisit that option.
He said drilling for the tower's foundations would not be possible without breaking corals.
Brotherson, who supports independence from France, took up his post in the wake of elections this year won by pro-independence forces who want to negotiate a referendum with Paris on the archipelago's status.
French Polynesia is one of several French overseas territories that span the Caribbean and the Pacific and give Paris a global footprint unmatched by any other European nation.
Surfing made its bow as an Olympic sport at the Covid-delayed Tokyo Games, when it was held on Tsurigasaki Beach on mainland Japan, and France was keen to keep it on the roster.
France's Atlantic coast hosts some of Europe's most famous surfing beaches and local officials had been hopeful of hosting the event.
When Tahiti was announced, dignitaries in coastal resorts like Biarritz were unimpressed ?- not least because of the cost and the carbon emissions involved in putting a chunk of the Olympics on in the South Pacific.
The tower alone is expected to cost around 4.4 million euros ($4.7 million).