Your elected representatives - Seraing’s policies Alain Mathot, Mayor

General policy declaration

General policy declaration for the term 2006-2012

The 2006-2012 term of office will be one that faces all our city’s challenges.
No one is unaware that the steel industry will disappear from the Iron city in 2009.
The city must not see this drama as something fatal, but as an opportunity to undergo profound change and welcome other activities that provide jobs.
We must ensure economic redeployment occurs as quickly as possible by attracting investors and continuing with urban development projects so that our renewal is consistent.
In addition, our town’s income will drop and we will need to face these financial difficulties without the population having to suffer. Thus, the socialist majority commits itself to the following three points:

  • There will be no redundancies among commune staff.
  • There will be no increase in commune taxes.
  • We will maintain the current level of services to the population.

The three major objectives of our term of office will therefore be making savings, major urban development projects and the improvement of local services for our population.

This is not to loose sight of our constant preoccupation, which is to improve the quality of life within our town.

Savings

The Optimization Counsellor’s Office, entrusted to Andrée Budinger, has the task of reducing the Administration’s operating costs by 20%. It must be repeated that this reduction will not be at the expense of commune staff but by establishing a better horizontal relationship between the various structures.
For example, Social Affairs and the CPAS will henceforth be structures led by the same person.
Another example: the mayor’s assistants (one per councillor’s office) will give to the mayor’s office an overall view of the dossiers managed by the councillors, this overall vision giving a clearer picture of the areas in which these savings can be made.

Major urban development projects

We are committing ourselves to finalizing the urban development projects that have already been started, that is the large Néocitta 1 (Cockerill Street side) building and the Val Saint-Lambert project. These two projects should see the light of day half-way thought this administration, a practical start being made to redeveloping the town just as the last blast furnace closes.

The extension to the Sart-Tilman, Cense Rouge side, scientific park will also welcome its first new businesses half way through the administration’s term.
Finally, the Trou du lapin and Remquin Sualem dossiers (for welcoming new SMEs) and the revitalisation of the Pairay commercial district also figure among projects already started which we must follow through to completion.
At the same time we will launch two new project:

  • The redevelopment of the central Ougrée workshops into a new economic centre.
  • The transformation of the CMI building (Néocitta 2) into an area for shops, SMEs, housing and parking.
  • The urban boulevard crossing Seraing from East to West, a major project that will soon have to be presented to the Government.
  • Jemeppe basin, for river tourism and new housing/shops.
  • The new cultural centre in the OM hall, which is to house the Regional Cultural Centre and could host a large annual cultural event.
  • Projects to build sports infrastructure (new synthetic football pitches, repairing the Olympic swimming pool, development of Pairay stadium, application by Liège-Seraing to accommodate the elite sports centre...).
  • Projects to implement Concerted Communal Development Zones (ZACC’s): new housing will be built throughout the area, constantly bearing in mind the need for harmonious development of the town and the implementation of solutions that are in keeping with sustainable development.

Local services

  • Our wish is to centralize the town’s administrative services, another aspect that will help improve the quality of service provided for the population, while at the same time creating economies of scale.
  • We are also planning to create district halls to bring the administration and elected representatives closer to the population. These district offices will help develop a local identity while improving the feeling of security within the town. Another tool to promote dialogue between citizens and their elected representatives: setting up regular meetings with the local population via district committees.
  • We will also work together with the police: our desire is to ensure they operate under the best working conditions in order to increase their motivation and effectiveness.
  • We also want to develop synergies between the police and street educators to improve the service to our population and make the work of officers easier on the ground.
  • Finally, from the enforcement point of view, we are going to reinforce the administrative fines service, making these penalties more dissuasive, and using thirty strategically placed surveillances cameras.
  • The Office of Prevention, a new councillor’s office, responsibility for which has been entrusted to Jean-Louis Delmotte, will ensure that all these provisions are implemented properly and that a new dynamic of collaboration will blossom among all the services on the ground, both police and non-profit organizations.

Improving the quality of life

Of course, these large projects will not be to the detriment of carrying out work on the existing infrastructure and improving the town’s aesthetic feel. Our efforts will also be concentrated on cleanliness, mobility and communal buildings.

  • Cleanliness: 80 men are currently assigned to rubbish collection Thanks to the new collection system that will come into force on 1st January, the amount of fly-tipping should rapidly decrease, by 9 times according to our projections. Staff responsible for public cleanliness could then work on other tasks: cutting hedges, managing verges, maintaining playing fields, etc. Increasing fines will play a key role in preventing fly-tipping.
  • Mobility: particular attention will be paid to maintaining and improving the safety of our existing road network. In addition, the mobility plan will be updated with new studies commissioned for Jemeppe, which in 2008 will benefit from a new multi-modal station, and Boncelles, where no new housing accommodation will be built without the implementation of improved mobility solutions.
  • Existing infrastructure: we will pay attention to the upkeep, as well as the improvement of existing communal infrastructure (school buildings, town hall, etc.) or infrastructure that is soon to be acquired (administrative complex, OM, ...) or in the process of being built (Jemeppe home).

Finally, as I have already said, services provided for Seraing’s population in the future will be identical to, if not better than, the services provided today. The savings we intend making must be made in areas other than in the services we provide to help our population that needs them.
I hope you will find this declaration reflects the wishes expressed by our population and that you will support the solutions I would like to see implemented during my term of office which will be an extremely challenging one. Please be assured that it is my desire to perpetuate the dynamism promoted by the mayors who have gone before me. In order to manage our town, we need a team dynamic focussed on working both among the socialist majority and with the partners from the minority who are happy to work with us in the context of a constructive opposition.

Together we must roll up our sleeves to work for a Seraing that is a more beautiful and pleasanter place to live in!


Alain MATHOT
Mayor

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