LOC12:37
09:37 GMT
PARIS, March 29 (KUNA) -- French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said that he is sending two senior ministers to Guyana in Latin America later Wednesday to try to quell the growing unrest in the French-owned territory.
In a statement, Cazeneuve said Interior Minister Matthias Fekl and External Territories Minister Ericka Bareigts would travel to French Guyana on Wednesday.
The territory, which has a population of 250,000 people, has been wracked by unruly demonstrations and an unlimited strike has been declared there to protest high living costs and diminishing government spending, but most of all to protest crime and safety problems.
Cazeneuve said that "a list of complaints" has been established between protesters and local authorities and the ministerial delegation from Paris will address these in the coming days.
"The government reaffirms its willingness to bring rapid, concrete and lasting solutions to these aspirations," the statement from the Prime Minister's office indicated.
Cazeneuve has put forward "a pact for the future" for Guyana in an attempt to calm emotion in the territory that also has a major problem of clandestine immigration from Suriname and Brazil.
French Guyana is vital for France as it houses the Kourou Space Centre which is the launch point for the commercial and State space programmes, including the Ariane space rocket. (end)
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