In addition, on 19 January 2016, the Governor of Saint-Louis issued a decree suspending all demolition operations of buildings falling in ruin in Saint-Louis. Several weeks later, an old building collapsed, injuring children.
The efforts made by the State Party to develop a 2015-2020 Action Plan for the implementation of the PSMV are salutary. The participatory and inclusive approach developed for this purpose with the full involvement of local stakeholders is appreciable. It is recommended that the Committee commends the State Party for the progress made, and it encourages it to continue and strengthen its efforts.
The State Party considers the PSMV as a Conservation and Management Plan, but this document does not include many useful provisions such as the precise arrangements for management and decision-making, ways to strengthen collaboration and promote the integration of regulatory measures in force. In addition, the conditions required to ensure effective implementation of the new Action Plan are not specified, and the risk remains of the repeat situation of low performance as for the PSMV.
More generally, the recommendations of the previous monitoring mission have scarcely been implemented, like those made by the Committee since 2010. Although the decree of the Governor of Saint-Louis suspending any demolition operation of buildings threatening ruin is highly salutary, the significant state of degradation and lack of restoration and maintenance of several historic buildings is extremely worrying. The recent collapse of a building injuring children is very revealing and significant. In addition, the technical, material and financial resources necessary for management and conservation still seem to be lacking.
Thus, there appear to be very few signs of improvement in the state of conservation of the property. Conservation problems even seem to be on the increase, putting the property in specific and proven imminent danger. It is therefore recommended that the Committee expresses its grave concern over the fact that most of its recommendations, made since 2010 in Decisions 34 COM 7B.51, 35 COM 7B.43, 37 COM 7B.42 and 38 COM 7B.54, are not implemented, and it urges the State Party to take urgent measures to remedy the situation. It is also recommended that the Committee requests the State Party to invite a joint UNESCO/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission to assess the general state of conservation of the property, and that it considers that in the absence of significant progress in the implementation of its recommendations, the inscription of the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger could be considered, in accordance with paragraph 179 of the Operational Guidelines.