The project to build a new tower in the middle of the lagoon on the legendary Teahupo’o spot in Tahiti to accommodate the judges of the surfing event for the Paris Olympics in the summer of 2024 has been crystallizing tensions and disagreements for several days. misunderstandings on the island. The idea of Tony Estanguet, the head of the Paris 2024 organizing committee, to organize the surfing event in Tahiti, therefore does not happen without waves.
On Sunday October 15, a peaceful march bringing together several hundred people was organized near the village of Teahupo’o. Various associations and local residents are opposed to the construction of this judges’ tower, made of aluminum, built in the water especially for the Olympics event, and which, according to them, could degrade the seabed and harm the biodiversity of the site. The planned tower, 14 meters high, should have three floors, an air-conditioned technical room for internet servers powered by an underwater cable, but also toilets with an evacuation system connected to a pipe. The cost of the project is estimated at nearly 4.4 million euros.
What mainly worries opponents of this tower is the possible damage to the coral that the work would cause. “The government (Polynesian, Editor’s note) wants to pass the drill barge through an impossible place, it will all go wrong. It’s not possible to do this properly. I told them but they’re going to do it anyway. It’s going to be a disaster,” regrets Milton Parker, vice-president of the Atihau association, which manages the Parker estate (a large part of the village of Teahupoo, Editor’s note). For the moment the work has not started. “As soon as they start to break the coral, that’s when we’re going to have to intervene. The technicians say they know the site, but that’s not true, they’re lying to us,” protests Milton Parker.
Local surfer Matahi Drollet, in a video posted on social networks, explains in particular that for the World Surf League (WSL) event organized each year in Teahupo’o, a wooden tower is installed then dismantled once the test finished. “Even during the code red in 2011, with a series of waves at 15 meters, the tower (in wood, Editor’s note) held up, it always resisted,” assures Matahi Drollet to AFP. “And we don’t need 40 people on this tower, we can reduce. Especially since there are only five judges in a competition.” An online petition against the new tower was launched online and has collected, according to him, “more than 70,000” signatures.
The organizing committee justifies this project by putting forward safety reasons, the wooden tower (13.50m) no longer being up to standard. Its location will also be identical to the previous tower. A design office specializing in the marine environment was commissioned by the Polynesian government which is the prime contractor for this project, and the planned work must comply with strict environmental specifications. During a visit to the island in August, Tony Estanguet assured the Tahitians, regarding Teahupo’o, that Paris 2024 did not want to “distort this place which must remain as close as possible to what it was.” according to comments reported by the local press.
The President of French Polynesia, Moetai Brotherson, tried to reassure local residents by visiting a neighboring village in Toahutu on Saturday. “It is obvious that when drilling, there will be noise and release of sand, but all of that will be contained and cleaned. Then, nature will reclaim its rights,” he assured, according to comments reported by the local press. Assurances which do not seem to convince the opponents. “It is certain that they will degrade the corals, or even dig a channel. It is also a destruction of our pantry, one of the rare places in Tahiti where the surgeonfish is still edible,” regrets Matahi Drollet. “We don’t say no to the Olympics, but we say no to the aluminum tower. The government said that it was not up to Teahupo’o to adapt to the Olympics (but) the Olympics to adapt to Teahupo’o. We expect him to keep his word,” added the surfer.