95c | ISSUE 12 | JULY 2012
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Ryan, 12, helps save woman from river
Photo: dalbera/Flickr
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A 12-YEAR-OLD boy is to get a bravery award after helping save a woman who got into trouble bathing in the River Orb near Cessenon, Hérault. Named only as Ryan, the schoolboy from Lignan was playing at nearby waterfalls when he saw the 52-year-old woman being carried away by currents at the river in Réals. The woman, from Cazouls-lès-Béziers, had been sunbathing and decided to take a dip, but found herself overcome by hypothermia. Ryan said: “I was playing in the small waterfalls when I saw the lady who had been sunbathing jump into the water, and suddenly I saw her go past me. “She wasn’t moving, so I held on to a rock, grabbed her and pushed her towards another woman who was near me. I let go of the rock and I was carried away by the current. I stayed as calm as possible – you mustn’t panic.” A canoeist who saw what was happening dived into the water, followed by a fireman and they managed to help Ryan. The firefighter said: “Ryan was very brave. He put his own life at risk. If we had not intervened, he would have drowned. The current is very strong.” Ryan, who is to get a bravery medal from the Languedoc-Roussillon prefect, said: “I saved a life, and someone saved mine. I’m pleased I did what I did, but I don’t want to swim in rapids any more.”
Firms are undercut as cross-border rivals pay less in social charges by LOUISE HURREN
Residents give their views on 3:HIKPMD=YUU^Z]:?k@a@l@c@a; low-cost plan M 05234 - 12 - F: 0,95 E
Builders losing out to Spanish
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BUILDING firms in the PyrenéesOrientales are feeling the pinch in the face of growing competition from Spanish rivals who are significantly under-cutting their labour rates. The latest figures show that more than 18,000 Languedoc-Roussillon building trade workers are currently out of work, and firms in the area say a lot of the problem is because Spain has a competitive advantage and key construction contracts are going to them instead of local firms. Pierre Bataille, the mayor of Fontrabiouse near the Spanish border and the owner of a small plumbing company employing six workers, said: “Spanish companies have come into the market in a big way. “Because their social charges are less than those of French companies, they can price jobs more competitively.
They can be 25% or even up to 40% cheaper than us.” He said action needed to be taken at EU level to allow French and Spanish firms to be on a level playing field. Mr Bataille said of his plumbing company: “Our workload was already
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Spanish firms can be 25% or even up to 40% cheaper than us Pierre Bataille
Plumbing company boss down in 2011, compared to previous years, but now it’s really serious, I would estimate our turnover has declined year on year by about 30%. Î Turn to page 4
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