President Emmanuel Macron started a three-day visit to Marseille on Monday to get a first hand view of the improvements in the country’s second largest city, reports RFI.
He insisted that "things needed to go much faster".
Macron travelled with a phalanx of high-powered colleagues including the interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, the justice minister, Éric Dupond-Moretti, the transport minister, Clément Beaune, and the housing minister, Olivier Klein.
The top level delegation comes as part of Macron’s grand plan for the metropolis which has suffered years of neglect from administrations from both sides of the political spectrum
In September 2021, Macron promised €5 billion in government support to freshen up dilapidated schools, improve housing as well as transport links. There was also a pledge to make the streets safer from drug dealers and criminal gangs.
During a speech at the Pharo Palace on the seafront in front of local dignitaries, Macron described Marseille as a world city that was poorer than other cities … but also full of energy.