"We appeal to the responsibility of all Caledonians, our political, institutional, social, religious, associative and family leaders. We ask them to use all the forms and means at their disposal to restore reason and calm," said the local government of the Pacific archipelago, annexed by France. "All the reasons for discontent, frustration and anger cannot justify undermining or destroying what the country has been able to build over decades and mortgaging the future," the authorities added in a press release. Firefighters in Noumea said they received nearly 1,500 calls for help overnight and had to respond to about 200 fires. A business group said about 30 shops, factories and other businesses were torched. The streets of Noumea and suburbs of the New Caledonian capital were strewn with the charred wreckage of cars, tyres and pallets. The French state representative on the archipelago has ordered a curfew from 6:00 pm today to 6:00 am Wednesday (8:00 pm Tuesday to 8:00 am Wednesday in Lisbon), as well as banning all gatherings, the carrying of weapons and the sale of alcohol. Louis Le Franc told a news conference on Tuesday that shots had been fired during the unrest "with high-calibre weapons, large hunting rifles, against the police" and that homes had been torched, but that there had been no deaths. Schools and universities have been closed by the government. The international airport has also been shut and the New Caledonian flag carrier Aircalin has cancelled all flights scheduled for Tuesday. New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters, who had been due to visit Noumea this week, has postponed the trip "to allow authorities to fully focus on the current situation". The unrest erupted on Monday on the sidelines of a pro-independence protest against a proposed constitutional amendment that would broaden the electorate for provincial elections. France's current constitution limits the electorate to those on the electoral roll for the 1998 self-determination referendum and their descendants, excluding one in five potential voters, including those who arrived after 1998 and many indigenous New Caledonians. French Interior and Overseas Minister Gérald Darmanin, who proposed the amendment, said the provision was "no longer in line with the principles of democracy" and "leads to absurdities". Separatists in New Caledonia, an archipelago of 270,000 people, describe the reform as an attempt to further "marginalise the indigenous Kanak people", who made up 41.2% of the island's population in 2019. Read Also: University of Amsterdam closes two days after pro-Palestine protests (Portuguese version)