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Momodou
Denmark
11513 Posts |
 Posted - 20 Feb 2020 : 12:57:00
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Tension Between Unions Brewing At The Border
Foroyaa: February 18, 2020
By Ndey Sowe & Mustapha Jallow
https://foroyaa.gm/tension-between-unions-brewing-at-the-border/
Tension between the Senegalese and Gambian transport unions on movement of commercial vehicles across the border is building up. The dispute between the unions, which impacts on the lives of passengers boarding vehicles plying the Banjul/Dakar highway, is characterised by acrimony, defiance and stoppage of vehicles plying this route.
Omar Ceesay, the President of the Gambia National Transport Union (GNTU), has on Monday said effective 19th February 2020, they will not allow any Senegalese commercial vehicle to enter Gambian territory, in retaliation to what he said the Senegalese transport unionists are doing.
He made this statement at a press briefing held at their union’s central car park in Abuko. His threat came on the heels of tension between transport unions of the two countries.
He said, “On 19th January 2020, no Senegalese vehicles will enter any Gambian border because their authorities are not doing anything to address the matter.’’
“Why should they block our commercial vehicles with passengers to enter Senegal?’’ He queried: “A vehicle will carry passengers and upon arrival at the Karang garage, the Senegalese will ask the vehicle to offload and return to Gambia, which is a big loss to drivers.’’
“Only one bus with passengers is allowed to enter Senegal, but commercial vehicles are asked to stop at the border,’’ he alleged.
He added: “We want to rely on ECOWAS’s laws, so until the matter is resolved by the relevant stakeholders, we will not open the border.’’
Ceesay allegedly accused the government of the Gambia and relevant stakeholders of not being committed to resolving the issue. “We are not depending on them to solve this matter,’’ he stressed.
According to him, due to this border crisis, Gambia is losing millions in transportation, especially drivers who travel from Gambia to Senegal to do business.
Ceesay explained that on the 27th January 2020, his union wrote to the Ministry of Transport that if the Senegalese authorities kept stopping Gambian vehicles to enter Senegal, they will also do the same.
“We had several meetings to dialogue with Senegal to empower and promote the free movement of services in the two nations,’’ he said.
He said their committee took tremendous effort to dialogue with the Senegalese authorities on the challenges faced by their drivers, but ‘our counterparts (Senegal) were not ready for it and their commitment was not encouraging to us’.
For his part, Abdou Azizz Willan, Communication Officer of the union said it is time for the public to know the issues affecting them.
“Transport is the life blood of the economy”, he said.
Mbye Ceesay, the deputy ‘chef de garage’ at the Karang garage and a member of the Senegalese transport union, on Tuesday 18th February 2020, shrugged off allegations that they stopped Gambian vehicles to ply to Senegal. He said the Gambia Government had issued 100 licences to private vehicles to carry passengers from Gambia to Dakar and this has affected their garage at Karang.
He said: “So, we don’t want that to happen. Yes, it is true we denied some vehicles to carry passengers from Gambia to Dakar, but this latest development does not affect all categories of vehicles.’’
He added: “What we want is what was happening here in those days to return. When a vehicle moves from Dakar to Gambia, it should stop at the border here and return. The same thing should apply when a Gambian vehicle carries passengers going to Senegal.’’
According to Ceesay, only one bus was allowed to carry passengers from Gambia to Senegal, but this has increased to up four buses. He said this increment has affected their garage and that is why they decided to stop the buses from entering Senegal.
“Our drivers also rely on this Karang garage,’’ he said. “If we allow four buses to be carrying passengers from Gambia to Dakar, how are we going to work and earn, ’he asked.
He said they have no problem with a commercial bus leaving Banjul for Dakar, and vice versa. But if the number is more than one, then the only option they would be left with would be to stop the vehicle and ask the driver to bring down the passengers for them to board our vehicles.
“The bus plying from Gambia to Dakar is allowed to work only in the morning,’’ he said.
He added they have held several talks on the matter with the Gambian stakeholders to resolve the matter, but they were not present in one of the meetings recently organized by Gambians at the Amdalai border.
He said: “We heard that Gambia transport unions are going to deny our vehicles to enter in their country. Well, we are not going to do that and our borders are free for every Gambian.’’
He said they are open to dialogue with Gambian stakeholders on the matter.
“We want peace between the two nations because Gambia & Senegal are good friends,’’ he said.
The border debacle between the Gambia and Senegal has been an issue since the time of former President Jawara. The problem escalated during the reign of former president Jammeh to a point that the two country’s borders was closed for some time before it was eventually opened after some mediation and negotiations, between the two Governments.
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Momodou
Denmark
11513 Posts |
Posted - 21 Feb 2020 : 14:00:15
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Gambia-Senegal border closure halted as gov’t intervenes
The Point: Thursday, February 20, 2020
http://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/article/gambia-senegal-border-closure-halted-as-govt-intervenes
Omar Ceesay, the president of The Gambia Transport Union (GTU) has stated that the border closure between Gambia and Senegal which was supposed to be imposed yesterday has been postponed until further notice, as government has planned to send a delegation to Senegal for diplomatic talks.
“We members of the union met the Gambian authorities on Tuesday with a view to discuss with them about the Senegalese transport union decision to deny our commercial vehicle entry into the Senegal territory. They asked us to hold for the time being before the border is closed for Senegalese commercial vehicles as they planned to send delegation to Senegal,” he told The Point in an interview.
The Transport Union president on Monday during a press conference said: “No Senegalese vehicles will enter through all Gambia borders because their authorities are not doing anything to address the matter.”
The GTU’s decision to close the Gambian borders came following their counterparts’ decision to deny entry to Gambian buses from Karang border post.
Author: Momodou Jawo |
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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toubab1020
12238 Posts |
Posted - 29 Feb 2020 : 16:54:14
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"Senegal’s transport union head blame Dakar gov’t for border crisis"
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https://standard.gm/senegals-transport-union-head-blame-dakar-govt-for-border-crisis/
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By Omar Bah February 28, 2020
Gora Khouma, the secretary general of the Union des Routiers du Senegal (URS) has strongly criticised the Senegalese government for allowing drivers at Karang to deny Gambian commercial vehicles entry to Senegal.
“The truth is that the closure of the border has nothing to do with the Senegalese transport union or The Gambia. It is up to the Senegalese government to decide whether Gambian vehicles should enter the country or not,” Khouma said in an audio obtained by The Standard.
He said he cannot comprehend why the Senegalese government would let drivers at Karang open the border for Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry and Mali and close it for Gambian drivers.
“The position of our union is that if we are going to stop Gambian vehicles, we have to stop vehicles coming from Mali, Guinea Bissau and Mali. If they cannot do that, they should allow Gambian vehicles to enter the country. We must not play double standards,” he added.
He further argued: “If we [Senegalese] think Gambia is a small country, you must not forget that they have done a lot of goodwill for us including the construction of the bridge at Farafenni. We should not forget that because if they wished they wouldn’t have allowed it. We should repay them with goodness.”
Communiqué
As we were going to press last night, the Gambia Government released a communiqué on the crisis. It read: The President of Senegal reaffirmed that Senegal will respect all the protocols on trade and transportation and instruct his ministers of transport and interior to liaise with their Gambian counterparts to remove all barriers to free movement of persons and goods between Senegal and Gambia. This was in response to the special envoy from The Gambia, Dr Momodou Tangara, Minister of Foreign Affairs on 20thFebruary, 2020.
Consequently, Bai Lamin Jobe Minister of Transport, Works and Infrastructure, led a delegation to meet his counterpart Minster of Infrastructure, Land Transportation and Decentralisation of Senegal, Mr El Hadj Oumar Youm, on the 25thFebruary, 2020 in Dakar, Senegal to ensure that all bottlenecks to the operationalisation of the interstate transport cooperation between the two countries are removed. The mission to Senegal therefore was to finalise the technical aspects that are hindering smooth implementation of ISTP.
The Interstate Road Transport Agreement was signed between the two countries in March, 2018 and its implementation launched January 6th2020. However, the Karang Transport Union sector of Senegal continue to block unfettered implementation of the ISTP, and threatened the gains made in integrating our two countries and people as symbolized by the opening of the Sene-Gambia Bridge.
The ministers agreed as follows:
Recognized the significant of the road transport agreement signed between the Gambia and Senegal in March, 2018 and related protocols;
Reaffirm the crucial role of Inter State Transport between the two countries in enhancing free movement of people and goods as stipulated in the Ecowas protocol on free movement of people and goods;
Committed to the operationalisation of ISTP and will take measures to ensure its implementation;
The Senegalese Minister to engage the Karang Unions that do not support the interstate transport to understand the importance of implementing ISTP and to adhere to the principle of the ISTP;
The authorities to engage all unions and border officials to refrain from harassing Transport operators on the transport corridors;
Accordingly, the Senegalese Minister of Infrastructure Transport and Decentralisation will engage the mayor of Karang on Tuesday 3rd March 2020 for the Unions in Karang to accept the operationalisation of ISTP.
Both Minister agreed that Sunday 15thMarch, 2020, to be the new date for the implementation of ISTP; which henceforth will be celebrated on annual basis as part the Senegambia calendar of events;
To continue the sensitisation of all the stakeholders especially those at the five corridors indicated in the Road Transport Agreement, 2018
The Senegal Minister agreed to come to Gambia on Thursday 5thMarch, 2020 as part of joint sensitisation and to further discuss the issue.
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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toubab1020
12238 Posts |
Posted - 02 Mar 2020 : 21:39:38
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http://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/article/macky-sall-orders-removal-of-barriers-for-free-movement-of-goods-services
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Monday, March 2, 2020
His Excellency Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal reaffirmed that Senegal will respect all the protocols on trade and transportation and thus instructed his ministers of Transport and Interior to liaise with their Gambian counterparts to remove all barriers to free movement of persons and goods between Senegal and Gambia. This was in response to the visit by special envoy from The Gambia, Dr. Momodou Tangara, Minister of Foreign Affairs on 20 February, 2020, according to a missive from Gambia Ministry of Transport, Works and Infrastructure.
“Consequently, Hon. Bai Lamin Jobe Minister of Transport, Works and Infrastructure, led a delegation to meet his counterpart Minster of Infrastructure, Land Transportation and Decentralisation of Senegal, Mr El Hadj Oumar Youm, on the 25th February, 2020 in Dakar, Senegal to ensure that all bottlenecks to the operationalisation of the Interstate Transport Cooperation between the two countries are removed. The mission to Senegal therefore was to finalise the technical aspects that are hindering smooth implementation of ISTP.”
“The Interstate Road Transport Agreement was signed between the two countries in March, 2018 and its implementation launched January 6th 2020. However, the Karang Transport Union sector of Senegal continued to block unfettered implementation of the ISTP, and threatened the gains made in integrating the two countries and people as symbolised by the opening of the Sene-Gambia Bridge.”
The Ministers agreed as follows:
• Recognise the significance of the road transport agreement signed between the Gambia and Senegal in March, 2018 and related protocols;
• Reaffirm the crucial role of Inter State Transport between the two countries in enhancing free movement of people and goods as stipulated in the ECOWAS protocol on free movement of people and goods;
• Committed to the operationalisation of ISTP and will take measures to ensure its implementation;
• The Senegalese Minister to engage the Karang Unions that do not support the interstate transport to understand the importance of implementing ISTP and to adhere to the principle of the ISTP;
• The authorities to engage all unions and border officials to refrain from harassing Transport operators on the transport corridors;
Accordingly, the Senegalese Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Decentralization will engage the mayor of Karang on Tuesday 3rd March 2020 for the Unions in Karang to accept the operationalisation of ISTP.
• Both Ministers agreed that Sunday 15th March, 2020, to be the new date for the implementation of ISTP; which henceforth will be celebrated on annual basis as part of the Senegambia calendar of events;
• To continue the sensitization of all the stakeholders especially those at the five corridors indicated in the Road Transport Agreement, 2018
• The Senegal Minister agreed to come to Gambia on Thursday 5th March, 2020 as part of joint sensitisation and to further discuss the issue.
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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toubab1020
12238 Posts |
Posted - 12 Mar 2020 : 09:29:11
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https://standard.gm/transport-union-declares-march-15-as-d-day-for-action/
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By Momodou Torp March 10, 2020
After protracted talks aimed at resolving the non-implementation of the inter-state transport
agreement between them and Senegal, The Gambia Transport Union has declared that it is totally committed to wait until the much talked-about March 15 deadline for the implementation of the agreement under which Senegalese union will allow Gambian vehicles to take passengers and goods into their country.
Essa Drammeh, the secretary general of the GTU made these remarks while addressing journalists recently.
He noted that the implementation date set for 15th March cannot be changed despite the fact that the Senegalese Transport minister could not come to Banjul for a meeting regarding the implementation.
The minister was supposed to visit Banjul to finalise and formally launch the agreement for its implementation by March 15 but he is reportedly held back in Dakar attending emergency meetings after the country was hit by the coronavirus. “For the moment we will have to wait until the 15th” Drammeh assured, adding that he did not expect anything to change the implementation deadline.
The two unions were locked in heated dispute after Senegalese operators unilaterally refused to allow Gambian buses and other vehicles to carry passengers across the border into Senegal. The Gambian unionists threatened to retaliate but were stopped by the government who sent a team to Dakar, leading to negotiation expected to be completed with the implementation of the agreement on March 15.
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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Tension Between Unions Brewing At The Border
