Farafenni and Barra Ferry Crossings, is There Any Problem?

FOROYAA Newspaper (Serrekunda)

Pateh Baldeh

29 March 2011

Foroyaa was informed that on Friday morning, one Monsieur Ndoye, the president of the Senegalese Association of Drivers that ply the Dakar-Ziguinchorr route through the Trans-Gambia ferry crossing, had announced that effective from 12 noon on Saturday 26 March 2011 all commercial vehicles will be stopped from using this particular stretch.

It was reported that the association has stated that the commercial vehicles would from henceforth be traveling through the Tambacounda route, which is longer in distance, until the concerns of the Senegalese commercial vehicle drivers are addressed by the Gambian authorities.

Upon receiving this information, Foroyaa dispatched a reporter to the Bamba Tenda-Yelli Temda ferry crossing to monitor the situation and ascertain whether Senegalese numbered commercial vehicles are crossing.

Visiting the crossing point, this reporter did not see any Senegalese numbered commercial transport at either side of the terminals. Talking to a number of people who are either doing business there or are traveling, it was confirmed that for the past eight to ten hours they had not seen any Senegalese commercial vehicles and that that was unusual. According to them, the only vehicles with Senegalese number plates seen crossing were few private cars.

One of the vendors told this reporter that a similar boycott of the ferries had happened sometime in 2003/2004 but, according to him, this one seems to be more serious. Alieu Badara Ngum, a small business operator at the terminal, said the boycott which was on for several hours had seriously affected his business as he was only able to sell D100 in eight hours.

He expressed fear that if no solution is found to end this boycott sooner his business was going to collapse, since most of his customers are those Dakar-Ziguinchorr travelers who buy food and gifts on their journey. He said the Senegalese commercial vehicles are prevented by their association from using the Poste Kerr Ayib to Senoba route which passes through Gambia via the Trans-Gambia ferry crossing.

Mariama Jallow, a restaurant owner, also lamented the consequences that the boycott would have on her food vending business. She said she could only sell two plates of rice on the whole day on Saturday because the vehicles that bring most of the customers were not crossing.

Other business operators who depend wholly on the travelers to make sales also explained similar difficulties in the wake of the boycott of the Bamba Tenda-Yelli Tenda ferry crossing by the commercial vehicles from the neighbouring Republic of Senegal.

This reporter also talked to some passengers coming from Dakar and going to Ziguinchorr, who confirmed that they were allowed to pay fares up to Poste Kerr Ayib where they disembarked to board a Gambian registered commercial vehicle to take them to the ferry terminal. According to them, they will be taking another vehicle to get them to Senoba on the Senegal side of the border and from where they will board the fourth vehicle to complete their journey to their destination in Zuiguinchorr.

Amdalai Border Post

According to our correspondent in Barra, at the Amdalai – Karang border post on Saturday around 5.00 pm, information was received that the Senegalese registered trucks are not coming to the Gambia. The truckers are said to be claiming that the delays imposes unnecessary economic and financial burden on them in terms of business as well as the sustenance of the drivers, whilst waiting for their turns to cross.

Editor’s note: The Foroyaa will contact the Gambian authorities at the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministries and the Senegalse Authorities, given that the two governments have recently announced having signed bilateral agreements that also touched on transportation issues, as to what has been done towards addressing the concerns relating to the free movement of persons and goods as provided for by the ECOWAS Protocol.

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