Africa-Press – Senegal. he Bus rapid transit (BRT) project recorded losses estimated at more than 5 billion CFA francs during the scenes of violence in Dakar, following the conviction of opponent Ousmane Sonko, a declared Tuesday, the director general of the Executive Council of Urban Transport of Dakar (CETUD), Thierno Birahim Aw whose structure is responsible for the execution of the works.
“Naturally, the impacts of the protests are very heavy. They are estimated at more than 5 billion FCFA”, he said, launching the static tests of the BRT whose delivery is scheduled for the end of the year.
Acts of vandalism were perpetrated in Dakar in particular and in other cities in the interior following the conviction of the leader of the former Pastef party and mayor of Ziguinchor (south) to two years in prison for corruption of the youth in the trial opposing him to the ex-masseuse, Adji Sarr.
Some nineteen of the twenty-three BRT stations were ransacked, as well as public lighting, landscaping in neighborhoods such as Liberty 6, Petersen, Guédiawaye, Parcelles-Assainies, detailed the Director General of CETUD.
“The breakages were heavy but our determination is also strong to deliver to the Senegalese the transport service that they must have and that they hope for at the end of the year”, argued Mr. Aw, insisting on “enormous losses « .
However, the Director General of CETUD was pleased with the very « satisfactory » level of progress of the infrastructure works, with an execution rate of more than 85%.
More than 70% of the buses are already in Dakar (…) the fleet will be complete by next November”, he assured, noting that the BRT will make it possible to transport “more than 300 thousand passengers per day « .
Thierno Birahim Aw insisted on the need to respond to “Dakar’s decongestion effectively by favoring high-capacity transport (…) which contributes to social equity”.
“I can assure you that this achievement is good and generous. This is an achievement that will have a strong impact on mobility in Dakar”, welcomed the Governor of Dakar. Al Hassan Sall, also invited the populations to « appropriate » this infrastructure, while releasing the rights of way on the BRT corridors.
« The quality of the work pushes me to call on the populations to preserve it, to take care of it and to ensure that the tests take place on time so that the work can be delivered within the required time », hammered Al Hassane Sall.
Funded by the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and the Global Green Climate Fund, the overall cost of the BRT is estimated at thirty billion CFA francs, according to the Senegalese authorities who claim a BRT « 100% electric and powered with solar energy”.
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