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Ferries between Senegal’s capital Dakar and the southern Casamance city of Ziguinchor have resumed after being suspended for nine months – Copyright AFP\/File MARTIN BERNETTI<\/small><\/em><\/p>\nEvelyne Aka and John Wessels<\/em><\/p>\nA ferry service between Senegal\u2019s capital and the isolated southern Casamance region has resumed to the joy and relief of many who said its months-long suspension had cost them dearly.<\/p>\n
For the first time since June, passengers disembarked in the region\u2019s capital, Ziguinchor, under the midday sun on Wednesday, after an overnight voyage along the Atlantic coast, mangroves and the banks of the Casamance River, under the escort of a military vessel.<\/p>\n
The maritime link is vital for the economy of the rural and cut-off Casamance region and an alternative for many who can\u2019t afford the cost of a plane ticket.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had really been deprived of our freedom and now we have regained our freedom,\u201d 52-year-old Louis Bakourine, a driver, said at the docks as freight was unloaded from the ferry.<\/p>\n
The service had been closed due to political unrest and the resumption coincided with celebrations marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan when many people return home.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very, very happy because we suffered a lot during the nine months,\u201d said Astou Sane, a nurse, as she boarded.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were travelling by road, with (all) the works. When you get there, you\u2019ve got flu, you\u2019re tired.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some 233 passengers embarked on the Aline Sitoe Diatta ferry which sounded its foghorn while departing the port of Dakar after dark, according to ferry terminal head Oumar Samb and AFP journalists.<\/p>\n
The vessel was less than half full due to the short notice given for the service\u2019s restoration, Samb said.<\/p>\n
Ticket prices start at 5,000 CFA francs (7.6 euros, $8.3)<\/p>\n
Alain Theophile Sane, a researcher in medical biology, said he\u2019d booked a cabin.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can sleep during the journey. You arrive rested, all fresh.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy road, the path is quite bumpy in places, you get there exhausted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Authorities halted the ferry service last June without any official explanation, fuelling suspicions they just wanted to punish the region.<\/p>\n
It followed deadly unrest in Ziguinchor and other cities, sparked by the conviction of former opposition politician and now prime minister Ousmane Sonko.<\/p>\n
Sonko grew up in Casamance and two years ago became Ziguinchor\u2019s mayor.<\/p>\n
Popular and charismatic, he was barred from running in last month\u2019s presidential election after a string of legal convictions which he condemned as politically motivated.<\/p>\n
Instead, he backed his political ally who is now Senegal\u2019s new President Bassirou Diomaye Faye.<\/p>\n
\u2013 \u2018Under embargo\u2019 \u2013\u00a0<\/p>\n
The maritime link, operated by three ships, has for years carried hundreds of passengers weekly between the capital and Casamance, several hundred kilometres (miles) to the south, in both directions.<\/p>\n
The service is key for traders, tourists and students and also transports freight, fruit and fish.<\/p>\n
Casamance is almost separated from the rest of Senegal by the tiny state of The Gambia.<\/p>\n
More than 5,000 people signed a petition organised in October by the head of a processing company for agricultural products over the impact of the ferry\u2019s suspension on jobs and income for thousands of families as well as on the price of goods.<\/p>\n
Xavier Diatta said a large part of the mango crop had rotted and that producers of fish and cashew nuts also faced problems.<\/p>\n
Pape Samba Cisse, a teacher, said on the pier that the ferry\u2019s return would be greeted by all Casamance residents with a \u201csigh of relief\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were put under embargo,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Joy, relief as Senegal ferry link with isolated south reopens
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#Joy #relief #Senegal #ferry #link #isolated #south #reopens<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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