Dakar, Oct 18 (APS) – Friday’s delivery of the daily press deals primarily with the floods caused by the flooding of the Senegal River, plunging many localities in the north and east of the country into a disaster situation.
“Chaos in the north of the country”, where entire villages and agricultural areas were “submerged” by the overflowing waters of the Senegal River, reports the daily L’Observateur. The newspaper reports “considerable damage” in Matam and Podor, “forcing residents [de certains villages] to flee their homes.”
“Overwhelmed by this natural disaster, local authorities are launching urgent appeals for urgent aid from the State,” writes this publication according to which the rising waters are “sowing chaos” in this part of the country.
“If in the departments of Dagana and Saint-Louis, we are still only in a situation of alert with the permanent threat of rising waters, in Podor, on the other hand, the populations are floundering,” writes the newspaper Le Quotidien. In Bakel, he adds, the river has left its bed to invade homes, fields and roads.
“Innumerable damage has been caused”, insists Le Quotidien, while Sud daily evokes “exceptional floods, never recorded for 70 years”, and offers its readers an “immersion in the heart of a tragedy”.
The newspaper reports “three deaths and injuries following the collapse of mud houses” in these flooded areas where students are deprived of school, the classrooms having been invaded by water”.
Victims “in a catastrophic situation”
At the same time, he points out the “risks” that this situation poses for food security in the regions concerned. “In this infernal chaos, where public infrastructure was affected and roads submerged, hundreds of hectares of agricultural areas were devastated by water,” specifies Sud Quotidien.
Source On this subject: “200,000 distraught souls” between Goudiry, Bakel, Kanel and Matam, as far as Dandé Mayo where several villages were flooded following the overflowing of the Senegal River.
“Abandoned to their sad fate, the victims in a catastrophic situation”, we read on the front page of the daily Tribune, according to which families from the affected localities are sleeping under the stars.
According to Rewmi Quotidien, the President of the Republic, announced in Bakel and Matam, is “awaited by a ‘flood’ of complaints”. “The populations are surely looking forward to receiving the Head of State Bassirou Diomaye Faye. Which would dissipate their fears and anxieties,” says the newspaper.
“Confronted with the waters of the Senegal River”, the affected populations of the northern and eastern zones of the country find themselves “between the cloak of diseases and the anvil of insecurity although relief is being organized”, adds Rewmi Quotidien.
While the President of the Republic, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, will begin a two-day visit this Friday to localities located in the Falémé area, opponents of the regime in place point to the responsibility of the State.
According to Vox Populi, for example, the Socialist Party and its leader, Aminata Mbengue Ndiaye, “put everything on the backs of the authorities whom they accuse of a lack of responsiveness”.
Le Quotidien adds that in the opinion of the national general secretary of the PS, “this ‘disastrous’ situation could have been avoided with better anticipation and more rigorous risk management”.
“A new cycle” with the “Senegal 2050” benchmark
Bès Bi Le Jour considers that the regime finds itself “constrained by the vote on the budget and the delays in its projects and programs”, which, according to the newspaper, should not prevent the holding of the early legislative elections on November 17.
“From Podor to Bakel and Kédougou, the populations are experiencing torture. But this will not prevent the holding of the legislative elections on November 17 since the regime is constrained by deadlines and the general staffs are preparing the campaign,” writes the newspaper.
Le Soleil returns to the new framework for public policies recently presented by the government, based on insights from the Minister of Economy, Planning and Cooperation, Abdourahmane Sarr.
”This is a break with the old pattern. We are entering a new cycle which, we hope, can last 20 years,” he said, speaking of the “Senegal 2050: national transformation agenda”, a major development plan drawn up by the new authorities.
In this interview given to Le Soleil, the Minister of Economy, Planning and Cooperation also gave assurances “on the government’s ability to redress the economic situation despite a difficult context”.