Saint-Louis, Oct 20 (APS) – Gandiol producers invite public authorities to seize the opportunity of the flooding of the Senegal River to green up this traditional land in the Saint-Louis region, once renowned for its market gardening potential but which has since lost most of its arable land.
“The Gandiolais, which covers part of the communes of Rao, Gandon, Ndiébène Gandiol, Léona, etc. was once a market gardening area but it lost 90 percent of its arable land due to the harmful effects of the Diama dam in 1986 and the load-shedding canal in 2003,” says Mamadou Lamine Diop, member of a collective of producers from this region traditional.
However, he believes that this problem “can be resolved with the opportunity provided by these floods on the Senegal River”, by revitalizing former cultivable areas.
Mamadou Lamine Diop spoke with a team of journalists traveling in the area of this relief canal, near the commune of Rao, in the Saint-Louis region.
This canal which leaves from Ndialalhar has been developed over 8 km. The producers want it to be extended to Leona.
According to him, the indirect jobs that can result from the revitalization of certain cultivable areas, added to the benefits of other related activities, can encourage young candidates for illegal emigration to “give up this adventure”.
It is added that this “could have beneficial effects on livestock farming with fodder cultivation, fishing and aquaculture”, he indicated.
“Our young people are in Kafountine to evolve in the fishing sector, and with this opportunity they could come back,” he added.
El Hadj Niang, also a producer and member of the same collective, regretted that “in the past, promises were made to continue this channel to Léona, but until now, nothing has been done, and today , the excess water is lost”.
However, affirm these producers, extending this relief channel “does not require much ingenuity, because the area is a natural bed of the Senegal River”.
“All you need to do is dig a few centimeters deep and cover the 15 km area connecting its current base to the market gardening area,” explains Cheikh Diop.
The icing on the cake, such an operation would help to reinforce the feeling of security among the populations of Saint-Louis who would no longer fear being invaded by the waters of the river, according to these producers.
AMD/BK
