Tivaouane, June 21 (APS) – The Minister of the Interior and Public Security, Jean-Baptiste Tine and his colleague from Industry and Commerce Serigne Guèye Diop met, Thursday, with those responsible for the chemical industries of Senegal (ICS), in Darou Khoudoss (Tivaouane, west), one of the company’s sites whose activities were recently paralyzed following a dispute with populations grouped within the Collective of Impacted Persons of Méouane and Taïba Ndiaye , the APS learned from concordant sources.
The ministerial delegation visited the gypsum deposit located in the village of Ndomor. Gypsum is a sedimentary rock used in the manufacture of plaster and cement.
The two ministers also visited the ICS boreholes in Ngakham, before meeting with company officials at their headquarters.
No statement was made to the press following this meeting, of which nothing leaked.
On certain sites, people wore red armbands to express their discontent, according to a witness.
The visit of these two ministers comes ten days after the lifting of the blockades erected by the collective of those impacted by its extractive activities in Méouane and Taïba Ndiaye, marking the beginning of an appeasement of the conflictual situation which has reigned since May 28.
The dispute between the two parties arose from a request from those affected for a better compensation regime for residents living near the ICS phosphoric acid extraction and processing sites.
This request was rejected by the mining company. Those affected then reacted by erecting dams, resulting in the cessation of ICS mining activities in the extraction and processing sites of phosphoric acid, an important export product used in the manufacture of fertilizers, declared the company’s communications department.
”Since Saturday June 1, 2024, the railway line connecting [ces] sites has been blocked. This prevents the evacuation of the phosphoric acid and consequently causes a gradual cessation of the manufacturing of this product,” the ICS continued to worry.
MKB/ADI/AKS/ASB
