Affignam, January 20 (APS) – Populations grouped around a consultation framework on the Affignam dam, in the department of Bignona (south), are demanding the opening of a mouth to save their rice fields impacted by the construction of this anti-salt work.
They organized, on Sunday in Affignam, in the commune of Mangagoulac, a mobilization to denounce the impact of this anti-salt dam for which the first stone was laid on May 8, 1983 by the former President of the Republic Abdou Diouf.
The hydro-agricultural structure was rehabilitated in 2020 by the government of the Republic of China to allow land development in this area.
“We called the mobilization to express our bitterness and denounce the difficulties that the populations of the village of Afffinam in particular and of the department of Bignona in general have encountered since the installation of the dam. Our rice fields no longer produce, our wells no longer have water, our lands have become arid, our trees, just like the mangroves, have disappeared,” lamented the people’s spokesperson, Dème Diatta.
“The dam is causing us a lot of harm. For 40 years, we have been experiencing evil. And for good reason, we no longer have fish in the Bignona department,” he added.
According to him, “the construction of the Afffinam dam had a major impact on the lives of the populations and the consequences it brought are both harmful and immeasurable”.
Mr. Diatta said he had challenged the Head of State and the Prime Minister on the fact that the dam “no longer has any use” for the local populations.
“We are pleading for the construction of a bridge next to this Afffinam dam which will allow us to have a high tide and a low tide and fish,” he said.
-Bilaly Keita, the director of the Afffinam dam, recognized that the construction of this work is today the cause of numerous inconveniences.
Nevertheless, he indicated, the State has implemented programs and projects in the Bignona valley.
“This is the case of the PROVAL-CV project which is in the process of making developments in the valley and by June 2025, we will have the first developments,” reassured Mr. Keita, recognizing that the Afffinam dam is firstly an anti-salt work which fully plays its role.
However, he said, “the immense potential of the Bignona valley is not exploited by producers”.
“It is up to the population to develop these areas left fallow to encourage the State, which has put in place secondary infrastructure, inputs, agricultural equipment and support structures, to do more and better,” said pleaded Bilaly Keita.
MNF/SBS/ASB/OID
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