A Crd was organized yesterday by Onas, in the presence of the Governor of Dakar and the territorial authorities. The objective of this meeting is to inquire about the action plans planned for this year, to benefit from the contributions of the mayors of the different localities and to listen to the actors who are at the base to put together an action plan overall. For this year, the State has disbursed the sum of 2 billion 500 million to fight against the floods, for which Onas has already started cleaning work since March.
By Justin GOMIS – To protect the populations of Dakar and the interior of the country from the negative impacts of the abundance of rain, the National Sanitation Office of Senegal has once again deployed major resources, like last year when the country did not did not know of an Orsec plan. Thus, since March 2024, it has undertaken work to clean the gutters to anticipate the preparation of the network and sanitation works, in order to allow rapid flow of rainwater. “Pre-wintering Operations, commonly known as Oph, has been launched. And, to date, on a planned network length of 109,571 ml out of the 200,000 ml of assets managed by Onas, more than 20% have already been cured in the 5 lots allocated to subcontracting companies, monitored and controlled. by our teams,” informed Fatou Matar Fall Faye, Secretary General of Onas, yesterday, during the Regional Development Committee (RDC) dedicated to pre-winter operations.
These preventive activities do not only concern the capital. “Onas’ matrix of priority actions for the 2024 winter season, which is part of anticipation, does not only concern Dakar, but all the remediated areas including Touba-Mbacké, Thiès, Kaffrine, Fatick, Sédhiou, among others,” said the Secretary General of Onas. In fact, in Dakar, initially, the Flood zones were Pikine and Guédiawaye. But for some time, it was around Keur Massar where they were more significant, before affecting other areas. “When the work was carried out, we now noticed that the floods were shifting towards the department of Rufisque, particularly in Sangalkam and Tivaouane-Peul, and perhaps Bambilor to a lesser degree,” explained Al Hassane Sall. According to the Governor of Dakar, efforts must now be stepped up in this district since in Keur Massar, the situation is under control. “We will have to shift efforts towards the department of Rufisque, particularly the district of Sangalkam,” he said. According to him, “with the Adm and the Flood Prevention Department, efforts are being made at the level of the Rufisque department”.
But, in the opinion of Fatou Matar Fall Faye, if these pre-winter activities are carried out as early as possible, they will help to properly prepare the network to accommodate and properly drain rainwater. These same operations, she continues, will also be carried out in the different regions, all the cleaned up areas where Onas has a heritage, to reduce possible nuisances for the 2024 wintering.
The Senegal National Sanitation Office has also taken other measures for the maintenance of mechanical equipment. Thus, “following an already established schedule, the cleaning operations will be completed before the arrival of the first rains and the teams will return to various places where traffic jams will form during the winter,” she reassured. Along the same lines, structuring works and precautionary measures will be carried out in order to reduce possible nuisances, she added.
Onas also plans to carry out an information, accountability and community mobilization program called “Féggu jem nawet”. “This program, which will be very sustained and well targeted, will place populations at the forefront in taking charge of their living environment and in the fight against flooding in their immediate environment. Because, very often, people’s behavior towards our structures does not include good rainwater management,” she underlined.
For the success of this flood prevention project, “the State has planned investments costing 2.5 billion, already mobilized by the State in payment credits and commitment authorization, and to put a large batch of pumping equipment as part of the Hann-Fann project is available to agents,” announced Fatou Matar Fall Faye.
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