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Senegal railway opening overshadowed by compensation protest
Thousands of residents claim they have not been properly compensated for homes and businesses that were demolished to make way for Senegal's new commuter railway line.
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A regional express train (TER) is parked at the maintenance and storage service of Colobane, in Dakar, Senegal, on December 22, 2021. (AFP/Seyllou)
A
fter five years' work and at a cost of more than a billion dollars, Senegal's capital city next Monday will finally welcome a new commuter railway line.
Politicians are lining up to extol the benefits of slashing journey times and decongesting Dakar once the gleaming TER regional express trains start to roll.
But thousands of residents claim they have not been properly compensated for homes and businesses that were demolished to make way for the much-trumpeted line.
"We plan to block the start of the TER on the day of the inauguration to demand satisfaction for our grievances," said Ibrahima Cisse, who leads a group of some 16,000 people who say they are owed money.
Many are also furious that the rehousing they were promised has not yet been completed.
The government says that almost everyone who is owed compensation has received it, but accepts that some resettlements have not yet happened.
'Record-breaking' works
