Dakar's Frontiers With Banjul Remain Closed The Independent (Banjul) July 19, 2002 Posted to the web July 19, 2002 Seedy Bojang Banjul Despite the visit of Senegal's Interior General Mamadou Niang the frontiers of trade between Senegal and the Gambia remain closed almost a week after the Senegalese Transport Union decided to stop the flow of vehicular traffic from both sides of the border. Since Sunday no vehicle either from Senegal or The Gambia has been allowed by the transport union to cross from Karang or from other points in The Gambia's south bank. The Union was protesting over the increased tariffs by The Gambia and the fact that Senegalese vehicles are required to pay duty in The Gambia while Gambians vehicles are exempted from paying dues in Senegal. The Union said this was grossly affecting its drivers who should benefit from a duty waiver from The Gambia. The Union continues to show a heavy presence at checkpoints, restricting the movements of goods and persons into Senegalese territory. Gambia's Foreign Secretary Blaise Jagne who was to go on a diplomatic mission to Mauritania was forced to cancel his trip, due to the border closure. In a press briefing, the government of the Gambia condemned the situation as undesirable, mockery and revoke of protocol of accord and bilateral agreement on road transport agreements signed by the two countries, dating back in 1997 and later renewed in 2000, when similar situation erupted between the government of Senegal and Gambia. Blaise Jagne, said in a press briefing said the government of Senegal has failed to live up to expectation by adhering to the protocol of accord that binds the two countries on road transport and trade. He said it seems that they have little or no control over the transport union, which he said is abusing the bilateral agreement on road transportation. He said agreements are meant to be implemented. He said the same situation occurred in 2000, when Gambian vehicles were not allowed to enter Senegal. The two governments later resolved the problem. 'The Gambia believes in the amicable resolution of disputes, and as a result the government will take appropriate steps to address the issue', he said.Meanwhile, vehicles travelling from The Gambia are still reportedly denied entry into the Senegalese territory. Beran S. Jeng _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~