Senegal remembers ferry disaster The people of Senegal have been marking the first anniversary of one of the world's worst maritime disasters. More than 1,800 people perished when a passenger ferry capsized in heavy seas during a voyage from the province of Casamance to the capital, Dakar, last September. Religious services and civic events are being held to mark the anniversary in the capital, Dakar, and Ziguinchor, the main city in Casamance, from which the Joola ferry began its final journey. The ferry was carrying nearly four times as many people as it should have been when it went down off the Gambian coast. An investigating commission subsequently called for better supervision and improved safety measures. Prayers Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade is expected to attend a ceremony in Ziguinchor, where multi-denominational prayer services are to be held. He will lead relatives in throwing flowers into the sea for the dead, before going on to a cemetery, where some victims were laid to rest. Prime Minister Idrissa Seck will attend a ceremony at Mbao cemetery, near Dakar, where some 100 victims of the tragedy are buried. Senegalese Interior Minister Macky Sall is attending a ceremony near the border with the Gambia where the bodies of some Joola victims were buried after being picked up from the Gambian beaches. Compensation The Senegalese government says it is about to start paying victims' relatives compensation totalling more than $30m. However, the BBC's Dakar reporter, Alpha Jallow, say the government claims that only 20 families have so far met the government criteria of filing for compensation. The victims' relatives are required to produce proofs, such as birth certificates, passports and other legal documents in order to qualify for compensation. In addition, the names of the victims have to appear in the shipping manifesto. About 30 Europeans, including some French nationals, were among those who died. Our correspondent says that many people may be disqualified, because the ship was overloaded and it is likely that some names would not have been included in the official passenger list. There were only 64 survivors and about 500 bodies were recovered from the Atlantic Ocean, where the Joola ferry was left, as what the government describes the "sanctuary" for the dead. A report published last November concluded that the accident had been caused by overloading and negligence on the part of the boat's operators, the Senegalese navy and rescue services. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/3142668.stm Published: 2003/09/26 12:50:36 GMT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~