After causing quite a stir, the measure suspending construction in several parts of the country, including Dakar’s Corniche, is now being gently reversed. Some construction site managers say they have been given permission to resume work. Far from the noise and fury. To say that the stakes are very high for everyone.

Architect-engineer Pierre Goudiaby Atépa was the first to give the news on April 29, 2024, even before the official announcement. By the end of April, the authorities had decided to halt all construction work on the Senegalese coastline. In addition to the emblematic Corniche of Dakar, there were equally important zones located in several parts of Dakar, but also inland, in sites as sensitive as Bambilor, Lac Rose or Pointe Sarène, outside the perimeters of the Dgpu or Sapco.

Public Policy: Faye on Sall’s Tracks

While many people, particularly in Dakar, welcomed the measure, an equally large number were disappointed. One of these was the lawyer Me Doudou Ndoye, former Minister of Justice, who denied that the President of the Republic had the authority to take such a suspension measure on his own initiative, especially as most of the land in question was covered by long leases or title deeds. All these lamentations seemed to be drowned out by the loud voices of those encouraging President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and his Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko not to give in and to maintain the suspension of these constructions, “on these non aedificandi zones”!

Suspension of Property and Land Procedures: Victims in a Dire State

However, it seems that, without shouting it from the rooftops, the highest authorities have listened to the grievances of those who say they have been wronged by these measures. Le Quotidien has learned that last week, the Head of State received a delegation of cement manufacturers and building contractors, who pleaded for the resumption of construction work. The members of the delegation, who were later received by Prime Minister Sonko, pointed out that, in addition to the damage suffered by those who had borrowed millions to build, there was another bomb being prepared at the Autonomous Port of Dakar, with cargo of concrete reinforcing bars, tiles and other ceramics, which could no longer be cleared through customs, and which were soon likely to clog up the Port.

Growing Concerns Over Suspension of Works on Dakar’s Coastline

Even more serious is the fact that a large number of workers and day laborers, who make their living from day-to-day work on various construction sites, have been put off work. These include masons, apprentices, ironworkers, tilers and plumbers, most of whom are paid a daily wage, and therefore depend on this for subsistence. One of these contractors, who agreed to speak to Le Quotidien newspaper, confided that for his two building sites on the Corniche, he used around 500 day laborers. And according to his estimates, if we wanted to put a figure on the number of suspended worksites, we could say that around 150,000 people whose families would be plunged into precariousness as a result of this measure.

Reason enough for the state authorities? In any case, our contractor was delighted yesterday when government officials called to tell him that he could resume work the day after tomorrow, Thursday. The same good news has apparently also been communicated to other players, even if they did not wish to speak openly.

By Mohamed GUEYE / mgueye@lequotidien.sn

  • Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH