ANB-BIA SUPPLEMENT

Human suffering in the midst of economic concerns

Time doesn’t stand still, but nothing can dispel the mental suffering of those people who had family-members aboard the ill-fated Joola, which sank on 26 September 2002 on its regular voyage from Ziguinchor (Casamance’s main town) to Dakar. More than three months after the catastrophe, a number of questions have been left unanswered. Many of the victims’ families are still in a state of shock and are calling for justice for their loved ones. All things considered, it’s a touchy subject and one in which the government’s credibility is on the line.

President Wade’s government has got to include the «Joola File» in its political agenda for this year 2003. Indeed, events connected with the Joola were paramount in the President’s Address To The Nation at the New Year. In his radio-televised message, Abdoulaye Wade went straight to the point in criticising the Board of Inquiry set up by the government to determine what had happened to the Joola. He said the Board «hasn’t done anything to set up a preliminary inquiry to find out who is to blame for the disaster». The President’s direct intervention in the «Joola Affair» comes at a time when the Regional Association of Families of Joola Victims (AVF-Joola) published an updated list of victims — 1,340 dead from Casamance, as against the 1,200 previously announced by the board of inquiry. Which only adds to the families’ sorrow.

Thus, several months after the shipwreck, nothing seems to have been done to assuage the bitter sorrow of the thousands of people closely affected by a disaster, which surely must be counted among the worst in the annals of Africa’s maritime history.

Every week in Senegal, there’s a reminder of the tragedy: An advertisement; a press release; some kind of local initiative; a public conference; an effort to «lend a hand»; a demand for compensation; a sudden memory. All this means people simply can’t brush the Joola catastrophe aside. It’s left its mark on people’s lives and so cannot be ignored. When it comes to apportioning blame, many people are involved, and surely the State must head the list, in spite of its cover-up efforts.

For a long time the authorities will have to be prepared to listen with a compassionate ear to what is said. The government will have to accept that it must bear some responsibility (even though there was a complete government reshuffle in October 2002) in the disaster. The Government must be prepared to offer some kind of compensation to those still reeling from the shock of what happened.

Disappointments and hopes dashed

As facts become clearer, victims’ families are getting ever more impatient with the never-ending delays. Any hopes they may have had, are rapidly turning to bitterness, especially among members of the Families’ Association set up soon after the actual disaster, the identification of the victims and their burial. Since then, families have been faced with one obstacle after another regarding the still-unanswered matter of compensation. This feeling of despair is growing by the day, especially when the President had announced in his New Year’s Address to the Nation that «appropriate sanctions will be meted out to those responsible for the disaster, and that compensation will be paid promptly to victims’ families».

Be that as it may, several victims’ wives have still not received their husbands’ wages. Uneasiness is growing among hundreds of widows and orphans, in spite of the promise made in Ziguinchor by President Wade, to classify these orphans as «war orphans». There also, impatience grows! Some people were almost miraculously saved from the shipwreck — 64 of them — and during an official ceremony on 27 November 2002, each one received 100,000 CFA francs from the Ministry for National Solidarity.

People are saying that’s not enough. But, as the saying goes: «A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush», and so those who were rescued from the disaster were coaxed into accepting the offer. Which contrasts with AVF-Joola members who are said to have rejected an 8 billion CFA francs (12.2 million euros) offer of compensation made by the government to victims’ families. Their reason? The miserable sum offered considering the enormity of losses sustained.

Obviously it’s a good occasion to make things awkward for the government which did not await any court pronouncement (as to the guilt or otherwise) before making its offer. The Board of Inquiry has confirmed the government’s failings. Various authorities, including the Transport Ministry and the Armed Forces Ministry (responsible for operating the Casamance-Dakar ferry service), have all been found wanting.

Unfortunately, efforts made to explain the «whys» and «wherefores» to the general public as to the causes of the shipwreck (an accumulation of errors and negligences) have done little to assuage the anger of the victims’ families (both Senegalese and European), who say they’ve been left on the sidelines and want to know more about what happened. They are also demanding more credible investigations. Such is the case of the French Association of Victims’ Families, which, during a visit to Dakar in mid-November 2002, threatened to bring legal action. In November 2002, at the end of their Conference held in Kaolack, Senegal’s bishops let it be known they were dissatisfied with the Board of Inquiry’s Report. And now comes President Wade’s statement demanding that the guilty parties be made known.

The government’s credibility was thus called into question. So much so that the Cabinet at the time headed by Prime Minister Mrs. Madior Boye had to resign. On 6 November 2002, the new prime minister, Idrissa Seck, number two in the ruling Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) and so close to President Wade, announced the appointment of a new thirty-one member Cabinet. The new Cabinet this began its mandate faced with a definite challenge.

A new boat and much more...

But what does all this mean for the people of Casamance, especially those living in Ziguinchor who’ve been hit by the tragedy? They are calling for a new ferry boat to replace the ill-fated Joola. «The President’s promised us a new boat». But the authorities say: «Give us time»! But time is fast running out as witnessed by the protest march organized in Dakar on 14 December 2002 by the families of the victims and which unfortunately turned into a confrontation with the police.

Some protestors took advantage of the march to reiterate their call for Casamance to be opened up to the outside world, especially as that region paid the highest price in casualties at the time of the 26 September tragedy. The protestors had two closely-linked complaints: The lack of adequate infrastructures for the shipment of agricultural produce; and the fact that the area is completely cut-off from the rest of the country. The Chairman of Ziguinchor’s regional council has this to say: «Ever since the Joola disaster, our region is slowly dying because more than ever we are cut of from the outside world».

Obviously, the people of Casamance in southern Senegal are waiting impatiently for a new ferry boat to drop anchor in their waters. There is a glimmer of hope in that the Senegalese government is expecting a substantial grant-in-aid from Germany towards obtaining a replacement boat. In any event, the acquisition of this boat represents a centre-piece for revitalizing Casamance’s economy and opening up the region to the rest of the country. On that depends a return to confidence in this area, where people feel forsaken and frustrated in receiving so little from the nation’s wealth, and in being so inadequately considered part of the overall country’s development plan.

It’s impossible to cover up the effects of the Joola catastrophe, at least as far as Casamance is concerned. And don’t forget Casamance’s on-going civil discord which is a contributing factor to the region’s backwardness. The time has come for the central authorities to understand that the Joola disaster cannot be considered on its own — that Casamance’s wretched economic and social situation must be considered as well — a situation which makes of that region a veritable junk-yard to the country as a whole. Only then will there be lasting peace in Casamance.

• Anicet L. Quenum, Senegal, January 2003 — © Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgmen