In Senegal, demonstrations and riots were not only concentrated in Dakar after the affair with Ousmane Sonko, leader of the opposition party Pastef-Les patriotes, who is accused of rape and death threats. Other regions mobilized and rose up to “defend democracy”. A struggle that goes beyond the person of Ousmane Sonko, as in Saint-Louis in the north of the country, a city particularly affected by youth unemployment and the starting point for irregular emigration.
With our special correspondent in Saint-Louis, Théa Ollivier,
The working-class district of Pikine in Saint-Louis is still devastated by the deaths of several dozen young people, candidates for illegal immigration, who wanted to reach Europe in October 2020. Papis Lam, a 35-year-old teacher, is today the only one with a fixed salary for to support his entire family: “I lost two brothers. They wanted to go looking for work. We live the worst. In our family, there is only one employee. ”
Lack of infrastructure
Lack of employment for young people, absence of industrial structure and infrastructure, this is the observation of Diarra Sow, a member of the Pastef-Saint-Louis office. In line with the National Movement for the Defense of Democracy (M2D), it demands that local elections be held in 2021 in the hope of change: “There are enormous problems in relation to the various problems that young people suffer from. It is primarily a need for work. Unemployment is extremely high. “
Fisheries and tourism, sectors in difficulty
In Saint-Louis, the pillars of the economy are fishing and tourism, two sectors in difficulty with fish shortages and the coronavirus pandemic, explains Papa Ibrahima Faye, city councilor and member of the presidential party Alliance for the Republic (APR): “There is tension, anger, adversity for young people people, activities performed in the informal world. It is up to our young people to find the capacity for resilience, therefore by training in other professions, because we can not necessarily say that it is fishing that should guide us. There must be diversification. ”
If the town hall does not always have the budget to meet these challenges, advocacy will be made with the state for infrastructure development, Papa Ibrahima Faye assures.
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