6:00 a.m., November 2, 2022, modified at 10:19 a.m., November 2, 2022
The fisherman Senegalese
El Hadji Dousse Fall remembers precisely the moment of the tragedy: 5 a.m., December 28, 2018, “following prayer”. “When the wave came crashing once morest the wall, my father found himself trapped with my nephew. They both died. » He tells that “all the houses were damaged” and everyone had “Water up to your knees”. Standing facing what remains of his home – three sections of wall gaping on rubble and planks – Badara Dieng describes the tragic mechanics of this storm: “The sea started to get rough around 3 p.m. The waves were hitting harder and harder so we all got out with our bags. At 2 a.m. the building collapsed. »
In ten years, nearly 800 meters of coastline have disappeared
The man nevertheless remembers the time when “I needed a cart” to unload fish between the ocean and Guet Ndar, the fishing district of Saint-Louis. Today, this part of town is regularly lapped by the waves. Under the effect of climate change, the Atlantic is moving forward and the 230,000 inhabitants of the “Venice of Africa” live on borrowed time. On the shore, the remains of collapsed houses and schools rub shoulders with fishing nets.
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Slender cats, goats and sheep dawdle between the thousands of multicolored canoes lined up on the sand. Guet Ndar, one of the most densely populated areas in the world, is nestled on the Langue de Barbarie. This thin strip of land wedged between the Senegal River and the ocean, connected to the mainland by two bridges, acts as a rampart for the rest of Saint-Louis, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its colonial architecture.
“Saint-Louis is one of the Senegalese coasts most affected by climate change, comments Cheikh Omar Tidjani Cissé, geographer at Gaston Berger University in Saint-Louis, but also one of the most vulnerable due to the concentration of the population. Erosion carries away 2 meters per year here. » Added to this are the phenomena of submersion, with a higher and more violent swell. In ten years, nearly 800 meters of coastline have disappeared.
Winter swells will be a first test
A dyke was built at Guet Ndar to temporarily protect the neighborhood once morest the advancing ocean.
(Sylvain Cherkaoui for the JDD)
A dyke was built at Guet Ndar to temporarily protect the neighborhood once morest the advancing ocean.
(Sylvain Cherkaoui for the JDD)
Sand extraction and urbanization on sandy soil have aggravated the problem, as has the digging, with poorly controlled effects, of a relief channel in the Langue de Barbarie in 2003. Intended to protect Saint-Louis once morest floods, this breach led to the engulfment of surrounding villages. “Eventually, we can fear that the Langue de Barbarie will disappear”, says the researcher.
It is to delay the deadline that a 2 km long dyke was built, financed to the tune of 16 million euros by the French Development Agency (AFD). Barely raised above the sand, it does not impose, and that’s normal. “This shield was designed to be submersible, to trap the sand when the waves recede and consolidate the dune,” explains Papa Aldiouma Cissé, coordinator of the coastal protection project in Saint-Louis.
Since the completion of the work a few months ago, the water has not overflowed. On the contrary, “the beach widens”, notes Cheikh Omar Tidjani Cissé: “But scientifically, we cannot yet say. » Winter and its strong swells will be a first test. Papa Aldiouma Cissé warns: “The dam is sized to last fifteen years. It is an emergency measure to temporarily protect the coastline. »
Reforest to counter the waves
Lieutenant Oumar Barry, assistant curator of the marine protected area of Saint-Louis, where “tyhavelles” and filaos have been planted to consolidate the dune.
(Sylvain Cherkaoui for the JDD)
Lieutenant Oumar Barry, assistant curator of the marine protected area of Saint-Louis, where “tyhavelles” and filaos have been planted to consolidate the dune.
(Sylvain Cherkaoui for the JDD)
AFD and the Senegalese authorities are experimenting with sustainable solutions south of the Langue de Barbarie, in the marine protected area of Saint-Louis. Here, fifteen years ago, “it was only sand”, describes Lt. Oumar Barry, assistant curator. Erosion had gradually eaten away at the dune, sea salt had contaminated the soil and the waters of the river, leaving a deserted landscape.
It’s hard to imagine it today, so green is it. To counter the waves, Oumar Barry and his teams installed 1 kilometer of palisades made of typhas – the local reed. Three hundred hectares have been reforested with casuarina trees, giving the shoreline the appearance of a pine forest. If data is still missing, “a retreat of the coastline and a replenishment of the sandy beach have been observed”, notes the lieutenant. The dune cord fills up. Here and there, the feet of mangrove trees that have appeared naturally give hope for the regeneration of the mangrove. Turtles, Hansel Terns and Grey-headed Gulls have made a comeback.
3,000 people live in prefabs
Simple and inexpensive techniques, but impossible to transpose in a district as concrete as Guet Ndar. Also, the authorities have opted for what they modestly call a “strategic retreat”, i.e. the rehousing of the 10,000 people residing less than 20 meters from the beach. The construction of a new neighborhood is underway in the town of Gandon, regarding fifteen kilometers away, and will be financed by the World Bank. A heartbreak for these fishermen who, like El Hadji Dousse Fall, have a carnal connection with the sea.
The ocean was his home and his income. Now both are threatened. “Our ancestors fished there”, points out the president of the Association of Artisanal Line Fishermen of Saint-Louis, looking out to sea at the huge offshore terminal which will be operated in 2023, erected on a reef full of fish. “It was our livelihood, rich in sea bream and thiofs, it was taken from us, continues El Hadji Dousse Fall. Now we have to sail further south, where there are only small fish. »
The fisherman resigns himself to departure. “In Gandon we will be safe, he abounds. We have to take what we are given. » But here, the subdivision planned to accommodate them did not come out of the ground; only the beginning of a road emerges from the dust. The agency in charge of the execution of the project concedes a delay linked to the pandemic and promises relocation no later than October 2023.
In the meantime, more than 3,000 people live in plastic prefabs, under temperatures regularly exceeding 40 degrees. This is the case of Fatou Seck. After losing her home five years ago, she slept with her loved ones in makeshift shelters, then in these containers in full sun. She guides us into her room: a bed, dishes and the feeling of entering a sauna. So much so that, at night, the family regularly sleeps outside on mats. “We used to breathe the sea breeze, but here there is no air, she laments. This heat ended up killing my mother. »
Every day, her husband and the other fishermen deduct from their receipts in order to be able to take the bus and reach Guet Ndar and their canoes. “Almost everything we earn goes into transport, laments Fatou Seck. We have lost everything. » Far from the paved road and out of sight, the forty-year-old feels “abandoned by the state”. “The mayor has never come here. » She knows that “a lot of St. Louisians don’t know regarding this place” which looks like an IDP camp. The new anchorage of these climate refugees.
Culture Trois-Rivières is launching a call for projects in the field of cultural mediation and citizenship. This invitation is addressed to all Trois-Rivières citizens, organizations and artists. The projects sought according to three areas of intervention aim to make cultural mediation a tool for integration, social cohesion and improvement of the quality of citizen life.
The United States government, through the State Department, has issued a statement in which it pronounces on the visit of President Gustavo Petro to the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro.
The statement issued by a State Department spokesman assures that they are aware of the reports of President Petro’s visit to Venezuela and They urge Colombia to continue working with its allies to advocate for a democratic and prosperous hemisphere.
“Venezuelan-led negotiations are the only path to credible, free and fair elections that reflect the will of the Venezuelan people in their efforts to revitalize democracy,” the State Department spokesman said in his statement.
“We urge Colombia to continue working with its partners and in multilateral forums to advocate for a democratic and prosperous hemisphere, and hold accountable governments that have discarded democratic norms, like the authoritarian Maduro regime in Venezuela,” the State Department said.
The United States has insisted that the Maduro government must call elections once more, as has also been demanded by the opposition led by Juan Guaidó who has recently held different demonstrations to ask the Venezuelan government to advance fair and free elections.
Referring to the above, the State Department assures in its statement that “Venezuelans deserve the same opportunity to democratically elect their leaders as Colombians and other peoples of the region.”
The spokesman who issued the statement assures in the text that The United States will remain firmly committed to the Venezuelan people and will continue to work with the international community. to support the restoration of democracy and the rule of law.
It should be remembered that the United States Government clarified that it recognizes the opposition Juan Guaidó as “interim president” of Venezuela and working with him to “restore democracy,” in response to speculation regarding a potential imminent end to a key backer for the Venezuelan leader.
After nearly four years of breaking bilateral relations, President Gustavo Petro met with Nicolás Maduro, his Venezuelan counterpart, in Caracas. The visit made it possible to learn regarding the joint work plan between the leaders, but also left photographs that mark a new era in the history of both countries.
President Petro left Bogotá with a delegation made up of Laura Sarabia, chief of staff; Álvaro Leyva, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Luis Ernesto Vargas, Colombian ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), and Félix Plasencia, ambassador of the neighboring country in Bogotá.
For his part, the Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó regretted that the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, had visited Caracas to “normalize” the “dictatorship” of Nicolás Maduro and has demanded, instead, that he demand “free and fair elections” in Venezuela.
“President Petro decides to visit the dictator Maduro today and call him ‘president’, an action that might dangerously normalize human rights violations that point to Maduro as being responsible for the chain of command and the worst migration crisis in the world,” Guaidó said in Twitter.
President Petro decides to visit the dictator Maduro today and call him “President”, an action that might dangerously normalize human rights violations that point to Maduro as being responsible for the chain of command and the worst migration crisis in the world. https://t.co/rWlpu8LgfY
– Juan Guaidó (@jguaido) November 1, 2022
In the statement that President Petro gave at the end of the meeting with Maduro, he pointed out that the border between Colombia and Venezuela was left in the hands of the mafias, referring to the trails and the contraband that still persists in that area.
“The border was left in the hands of the mafias, organizations whose leadership is multinational, an expression of a failure of the war on drugs, which has left a million dead and trafficking routes. We are going to rebuild relationships at the intelligence level,” Petro said in this appearance before the press.
Fed raises rate by 75 basis points and suggests more modest future hikes
WASHINGTON (Archyde.com) – The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) raised its main interest rate by three-quarters of a point on Wednesday in a bid to rein in inflation, but suggested future increases in the cost of credit might come at a cost. slower pace in order to take into account the “cumulative tightening of (its) monetary policy”.
The evolution of the wording of the press release, published following two days of debate, takes into account the ever-evolving impact of the rapid rise in the Fed rate and the desire to bring the federal funds rate to a level “sufficiently restrictive to bring inflation back to 2% over time”.
The “increases” in the rate target “will be appropriate,” the Fed said. “In determining the pace of future increases in the target range, the committee will take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy, the time lags with which monetary policy affects economic activity and inflation, and economic and financial developments “, she added.
The Fed’s change in vocabulary bears witness to the broad debate that has taken place on the impact of the tightening of monetary policy on the economy and the risk that sharp rate hikes will weaken the financial system or trigger a recession.
While its recent rate hikes of 75 basis points were decided in the name of the need to act “quickly” to stem inflation, which is more than three times the Fed’s 2% target, the bank now enters a more nuanced phase.
The rate target for federal funds (“fed funds”), the Fed’s main monetary policy instrument, is raised to between 3.75% and 4%, the highest level since early 2008.
The central bank has raised its rate in the past six meetings, making its fastest rise since the Paul Volcker era in the 1970s and 1980s.
Members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the Fed’s monetary policy committee, remain “very attentive to inflationary risks”, the Fed added.
She pointed out that the economy appeared to be growing at a moderate pace, with job creation still “solid” and a low unemployment rate.
On the financial markets, the Wall Street indices were up, the Standard & Poor’s 500 taking 0.51% while it yielded 0.3% shortly before these announcements.
At the same time, the yield on ten-year Treasury bills lost 4.5 basis points to 4.007% and the dollar dropped 0.69% once morest a basket of benchmark currencies.
The president of the institution, Jerome Powell, must comment on the committee’s decision, taken unanimously, during a press conference from 6:30 p.m. GMT.
(Report Howard Schneider, French version Laetitia Volga, said by Camille Raynaud)
by Howard Schneider and Ann Saphir
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