By Abdoulie G. Dibba
Traders and drivers have on Tuesday March 15 expressed concerns
over the closure of the Kerr Ali\Kerr Ayib border for almost a month
now.
The closure of the border to all vehicular traffic was as a result of
protest by Senegalese road transport unions against a new tariff of
FCFA 400,000 (over D26,000) introduced by Gambian customs on allSenegal registered trucks entering The Gambia from Senegal.
Talking to Foroyaa, a border trader by the name Amadou Sowe, a
Senegalese, noted that business is not doing well now as a result of
the border closure.
According to him, “there is low sale due to the fact that the
Senegalese and Gambian vehicles are not allowed to enter or leave
either Senegal or Gambia thus leaving us traders without transport
to cross the border ”.
A driver by the name Ebrima Ndoye, asserted that the authorities in
the two countries should dialogue to resolve the border issue. He said
as drivers they rely entirely on their income to maintain their
families and that since the border closure, their earnings have been
dwindling and their suffering increasing.
Other traders and drivers, who spoke to this reporter, expressed the
same view and called on the authorities in the two countries to sit
down and resolve this problem as a matter of urgency to save the small
economic operators and cross border drivers who are being directly
affected by the border closure.
