Senegal/Saint-Louis: 20 gas-powered local cabs put on the road

Twenty gas-powered local cabs were officially put into service on Tuesday in Saint-Louis, as part of a project piloted by the Land Transport Development Fund (FDTT), including a gas-powered station commissioned the same day.

According to the administrator of the Land Transport Development Fund (FDTT), this project involves the operation of 20 local cabs and 15 urban cabs.

"In fact, this project has been delayed because it's something new. These are vehicles that were supposed to run on gas, and we had to take the time to sort out all the regulatory constraints," said Bara Sow.

Mr. Sow was speaking to the local press on the sidelines of the official ceremony marking the launch of these urban and local cabs.

He thanked the Direction régionale de l'environnement et des établissements classés de Saint-Louis (DREEC) which, he said, had forced the project's stakeholders to "clear up any ambiguities" linked to the environmental impact study, for greater safety in relation to gas exploitation.

"Everything is now ready for the vehicles to start up. The transporters who have been waiting a long time can start their operations", he said.

In the opinion of the administrator of the Land Transport Development Fund (FDTT), this project is fully in line with the new authorities' policy to modernize transport.

It aims to give the city of Saint-Louis "a new face in terms of transport", according to Mr. Sow, who wants to help eradicate irregular "clandos" transport, while favoring those who were present in the sector.

Bara Sow also spoke of the Land Transport Development Fund's desire to give people the means to travel more comfortably, while taking into account the profitability requirement to which transporters are subject, as gas is cheaper and less polluting than fuel.

"This is in line with the Senegalese authorities' new policy for modernizing transport in Senegal. We have a sample project here in Saint-Louis, and we also intend to set up operations throughout Senegal to help rejuvenate Senegal's urban and intercity transport fleet", he said.

Mamadou Kanté, General Manager of Mutuelle d'épargne et de crédit des transporteurs (MECTRANS), explained the ins and outs of this project, currently in its test phase.

"It's a test project involving 20 vehicles divided between two GIEs [economic interest groups], Goxu Mbaac and Hydrobase," he says.

These vehicles, he adds, are adapted and designed for transport. They are licensed, properly registered and fully insured.

He recalled that these vehicles "cost operators 8,480,000 CFA francs", thanks to financing from NSIA Banque and MECTRANS, with support from the Land Transport Development Fund.

Speaking on behalf of the beneficiary transporters, Ibrahima Fall, known as "Baye Fall", praised the introduction of these local vehicles, also known as "green-white cabs".

Abdou Khadre Dieylani Bâ, deputy prefect of the Saint-Louis department, invited the beneficiary transporters to manage these vehicles responsibly and sustainably.

Source: aps.sn/