BORDER CROSSING CAUSES UPHEAVAL BETWEEN SENEGAL AND THE GAMBIA LATEST FROM BOURENG BORDER POST-SENEGALESE YOUTHS AND GAMBIAN IMMIGRATION ANGRY AT EACH OTHER. Translation(English version) Subject:Crossing costs travellers 500 CFA Frs:- Source:walf.sn(14 February 2004) Introductory remarks: The provisions governing ECOWAS-Economic Community of West African States clearly stipulate that citizens of the ECOWAS zone can move freely from country to country without let or hindrance.Contrary to what is said in those provisions here we have The Gambia a signatory of those very accords imposing on travellers a "border crossing pass" which costs each and every traveller 500 CFA Frs,this affects any traveller who crosses the border(from Senegal). (CORRESPONDENCE)-Travellers,most of them from villages along the Senegalo- Gambian border post of Bouring,a Gambian border post situated near Ndorma (45 km North of Kolda) no longer have a better choice other than going through that hot spot. In order to be able to reach Dakar,Kaolack or Ziguanchor,the Senegalese traveller is always obliged to pass through Boureng. Unlike what used to be, this passage is no longer free of charge.Any traveller who passes through that post should bear in mind that The Gambian Police will certainly levy some charges on that particular traveller,which will be nothing less than 500CFA Frs. Those charges are to meet the cost of the border crossing pass issued by The Gambian Police and must be paid on the spot. "It is a new way of asking people to pay additional charges, which has been put in place for the past year" said Mr Assan Mbaye,the second vice president of the rural council of Ndorma. His remarks are therefore unequivocal."On our way to Ziguanchor few days ago,our vehicle was stopped and passengers were ordered to report to a border post identifying itself as:"The Gambia Immigration Department". Where it was intimated to us that in order to be able to cross the border each and everyone had to pay 500 CFA Frs therefore,be issued a border crossing pass. When I informed the agent that I had a valid ID card on me,he replied and said that, the valid ID card had nothing to do with that payment". testified Mr.Mbaye. While Mbaye was reeling his movie on those challenging disadvantages,young Dame Cisse interrupted him and then suddenly displayed his own border pass,paradoxically marked on that very pass which was meant to allow them cross the border, were these letters; ECOWAS. "One of our comrades spent the night in the neighbourhood because he was unable to settle the charges concerned before crossing the border",Dame Cisse lamented. Mr Assan Mbaye to further strengthen his point continued and said "in the past not having a valid ID card meant we had to pay and be issued a border crossing pass,this means it was free to cross if one had valid documents". Many of those villagers who travel through that border post,are affected and do suffer a lot following the introduction of this new measure that has been imposed by The Gambian Police at the border" The affected areas are:Yedoulaye,Amdallaye Diallo,Bouroco and so on.Most of the inhabitants in that locality originate from Saloum.They settled in that area as farmers.It is an area that has fertile land and receives enough rain fall.This has helped them escape the drought stricken part of the country side,parts that have been ruined and no longer favour the cultivation of peanuts. Amongst those villagers who expressed their views to our reporter was Mr Yero Sane President of the rural council of Ndorma,he said:"This latest measure has been introduced by The Gambian Police to fight against cattle rustlers,who have so far been a menace within this area" "But on the other hand when ever we learnt about such crimes if we report them to the local authorities the situation is usally handled accordingly. Once a problem rose when The Gambian police wanted to forcefully reduce the price of a cow,that a Senegalese was selling at a bi-weekly local market",a citizen of Ndorma argued. From Yero Sane's point of view: "there are people whose behaviour appears questionable therefore ,this obliges others to be cautious,that is why I find it normal for them to be asked to produce valid ID cards.For those who use radio stations and start spreading inflamatory messages,they do not intend doing any good.The situation should therefore be transmitted to the rural council within that locality,they will further transmit such a report to the govenor's office"........................... Extracted and translated from a story, Written by Hamidou SAGNA(Walf.sn) OPTV treds on this article with an open mind and then makes it's analyses within that perspective. If one reads between the lines it is obvious and certain that! tension is growing faster than usual between The Gambia and it's dearest neighbour.Not because of Gambians but because of madness emanating from a shameless and a careless dictatorial institution, headed by a laughable dummy. Why not the Senegalese intelligence start monitoring guys like that Yero Sane.Let any of mad Yahya's cronies tell us that walf.sn is not fair in their reporting,How on earth can they say so? If the Senegalese authorities could influence Walf were they going to write about Yero's supportive statements that favour our mad man? In Senegal democracy is a clean and clear culture that the gvt cannot colour for itself. I wish such a report was written by the mad man's media outlets! Then we would have seen their immature and wreckless messages that can cause a Sub regional war! Now Yero(a citizen of Casamance,Senegal) stands to be sympathetic towards what mad Yahya did and if a Gambian citizen yells on him,his cronies call you someone selling your conutry! These are the elements who do not want peaceful co-existence as far as Casamance is not declared a so-called Independent part of Africa! That is why OPTV has repeatedly warned that as far as mad Yahya is breathing near that border and he has those ARMS FROM ARSENAL BULGARIA,never will there be peace between The Gambia and Senegal. Now you see why OPTV ridiculed the NIA declassified stuff where they wrote that the immigration officer at Jululung was transfered because he was asking Senegalese to pay?!!!!!!!!! Mad Yahya is fake brothers and sisters,well OPTV has been vindicated within a week or so.After attempting to pump us with those bogus declassified stuff from wherever,here we have seen him lie between his teeth. Is it not true that the immigratiion officer at Jululung who was asking people to pay and then the NIA recommended for his transfer,was carrying out Yahya's orders? The eating has proven the pudding,period. If Yahya thinks that he can fool sane people and he is a lunatic, confirms that he really needs help from psychiatrists and not lawyers or judges. We warned that Yahya has started using IGP 13 Badjie as his new spokesperson well what is happening these days? Yahya came on TV(according to sources from home) a day after Badjie's message was printed by the observer.Mad Yahya repeated exactly what Badjie said,except where he sent another epsisode of classic comedie telling Gambians the oil/petrol will be drilled very soon(laugh).For Yahya drilling is synonymous to digging a well in the middle of the Sahara desert and then invite villagers to dance around a bucket of water because they missed seeing water! This is petrol not a well of water.Even consturcting the machines that will do the drilling takes years.How about the project itself? How about the strategies to be put in place and then market the product? How about the risks involved? Lest we forget Ken Sarowiwa(Ogoni Land) who was slayed by Abacha?It was mad Yahya who stood near Abacha when the whole world was blaming that late serial killer? Has parliament approved it? That is why rumours are rife that Yahya was not happy when the US embassy gave out 300,000 USD to parliament! ! There you have Halifa and others,strengthening that institution means helping entrench democracy.MPS will certainly start feeling less obliged to negotiate with terrorists.Did you notice? It was after the MPS warned the secretary of state for foreign Affairs to respect their calls that they started being respected! Or I forgot mad Yahya is King and he has absolute mad and sad dreams that run the show. Petrol? How about Sieraleone? How about Mauritnia? How about Senegal's own offshore reserves?How about Guinea Bissau's? Have we heard those leaders show their madness on that? This belt of oil reserves has been noticed by NASA for some time now and it will take another part of our lives before such projects are realised. Mad Yahya is trying to play a game that is beyond his intelligence.During the former gvt time,we even saw them issue warnings to residents within KSMD to vacate.We were told that the oil was at the Kanifing Industrial estate area(laugh).What happened? Jawara was over thrown by a mad bunch of dreamers.Why didn't Yahya continue evacuating people from KSMD from 94 to date if the oil thing was true? There are Gambians who kept their notices from the PPP gvt and they still have them.Afterwards the PPP gvt said that the oil reserves moved back to the sea! I hope so Yahya will not come back and tell the gullible people he the mad man plays with that,the oil has evaporated?!!!!!!!!!! People like Kaba Jawara should run away if not Yahya will slay him raw.Yahya's mad and shameless face believes in every crap that so-called experts tell him and that is why he moved Susan Wafa Ogoo to handle the dept of for natural resources and environment for the past years! Fishing licences are being sold now,next he will steal some of sand stone(in Nianij,Kaoline(from Basse) and then may sneak out.How about the sand that was secretly exported to Australia? OJ has been pressing on that but no answer yet. If a mad man sneaks with the help of greedy pirates and then sells sand to Australia what would happen if we were to drill oil? Yahya is so mad that he thinks that Gambians can be calmed by such lullabies! The prices of commodities are bound to rise and Gambians will be seeing flames until when Yahya is hacked at McCarthy Square. OPTV predicts and everyday those predictions are proven to be true.Today we warn Gambians and Senegalese that mad Yahya will try using the likes of Yero Sane and create another rebellion in Casamance very soon.This time Wade should table the issue at the UN security council and then declare his part before the international world.He does not have to negotiate with terrorists particularly the insane ones! Look at what Peter Bergen the CNN terrorism analysts wrote in his book,please see the allafrica.com. The dark clouds that are creeping towards the Gambia because of Yahya will harm us for no reason.There is another piece that OPTV recieved where Yahya was accused of hosting Islamist extremists whocame on a pilgrimage in The Gambia back in 1997/8.See how that coincides with Peter's intriguing revelations. I understand that Yahya threatened to sue the author Eliman Faal of the Jeune Afrique paper in Paris.I Binneh S Minteh will search for that story and then send it to Oreilly Factor and other media outlets here, so that Yahya can finally sue me. Was that not around the same time that mad Yahya was using Imam Fatty(when they were in good terms) to pounce on the Ahmadiyya movement? The Ahmadis left the Gambia for a while and then came back because they were going to sue the gvt. Remember that the Ahmadiyya is a powerful organisation.Yahya does not like them but he was scared to death.The Ahmadiyya still do not trust Yahya.Major Momodou Bojang was the clown that he used then but where is he now? OPTV has learnt from reliable sources that leaders like Yahya are being left to hang themselves up in this war against terror, we will witness that very very soon. Binneh S Minteh Newyork University. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~