Below is an article from the Daily Observer on a comment by President Wade on relations between Senegal and Gambia. He specifically mentions the building of a bridge across River Gambia. I have heard rumors that our government just refuses to build a bridge for some reason but I have always assumed the real reason was prohibitive cost. Wouldn't the Gambia benefit more from a bridge than anyone else? What's the real logic behind this refusal? Wade On 'Problems' With Gambia The Daily Observer (Banjul) NEWS March 21, 2003 Posted to the web March 21, 2003 By Frederick Tendeng Banjul In a prime time live broadcast Wednesday on Sud FM Radio, Senegalese president, Abdoulaye Wade, admitted to the existence of 'difficulties' in the relations between his country and The Gambia. Answering questions from Sud FM journalists, Wade said, "I will not be realistic if I tell you here that everything is fine with The Gambia. But I can tell you that neither I nor my country is responsible for the difficulties we experience in the relations between our two countries." He said he and Jammeh have returned visits to each other's capital but that "the key problem remains". This, he claimed, is President Jammeh's "refusal to allow the construction of a bridge (in The Gambia which will facilitate road transportation) between northern and southern Senegal. However, President Wade said he recognised that The Gambia is a sovereign country which can decide what it wants to do within its sovereign borders. He added that he could not do anything about President Jammeh's refusal to allow the construction of a bridge over the River Gambia. Casamance President Wade also admitted erring when he promised to solve the Casamance problem within 100 days. He however explained that General Mansour Seck, former Senegalese army chief of staff and other generals of the Senegalese armed forces met him when he was a minister in Abdou Diouf's Government to assure him that he could help in finding a lasting solution to the Casamance crisis. President Wade also revealed that the mayor of Ziguinchor, Robert Sagnia, gave him the same assurances which he said prompted his promise. But he explained, "with time, I now realise that I have made a mistake when I promised to resolve this issue within 100 days." Among other issues, Wade discussed on the prime time live telecast was the teachers union crisis and the war in Iraq. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2003 The Daily Observer. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). _________________________________________________________________ Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~