The week of cleaning railway stations on the Dakar - Tambacounda line, initiated by the General Directorate of the National Railway Company of Senegal, was used by railway workers to express their support for the decision taken at the last Council of Ministers regarding the revival of the railway network in Senegal.

These railway workers from Thiès delivered a strong message to the authorities this Friday. "Today, the State has made a commitment to settling outstanding social debts. The launch, which took place in the Council of Ministers, is for the imminent start of preparatory work on the Dakar-Tambacounda railway to standard," according to the coordinator of the railway workers' inter-union.

For Babacar Gaye, the State can count on railway workers to raise expectations, while "the signs are positive for attracting investors," while emphasizing that the constraints mainly relate to the liabilities of Ipres.

According to the workers, a commitment signed two months ago by the supervising ministry and all relevant entities, namely the State Judicial Agency, the representative of IPRES (the Senegalese Social Security Institute), and the railway workers' association managing the case, has been in place. They are drawing the authorities' attention to the importance of "maintaining this course of progress, because we can no longer afford to back down."

Babacar Gaye and his colleagues indicated that "this progress can only be achieved with the support of railway workers, so as not to allow the workers to become demobilized again. Therefore, we also need help to have this hope and confidence to actively participate in the revival and development of the railway network."

Railway workers say they are optimistic because "there is the 3 billion CFA franc contract that has been signed to allow studies around the preparatory work of the long-awaited major project, to allow Senegal to have a railway worthy of a railway company, which will be a real lever for the economic development of the country."

Mr. Gaye concluded: the outstanding debt is around 5 billion CFA francs, plus 2 billion CFA francs in penalties. There are settlement mechanisms in place for IPRES to release these 2 billion. However, we prefer to focus on what has already been undertaken, and this will allow us to regularize the situation of all retired railway workers and those affected by this matter.