Land management in Guédiawaye: The Civil Forum denounces a "backpedaling" by the new regime

The Civil Forum/Guédiawaye Chapter denounces the government's "lack of transparency" regarding the conclusions of the ad hoc commission tasked with monitoring and verifying titles and occupancy rights on both old and new sections of the Public Maritime Domain (DPM) in the Dakar region. The organization demands the full publication of the report and an immediate public debate.

Tensions are rising once again in Guédiawaye over coastal land management. In a press release sent to Seneweb, the Guédiawaye branch of the Civil Forum broke its silence to express its "deep concern" regarding what it calls the "backpedaling" and "lack of transparency" on the part of the new authorities in managing the Guédiawaye Detailed Urban Development Plan (PUD). This regulatory planning document was made enforceable by the decree reclassifying 150.58 hectares of the casuarina tree strip, signed by Macky Sall on June 4, 2021.

To understand the frustration of those advocating for good land governance in Guédiawaye, one must go back to the change of regime. In May 2024, former Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko established, by decree, an ad hoc commission tasked with verifying land titles and occupancy rights on the Public Maritime Domain (DPM) in the Dakar region. This extensive undertaking culminated in the official submission of its final report to the President of the Republic on August 13, 2024.

Nearly two years after the submission of this document which, according to the government, "highlighted several worrying irregularities, particularly in terms of environmental and socio-economic impacts", the Civil Forum notes with regret that its content remains inaccessible to those most directly affected.

For the local branch of Transparency International, depriving the affected populations of these findings is a "flagrant violation of the right of access to information" which casts a shadow on the promises of change and transparency advocated by the new regime.

While welcoming the government's decision to "cancel the part of the Guédiawaye PUD between the VDN and the ocean", the Civil Forum criticizes the form for its "unilateral" nature.

Faced with this "unjustified opacity", the Civil Forum/Guédiawaye demands: "the immediate and full publication of the final report of the ad hoc commission; total transparency on the solutions envisaged and their implementation; as well as the opening of a public debate including all actors concerned with the management of the coastline".

The organization "reserves the right to use all legal means and citizen mobilization to ensure that the right to information becomes a reality in Guédiawaye."