This morning, through its spokesperson, Ndiaja Ndiong, the group of sacked workers from Dakarnav objected to the mismanagement of parent company Lesnavi.
The company that manages the Dakar shipyard assets, in this case Sirn, has decided not to renew the concession contract linking it to the Portuguese company Lisnave. Management that has lasted for more than 20 years is far from being beneficial to Dakarnav's workers. Indeed, the Marine Repair Infrastructure Company (CERN) intends to put an end to this contract by launching an open call for bids for other partners, one of whom has apparently been selected.
The general observation according to these workers is that for almost 25 years, the Portuguese from Lesnave have been present in the country's shipyards, while the state does not benefit from them because it only collects 2 billion CFA francs in royalties. This was generated at 1% of the company's turnover. Furthermore, the group points to the Dakarnav audit, commissioned by CERN, which revealed the extent of Dakarnav leaders' maneuverings.
Thus, if Dakarnav makes use of a working tool, his contribution to its maintenance is very low. It was noted that CERN allocated more than 16.5 billion francs to maintain infrastructure and various investments, while Dakarnav, which reaps more than 98% of profits, only allocated 1.7 billion, most of it in the form of a capital increase.
In addition, the workers denounce the Portuguese's misuse of CERN's real estate assets: “More than two dozen apartments in Dakar are occupied by expatriate employees from Dakarnave at prices ranging between 60,000 and 80,000 CFA francs per month.” 14 hectares of land in the port of Dakar, leased to the former Necotrans company for a sum of approximately 600 million CFA francs, should be added.
Representative Guy Marius Sagna, in a memorandum addressed to Saliou Samp, Director of CERN, called on “his supervising minister and President Macky Sall to suspend the process of granting concessions for ship repair yards in Senegal,” considering that such a contract could not be signed in Senegal. It is in such a context that the new authorities must address this issue. “It is up to the new authorities of the third rotation in Senegal, that is, the government of President Basserou Diomaye Dijar Faye, to deal with this and other issues,” the parliamentarian noted.
For now, the workers, after a new call for tenders that would have retained a new partner to replace the Portuguese, remain in favor of not renewing the contract with the Lisnave owners.
