On October 6 and 7, the city of Bobo-Dioulasso recorded heavy rain. This caused at the level of the road, on the Hèrèdougou-Pâ section, according to the Ministry of the Environment, Water and Sanitation, “flooding on the road over almost 1.3 km, with a height under water of about 36 cm on the right hand bank (Pa side) and 0.4 km with a submerged height of about 18 cm on the left bank (Hèrèdougou side)”. This situation made the connection between the two capitals, Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso, through the RN1 difficult for several days. This was not without consequences for the Burkinabè.
National Road No. 1, the road that connects the two capitals of Burkina, has experienced, since the beginning of the rainy season, rising water levels that have obstructed traffic at times. For good reason, there is a flood on the road at Hèrèdougou, an area that is about forty kilometers from Boromo.
President Faso, during his great speech on October 5, 2024, on National Radio, suggested that the National Dams Office was instructed to build a large water reservoir that would be useful for corn production at this stage. .
But in the meantime, the Burkinabe people are paralyzed and many sectors of activity are affected every time road traffic is stopped on this axis. Companies that work in the transport of people and goods pay the heaviest price, according to those involved. “Already we can say with this situation that we have registered an unsustainable loss. I don’t have the exact numbers, but it’s big. With the condition of the Bobo-Banfora axis as well, we can say that it is a general paralysis,” suggested Mr. Fofana, deputy head of station at Rahimo Bobo’s company. This opinion is shared by Fayama Fréderic, station manager at Saramaya Transport. For him, “beyond the transport companies, it is the wider national economy that is reduced when road traffic on the RN1 is cut. Don’t forget, many individuals and business people also take this route for their activities. “
To partially reduce the impact of this situation, other initiatives were planned by carriers, including Rahimo, Saramaya, etc., to continue connecting the two capitals. This includes, in particular, going through the Dédougou road.
But since October 10, a new reality has emerged on the Dédougou-Bobo axis. For example, we have kidnapped two lawyers (Me Gotran Somé and Me Christian Kaboré), which happened on October 10. In fact, these two who had left Ouaga to reach the town of Bobo, passing through Dédougou, were reportedly abducted by an armed terrorist group, on the Bondoukuy-Bobo axis. It is in this context that the companies that undertook this project had to cancel prematurely. “At first, we considered going through Dédougou, although this would cause us additional costs. But we quickly abandoned this mitigation solution, given the security situation on this axis. Therefore, all our trips for the day of Saturday 12 October to Ouaga have been cancelled, and on average, we have at least 5 trips for Ouaga,” said Mr. Fofana de Rahimo. Fréderic Fayama, station manager at Saramaya Bobo: “Unlike the RN1, the Dédougou road is longer and more fertile. This affects not only our profit, since the ticket price remains the same, but also the depreciation of our buses, and get our drivers back.”
Far from falling into despair, the heads of the two stations say they are still hopeful that suitable solutions will be found, so that we do not fall into these same problems next winter season .
Please note that these are major events, such as the annual training seminar for directors of public capital companies, which have been canceled due to road traffic closures. Similarly, two games count for 2e The day of the national competition was postponed for the same reason.
IB/Associate
