{"id":39811,"date":"2019-08-29T15:50:12","date_gmt":"2019-08-29T07:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=39811"},"modified":"2019-08-29T15:50:14","modified_gmt":"2019-08-29T07:50:14","slug":"mali-1000-trucks-stranded-in-roads-protest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=39811","title":{"rendered":"Mali: 1,000 trucks stranded in roads protest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/assets.nst.com.my\/images\/articles\/MALI-TRANSPORT-INFRASTRUCTURE-DEMO-288_1566948536.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>KATI (Mali), Aug 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) &#8212; More than 1,000 trucks loaded with merchandise were blocked at the entrance to Mali\u2019s capital Bamako on the fourth day of protests against the poor state of the country\u2019s roads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The line of trucks snaked about a dozen kilometres along the road that leads from the Kati toll station some 15 km outside the capital to the country\u2019s west, and beyond to Senegal and Mauritania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The protests started on Aug 23 in the western city of Kayes when hundreds of residents blocked the main bridge over the Senegal River.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It has since spread to other regions, with protesters everywhere calling for urgent improvement of Mali\u2019s dilapidated roads and railways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI have been here for four days, we cannot enter Bamako,\u201d a truck driver said in Kati, describing the demonstrators\u2019 \u201cbattle\u201d as \u201cbelonging to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/assets.nst.com.my\/images\/articles\/MALI-TRANSPORT-INFRASTRUCTURE-DEMO2-288_1566948541.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Moussa Coulibaly, from Dakar in neighbouring Senegal, feared his truckload of fruit \u201cwill soon not be edible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Buses, too, have come to standstill. A stranded woman who identified herself only as Amy, said she had no choice but to walk 15 km with three suitcases hoping to make it to Bamako on time to catch her flight to France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Along the barricades, members of the pressure group Sirako insisted they would remain until they had a firm commitment that roads would be upgraded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prime Minister Boubou Cisse met representatives of the group but failed to convince them to lift the blockade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/assets.nst.com.my\/images\/articles\/MALI-TRANSPORT-INFRASTRUCTURE-DEMO3-288_1566948545.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cImproving the state of transport infrastructure is among the government\u2019s priorities,\u201d the premier\u2019s office said in a statement. &#8212; NNN-AGENCIES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>KATI (Mali), Aug 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) &#8212; More than 1,000 trucks loaded with merchandise were blocked at the entrance to Mali\u2019s capital Bamako on the fourth day of protests against the poor state of the country\u2019s roads. The line of trucks snaked about a dozen kilometres along the road that leads from the Kati toll station [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[213],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39811"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39811\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}