ARRIVAL BY AIR OF PRESIDENT AND MME. SENGHOR: RECEPTION BY OFFICIALS, NOTABLES AND PEOPLE IN ST. LOUIS: INSPECTION OF DAIRY PLANT: BOAT RACE WITH PRESIDENT SENGHOR AND OTHERS WATCHING: FESTIVAL PROCESSION: ILLUMINATED ROCKET FLOAT; PRESIDENT AND OTHERS APPLAUDING: FLOAT OF BUILDING AND BOAT: MUSICIANS.




Initials EH/V/JF/SS



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Background: PRESIDENT SENGHOR OF SENEGAL, ACCOMPANIED BY MME. SENGHOR, ARRIVED ON A TWO-DAY VISIT TO ST. LOUIS HISTORIC CENTRE OF NORTHERN SENEGAL, LAST THURSDAY. HE WAS GIVEN AN ENTHUSIASTIC WELCOME.

DURING HIS VISIT - WHICH SYMBOLISED HIS REGIME'S CONCERN FOR THE WELFARE OF SENEGAL'S PROVINCES - HE OPENED AN IMPORTANT NEW DAIRY PLANT AND WATCHED TRADITIONAL CARNIVAL AND SPORTING FESTIVITIES.

ST. LOUIS IS ENGAGED ON A MAJOR SCHEME OF URBAN RENEWAL, AND THE PRESIDENT'S PROGRAMME INCLUDED VISITS TO A REBUILT CITY DISTRICT AS WELL AS THE SITE OF A NEW FISHING HARBOUR.

THE PRESIDENT'S VISIT WAS ENLIVENED BY A TRADITIONAL CARNIVAL PROCESSION DURING WHICH MAGNIFICENT FLOATS PARADED THROUGH THE STREETS OF SENEGAL'S FORMER CAPITAL, EACH CONSTRUCTED BY A DIFFERENT CITY QUARTER, - SOME SHOWING PUBLIC BUILDINGS, OTHERS THE LOCAL TYPE OF CANOE, AND A VERY CONTEMPORARY ROCKET.

(THIS ANNUAL PROCESSION GOES BACK TO DISTANT COLONIAL DAYS WHEN NATIVE SERVANTS ESCORTED THEIR MASTERS TOP MIDNIGHT MASS WITH LANTERNS; THE LANTERNS BECAME EVER MORE ELABORATE AND FINALLY INVOLVED INTO FLOATS. THIS YEAR'S PROCESSION WAS THE FIRST AFTER A 15-YEAR BREAK; A BAN IMPOSED IN 1952.)
THE MOST IMPORTANT ITEM ON THE PRESIDENT'S AGENDA WAS, HOWEVER, THE OPENING OF A NEW DAIRY PLANT. THIS MODERN PLANT, BUILT AN OPERATED WITH GENEROUS HELP FROM THE FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL ORGANISATION AND UNICEF, IS REGARDED AS A VITAL MEANS OF TRANSFORMING THE COUNTRY'S HUSBANDRY - THE AIM IS TO DO AWAY, GRADUALLY, WITH LARGE ROAMING HERDS KEPT FOR PRESTIGE PURPOSES AND REPLACE THEM WITH RATIONAL BEEF AND DAIRY HERDS, RAISED IN THE CONTEMPORARY MANNER. THE NEW DAIRY PLANT IN ST. LOUIS - ONE OF FOUR PLANNED FOR THE SENEGAL - WILL OFFER THE CATTLE FARMERS A STEADY MARKET FOR THEIR MILK, THUS PROVIDING A TRUE INCENTIVE TOWARDS MODERNISATION. M. HABIB THIAM, MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT, ALSO SPOKE AT THE OPENING CEREMONY.

DURING THE FIRST YEAR OF OPERATION, THE NEW PLANT WILL PROCESS 5,000 LITRES (OVER 1,0000 GALLONS) OF MILK PER DAY; THIS QUANTITY WILL BE DOUBLED DURING THE SECOND YEAR, WHEN THE PLANT WILL ALSO BEGIN TO SUPPLY BUTTER, CREAM AND VARIOUS KINDS OF CHEESE.

THIS DEVELOPMENT SHOULD HELP TO RECTIFY THE PRESENT ANOMALOUS POSITION, UNDER WHICH THERE ARE TWO-AND-HALF MILLION HEAD OF CATTLE IN SENEGAL (TWO THIRDS OF THEM IN THE NORTHERN REGION OF WHICH ST. LOUIS IS THE CAPITAL) WHILE THE COUNTRY IMPORTS DAIRY PRODUCE TO THE VALUE OF 1,500 MILLION CFAs (TWO-AND-A-HALF MILLION POUNDS).