US embassy cable - 04DJIBOUTI1113

UNCLAS DJIBOUTI 001113 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB, EINV, ECON, ELTN, DJ 
SUBJECT: RAILROAD UNIONISTS PROTESTS LATE SALARY 
 
1. (U) Summary:  Members of the Djibouti-Ethiopian Railway 
(CDE) union staged two protests the week of August 15th-19th. 
 Protests on Sunday, August 15th and Wednesday, August 18th 
were peaceful and did not result in any arrests.  The most 
apparent cause of this week's protests is the late payment of 
salaries for several months.  End Summary. 
 
2. (U) Sunday, August 15th approximately 100-200 railroad 
workers marched from the Djibouti City train station to the 
Ministry of Transportation in a peaceful demonstration.  The 
workers were angry at not having received salary payments for 
the month of July.  The protest dispersed quickly.  No 
arrests were made. 
 
3. (U) Wednesday, August 18th railroad union workers staged a 
peaceful strike intending to block the weekly vegetable 
train.  Police intervened and negotiated with the strikers to 
resolve the issue before the train was scheduled to arrive. 
By noontime the strikers and police had seemingly resolved 
the situation and the train was able to enter the station. 
 
4. (U) Conversations with Technical Advisor to the Minister 
of Transport, Mohamed Ali, indicate that the salaries were 
reportedly only one month late and are set to be paid August 
19th.  In response to Poloff query whether the incidents had 
underlying causes, such as the ongoing moves towards 
privatization, Ali said that these incidents were merely 
discontent over salary issues. 
 
5. (U) Continuing on the issue of the privatization of the 
railroad, Ali commented that six companies have been 
short-listed for the concession of the Djibouto-Ehtiopian 
Railway.  The concession is part of a 40 million Euro project 
financed by the European Union to privatize the railroad and 
turn it over to a private investor.  Ali said the 
announcement of the winning bid in the concession tender is 
expected for the beginning of 2005.  Of the six companies 
short-listed, two are American: African Initiative 2020 and 
Canac, a Canadian railway company that was recently sold to 
Savage Companies in early 2004.  Dubai Ports International, 
managers of the current Port of Djibouti, Djibouti 
International Airport and the new Doraleh Port Facility under 
construction also appeared on the short list. 
GRIBBIN