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SEDRUN, Switzerland – Swiss engineers smashed through the last stretch of rock Friday to create the world's longest tunnel, sparking anational groundswell of elation over a costly, technically difficultproject that has been 60 years in the making..
Trumpets sounded, cheers reverberated and even burly workers wiped away tears asforeman Eduard Baer lifted a statue of Saint Barbara — the patron saintof miners — through a small hole in the enormous drilling machinethousands of feet (meters) underground in central Switzerland.
At that moment, a 35.4-mile (57-kilometer) tunnel was born, and the Alpine nation reclaimed the record from Japan's Seikan Tunnel. Television stations across Europe showed the event live.
"This is the most wonderful moment in my 36 years of tunnel building," Baersaid as he paused for breath, surrounded by joyous colleagues inhardhats and bright orange work gear, VIPs and news cameras.
The new Gotthard Base Tunnel is seen as an important milestone in thecreation of a high-speed transportation network connecting all cornersof Europe.
First conceived in 1947 by engineer Eduard Gruner, it will allow millions of tons of goods that arecurrently transported through the Alps on heavy trucks to be shiftedonto the rails, particularly on the economically important link betweenthe Dutch port of Rotterdam and Italy's Mediterranean port of Genoa.
The tunnel also aims to reduce the damage that heavy trucks are inflicting on Switzerland's pristine Alpine landscape.
Click image to see photos of the Gotthard Base Tunnel
Reuters/Christian Hartmann
Peter Fueglistaler, director of the Swiss Federal Office of Transport, called Friday "a day of joy for Switzerland."
"We are not a very emotional people but if we have the longest tunnel inthe world, this also for us is very, very emotional" he told TheAssociated Press.
Some 2,500 workers have spent nearly 20 years smashing through the rock beneath the towering Gotthardmassif, including the 8,200-foot (2,500-meter) Piz Vatgira (VatgiraPeak).
When the $10 billion tunnel opens for rail traffic in 2017, it will replace Japan's 33.5-mile(53.6-kilometer) Seikan Tunnel as the world's longest — excludingaqueducts — and let passenger and cargo trains pass under the Alps atspeeds of up to 155 mph (250 kph) on their way from Germany to Italy..
Swiss voters, who are paying over $1,300 each to fund the project, approvedits construction in a series of referendums almost 20 years ago.
European transport ministers watched the breakthrough ceremony live from ameeting in Luxembourg, conscious that Switzerland has set the bar veryhigh for future cross-Alpine rail projects. Two further tunnels — oneconnecting connect Lyon, France, to Turin in Italy, and the otherreplacing the Brenner road tunnel between Austria and Italy — are stilla long way from completion.
Swiss engineers are hoping to complete the rail tunnel even sooner than planned — possibly by the end of 2016 — but its firsthigh-speed trains could be delayed by protests in Germany and Italy,where local opposition to new tracks and budget constraints have becomean issue in recent months.
"Our neighbors in Germany and Italy will have to fulfill their promise and provide high-speed rail links," Fueglistaler said.
Asked whether he thought the large, ongoing protests in the German city ofStuttgart could derail the high-speed dream, he said: "Overall I'mconfident that these connections will be built in time."
The protesters in Stuttgart oppose plans to move the city's stationunderground, viewing the euro4.1 billion ($5.7 billion) project as awaste of money. Supporters say it will free up the city's packed centerand help shorten journeys across Europe.
Heinz Ehrbar, a bear of a man in bright orange overalls, told the AP thebreakthrough celebration was also a moment to reflect on the lives lostduring the Gotthard tunnel's construction.
"I'm really proud, but I'm thinking also of the eight people who have lost their lives," said Ehrbar, the tunnel's chiefconstruction officer. "It's very important that we remember that notall of our workers can be with us today."
Black and white twins celebrate 4th birthday * Their mom is of English-Nigerian heritage
THEY look like friends who met at nursery school but Kaydon and Layton Richardson are in fact twin brothers with different-coloured skin.
Black aand white twins, Kaydon, (left), and Layton Richardson, recently celebrated their fourth birthday. Photo: North News & Pictures Ltd
The twins' mother, 32-year-old Kerry, is of English-Nigerian heritage.
The boys celebrated their fourth birthday in the same week Nigerian couple, Ben and Angela Ihegboro, revealed their white daughter Nmachi to the world.
The genetic quirks make the children "two-in-a-million" rarities that have fascinated doctors.
After hearing of the Ihegboro family's incredible baby news, Kaydon and Layton's mother, Kerry, said skin colour had been on her mind when giving birth to daughter Tiyannah recently.
"I thought it was crazy. As much as it happened to me, the twins' dad is white, so for it to happen to a black couple seems even stranger," she said.
"When I was carrying Tiyannah I was wondering what colour she was going to be.
"Before the twins I would have expected that any child of mine would have my colour in them.
"But after Layton I wasn't sure what she was going to look like.
"When she was born she looked as though she was going to go dark but at about two weeks old it was clear she was white.
"I was a little surprised as I thought Layton was a one-off..
"Doctors can tell you what sex your baby is going to be but they can't tell you what colour!'
Kerry also fears the twins will stand out when they start primary school in September.
She said: "It's never been an issue up to now but I know that Layton notices the difference in their colour.
"I've tried to explain it to them in the past but last year we were in an airport in America when Layton shouted, "Mum, am I white like my dad and Kaydon's black like you?".
'That was the first time he had said that but everyone thought it was very funny.
"I hope it's not going to be a problem when they start school but kids can be cruel."
Journalists celebrate Press Freedom Day with protest
As part of activities to mark this year’s celebration of World Press Freedom Day, journalists under the aegis of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), on Monday, held a peaceful demonstration protesting the killing of journalists in Nigeria.
The protesters, led by the national chairperson of the union, Mohammed Garba, condemned the recent murders of journalists, and the security agencies’ failure to catch the perpetrators of the killings.
Photo:Journalists with placards along a street during a protest to mark World Press Freedom day in Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos, yesterday. Photo: REUTERS
The journalists, dressed in black and carrying placards, matched to Ladi Kwali press centre, Ikeja, Newswatch office, and the Lagos State Police Command Headquarters..
Police condemned for inactivity
Chanting anti-government slogans, the journalists displayed placards with messages such as, ‘Journalists are no longer safe in Nigeria’, ‘I.G of Police, save our souls’, ‘We journalists say no to the killings of our colleagues’, and ‘God save us from these wicked enemies of the profession’.
The murder of journalists is on the increase in the country, with the recent killings of a political editor at The Guardian, Bayo Ohu last year, and a judiciary correspondent for the Nation newspapers, Edo Egbagwu, ten days ago.
“Our members are in black, an indication that the atmosphere and indeed the working condition of journalists in Nigeria are not favourable to us,” said Mr. Garba. “Most importantly, we are in black because we have recorded quite a number of intimidation, harassment, and brutal killings of our members.”
While making reference to the more recent killings of Mr. Ohu and Mr. Egbagwu, at the Lagos State Police Command, where he delivered a letter on behalf of journalists for forward transmission to the Inspector General of Police, Ogbonna Onovo, Mr. Garba expressed dismay with the police’s failure to find those responsible for the killing of journalists in the country.
“We have not seen a very serious commitment on the sides of the security agencies to fish out the killers of these our colleagues; journalists in Nigeria, I must say, we are no longer safe,” he said.
‘Police encourage the killing of journalists’
Mr. Garba further described police inefficiency as responsible for the continued trend of journalists’ killings by people he said were “threatened by journalism,” adding that the press would not be intimidated by the incidents.
“I want to believe that most of those who perpetrate these actions are either politicians, or people who feel that we are threats to their continuous existence in this country, and I want to say with all seriousness that we are not going to be scared by these actions; rather journalists are further encouraged with these tendencies which we have seen,” he said.
Solomon Arase, the deputy commissioner for police, who represented the state commissioner of police, Marvel Akpoyibo, said the police were doing their best to find the culprits responsible for the recent killings of journalists.
“We are greatly pained by the death of your colleagues and we’ve been working tirelessly to ensure that, in the end, we are able to arrest the perpetrators,” said Mr. Arase, adding that the State Police Command’s extension of invitation to journalists from the Nation newspaper to join in the investigation was to demonstrate transparency of purpose on the part of the police.
‘Police must be made to act’
However a journalist from ThisDay newspaper, Gboyega Akinsanmi, who spoke to NEXT after the march, said the police have been inactive for too long, and must now awaken to their responsibilities.
“It’s become so important for us to come out to condemn the killings of our colleagues, because it’s high time the perpetrators were brought to book,” he said.
“In all the killings, no perpetrator has ever been brought to book. We are demanding that the security agencies ensure that the masterminds are brought to book, so there will be security for journalists and their families across the country.”
