The long awaited multi-million dalasi road construction project, linking the most densely populated and major commercial centres in the Gambia begins in earnest.

Stakeholders, contractors and beneficiaries gathered at the Paradise Suites hotel in kololi yesterday to discuss on the implementation schedule, status of the work, challenges and the constraints as part of it start-up project implementation. The meeting that lasted for hours was spearheaded and facilitated by the Gambia Agency for Management of Public Works (GAMWORKS).

The project being implemented by GAMWORKS on behalf of the Gambia government is contracted to COPRI, Construction Enterprises from Kuwait, is expected to be completed in 18 months and the cost budget involved is peck at a tune of Two hundred and four million dalasi (D204,000,000,00). The project covers the reconstruction of Westfield-Sukuta road, past from the busy market and the commercial area of Serekunda through Sukuta and links up with coastal road leading to Senegambia Tourism Development Area (TDA) and the Banjul international airport.

Speaking at the meeting, Ebrima Cham, director general of GAMWORKS spoke of the current poor status of the road under construction, according to him, it prevents the efficient movement of goods and passengers on the route. He said the project would reconstruct the road from Westfiled Junction, past the busy market and commercial area of Serekunda through Sukuta and links up with the coastal road leading to Senegambia Tourism Development Area and the Banjul International Airport.

According to Cham, after the successful negotiations with the contractor, the budget agreed to finance the project is projected at two hundred and Four million, forty-one thousand and twenty-one dalasi and forty-one butut (D204, 041, 021,41). GAMWORKS DG, observed this move as a large investment by The Gambia government, that also confirms the Gambia leader’s commitment to improve the infrastructure development of The Gambia. He thank President Jammeh for his support to Gamworks, by entrusting this important project to the agency.

Mr Cham went further to thank the SoS for Finance and Economic Affairs, for his tremendous support towards the realisation of the project implementation, and the department of state for Works Construction and Infrastructure among others for the successful realisation of the project. He appealed for the collaboration of all stakeholders, including the local authorities, security service, business owners and the general public for the continue progress of the work without delay.

Mousa Gibril-Balla Gaye, secretary of state for Finance and Economic Affairs said that the infrastructure development of this country is a cornerstone of vision 2020, one of the pillars of poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSP), being one of the key priorities of  President Jammeh. According to him, this was confirm by the millions of dalasi invested by the Jammeh Government on Infrastructure. He gave highlights of the achievements registered by the APRC government in the area of infrastructure over the last 14 years. Citing the construction of hundreds of kilometres of road networks as examples, notably the new airport highway and the street lights-  lightening project, currently undergoing.

He said this construction project about to start was initially funded under the Trade Gateway Project under The Gambia Investment promotion and Free Zone Agency (GIPFZA). "However, there weren’t enough funds available under the Trade Gateway Project to implement the civil works, thus made me to contact Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for possible co-financing of the project", he stated.

In his final words, the finance and economic affairs SoS expressed  high hope that the contractor does all that they can to ensure that there are no delays in the implementation of the works. With expectations that the consultant and Gamworks ensure that works are done in accordance with the specification and the finish works are of high quality. Urging the meeting to make the best use of the gathering to address any outstanding issues that might impede the smooth implementation of the works.

Lamin Bojang, Secretary of State for Works, Construction and Infrastructure sees the implementation of this project as timely, noting that the about to start project  is one of the critical and busy roads that links the urban road networks that provides access to a large population of the Kanifing Municipality. He said the project complements the efforts of the government in its recent investment in upgrading the Westfield – Mandina-Ba and Kombo Coastal Road linking the major cities and the towns in the Kombo Areas.

According to him, this intervention is in line with the overall objective of the National Transport policy which is geared towards providing a high standard road network for the Gambian population in facilitating the free movement of goods and people, According to SoS Bojang, due to lack of optimal maintenance, the road under construction had undergone serious degradation over the years, thus necessitating a complete reconstruction of the road. "To avoid this scenario repeating and protect the heavy investment being made on the national road network, government saw the need to create a body to be responsible for the administration, maintenance and management of the entire road network", he noted.

For Lamin Sanneh executive governor of Western Region, the provision of such basic infrastructure would no doubt bring about the changes so desire for not only as he always said the people that in habit along the road but for those of people who travel to Serekunda, Banjul and other parts in the Greater Banjul Area. He said the road under construction when completed will ease off referrals from Sukuta to Serekunda in the case of sick persons.

Yankuba Colley, Mayor Kanifing Municipal Council, welcomed the project and added that the decision in bringing together stakeholders to talk about the Westfield-Sukuta road project under construction is indeed a laudable and that he commented the government of the Gambia under the APRC administration for agreeing to that within the framework of the loan agreement with the Islamic Bank (IDB). "The involvement of partners and beneficiaries in social development projects of such nature, is a pattern of development that ensures relevance and local ownership of public infrastructure", he stated.