By Kebba Ansu Manneh
The construction of five Eco-Lodges at the tune of ninety Seven million dalasis (D97million) by the Gambia Tourism Board is at a Standstill five (5) months after the expiration of the contract duration, The Voice Newspaper can authoritatively report.
The under-construction 3 standstill Eco-Lodges are located in Barra, North Bank Region (NBR), Kunkilling Forest Park, Central River Region (CRR) and Sotuma Samba Koi, Upper River Region (URR) plus other two which foundation stones are yet to be laid would be at Nyana Bantang and Arafat both in CRR region of the country.
The construction of the five Eco-Lodges contracted to local construction company Lerr Group has earlier blamed the Gambia Tourism Board for the delay in the construction of the Eco-Lodges that was signed since March, 2020 and expected to last for nine (9) months.
However, fresh revelations surrounding the construction of the five Eco-Lodges emerged hinting that none of the five Eco-Lodges have been completed to date.
According to source contacted by this reporter revealed that Lerr Group was advanced with thirty eight million five hundred thousand dalasis (D38. 5million) payment to start works on three of the eco-lodges, at Barra, Kunkilling and Sotuma Samba, stressing that up to date none of the eco-lodges is completed and the ongoing works have been halted without any genuine reasons.
The source also casted part of the blame on the National Assembly Select Committee on Tourism as responsible for the delay, disclosing that since the matter was reported to the Select Committee it has now gone to six months without getting to any conclusion.
“We heard from internal source that GTBoard has hired a procurement specialist who investigated and concluded that there was procurement malpractice by both GTBoard and GPPA.
They also assigned the National Audit Office who investigated and interviewed all persons involved and concluded that the procurement and the contract were fraudulent and the amount paid to the contractor as an advance payment does not equate to the work carried out by the contractor,” our source revealed.
Our source continued: “The Contractor was advanced with D38.5 million and work carried out was not even up to half the amount. I believe they will just sit on this until the NA elections are all over.”
Accordingly, the source alleged that the construction of the five eco-lodges were estimated at the cost of D45 million, disclosing that it was finally inflated and signed at the tune of D97million whose advanced payment of D38.5million to the contractor.
When contacted to shed light on the latest progress of the eco-lodges, Alhagie Shering Fallou Mendy, Managing Director of Lerr Group Construction Company referred this reporter to the client (GTBoard) of the project, stressing that issues responsible for the delay are beyond Lerr Group but on the part of the GTBoard “All I can tell you is that the eco-lodges are incomplete and if you want any further information regarding the progress of the project you can go and ask our clients (Gtboard).”
Mendy earlier told The Voice Newspaper in an interview at his office that the delay was partly due to the inundated flood waters that sub-merge the work areas of the Barra Eco-Lodge, noting that the Lerr Group has also placed a request to the Gambia Tourism Board that they are yet to replied leading to the unnecessary delay of the project.