By Mustapha Jarju
Honorable Amadou Sanneh, former Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, has claimed that The Gambia Ports Authority is economically dragging back the development of the country due to inept functioning.
“The Gambia Ports Authority is facing a disaster in term of their functioning, saying if the port is improved there will be developmental work in Banjul and there will be rapid burst of economy in the country through ports,” he said.
“If there happens to be an improvement at the Port that will be one of the pillars that would boost the Gambia’s economy and will bring rapid development in the exchange trade between the Gambia with Guinea, Bissau and Mali will all be boost. But we are currently losing all that. The Ports is failing, they are failing the country, they are failing our economy and the entire region is improving their ports while The Gambia is behind, we don’t have government which comes for work those there are not working but killing us with mare tales,” he added.
According to him, he has seen huge losses for the country as most customers are making their shipping through Senegal.
“We held a meeting at the UN house and the ports authorities were presence and the former Justice Minister Ba Tambedou with other stakeholders were all presence, but the Ministry of Works refused to go because they don’t want to push that project,” he said.
He continued that “if they signed that contract the Gambia will have about 5million euros for just signing, Dubai ports have interest in it, a French company also have interest in it and another ports in Philippine and they don’t ask for even a butut from the government. They will come with their money to do the expansion project and the government will arrange with them on how they can regain their money, profit and the rest will be left to the Gambia.”
He said at that time the Gambia cannot take loan to expand the port, the better alternative is to work with the investors to do public-private partnership with them to develop the Port “but that was blocked.”