The Ministry of Transport, Works and Infrastructure has strongly condemned as it has learned with regret, a call to strike action set by the Gambia Transport Union at a time when the Government is currently engaged in discussions with the Union to resolve the challenges confronting the sector.
Responding to the transport union in a press release issued, the Ministry of Transport takes note of the content of the press release issued by the Transport Union and informed the public with strong assurance that the Ministry is open to discussion with the transport union.
The press release explained that the Ministry of Transport has always maintained that in as much as it wants to champion the cause of the transport sector and negotiate a fair deal with the transporters, it is not justifiable to increase transport fares in a situation of chaos and disorder where commuters are charged multiple fares for the same route.
Over the last two years, the release noted that the Ministry of Transport came up with various initiatives including a pilot ‘route licensing model’ as a strategy to eradicate multiple charging on the same route.
While the Ministry is currently studying several options to support the transporters and ameliorate the challenges, they are going through several innovative solutions and are also being proffered obliging all commercial vehicles to have clearly identifiable stickers with indicative destinations to stop multiple charges of commuters.
The release said that on the crossing fee at the Senegambia Bridge, it should be noted that the Government of The Gambia has not increased the tariff but rather maintained the same tariff since the inauguration in 2019.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transport is pleased to inform the general public that it is working with the Gambia Transport Service Company (GTSC) to fully deploy its fleet of buses across the Greater Banjul Area starting Monday.
This deployment strategy is in line with Government’s Transport Policy to ease the difficulties currently faced by commuters. However, it could be recalled that 38 new buses were launched to curb challenges in the sector.
Meanwhile, the bus services will run beyond normal operational hours and will cover the following routes:
Brikama – Banjul which will be in multiple runs, Kanifing – Brikama (multiple runs), Sunchu – Banjul (multiple runs), Tippa Garage – SanyangJambanjelly, Jambur, Jabang&Sukuta (multiple runs), Sukuta – Banjul (multiple runs), Tippa Garage – Banjul (multiple runs), Brusubi – Banjul (multiple runs), Westfield – Bakau (multiple runs), Buffer Zone – Banjul (multiple runs), Westfiled – Manjai (multiple runs), Mandinaring – Banjul (multiple runs), Tabokoto – Banjul (Multiple runs), Kartong – Banjul via Gunjur, Tujereng, Tanji&Brufut (multiple runs), Giboroh – Banjul (multiple runs) and Kanifing Estate – Bartez also with (multiple runs).
The release concluded that there will also be special bus services on standby to respond to the upsurge in demand, especially in congested areas within the Greater Banjul Area and that the provincial bus services will still run as normal.
