By Lamin Njie- Ministry of Transport
The Ministry of Transport, Works, and Infrastructure on Tuesday, 20th September 2022, signed a 50 million dalasis Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), with The Gambia Armed Forces for the relocation of services such as water pipes, electrical poles, and cables for the 50 kilometers roads of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), project.
The signing ceremony which was held at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Center in Bijilo was witnessed by Honourable Ebrima Sillah, Minister for Transport, Works and Infrastructure, Honourable Abba Sanyang, Minister for Lands, Abdou Jobe, Minister for Petroleum, Momodou Senghore, Managing Director of The National Roads Authority, Major General, Mam Matarr Secka, Deputy Chief of Defence Staff and other senior government officials.
In an exclusive interview with Matarr Ceesay, Director of Technical Services, Ministry of Transport, Works and Infrastructure, said the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Transport, Works and Infrastructure and the Gambia Armed Forces, would go a long way in complementing government efforts in making sure that the OIC project is completed within the stipulated time frame.
“This initiative was spearheaded by the Honourable Minister Ebrima Sillah himself as a way of helping and managing the cost of relocation of services which has been one of the main challenges of the 50 kilometers OIC roads project. It will also help to capitalize the skills of the Gambia Armed Forces as they are having an engineering unit,” he said.
According to him, this is an opportunity to engage the military as they have been lacking to be fully engaged in such a national development project.
“We have 20 roads under this project. We will start with the priority areas which are Brufut, Kanifing, and other areas like Kotu, Sukuta, and Old Jeshwang. They will help with the relocation of water and electricity poles, foundations, and other related issues. They will be under the supervision of Nawec,” he said. The contract is expected to end in 12 months.
