By Yunus S Saliu
The Minister of Transport, Works and Infrastructure, Ebrima Sillah, has applauded GAI Construction for what, he described, as a job well done.
The minister and delegation visited Banjul to gauge the progress of the ongoing Banjul Roads Project and he was impressed with what he saw as, according to him, Banjul was not only facelifted but has undergone massive transformation.
“This transformation came following the award of the contract by the government of The Gambia in 2018 to GAI Construction to embark on an EPC project to completely do all the roads in Banjul. This included the drainage system and sewages,” Minister Sillah stated during his first official nationwide tour of 2024 to all the project sites. He was accompanied by senior staff of the MOTWI, National Roads Authority (NRA) and contractors.
“We are profoundly happy with the progress of the roads. We are in the second part of the process now,” he acknowledged, noting that the first phase was completed on record time.
“The roads done by the previous administration are now going to be done again and they will have the same kind of standards and facilities as all the other roads that were done in the first phase,” he added.
The Minister said Banjulians “are extremely happy with what His Excellency President Adama Barrow and his government have accomplished in Banjul”.
“The level of development in Banjul is unprecedented now. People are now coming back to Banjul. They[buildings] are undergoing a lot of refurbishment and new buildings are coming up in Banjul,” he stated.
He expressed the hope that before the end of the second quarter of this year, the project will be completed.
“And Banjul will be a super new city as everyone can see kids playing around happily. All shops are open for businesses, mosquitoes [have] disappeared, the problem of indiscriminate dumping has become a thing of the past and the drainages are all covered,” said Minister Sillah.
He, therefore, emphasized the need to accelerate efforts to ensure that the cleanliness of the city matches the infrastructure provided, highlighting “the strong collaboration” between the Banjul City Council and the government of The Gambia through the Ministry of Transport, Works and Infrastructure to provide the necessary materials to ensure that the waste collection is enhanced.
