Bai Lamin Jobe, the Minister of Transport, Works and Infrastructure and team, on Friday, 26th June, 2020 visited the ongoing 82 million dollar bridge and road projects under construction in Basse and Fatoto in the Upper River Region of the country.
Earlier in the day, a steering committee meeting was held comprising of different stakeholders; such as Gamtel, Nawec, Ministry of Lands, Ministry of Finance and The National Roads Authority at the Chinese construction company offices in Basse.
Speaking with the stakeholders shortly before the site visit, Minister Jobe described the URR projects as one of the fastest projects so far, since the dawn of the new Gambia. He said when completed the project would impact positively on the lives of the people of Upper River Region. “Lamin Koto project took over 30 years before it gets completed. But so far what I am hearing on the ground seems work is going fast and we should maintain the speed,” he said.
According to him, even though there might be some issues critical to the projects; such as compensation for those affected families living around the projects, he is optimistic that the projects would finish on time.
Minister Jobe called on all stakeholders in the projects to work hand in glove with his Ministry for the timely completion of the projects which is expected to boost trade and regional integration between The Gambia and other Ecowas countries. He finally appealed to the truck drivers at the projects to always drive with care as there are other road users.
Mod Ceesay, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transport, Works and Infrastructure, said their role and responsibility as a Ministry remain the same, which is to remove bottlenecks and to ensure proper monitoring of the projects.
He also called on those affected families living around the projects to have their proper documents in place so that they would receive their compensations as soon as possible. “We will continue visiting the project sites to ensure quality and efficient delivery of the projects,” he added.
Fanta BS. Manneh, Governor, Upper River Region described the visit as timely; saying it will avail the team the opportunity to know the progress and challenges.
“These projects are important as it would connect my region to other regions and the country as a whole to the outside world,” she said.
Feng Zhuode, the Chinese lead consultant of the projects, promised timely completion of work and of better quality and standard.
